GREER -- The Riverside boys cross country team has had a stellar history in the sport, with consecutive state titles in the late 80s and throughout most of the 90s.
PENDLETON – Three years ago next spring, longtime coach Jim Kilbreth retired, following the same path his wife and fellow coach, Eileen, took two years earlier. That move left only one husband/wife coaching duo in South Carolina cross country, Pendleton’s Warren and Pam Wheeler, who together continue to lead the Bulldog boys and girls to top finishes in Class AA.
COLUMBIA -- In some ways, the sport of high school cross country in South Carolina has changed over the past decade or so; training technique has improved, venues are better suited to the sport, performance equipment is better and timing is more precise than ever, to name a few.
JOHNS ISLAND – Three records were broken Saturday morning at the Low Country Invitational – two on the course and the other on the sidelines.
GREER – Seven years ago, David Smith stepped away from cross-country in Greenville County following the death of his wife, Patti. He took a similar job forty-five minutes away in Oconee County, where he also would be closer the couple’s two children who at the time were attending Clemson University.
AIKEN – Ryan Uhle will tell you that he joined the Aiken cross-country team simply because he felt it would be a good fit for him. He certainly wasn’t expecting to break any team records or otherwise standout in the sport, but it offered a way to keep in shape and stay involved in after-school activities.
COLUMBIA – A half dozen members of the South Carolina USATF will be on the track at Lower Richland High Friday and Saturday, representing the association as officials overseeing the various running events at the SCHSL’s State Track and Field Championships.
Wando High sophomore Kenny Waring will be at this weekend’s SCHSL state track championships, returning to compete in the long jump.
COLUMBIA – If recent performances can be considered a barometer of things to come, Heathwood Hall Episcopal’s Brooke Grice should do well at this weekend’s SCISA track championships.
Bob Jenkins, longtime coach and a founding member of the South Carolina Track and Cross Country Coaches Association, died overnight, the SCACA told its members in an email.
CHARLESTON – Larry Salley found his way to the track by way of a compromise.
CLEMSON – In one sense, the Geer family will have come full circle by the time son Matthew hands the game ball to the referee next weekend, prior to the start of the annual Shrine Bowl football game in Spartanburg.
NORTH CHARLESTON – Tami Dennis was packing her team’s equipment after a long day of USATF cross-country competition last Saturday at Wannamaker Park, only to be interrupted repeatedly by parents thanking her with a handshake, a hug or both.
CHARLESTON – This is for friends and family who are dumbfounded every time they learn that I’m getting out of a warm bed a little before the sun tops the horizon on a chilly Saturday morning to drive x-number of miles to run 3.1 miles (sometimes farther) with like-minded “insane” people.
COLUMBIA – Omar Sharif likes his chances of repeating as Class AA cross country champion on Saturday, news those hoping to take that honor probably didn’t want to hear.
MAULDIN – Nancy Fox was in line to receive Holy Communion on a Sunday morning two years ago when she saw something different about her daughter Lauren who was standing in front of her.
This season has been a homecoming for Waccamaw High coach Brian White, and a successful one for the school’s cross-country teams as they compete this weekend in the 2A Lower State Championships at Sandhills Research Center.
David Moore didn’t PR at the SCTCCCA Coaches Classic, but the Christ Church Episcopal School senior would tell you that he ran the hardest and most satisfying race of his young life on that Saturday.
COLUMBIA – Dreher High’s Savannah Bass ran well last spring at the SCHSL State Championships at Spring Valley, turning in a personal record while finishing sixth in the girl’s 800 meters, but that isn’t what sticks in her mind about that day.
COLUMBIA – Connie Grant shakes his head when he talks about running cross-country at Rock Hill some 40 years ago in Converse tennis shoes.
The South Carolina Track and Cross Country Coaches Association will use chip timing at two high school meets this fall.
COLUMBIA – Former students, colleagues, friends, even his family knew George Washington Johnson, Jr. simply as “Coach.”
LEXINGTON – Blake White and his Wildcat teammates had more than a possible state track and field title motivating them at the championships at Spring Valley this year.
MYRTLE BEACH – For Myrtle Beach High track coach Vince Peeples, the past month and a half has resembled a story created in Hollywood, but this time life imitated art.
Bob Jenkins, a founding member of the SCTCCCA, said today (Wednesday) he’s “disappointed for the young people of this state” regarding the State High School League’s decision not to sanction indoor track and field.
COLUMBIA -- Two-time Olympic gold medalist Monique Hennagan will be in the stands this weekend at Spring Valley, returning to an event she dominated in the early 90s.
MOUNT PLEASANT -- Her given name is Rosa Marie Compton, but those who know the Wando High freshman call her Rorie, a nickname given to Rose Marie shortly after her birth by her sister, Georgia.
COLUMBIA -- If results are an accurate measure of performance, then Shekara Martin’s “work in progress” is close to completion -- at least for this track season.
COLUMBIA -- Kiah Seymour’s record-setting performance in the girls 400 meter hurdles was certainly the highlight on the girls’ side, but there were plenty of other impressive female performances at this year’s Taco Bell Track and Field Classic.
COLUMBIA -- Tevin Hester shook off what he described as a minor hamstring injury on Saturday to take the boys 100 meter dash competition at the 20th Annual Taco Bell Track and Field Classic.