Chargers Show Off Their Depth at South Pointe Last Chance, Lead Meet With 21 PRs
ROCK HILL, S.C., Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. Lake Wylie High School cross
country put its depth on full display Saturday at the South Pointe Last Chance meet, where runners from deep in the roster turned a season finale into a celebration. By staff plan, each team's top seven sat this one out, letting the Chargers' No. 8 runners and up take center stage. The varsity athletes made the trip anyway, cheering from the course.
The results spoke loudly. Both teams finished second, and 21 Chargers ran personal records: 18 men and three women.
It was a fast day for the whole field. Of the 218 finishers, 78 ran a 5K PR, or 36% (49 of 150 men and 29 of 68 women). Lake Wylie led every team by far, with 21 PRs from its 36 finishers. Next came Catawba Ridge with 13, Riverwalk and Northwestern with 12 each, South Pointe with 9, close friends Clover with 8, Rock Hill with 3 and Nation Ford with 0. More than a quarter of all the PRs in the meet belonged to Chargers.
Men take second of eight
South Pointe won the men's varsity team title with 32 points, and Lake Wylie placed second of eight teams with 59, ahead of Catawba Ridge (77), Riverwalk Academy (96) and close friends Clover (105).
William Kolodziej (Jr.) led the Chargers, placing eighth of 150 finishers in 18:44.73. Mason Berryhill (Fr.) was 10th in 18:47.78, and Thomas Kane (So.) was 12th in 18:48.05, a personal record by 47.91 seconds. Nicolas Galante (8th) took 13th in 18:50.01, and James Galbraith (So.) rounded out the scoring five in 16th at 19:07.24. Five Chargers inside the top 16 made for a tight, effective pack. The top 15 finishers earned medals, and four Chargers took one home: Kolodziej, Berryhill, Kane and Galante.
Women take second of six
Northwestern won the women's varsity race with 30 points, and Lake Wylie was second of six teams with 39.
Annalise Taylor (Jr.) ran the Chargers' top race, finishing second of 68 finishers in 22:19.74. Evelyn Blackmon (Fr.) and Aideen Maloney (8th) ran nearly side by side, placing fourth in 23:41.50 and fifth in 23:42.46. Alexa Morrissey (7th) was 16th in 25:33.19, and Megan Blackmon (Jr.) completed the scoring in 18th at 25:55.77. With medals going to the top 15, Taylor, Evelyn Blackmon and Maloney all medaled.
Personal records
Twenty-one Chargers set personal records, ranked by drop:
Viraj Shinde (So.), 23:19.82, −1:28.18
Austin Lowe (8th), 23:25.12, −1:02.70
Stephanie Ammon (8th), 26:11.39, −50.36
Thomas Kane (So.), 18:48.05, −47.91
Anderson Fillmore (8th), 21:17.73, −47.80
Alex Laney (Fr.), 29:44.91, −38.44
Esteban Molina-Peña (Jr.), 21:42.22, −37.91
Katharine Nielsen (7th), 28:55.56, −32.23
Benjamin Schaff (So.), 22:09.11, −30.31
Julian Baker (So.), 20:05.19, −19.95
Flint Young (8th), 20:50.37, −11.67
Ashton Feliberty (Fr.), 21:18.65, −7.61
Jocelyn Haynes (So.), 27:24.18, −6.27
Jaime Feliberty (So.), 22:27.80, −6.13
Oliver Markowski (7th), 21:35.71, −5.31
Liam Heath (Fr.), 21:17.51, −4.66
Matt Brabham (7th), 22:33.32, −4.54
Shane Cole (Jr.), 21:48.35, −2.98
Silas Althoff (Fr.), 20:37.11, −1.99
Rafael Gomez (Fr.), 25:22.18, −1.54
Liam Roberts (Fr.), 19:59.08, −0.11
Shinde and Lowe both broke through by more than a minute. Seventh grader Katharine Nielsen and eighth grader Stephanie Ammon showed that the middle-school ranks are already pushing the program forward.
A finale worth celebrating
For most of these runners, Saturday was the final race of the season, and they made it count. The team's pack running, its long list of personal records and two runner-up team finishes reflect a roster deep in talent and commitment in the program's inaugural year.
Thank you to South Pointe for hosting a well-run Last Chance meet, and to the Lake Wylie Parents Committee for supporting the team all season and again on Saturday.
Next up: Nov. 7
Attention now turns to the Nov. 7 state qualifier, where both the men's and women's teams will chase the first state championship berth in Lake Wylie cross country history. Saturday proved the Chargers have depth to match their front-runners, and the whole team will be cheering them on.
Let's go, Lake Wylie Chargers! ⚡️
Comments