Langston, Morris take first at record-setting Low Country Invitational

JOHNS ISLAND – Three records were broken Saturday morning at the Low Country Invitational – two on the course and the other on the sidelines.

Photographs by Terry Cregar

Weekend recap 

On a cool morning at Mullet Hall on Johns Island, Spartanburg Christian’s Logan Morris set a new meet record and PR in the girl’s 5,000 meters.  Then, about 90 minutes later, Lexington senior Zack Langston set a meet record in the same event for the boys.

Morris turned in a time of 17:56, easily beating the previous course record of 18:07 she set a year ago.  Maryah Nasir of Pinewood Prep placed second with a time of 18:18 and Mary Jean Assinzo of Marietta in Georgia was third with a time of 18:33.

Morris said she felt good going into the race.

“We started out really strong,” she said, with Morris grouped with two other girls.

She would take the lead early in the race, with Nasir on her heels.

Morris said she started to pull away from Nasir around the 1,500-meter mark.

“I felt really good and ready to break 18, so when I did it I was so pumped,” she said.

Morris, a sophomore, has had a solid September, finishing first the previous week in the SCA Invitational and second earlier this month at the SCTCCCA Bob Jenkins' Coaches Classic.

Meanwhile, Langston set a new meet record with a time of 15:30, which was a half-minute faster than the previous meet mark.  Cisco Ferre, of Hilton Head, placed second with a time of 15:47, and Carl Oberfeitinger of Dobyns-Bennett in Kingsport, Tenn., placed third, recording a time of 15:50.

Langston’s time on Saturday was well off his best time of 15:01, though the senior said after the race that he wasn’t thinking about PRs on this day.

“My next big race is at the Great American next weekend and coach told me in this race to get the win but be as controlled as possible,” Langston said.

He said Saturday’s race, his first on the Mullet course, started slow, with Langston settling into third position over the first 1,500 meters.  

“I saw the time and told myself I gotta go,” he said.  Langston took the lead and held onto it across the finish line.  

“I did what I needed to do,” he said. “I stayed under control and got the win.”

Langston said he’s “very happy” with the way his season is progressing heading into the Great American in Cary, N.C.  “That’s the race I’ve had circled on my calendar.”  Langston finished eighth in that race last year, which placed him first among non-seniors.

“My goal time is under 14:55, but I mainly just want to win,” he said.

David Lee, cross country coach at host school James Island High, said this year’s meet was the largest in the event’s seven-year history, with 48 schools competing.

“We went from just over 800 athletes last year to right at 1,400 today,” Lee said.

Marietta (Ga.) won the girls team title with 146 points and boys team title with 66 points. James Island finished second and Pinewood Prep rounded out the top three in the girls competition. Wando was second and Hilton Head third for boys.