Skyhawks are State Champs...again!
From Staff Reports

Photos by Jim Marczesky 2007 SCISA Girls Cross Country Champions - Hammond Skyhawks: (L- R) Front Row: Atieno Adongo,Gabbie Rhinehart (holding trophy), and Toni Priester; Back Row: Rachel Price, Margaret Deans Fawcett, Head Coach Noel Schuch, Coach Casey Andrews, Sarah Dobbs, and Mason Castles.

The Hammond Lady Skyhawks won their fourth consecutive SCISA 3A State Championship on Saturday, October 27 at Heathwood Hall It is their ninth state title in eleven years.

St. Joseph's Katie Lynam and Emily Coggins finished first and second individually, but all seven Hammond runners finished in the top 30 of 78 runners from 11 different schools. It was enough to give the Lady Skyhawks a 54 second advantage on total team time and 23 point win on team scores over St. Joseph's and Ashley Hall.

Gabbie Rhinehart led the Skyhawks by finishing sixth with a time of 20:26.25. Hammond's Atiemo Adongo edged Ben Lippen's top finisher Rebecca Bradley for tenth place.

Other Hammond runners finished as follows: Mason Castles (13), Rachel Price (14), Toni Priester (21), Sarah Dobbs (22) and Margaret Fawcett (26).

Photos by Jim Marczesky Gabbie Rhinehart was the first Skyhawk to cross the finish line and was 6th overall with a time of 20:26.25.

The Cardinal Newman Lady Cardinals finished in fifth place behind the efforts of their top finishers Anna Ruth Zubizaretta at 18th and Rebecca Brown at 19th.

The Ben Lippen Lady Falcons finished just behind the Lady Cardinals thanks to Bradley's 11th place finish and Emily Elliott's 32nd place finish.

Heathwood Hall's Louisa Lawton was the top runner of the Columbia area schools finishing fifth with a time of 20:24.97. Logan Ress came in sixteenth for the Highlanders. The team placed in seventh behind Ben Lippen.

The Ben Lippen Falcon's dominance of boys' cross country came to an end. St. Joseph's took the top spot followed by Wilson Hall and Porter- Gaud. The Falcons were the top Columbia area team finishing sixth in front of Heathwood Hall (7th), Hammond (8th), and Cardinal Newman (9th).

Wilson Hall's Trey Parker was the overall individual winner at 16:20.72 followed by Thomas Sumter's Eric Robertson (16:44.28), and Porter- Gaud's Conley Bryan (16:55.97). Ben Lippen's Zach Benefield was the top local finisher in sixth place with a time of 17:34.00. Burk Knowlton led Heathwood Hall with a 22nd place finish at 18:41.84. Arthur Corontzes was Hammond's top runner in 24th place at 18:49.75. Thomas Touma led Cardinal Newman with a 27th place finish and a time of 18:51.78.

Atiemo Adongo was the second Skyhawk to cross the finish line and was 10th overall with a time of 20:50.41. Cardinal Newman's Rebecca Brown finished 19th with a time of 21:21.41. She was just behind teammate Anna Ruth Zubizaretta at 21:18.09. Photos by Jim Marczesky Logan Ress was the second Highlander to cross the finish line and was 16th overall with a time of 21:03.56. Luisa Lawton led Heathwood Hall finishing 5th at 20:24.97.