COLUMBIA – About five minutes before the start of the 5A state championship race Friday, Fort Mill cross country head coach Lee Whitaker found one of his lucky pennies in the bottom of his bag. He knew it was going to be a good day.
The Fort Mill boys’ cross-country team won the 5A state championship about 90 minutes later after results were announced as Whitaker and his other coaches knew they had probably wrapped it up with three top 10 finishes. Fort Mill compiled 62 points compared to TL Hanna who finished second with 100 points.
“My kids ran to my expectations,” Whitaker said. “As a team that was the best, we have run by far this year.”
Fort Mill’s Devon Sibley came in second overall with a 16:03 and was followed by teammates Evan Wey in fifth in 16:13 and Jackson Dawson in 10th in 16:25. The other top finishers for Fort Mill were Evan Ickert in 22nd in 17:01 and Isaac Campbell in 23rd in 17:04. Sibley, Wey and Dawson make the All-State team.
“All of our athletes left everything out there,” said assistant coach Joelle Brotemarkle. “I am so proud of them. They ran a perfect race.”
This is the first state cross-country title for the boy’s team since 2006 and first cross-country title for the program since 2010 when the girls won the championship.
The Fort Mill girls finished third overall as JL Mann won the 5A state title. Fort Mill had 115 points, while JL Mann had 42 points and Lexington was second with 77 points.
Leading the way for the Fort Mill girls was Alivia Cleveland who came in fourth overall in 18:48. She was followed by Avery Moriarty in 10th overall in 19:37, Angel Kravitz in 15th in 19:54, Mia Zook in 43rd in 20:46 and Kelsey McGuire in 50th in 20:53. Cleveland and Moriarty made the All-State team.
The Nation Ford boys team finished ninth overall with 240 points. Leading the way for the Falcons was Mason Haynes in 21st overall in 17:01. He was followed by Chase Johnson in 37th in 17:23, Townsend Smith in 69th in 18:03, Justin Storms in 87th in 18:30 and Charles Hall in 89th in 18:33.
The only Nation Ford girl participating in the event was Mia Royall. She finished in 77th in 21:44.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
