Chargers Rewrite the Record Book at York County Championship: 31 PRs on a Tough Catawba Bend Course
Meet Recaps | By Coach Christopher Young
ROCK HILL, S.C., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026. Catawba Bend Preserve is no cakewalk. The hilly grass-and-trail course climbs about 225 to 250 feet. On Saturday, Lake Wylie answered it with the best day of its young history. At the Bob Jenkins York County XC Championship, 34 of the Chargers' 46 finishers ran either a personal record or a season best. That was 31 PRs and three season bests. Annalise Taylor won the women's JV race, and both varsity squads raced with five days to go before the Region 3-4A Championship.
The Chargers did it with no seniors. The women's varsity seven included two eighth graders, a freshman and a sophomore, and the men's JV was led by an eighth grader.
Women's Varsity Third of Nine
The women's varsity scored 85 points for third, behind Nation Ford and Northwestern, who tied at 61. Nation Ford won the tiebreak. Zoë Miller (So.) led the Chargers in sixth place in 20:10.3. Behind her came one of the tightest packs in the county. Runners two through six finished within 32 seconds of each other, and four of them ran PRs:
Madeline Bessman (Jr.), 15th, 21:06.6 (PR)
Emerson Riha (8th), 19th, 21:24.8 (PR)
Makenna Young (Jr.), 22nd, 21:31.8 (PR)
Eva Quintana (Fr.), 23rd, 21:38.2 (season best)
June Woodard (8th), 24th, 21:38.6 (PR)
Erika Holley (Jr.) rounded out the top seven in 22:29.7 (40th).
Men's Varsity Sixth of 11
Nation Ford won the men's varsity race with 49 points, and Lake Wylie was sixth with 138. Maitland Vanourny (So.) placed 11th in 16:48.1. That's a PR and the fastest 5K he has run anywhere, faster even than his 16:50.20 on the track. Wesley Rowland (Jr.) was 21st in a season-best 17:36.2, and Gavin Burton (Jr.) was 27th (17:48.4). Aiden Lomas (Jr.) ran a PR 18:12.0 for 39th, and William Kolodziej (Jr.) was 40th in 18:16.5, cutting 53.5 seconds off his season best. Owen Vanourny (So.) (46th, 18:32.0, PR) and Sahij Gill (Jr.) (55th, 18:55.7) completed the varsity seven.
Women's JV: A Win and a Runner-Up Finish
Annalise Taylor (Jr.) won the women's JV race in 22:08.8, a PR by 58.8 seconds. Evelyn Blackmon (Fr.) was third in a PR 22:45.0, and Aideen Maloney (8th) fifth in a PR 22:59.4. The Chargers finished second of nine teams with 51 points, behind Fort Mill (42). Eight of the 10 women's JV runners ran a PR.
Men's JV Fifth of 10
In a field of 194, the men's JV scored 101 points for fifth. Nation Ford won with 39. Eighth grader Nicolas Galante placed seventh in a PR 18:24.8, and freshman Mason Berryhill was right behind in eighth in a PR 18:28.0. Both times would have ranked sixth and seventh among the Lake Wylie varsity men. Sixteen men's JV runners ran a PR.
Personal Records, Biggest Drop First
1. Alex Laney (Fr.), 31:07.6 (−2:39.0) | 14. Evan Taylor (Fr.), 19:58.0 (−35.1) |
2. Samantha Brett (8th), 37:13.9 (−1:53.1) | 15. Thomas Kane (So.), 19:44.6 (−33.4) |
3. Esteban Molina-Peña (Jr.), 22:20.2 (−1:35.8) | 16. Oliver Markowski (7th), 21:42.4 (−25.3) |
4. Stephanie Ammon (8th), 27:01.8 (−1:30.2) | 17. Alexa Morrissey (7th), 25:22.6 (−24.6) |
5. Megan Blackmon (Jr.), 24:46.0 (−1:01.2) | 18. James Galbraith (So.), 19:23.0 (−21.9) |
6. Annalise Taylor (Jr.), 22:08.8 (−58.8) | 19. Emerson Riha (8th), 21:24.8 (−21.2) |
7. Michael Cruser (So.), 20:42.5 (−55.2) | 20. Madeline Bessman (Jr.), 21:06.6 (−17.2) |
8. Mason Berryhill (Fr.), 18:28.0 (−46.4) | 21. June Woodard (8th), 21:38.6 (−13.7) |
9. Nicolas Galante (8th), 18:24.8 (−44.0) | 22. Makenna Young (Jr.), 21:31.8 (−11.2) |
10. Aideen Maloney (8th), 22:59.4 (−43.6) | 23. Evelyn Blackmon (Fr.), 22:45.0 (−10.4) |
11. Jocelyn Haynes (So.), 27:30.5 (−43.5) | 24. Maitland Vanourny (So.), 16:48.1 (−5.1) |
12. Owen Vanourny (So.), 18:32.0 (−38.1) | 25. Aiden Lomas (Jr.), 18:12.0 (−1.7) |
13. Flint Young (8th), 21:02.1 (−37.7) |
Jonah Vance (8th, 20:08.7), Ashton Feliberty (Fr., 21:26.3), Shane Cole (Jr., 21:51.4), Liam Heath (Fr., 22:26.7), Benjamin Schaff (So., 22:39.5) and Austin Lowe (8th, 24:27.9) also ran PRs.
Up Next: Region on Home Ground
The Chargers host the Region 3-4A Championship on Thursday, Oct. 22, at 5:15 p.m. It's the first step in a push to send both the men's and women's teams to the state championship, a first for Lake Wylie cross country in the school's inaugural year. Stay on the grind, believe in the unbelievable and cement the legacy.
LET'S GO, LAKE WYLIE CHARGERS! ⚡️
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