Recapping fall season away from the gridiron in tri-county

The fall season is beginning to come to a close in the tri-county. The South Carolina High School League football playoffs begin Nov. 15, and we're two weeks into the SCISA football postseason, which wraps up with a weekend of championship games Nov. 22-23.

Outside of SCHSL cross country, which hosts its state qualifying races the weekend of Nov. 16-17, the fall season is done away from the gridiron, so here's a look at how the local programs fared.

SCISA CROSS COUNTRY

The highest achievement in the tri-county this fall, at least so far, came in SCISA cross country.

The Wilson Hall boys won a SCISA state title, while their girls finished as runners-up in 4A. In 3A, both the boys and girls from Thomas Sumter finished as state runners-up.

The Barons were anchored by a record-breaking performance from Caulder Williamson. He set a new school record with a time of 15:49.08, finishing seven seconds behind Heathwood Hall's Jack Wilcox to claim second in the race.

As a team, they beat John Paul II by just one point thanks to an eighth-place finish by Trip Hunt, an 11th-place finish from Abel Ayres, a 17th-place finish from Ben Rabon and a 33rd-place finish from Gavin Getz, who beat his previous personal best by more than a minute to clinch the title.

The girls shined, too, as Molly Jones broke her own school record for the second time this year with a time of 18:47.56. Mary Ellen Thorne and Emmie Williamson, who finished ninth and 10th, respectively, would've each broken the previous school record with their electric performances, which both came quicker than 19:22. Mary and Jane Foley rounded out the scoring lineup in 16th and 24th to lead Wilson Hall to the second-place finish as a team.

The Thomas Sumter girls finished second behind Kelsey Martin, who finished fourth overall with a time of 21:44.29. Behind her, Skylar Spilker finished 13th, Annie Boss placed 14th, Keira Anderson finished 16th, and Abbie Fisher finished 22nd.

For the boys, Nate Livingston led the runner-up finish by placing fourth with a time of 17:52.20. He was followed by Ty Fisher in 12th, Ashton Pierce in 13th, Wyatt Swinehart in 21st and Henry Sturkey in 23rd.

SCISA GOLF

Another highlight came in SCISA golf, where Laurence Manning's Summer Carey finished second overall. She shot a 154 to finish as the state runner-up. As a team, Laurence Manning finished fifth, as Carol Ann Briggs shot 189 to finish 17th, followed by a 218 from Olivia Danback and a 222 from Anna Kate Beane to round out the scoring lineup. Campbell McInnis added a 263.

Wilson Hall finished just ahead of LMA as a team, placing fourth. Aviana Hicks finished in a tie for seventh by shooting a 171, just three strokes ahead of teammate Mary Katherine Dutcher in 10th. Frances Mac Elmore shot a 206, while Olivia Russell rounded out the scoring lineup with a 219.

SCHSL GOLF

Sumter High had their own excellent golf season, making it to the 5A Division I state championship for the first time in program history. The Lady Gamecocks finished in 11th as a team, shooting 785 across the two-day tournament. SHS was led by Jaylen Berry, who finished the first day with an 87 before shooting a 91 on the second day to shoot a 178. Mia Turner followed with a 189 across two days, improving by three strokes in her second round. Selah Berry shot a 205, while Kelly Gristwood shot 213 and Emme Bauer shot 283.

SCHSL VOLLEYBALL

The local public schools officially saw their seasons come to an end on Nov. 5, as East Clarendon was the last squad standing in the tri-county.

The Lady Wolverines finished second in Region VI-2A and opened the playoffs with a hard-earned 3-1 win over Woodland by scores of 25-22, 26-24, 23-25, 25-19. But EC had their hands full in the second round, traveling to North Central to face a squad that had lost just one set all year. They fell 25-10, 25-9, 25-15 to wrap up their season with a record of 9-10.

Four other SCHSL programs made the playoffs but made first-round exits. Sumter High traveled to Cane Bay in the 5A Division I playoffs, falling 25-14, 25-18, 25-20 to end their season with a record of 7-14.

Lee Central had the closest battle, falling to Horse Creek Academy after starter Kiyonna Austin suffered an injury during warmups. All three sets were close, but they ultimately fell 25-23, 25-18, 26-24.

Crestwood traveled to Aiken, calling 25-11, 25-15, 25-9.

Manning closed their season with a loss to Philip Simmons 25-1, 25-3, 25-5.

SCISA VOLLEYBALL

Four SCISA volleyball teams made it to the state tournament; Clarendon Hall elected to opt out of the final tournament of the year.

Wilson Hall finished 0-2 in a stacked SCISA 4A. The Barons fell to Ashley Hall 9-25, 25-20, 15-25 before suffering a 25-18, 25-16 loss to Ben Lippen.

In 2A, Lee Academy went 2-2, beating Holy Trinity 25-16, 20-25, 25-21. They fell to Laurens before beating Faith Christian 25-16, 25-19. Their season ended with a loss to Charleston Collegiate.

Thomas Sumter went 0-2, falling to Pee Dee Academy 25-14, 25-17 before falling to Greenwood Christian 25-9, 25-17.

SWIM

The Sumter High and Wilson Hall swim programs both had excellent performances in their respective state championships.

The Gamecocks brought a relay team for the first time in ages. Their relay team, which swam the 400 free and the 200 medley relay, placed 13th and 15th in SCHSL 5A Division I.

The biggest highlight was Jordan Hewett, who finished third in the 500 free and eighth in the 200 free. Anthony Benenhaley added eighth-place finishes in both the 100 butterfly and the 100 breaststroke. Both of them swam the relays with Gabriel Kirkhart and Jack Easton.

The Wilson Hall boys finished third as a team at the SCISA state championships. They were also led by a Hewett, Jordan's younger brother Jacob. He broke his own school record in the 200 individual medley, winning the state title by more than six seconds with a time of 2:00.35. He also won the 100 breaststroke state title while swimming on the school record 400 free relay team with Logan Schumacher, Stirling Tindal and Cliff Bath. That group finished third. The 200 free relay team finished second.

Other highlights included Bath finishing third in the 100 free, Shumacher finishing fourth in the 100 butterfly and fifth in the 200 free, Banks Smith finishing eighth in the 40 free and Tindal placing sixth in the 100 backstroke.

The Lady Barons were led by Mary Ellen Thorne's 10th-place finish in the 100 back and 10th-place 400 free relay team.

TENNIS

Manning was the lone local tennis team to win a playoff match, beating Hampton County 4-3 before falling to Williston-Elko 5-1. Tori Billups, Bridget McCabe and Tori McCabe all earned singles wins against HC, while Mary Esther McCabe and Autumn Grigg won in doubles. The doubles pair provided the lone win against W-E.

East Clarendon fell to McBee 4-3 in the first round.

In SCISA, Wilson Hall lost to Porter-Gaud 5-1 in the first round.