Cross Country Update - Weeks 3 & 4

Athletics

9/13/2022

Our Wildcats are on a roll!

Week 3 Update:

The cross country Wildcats made their annual trip to the Jekyll Invitational over Labor Day weekend to face some of the toughest competition they will see this season. This meet attracts nearly 40 teams from all over the state, particularly the 7A giants out of the Atlanta suburbs. The varsity girls were led by 8th grader, Molly Bramhall who was making her varsity debut. The varsity boys were led by junior, Adam Lippe, whose 16:43 was good enough for 6th overall.  The team finished 10th behind mostly the suburban Atlanta and Savannah area schools.

In the middle school races, the girls placed 5 in the top 10 to win their third consecutive meet. For the boys, Charlie Campbell finished in the top 10 (6th) and the team finished 5th.

This is a short week for all teams with a JV meet at North Augusta on Wednesday, a middle school meet in Aiken on Thursday, and the varsity travels to Athens on Friday for the Piedmont XC Festival.

Week 4 Update:

With 3 meets in 3 days, this was a busy week for the cross country teams. This week, the boys divided into two teams, sending a JV team to the annual “cookout” meet hosted by North Augusta High School on Wednesday. Though they were running against the other teams’ varsity runners, the Wildcat JV team finished second behind North Augusta, and ahead of Ridge Spring-Monetta. The team was led by Josh Buchanan (5th) and Josh Romero (6th) who broke his previous PR by almost 2 minutes!

On Thursday, the middle school teams were in Aiken for the Crusader Invitational. This was the first opportunity for the middle school Wildcats to get a glimpse of the teams they will be competing against for the league championship in October (Augusta Prep, St. Mary’s, EDS, etc). The middle school girls continued to dominate the competition placing 5 in the top 8 and racing to a 4th straight win. The middle school boys were led by Charlie Campbell (8th) with Caleb Lambert and Ethan Dawkins also finishing in the top 20. The boys finished 4th in the 11 team meet.

On Friday, the varsity took the top 6 boys and the girls to Athens for the Piedmont XC Festival. The girls ran well, with Molly Bramhall setting a new PR. With fewer than 5 girls, the girls did not receive a team score. The boys won in dominant fashion, placing 6 in the top 7. Adam Lippe was the overall winner and his 16:47 broke the previous course record. Many thanks to Wildcat XC alums and current Dawgs - Claire Peacock, Julia Andrews, and Rachel Goodell for coming out to support the team.

The middle school teams will be at Wildwood Park on Thursday for the Greenbrier meet. The varsity will travel to Donalds, SC (population 348) on Saturday for the Dixie Headwaters Invitational, a meet that starts just behind Main Street and is sure to be one to remember.