SOUTH CAROLINA STATE MEET

Sam Rich Delivers First State Cross Country Title To Catawba Ridge; Katie Pou Wins Fourth Straight 5A Title

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Catawba Ridge is only in its second year of existence as a high school, but it has a state cross country champion. Sam Rich, a junior, won the Class 4A race Thursday at Sandhill Research Center in Columbia by covering the 5-kilometer layout in 15 minutes, 8.1 seconds.

Runner-up Spain Vaughan was close at 15:13.7, but was part of a winning team effort for the Eastside boys, who collected hardware with 72 points. 

Rich and Spain were both more than 50 seconds ahead of third place.

Rich transfered to the Fort Mill, S.C. school after finishing second in the Georgia Class 6A meet last year as a sophomore for Lakeside Evans.

Freshman Hannah Vroon from James Island won the girls 4A race in 18:25.3 and her team edged out Hilton Head Island by a single point, 67 to 68. 

In the 5A races, the Dorman boys and JL Mann girls both ran to team championships. 

Katie Pou from Nation Ford won her fourth consecutive state title, running 18:27.2 to win the large-school girls race by nine seconds. 

Zander Jeffcoat from Lexington won the 5A individual title in 15:24.9. That completed an undefeated season and the junior stepped up to take the win after finishing second in 2019. 

In Class 3A, Pendleton junior Ronan O'Neill won the boys race for the second year in a row, this time in 16:07.9. 

Freshman Justin Hafner led Bishop England to the team title with his second-place effort in 16:16.7. Bishop England put five in the top 19 on the way to 56 points. 

Emma Whitaker from Chapman, a junior, won the girls race in 18:45.6.

Seneca rolled to the team championship, scoring 33 points on the strength of 2-3-10-13-16 place-winners. Three of Seneca's scorers were freshmen. 

Team Champions - 

Class 5A - Dorman boys 75 points, JL Mann girls 43 points - RESULTS

Class 4A - Eastside boys 72 points, James Island girls 68 points - RESULTS

Class 3A - Bishop England boys 56 points, Seneca girls 33 points - RESULTS

Class 2A - Greer Middle College Charter boys 44 points, Greer Middle College Charter girls 30 points - RESULTS

Class 1A - Dixie boys 26 points, - RESULTS