Eleven cross-country runners from South Carolina traveled 1465 miles to compete in the USATF Junior Olympic Cross-Country Championships on Saturday, Dec. 13 at Lovelace Soccer Complex in Albuquerque, N.M. The runners from the Palmetto state ran for the Florence Track Club, Mountain Pleasant Track Club, Palmetto Track Club, Quick Striders, Summerville Track Club, and Wave Runners Track Club along with running as an individual.
The National Anthem started off the day's event at 9:50 a.m. (MST) The competition started off with the Bantam Girls 3,000-meter run at 10:00 a.m. (MST) the Bantam Boys 3,000 run at 10:30 a.m. (MST), the Midget Girls 3,000 run at 11:00 a.m. (MST), the Midget Boys 3,000 run at 11:30 a.m. (MST), the Youth Girls 4000-meter run at 12:00 p.m. (MST), the Youth Boys run at 12:30 p.m. (MST), the Intermediate Girls 5,000-meter run at at 1:00 p.m. the Intermediate Boys 5,000 run at 1:30 p.m. (MST), the Young Women's run at 2:00 p.m. (MST), and the competition concluded in New Mexico with the Young Men's 5,000 run at 2:30 p.m. (MST).
In order to make it to the final meet of the USATF's Junior Olympic cross-country program each runner goes through one of 57 Association Championships and then to one of 16 Regional Championships.
Bantam
Jaime Ledwell of Mountain Pleasant Track Club finished 80th out of 236 runnners in the Midget Girls run with a finishing 3,000 time of 14:47.00. In the Midget Boys Summerville Track Club member William Rabb finished 195th out of 229 runners in 15:36.20.
Midget
Alisha Royal was the first in for South Carolina as a member of Florence Track Club. Royal finished in the 102nd spot in 13:35.70. Next in for South Carolina was the Wave Runners Track Club member Mary Katherine Hayes. Hayes finished 189th out of 278 runners with a time of 14:27.20 in the Midget Girls competition.
Youth
Stephen Usery of the Wave Runners led South Carolina with a 65th place finish out of 299 runners in the Youth Boys run with a time of 15:53.60 over the 4,000 distance. Robert Brown III of Mountain Pleasant Mercury finished 112th after crossing the line in 16:27.70. Next in was Mountain Pleasant member Josh Fitts. Fitts finished in the 188th spot with a time of 17:10.40.
Intermediate
John Koziel (J.C.), a Northwestern Trojan during the regular cross-country season was the lone Intermediate Boys runner from South Carolina. Koziel finished 57th with a time of 18:48.80 over the 5,000 distance. Koziel competed against 222 other runners in the race and had the fastest 5,000 time for South Carolina throughout the day. Virginia Dias crossed the line in the 150th spot in the Intermediate Girls event with a time of 27:51.30.
Young
The day concluded with the Young Men's run. Two senior cross-country runners represented South Carolina in this event. Trevor Beesley (Greenwood Class of 2004) of the Quick Striders finished 65th overall out of 139 runners with a time of 18:50.70. "I think the altitude played a major role in the outcome of my race," said Beesley. Patrick McRay rounded out South Carolina's two finishers in the Young Men's run. McRay (Aiken Hornet) was the 102nd runner to cross the line and the lone runner for the Palmetto Track Club. Heather Koziel (Northwestern) ran unattached in the Young Women's 5,000. Koziel, a senior at Northwestern finished 55th with a time of 24:29.10.
The top 25 finishers from each race were scheduled to receive a USATF medal along with a special, locally designed award to recognize earning All-American status. The top three teams from each division were also scheduled to receive a locally designed award following the honoring of each team member. Due to a problem with results, awards and results were not available until Tuesday, Dec. 16. Verizon Youth Athletes of the Meet awards were also to be presented to the top Female and Male Athlete of the Meet. The Awards Ceremony was held at 7:00 p.m. (MST) at the Albuquerque Convention Center in the Kiva Auditorium.
Thanks to South Carolina USATF Youth Chair Valerie Beesley for contributing to this article and to all parents, fans, coaches, and athletes for contributing to the sport of cross-country and track & field. The final run of the season for a selected amount of senior runners is the Shrine Bowl Run on Dec. 20.
The track and field season kicks off with the Clemson Indoor Invitational on Jan. 31 at Clemson University. The meet is open to high school athletes and is scheduled to be held at Clemson's new $3 million indoor facility. March 6 is the first major weekend of outdoor track and field meets for South Carolina High School athletes with the Greenville Spartanburg Relays at Dorman in Roebuck and the Optimist Relays in Sumter. Coaches Classic is set for March 27 at Spring Valley in Columbia. The Azalea Invitational is set for April 3 at Summerville High School. The Taco Bell Track and Field Classic is scheduled from April 9-10 at Spring Valley in Columbia.
