Myrtle Beach’s Epstein nets win in high school portion of Coastal Carolina Invitational cross country meet

Myrtle Beach’s Ethan Epstein earned an individual win in the high school portion of the Coastal Carolina Invitational cross country meet Friday night.

Epstein finished in 17:21.98, winning by more than 12 seconds in a finish that included four area runners in the top five.

Carolina Forest’s Michael Pieterse was second (17:34.34), Myrtle Beach’s Tyler Flannelly was fourth (18:57.94) and Aynor’s Joe O’Neil placed fifth (19:19.53).

Aynor’s Dustin Squires (seventh, 20:36.21) and North Myrtle Beach’s Matthew Taylor (ninth, 21:00.40) also earned top-10s.

The Blue Jackets finished second as a team behind Rutherford (Fla.). The Seahawks were third and the Panthers took fourth.

In girls action, Myrtle Beach’s Morgan Apperson and Kailey Flannelly placed fourth (22:18.85) and ninth (23:14.24), respectively. North Myrtle Beach’s Wilson Jenerette (eighth, 23:07.26) and Aynor’s Bailey Johnson (10th, 23:36.60) also had top-10 finishes.

Carolina Forest placed third and Myrtle Beach and Aynor tied for fourth in the team standings, which was topped by Ashley Hall.

This story was originally published September 11, 2015 at 10:30 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach’s Epstein nets win in high school portion of Coastal Carolina Invitational cross country meet."