State Champs! Lexington girls cross country breaks through with elusive title
After two years of near misses, the Lexington High School girls cross country team took home an elusive second state title.
The Wildcats won the Class 5A state championship on Thursday in windy conditions at the Sandhills Research Center. The school previously won in 2012 and finished second to JL Mann the last two years.
“We finished state runner-up the last two years and were getting tired of silver. And we finally achieved the goal,” Lexington coach Tanner Graham said. “We been talking all week about this moment and how it has been building up since June 1. “They have worked tirelessly, day in and day out to get to this point.
“The girls have done everything. They have done all the hard work as well as my assistant coaches. I couldn’t have done it without them. They deserve all the credit. I have the pleasure to say I am their head coach.”
Lexington had four of the top-15 finishers, which make up the all-state team. Kendra Miles (18:59) led the way with a third-place finish after being runner-up last year. Other Lexington all-state runners were Lydia Metz (seventh), Laurel Walls (ninth) and Ava Kanitkar (15th). It was Metz’s second straight all-state performance.
“We sacrificed a lot. The team sacrificed a lot,” Metz said. “It feels so good to win it. It doesn’t even seem real.”
Metz and Miles are part of a young nucleus. The team will graduate just one senior from the team. Miles is just an eighth-grader, while the other top runners on the team are sophomores or younger.
“We are looking forward to next year. We will have a really strong team and just need to continue to get better,” Miles said.
Fort Mill (101) finished second behind Lexington’s 62 points. JL Mann was third. FM’s Alivia Cleveland (18:30) was the individual winner. Chapin’s Abigail White was fourth. Chapin finished fifth and Blythewood was 10th.
Wando won the Class 5A boys race with three of the top 15 finishers, including champion Jake Liebert (15:13)
Lexington’s Jesse Oates (12th) and Luke McKenna (15th) were all-state. The Wildcats finished seventh, Chapin eighth, River Bluff 10th and Spring Valley 11th.
In Class 2A, Greer Middle College won the boys championship and Bishop England’s Justin Hafner (16:00) finished first. Bishop England won the 2A girls title and Oceanside Collegiate’s Siobhan Joyce (18:55) was the individual champion. Mid-Carolina’s Cameron Wicker (14th) was all-state.
In Class A, Brashier Middle College edged Southside Christian by one point to win the boys championship. Southside Christian’s Grayson Gibbons (16:15) was the individual winner. Christ Church won by two points over Dixie to win the Class A girls championship and St. Joseph’s Nina Brown (19:52) was the individual champion.
The championships are being held over a three-day period. The Class 3A and 4A races were moved to Saturday because of expected tropical weather impacts.
This story was originally published November 10, 2022 at 11:56 AM.
