NMB cross country teams have productive week

By John Smithson

The North Myrtle Beach High School boys and girls varsity cross country teams performed well in two meets last week. The Chiefs teams finished first and second in a four-team meet last Wednesday at North Myrtle Beach, then travelled to West Florence High School for the Pee Dee Classic on Saturday where the boys finished sixth and the girls took third in team standings.

In last Wednesday’s home meet the boys finished second to Carolina Forest and ahead of the Myrtle Beach and Loris teams. The Chiefs were led in the 5000-meter final by Jacob Koontz’s second place finish. Alexander D’Annunzio came in fifth, Halen Button took seventh and Christopher Gabriel was 19th to help the team scores.

The girls team took first place in the meet, followed by Carolina Forest, Myrtle Beach and Loris. The Chiefs took four of the first six places in the 5000, with Kailyn Brown anchoring the team with her first- place finish. Kayah Marquis was third, Isabel Smith fourth, Noa Ortiz sixth, Chandler Riley 10th, Ronan Donahue 11th, Peyton Long 15th and Jackie Horton 16th out of 31 runners. The meet was held at the North Myrtle Beach Sports Complex.

In last Saturday’s Pee Dee Classic, the Chiefs Jacob Koontz took fourth place in the finals of the 5000 meter run, Alex D’Annunzio was 16th and Halen Button came in 25th out of 136 runners from 21 teams at the meet. Nation Ford won the team event and North Myrtle Beach finished sixth.

In the girls competition, North Myrtle Beach’s Kailyn Brown finished fifth overall in the 5000 and Chief Kayah Marquis came in 20th out of 105 runners. The NMB girls also finished strong with a third place team ranking out of 20 girls teams.

The Chiefs had a scheduled meet this Tuesday with St. James and
then go away for the Darlington Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 3.