Dreher sophomore leads Midlands runners on first day at SC cross country championship

It was a record-breaking season for Sam Kolowith that resulted with a top-three finish at the S.C. Class 4A boys cross country championship.

The Dreher sophomore came in third with a time of 16:05 on Thursday at the Sandhills Research Center.

“It was an amazing finish to the season, really happy with it. ... I had to go really hard to come in third,” said Kolowith, who finished second in his qualifying race last week. “I don’t have a big kick, so I needed to put some distance on the other guys. The season was really good and I ran a lot of really good races. … It was a big breakout season for me.”

Kolowith, who broke Dreher’s school record with a time of 15:28 earlier this year, was the highest finishing Midlands runner at the state championships. The championships were trimmed from 16 to 12 teams in each class and split into two days with Class 3A and 4A on Thursday and Class 2A and 5A on Friday.

Catwaba Ridge’s Sam Rich (15:08) finished first while the Eastside boys won the team title. Irmo’s David Williams (16:48) finished eighth to earn all-state honors. The top 15 runners are named all-state.

A.C. Flora finished seventh place Eastside won the boys state title with 72 points. Travelers Rest was second with 90 points.

In the Class 4A girls race, James Island’s Hannah Vroon (18:26) finished first by 11 seconds over May River’s Anya Arroyo. Vroon’s first-place finish helped James Island to a one-point victory over Hilton Head for the team title.

Irmo junior Carina Burdick (20:01) finished ninth and Westwood eighth-grader Emma Ashley (20:03) was 10th. Irmo’s girls finished fourth, the top finishing team from the Midlands.

Seneca girls won their third-straight Class 3A championship and Chapman’s Emma Whitaker (18:46) won the individual title. Mid-Carolina sophomore Cameron Wicker (19:40) was ninth.

Pendleton’s Ronan O’Neil (16:07) won the boys 3A title and Bishop England won the team championship. Fairfield Central’s Joshua Mosley (16:53) was 11th.

This story was originally published November 5, 2020 at 2:10 PM.