Led by individual champ Jones, Waccamaw girls win state cross country title

The Warriors finally broke through.

After finishing runner-up in the Class AA state cross country meet three out of the last four years, Waccamaw earned its first title with a dominating victory Saturday at Sandhills Research Center in Columbia.

Led by Amelia Jones, who won her third straight individual state title, the Warriors finished with 53 points for a 39-point victory.

Asked what was the key this year, Waccamaw coach Brian White said “these girls wanting it.”

“They’ve been here and they’ve been so close,” he said. “We knew we had to grab hold to it and not let it go. That’s all it boils down to.”

Jones ran 19:21 to finish her career as a three-time champ and three other Warriors – Mary Butler Despain (ninth, 20:42), Biley Arnold (12th, 21:00) and Rylee Allison (13th, 21:06) – earned all-state honors by finishing in the top 15.

“We knew going into it (that) it was going to be between us and three or four other teams that were really good. We knew we had to go out and execute,” White said. “We talked about it and these girls went out and knew what needed to be done. They knew not to let anyone pass them, and when it came down to it they weren’t going to give up their spots.”

It was the final high school race for Jones, the latest in a series of Waccamaw runners who have helped build a program that has been a top-5 team in the state the last five years and a top-10 squad the last eight.

“She’s been important to our program,” White said. “Girls see her winning state championships and that makes it where you have a lot more kids who want to become involved. She’s the one who’s really been the catalyst in helping take the program to a new level.

“She’s a great inspiration and great leader for this team. The girls love her and they wanted to send her out a winner.”

Jones is the lone senior on the team, so White’s team will return several quality runners next year.

“Knowing that makes me feel really good about the future,” he said. “It’s a young team and they all ran very well today. It was a great team effort in this win.”

Ella Fata rounded out the Warriors’ top five in 19th (21:24) and Madeline Francke placed 20th (21:24) and Samantha Kelley was 28th (21:40).

The Waccamaw boys did their best to try to make it a sweep, placing second for the third straight year. The Warriors finished with 98 points, 69 behind winner Academic Magnet.

Perrin Jones (eighth, 17:11) earned all-state honors, and Jack Moody (19th, 17:32) and Matt Macleod (17:37) gave the Warriors three runners inside the top 20.

“The girls and boys both did awesome,” White said.

Maddox Wilkinson (26th, 17:53) and Robert Buffington (29th, 18:03) rounded out Waccamaw’s top five.

“Both teams are still young. The future is so great here,” White said of Waccamaw cross country as a whole. “We look forward as we move into AAA to compete and be in the same situation next year. Lots of (boys coach Robert Delbagno’s) kids are coming back along with what I have coming back. We have a bright future here at Waccamaw. It’s great to get that state championship. It makes a huge difference for our programs.”

Indeed. After coming so close for several years, the Warriors can now call themselves champs.

“Jubilation. Extreme enjoyment,” White said, describing his runners’ reaction after finding out they had won. “They accomplished something that had never been done. They talked about how this is history. They knew what (was at stake).”

Aynor’s Joey O’Neill was the area’s highest boys finisher as he was runner-up (16:35). Fellow Blue Jacket Bailey Johnson placed 22nd (21:27) in the girls’ race.

Class AAAA

Conway’s Kenia Smith placed 25th (20:04) and Alyssa Waibel was 61st (20:57) in the Class AAAA girls race.

Conway’s Shane Mooney was 33rd (16:49) and Carolina Forest’s Michael Pieterse placed 43rd (17:12) in the boys’ race.

Class AAA

Myrtle Beach’s Ethan Epstein (10th, 16:35) and Morgan Apperson (13th, 19:47) earned all-state honors in the Class AAA boys and girls races, respectively.

North Myrtle Beach’s Wilson Jenerette placed 35th (20:49) in the girls’ race, while Myrtle Beach’s Tyler Flannelly was 39th (17:41) in the boys’ run.

Class A

Green Sea Floyds’ Alfredo Vasquez placed 39th (19:23) in the Class A boys race.

This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 11:04 PM with the headline "Led by individual champ Jones, Waccamaw girls win state cross country title."