Lexington sophomore’s second-place finish leads Midlands runners at state meet
Moments after his run in the state championship cross country meet was over, Zander Jeffcoat already had his eyes set on next season.
The Lexington sophomore finished second with a time of 15:21 on Tuesday in the Class 5A boys cross country championships at the Camden Cup. The meet, originally scheduled for this past Saturday, was moved to Tuesday because of rain.
Jeffcoat’s finish was the best for a Lexington runner since Zack Langston won the state title in 2013. Jeffcoat, who finished three seconds behind state champion Zane Jackson of Cane Bay, hopes to win a title in his final two seasons.
“Second place isn’t bad. … this definitely motivates me because I know I can’t come back and finish anything lower than second,” Jeffcoat said. “I am going to continue pushing through the track season and have a good next year hopefully.”
“Zane has beat him every time this year but Zander gave himself a chance,” Lexington coach Bailey Harris said.
Jeffcoat and teammate William Johnson (15:19) both earned all-state honors, which go to the top-15 finishers. Johnson was eighth as the Wildcats came in third place overall with 122 points. Dorman won it with 97 points and TL Hanna was second with 102.
Lexington was ranked near the top of the cross country rankings for most of the season and won the 5A Middle State qualifier two weeks ago.
“Really good day for us,” Harris said. “I think our guys were thinking we really had a chance but we ran really well. We had several personal bests and couldn’t have asked for a whole lot more. The times we ran today could have won state some years.”
In Class 5A girls, River Bluff eighth grader Madelyn Gomez (18:54) finished fifth and was one of five Midlands runners to earn all-state honors. Others were Chapin eighth grader Abigail White (6th/19:00), Lexington’s Sarae Rufener (7th,19:06), Alyssa Lomoriello (10th/19:08) and Lexington’s Lydia Metz (12th/19:13).
Dutch Fork finished fifth as a team while Lexington was sixth and River Bluff eighth.
In 4A boys, AC Flora finished fifth and the Falcons’ Michael Davis was the top local finisher with an 18th-place finish. In 4A girls, AC Flora was seventh and Munirah Gordon (19:38) was 16th to lead the Falcons. Westwood’s Emma Ashley (19:21) was 12th.
In 3A girls, Mid-Carolina’s Cameron Wicker was third with a time of 19:28.
State Cross Country championship results
Class 5A
Boys Champion: Dorman Top finisher: Zane Jackson, Cane Bay, 15:18
Girls Champion: JL Mann Top finisher: Katie Pou, Nation Ford, 18:19
Class 4A
Boys Champion: Greer Top finisher: Coen Roberts, Greer, 15:04
Girls Champion: Hilton Head Island Top finisher: Mari Cagle Lockhart, Daniel, 18:16
Class 3A
Boys Champion: May River Top finisher: Ronan O’Neill, Pendleton, 15:58
Girls Champion: Seneca Top finisher: Maggie Rhodes, 19:19
Class 2A
Boys Champion: Greer Middle College Top finisher: Noah Ward, Phillip Simmons, 15:36
Girls Champion: Greer Middle College Top finisher: Ava Dobson, St. Joseph’s 16:58 (State record)
Class A
Boys Champion: Dixie Top finisher: Daniel Boyd, Dixie, 17:36
This story was originally published November 19, 2019 at 5:39 PM.
