Willard Wins Fifth Consecutive State Title

Diana Willard captured her fifth consecutive state title on Saturday.

Diana Willard battled with West Oak's Cassie Rowland for the first loop of Hilton Field at the State Championships on Saturday, Nov. 8. After taking the lead during the second loop the junior at Swansea finished strong while her earning her fifth consecutive A/AA title. Willard ran a time of 19:17.54 in the first race of the day. Willard's time was 29.35 seconds faster than Rowlands. Chapin Junior Amber Hines rounded out the top three. Chapin captured the girls title over Blue Ridge, 76-86. The Chapin distance corp finished first in 2002. Pendleton rounded out the top three with 125 points.

In boy's A/AA action Palmetto's Ben Sherard was looking to recapture the state title from when he ran to the title in 2002. Taking the title from Sherard in the straightaway to the finish was Gilbert's Jeremy Hunsaker in 16:43.48. Sherard finished second with a time of 16:46.03 and teammate Justin Meade rounded out the top three. The Blue Ridge team captured the title with a 98 point total over Liberty (133). Palmetto finished third in team scoring.

Sunday Ford came into Saturday's AAA girls' race with hopes of winning the title for the second consecutive time. Battling with Ford from the start was Dreher's Sarah Binkley. Ford came away with her second consecutive individual win with a time 18:43.45. Daniel freshman Stephanie Gammon ran a 18:58.16 to round out the top three. As a team Greer captured its second title since 2002 with 49 points to Riverside's second place finishing points of 103.

In 2002 Wade Hampton captured its fourth consecutive team title, dating back to 1999. Nothing changed for the Generals on Saturday as the boy's team sealed the win with senior Jeff Crane taking the individual title in 15:56.18. The Generals tallied a score of 20 over Wren with 51. Daniel Eils led Wren with a third place finishing time of 16:22.94. Broome finished third with 130. Five Generals (Jeff Crane, F.J. Goodwin, Joel Hamner, Jake Smith, Patrick Rabb) earned All-State honors for Wade Hampton. Asher Hoffman finished 18th for Wade Hampton and J.T. Marcus finished 21st. The top 15 in each race earned All-State honors.

Coaches and fans held on to their seats for one of the most intense races of the day. Last season Kate Niehaus, a current sophomore at Spring Valley ran to a new state meet best time of 17:52.9 in 2002. The one person missing last season was Angelina Blackmon. Blackmon is a senior at Northwestern High School. On Saturday Niehaus and Blackmon ran side by side throughout the majority of the race with Niehaus taking the lead for good with 400-meters to go at Hilton Field. Niehaus set a new state meet best of 17:36.81. Blackmon ended up finishing fourth overall. Finishing second while setting a new personal best of 18:10.82 was Dorman freshman Stephanie Buffo. Buffo captured the Eye Opener title at the beginning of the season. Tiayonna Blackmon rounded out the top three. Summerville captured the team title with 70 points to second place finisher Northwestern's 88. Spartanburg rounded out the top three in team scoring.

Before the award ceremony started the AAAA boys stepped to the line. Finishing one and two individually for Spring Valley were Brian Raymond (15:38.28) and Reid Wilson (15:44.99). The Vikings captured the team title. Ridgeview's Aubrey Darnell finished third in 16:03.97. Spring Valley packed their runners in the top 25. Dorman finished second with 88 points to Spring Valley's 58. The race was not easy for Vikings Raymond and Wilson as Dorman's Ryan Jank battled for the win before Raymond and Wilson sealed the first and second spot. Ridgeview finished third in team scoring.

Spring Valley's Kate Niehaus (17:36.81) and Brian Raymond (15:38.28) had the fastest times of the day. Dorman's Stephanie Buffo (18:10.82) and Hilton Head's Marshall Meyer (16:37.83) had the fastest freshman times on Saturday.

Brian Raymond (SV), Reid Wilson (SV), Jeff Crane (WH(G)), Kate Niehaus (SV), Stephanie Buffo (DRM), Tiayonna Blackmon (NW), Angelina Blackmon (NW), Laura Lauglin (SA), Sunday Ford (WR), Sarah Binkley (DR), Santresa Jamison (SP), and Stephanie Gammon (DN) made Dyestat's Elite national ranking list following their state meet performance on Saturday.

Coming up in cross-country is state, regional, and national competitions. Niehaus is favored fifth going into the Footlocker South Regional meet on Nov. 29 at McAlpine Park in Charlotte. The National meet is scheduled to take place at Balboa Park in San Diego, Calif. on Dec 13.

Also coming up is the USATF-SC Junior Olympics at Fort Jackson on Nov. 15. On Nov. 25 the USATF Region III Junior Olympics will take place in Richmond, Va. and on Dec. 13 is the USATF National Junior Olympics in Albuquerque, NM.