SCHSL crowns 2025 girls cross country champs
Aiken – The Aiken steeplechase course was the site for the 2025 state championships in girls cross country with Philip Simmons winning a fourth straight state championship.
The Iron Horses finished the meet with 39 points, placing five runners on the all-state team with top 15 finishes. Landrum finished as the runner-up with 46 points and Academic Magnet was third with 106 points.
Philip Simmons coach Josh Michael has guided the program to six titles (2 boys) in his seven seasons as coach.
“Win or lose, I told the teams to go out with our best effort and we did just that,” Michael said. “Both teams have sort of had a target on their backs so it was great to see them go out and perform like they did. I’m so proud of both teams.”
The effort was led by senior Avah Mallek, who won the gold medal for the third straight year. Teammate Laura Perry, a sophomore, finished fourth overall and Flynn Taylor placed 10th. Keziah Varner ran 12th and Stella Wininger finished 15th, giving the Iron Horses five all-state performers.
“I’m relieved to finally get my four years of high school over and I’m excited to move on to the next step,” Mallek said. “I’m really grateful for my coaches who helped me have this success.”
Ruby Cain of Landrum was the individual state runner-up and Gabrielle Aycock of Brashier finished third. Brashier’s Keathley Cack was sixth and Marlowe Leet was seventh.
Rounding out the all-state team were Ava Campbell of Landrum (8th), Strom Thurmond’s Tabby Trapp (9th), Landrum’s Eden Holton (13th) and Hampton County’s Taryn Hanna (14th).
Rounding out the top 10 in the team standings were Brashier (148), Pelion (157), Greenville Tech (185), Bridges Prep (191), Hampton County (212), Mid-Carolina (261) and Andrew Jackson (261).
Dixie was the dominant team in the Class A race, finishing with 23 points with five runners finishing in the top 15 as all-staters. Riverwalk was the runner-up with 60 points and Green Sea Floyds was third with 63 points. Bamberg-Ehrhardt (128) and Horse Creek (162) round out the top five.
The Governor’s School finished sixth and Ridge Spring-Monetta was seventh. Latta, Green Upstate and Johnsonville finished in the top 10.
Dixie’s Rachel Prescott won the individual gold in Class A. Prescott overcame a stress fracture earlier this fall to finish strong.
“It was a great ending. It’s been stressful,” Prescott said. “I was happy to be back and get this opportunity.”
Riverwalk’s Emme Herring was the runner-up and Adalay Gillespie was third. Talia Fetter of Dixie was fourth and Evy Carroll of Riverwalk was fifth.
The rest of the all-state team included Dixie’s Adelaide Culclasure, Ella Felter, Della Rhodes-Jenkins, and Lylah Kemmerlin; Nelly Clark and Emily Slaton and Allexa Bulikes; Sophia Andresky of Governor’s School and Kai Fluck (Riverwalk).
Bluffton High won their first state title as region seven dominated the AAAA meet. Bishop England finished second, May River was third and Hilton Head finished sixth. Six of the top 15 individuals were from region seven schools.
Wren’s Daya Ross, Hilton Head’s Julia McKenna and Bishop England’s Nora Brahim were the top three finishers.
Bluffton won the title with 61 points, finishing 40 ahead of Bishop England. Wren finished fourth and Traveler’s Rest was fifth. Dreher, Daniel, A.C. Flora and Pickens round out the top 10 teams.
Individual all-state runners were Libba Faircloth (South Pointe), Glada Garge (Bluffton), Kaylee Degirmenci (Blufton). Gabi Lidey (May River), Jenna Livingston (Dreher), Lizah Williams (Daniel), Emily Hunt (Bluffton), Ella Teton (Pickens), Ava Shook (York), Paisley Hinkle (Gray) and Kaylee Anderson (Gray).
Greer Middle College was the AAA girls champion with 26 points and placed five runners in the top 15 all-state list. GMC was led by Sierra Connor in third, Ally Hyman in fourth and Ella Hammon in fifth.
Christ Church was the runner-up with 85 points and St. Joseph’s was third at 116 points. Hanahan was fourth and Walhalla ran fifth. Rounding out the top 10 teams were Southside Christian, Fox Creek, Belton-Honea Path with Mountain View Prep and Waccamaw
Eva Cifuni of St. Joseph’s was the gold medalist. Corrie Reinhardt of North Charleston was the runner-up and Colby Delamielleure of Hanahan finished sixth. Kendall Foster of Christ Church was seventh and Walhalla’s Camille Daughtery was eighth.
Other all-state runners were Lexie Shenton and Bella Mair of Greer Middle College, Millie Johanning of Waccamaw, Charlotte Shew of Christ Church, Olive Dixon of Fox Creek, Ella Dorriety of BHP and Sutton Alexander of St. Joseph’s.
Clover won the AAAAA Division I team title with Wando finishing second and Mauldin running in third. Lexington finished furth and Dorman was fifth. Rounding out the top 10 were Summerville, River Bluff, Boiling Springs and James Island.
Clover’s Ella Nighbor was the individual champion with Summerville’s Taylor Blackwelder taking second and Anna Kelly of Blythewood finishing third. Wando’s Anna Cavallon was fourth and Mauldin’s Callie Rohm was fifth.
Jayna Duke of Mauldin was sixth, Ava Jagielski of Clover was seventh and Spartanburg’s Elloree Flippin finishing eighth. The remaining all-state runners were Kinley Stevens of Boiling Springs, Avalie Workman of Dorman. Caroline King of J.L. Mann, Sophia Lee and Ana Laurient of Wando, and Ensley Dyar of Spartanburg.
The AAAAA Division II team champion was Fort Mill, led by all-staters Marlee Cade (2nd), Lauren Allen (4th), Alivia Cleveland (6th) and Bailey Nolin (12th).
Greenville was second in the team standings and Chapin was third. Nation Ford and Eastside round out the top five. West Florence, led by medalist Susana Martinez, finished sixth, ahead of Easley, Northwestern, St. James, and Lucy Beckham.
Other all-state runners were Lydia Scanlon (Lucy Beckham), Caroline Dixon (Greenville), Addison Eastley (Nation Ford), Isabella Cardoza (Catawba Ridge), Kyla Adams (Greenville), Hailey Reames (Hillcrest), Finna Hollo (North Myrtle Beach), Stella Blackwell (Lugoff-Elgin), Halley Garcia (Nation Ford) and Jenna Mast (Greenville).
