Greenville wins boys, girls cross country state titles, Caroline Lyerly, Knox Young win individual crowns
Greenville High School won both the boys and girls team SCHSL AAAA cross country state championships, with Caroline Lyerly winning the girls individual championship, and Knox Young winning the boys title.
"We knew we had to go out and execute the race the right way, and all the pieces had to fall together. Fortunately they did, and everyone showed up and it was awesome see those kids win the title," said Greenville co-head coach Jenna Bates.
The Red Raiders won their first girls cross country title in school history with a score of 42 over second-place James Island, which finished with a score of 69. The Greenville boys won their second title in a row, this time with a score of 70 over second-place Eastside, which finished with a score of 114.
On the individual front, Lyerly, a Tennessee commit, topped all girls' times with an 18:31.67, with sophomore Cara Grace Phillips, and junior Amelia Gray both finishing in the top 10. For the boys, Young finished with a meet-best 15:58.59, while senior Roger Brown added a sixth-place finish.
Note: Team scores are tallied by combining the top five runners' finishing positions. The team with the lowest number of points wins, i.e. Greenville had runners finish in first place, fourth, eighth, 12th and 17th. Its score of 42 is the sum of those five runners' finishing positions.
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Both Bates and her co-head coach Bob Collins rave about this team's chemistry, citing it as one of the reasons why the Red Raiders have been so dominant lately in not only cross country, but going back to track in the spring when they also won the boys and girls AAAA state title.
"We don't distinguish between the teams except when we get to meets and they have to race girls with the girls and boys with the boys. Otherwise, they train together and work out together," Collins said.
"I think that (training together) really benefits them. We have several captains that work together to lead the team, and it's just really special to watch," Bates said.
Both boys and girls teams will look to take the recent success and build on it with three of the top four boys runners returning next season, including Young. As for the girls, five of their top six will be back.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: SCHSL cross country: Greenville wins boys, girls state titles
