Thomas Sumter cross country teams both finish second

By Dennis Brunson

hssr.com Associate Editor’

Dalzell – The Thomas Sumter Academy girls cross country program has a rich history of strong teams in SCISA, no matter the classification.

This year’s edition added to that legacy in the AAA state meet at the Heathwood Hall course in Columbia on October 26. The TSA boys joined in the fun as well as both teams finished as state runners-up.

It was the first ever second-place finish for the boys under head coach Rob Coursey. The TSA girls finished second for the first time since 2021.

The Lady Generals finished with 61 points, 14 behind state champion Spartanburg Christian Academy. They were led by senior Kelsey Martin, finishing fourth in the individual competition. Martin finished in a time of 21 minutes, 44.29 seconds.

Freshman Skylar Spilker finished 13^th, eighth-grader Annie Boss 14^th and seventh-grader Keira Anderson 16^th, finishing within 0.31 seconds of each other.

Spilker finished in a time of 23:16.94, Boss in 23:34.17 and Anderson inn 23:47.00.

Senior Abbie Fisher rounded out the scoring lineup, finishing 22^nd in a time of 24:23.73. She was followed by eighth-grader Risden Dunlap in 29th with a time of 25:35.23. Freshman Kenleigh Anderson, who has been battling a knee injury, ran for the first time in several weeks, finishing 49^th in 32:57.70,

“This year with the girls we just had so much success,” said TSA head coach Rob Coursey, who just completed his 10^th season in charge of the cross country program. “We had three different No. 1 runners all year in Skylar, AJ Fisher and Martin. 

“A lot of those girls had to step up. Once Kenley went out and Hannah Burnside (who was unable to run in the state meet) stepped in, we had to adjust. It was good to be able to see. It was just one of those seasons that was collectively good.”

Shannon Forest dominated the boys meet, placing all five of its scoring runners in the top eight to finish with 24 points. However, the battle for the runner-up trophy was a tight one. TSA claimed it with 72 points, edging Spartanburg Christian by one point.

“I thought we were poised to do something really good,” Coursey said. “It was just doing what we've done all year. It was a nice ending for that group.”

Sophomore Nate Livingston crossed the finish line with a time of 17:52.20. Freshman Ty Fisher and eighth-grader Ashton Pierce finished 12^th and 13^th, respectively, with times of 18:44.39 and 18:57.11.

Seventh-grader Wyatt Swinehart finished 21^st in 19:21.72 and sophomore Henry Sturkey finished 23rd in 19:42.55.

Though unlikely known at the time, Sturkey was in a battle with Spartanburg Christian’s Nelson Abuzeid to determine the second-place team. Abuzeid finished 23^rd in 19:44.44, less than two seconds behind Sturkey.

“Before the meet, I told Henry he was going to have to be the guy,” Coursey said. “We knew about our 1-2-3 guys all year. I told him, ‘You’re the guy that’s going to have to step up and be the key for us.’ Sturkey was just that guy.”

Eighth-grader Aiden Pierce finished 35^th in 22;21.08. Senior Trent Spilker started the race but was unable to finish due to an injury.

Both teams will return all the runners who scored in the state meet.