Lexington High’s cross country teams finished just short of capturing state titles in both the boys and girls championship meets, held Nov. 11 at Newberry College. 

The girls finished second overall, losing to Fort Mill by 12 points. Elanorah Patangan ran the fastest time for the team, finishing eighth overall at 19 minutes and 20 seconds. Kendra Miles and Ava Kanitkar also finished in the top 15, with times around 19 minutes and 30 seconds. 

The boys finished fourth overall behind Wando, Fortmill and the state champions, Dorman. William Cronin was individual runner-up in the state, finishing with a time of 15 minutes and 47 seconds. The winner Jake Liebert from Wando finished in 15 minutes and 19 seconds. 

Jesse Oates finished just outside the top 15 with a time of 16 minutes and 22 seconds, while Connor Forche finished in 21st place with a time of 16 minutes and 32 seconds. 

How they got there

It wasn’t a perfect season for either Wildcats team, but impressive performances at the qualifier put them in a position to compete for the ultimate prize.

In a regular season meet at Newberry the girls had one of its worst performances, said head coach Tanner Graham. With both the state qualifier and final meets being held at Newberry, Graham challenged his team to bounce back. 

“I told the girls all week that our goal was to go out, make a statement, kind of redeem ourselves and reestablish ourselves as a force in the state,” Graham said. “They took to that message. They went after it, they competed, they tried to stay with each other, and that was one of the biggest things that I was proud of.”

The Lexington girls finished first in the state qualifier. The team ran with an average pace of 19 minutes and 34 seconds. The Wildcats placed five runners in the top 10.

Kendra Miles ran the fastest time for the team, finishing fifth overall at 19 minutes and 20 seconds. Her teammate Elanorah Patangan finished right behind her with a time of 19 minutes and 24 seconds. Then, spots eight through 10 were all held by Wildcats after Ava Kanitkar, Lydia Metz and Sophie Potts all finished within 10 seconds of each other.