To view the outdoor calendar (updated as of 12/15/03) visit https://sc.milesplit.com/calendar?season=outdoor&year=2004.
The National Anthem started off the day's event at 9:50 a.m. (MST) The competition started off with the Bantam Girls 3,000-meter run at 10:00 a.m. (MST) the Bantam Boys 3,000 run at 10:30 a.m. (MST), the Midget Girls 3,000 run at 11:00 a.m. (MST), the Midget Boys 3,000 run at 11:30 a.m. (MST), the Youth Girls 4000-meter run at 12:00 p.m. (MST), the Youth Boys run at 12:30 p.m. (MST), the Intermediate Girls 5,000-meter run at at 1:00 p.m. the Intermediate Boys 5,000 run at 1:30 p.m. (MST), the Young Women's run at 2:00 p.m. (MST), and the competition concluded in New Mexico with the Young Men's 5,000 run at 2:30 p.m. (MST).
In order to make it to the final meet of the USATF's Junior Olympic cross-country program each runner goes through one of 57 Association Championships and then to one of 16 Regional Championships.
Bantam
Jaime Ledwell of Mountain Pleasant Track Club finished 80th out of 236 runnners in the Midget Girls run with a finishing 3,000 time of 14:47.00. In the Midget Boys Summerville Track Club member William Rabb finished 195th out of 229 runners in 15:36.20.
Midget
Alisha Royal was the first in for South Carolina as a member of Florence Track Club. Royal finished in the 102nd spot in 13:35.70. Next in for South Carolina was the Wave Runners Track Club member Mary Katherine Hayes. Hayes finished 189th out of 278 runners with a time of 14:27.20 in the Midget Girls competition.
Youth
Stephen Usery of the Wave Runners led South Carolina with a 65th place finish out of 299 runners in the Youth Boys run with a time of 15:53.60 over the 4,000 distance. Robert Brown III of Mountain Pleasant Mercury finished 112th after crossing the line in 16:27.70. Next in was Mountain Pleasant member Josh Fitts. Fitts finished in the 188th spot with a time of 17:10.40.
Intermediate
John Koziel (J.C.), a Northwestern Trojan during the regular cross-country season was the lone Intermediate Boys runner from South Carolina. Koziel finished 57th with a time of 18:48.80 over the 5,000 distance. Koziel competed against 222 other runners in the race and had the fastest 5,000 time for South Carolina throughout the day. Virginia Dias crossed the line in the 150th spot in the Intermediate Girls event with a time of 27:51.30.
Young
The day concluded with the Young Men's run. Two senior cross-country runners represented South Carolina in this event. Trevor Beesley (Greenwood Class of 2004) of the Quick Striders finished 65th overall out of 139 runners with a time of 18:50.70. "I think the altitude played a major role in the outcome of my race," said Beesley. Patrick McRay rounded out South Carolina's two finishers in the Young Men's run. McRay (Aiken Hornet) was the 102nd runner to cross the line and the lone runner for the Palmetto Track Club. Heather Koziel (Northwestern) ran unattached in the Young Women's 5,000. Koziel, a senior at Northwestern finished 55th with a time of 24:29.10.
The top 25 finishers from each race were scheduled to receive a USATF medal along with a special, locally designed award to recognize earning All-American status. The top three teams from each division were also scheduled to receive a locally designed award following the honoring of each team member. Due to a problem with results, awards and results were not available until Tuesday, Dec. 16. Verizon Youth Athletes of the Meet awards were also to be presented to the top Female and Male Athlete of the Meet. The Awards Ceremony was held at 7:00 p.m. (MST) at the Albuquerque Convention Center in the Kiva Auditorium.
Thanks to South Carolina USATF Youth Chair Valerie Beesley for contributing to this article and to all parents, fans, coaches, and athletes for contributing to the sport of cross-country and track & field. The final run of the season for a selected amount of senior runners is the Shrine Bowl Run on Dec. 20.
The track and field season kicks off with the Clemson Indoor Invitational on Jan. 31 at Clemson University. The meet is open to high school athletes and is scheduled to be held at Clemson's new $3 million indoor facility. March 6 is the first major weekend of outdoor track and field meets for South Carolina High School athletes with the Greenville Spartanburg Relays at Dorman in Roebuck and the Optimist Relays in Sumter. Coaches Classic is set for March 27 at Spring Valley in Columbia. The Azalea Invitational is set for April 3 at Summerville High School. The Taco Bell Track and Field Classic is scheduled from April 9-10 at Spring Valley in Columbia.
To view the outdoor calendar (updated as of 12/15/03) visit https://sc.milesplit.com/calendar?season=outdoor&year=2004.