Boys finish fourth  

For the second year in a row, the Landrum girls cross country team captured the 2A state title with a one-point lead.

The Landrum boys team won fourth place in the state, during the South Carolina High School League state cross country meet held last Saturday, Nov. 9 in Columbia, S.C.
The girls defeated Bishop England 56-57 with the help of four runners earning state honors and Landrum’s fifth finisher beating Bishop England’s fifth finisher by 0.62 seconds.
Last year the Landrum girls won the state in a sixth tiebreaker against Waccamaw after both teams finished with 68 points.
The Landrum boys finished fourth with 140 points, following Academic Magnet at first with 38 points, Waccamaw second with 78 points and Pelion third with 139 points.
Landrum cross country coach Jeremy Darby said if it would have come to a tiebreaker this year Landrum would have lost because although Landrum’s sixth-place runner finished well, Bishop England’s finished better this year.
What it boiled down to was the last thousand meters, Darby said, with every girl on Landrum’s team grabbing more positions.
“That’s a team effort,” Darby said. “First through seventh did that.”
Landrum’s Laura Ford (20:08) placed sixth in the state with Sarah Cash (20:08) finishing seventh, Grace Valentine (20:11) finishing ninth and Grace Furman (20:34) finishing 15th winning them all-state honors.
The Landrum girls cross country also won the state title in 2009 when Landrum was in a combined 1A/2A division.
Landrum boys’ cross country is also not new to placing high in the state championship. This year’s fourth place came after the boys won state titles three years in a row in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
Winning boys all-state honors for Landrum was Caleb Bouwkamp (16:57), who placed eighth in the state.