Fort Mill, Catawba Ridge And Nation Ford Post Top 15 Finishes At Eye Opener

All three Fort Mill School District high schools placed inside the top 15 in every varsity race they entered at the 2026 Eye Opener cross country meet in Spartanburg, led by top five team finishes from the Fort Mill High School and Catawba Ridge High School girls.

The meet was held at the Roger Milliken Center, with results posted for Saturday, Sept. 5. Fort Mill, Catawba Ridge and Nation Ford High School each entered varsity boys and girls teams along with junior varsity squads, and the district put more than 200 runners on the course across six divisions.

The three schools were split across two varsity divisions. Catawba Ridge ran its girls in the Championship race, the meet’s deepest field. Fort Mill and Nation Ford ran their girls in the International race, and all three schools ran their boys in the International race.

Catawba Ridge girls fourth in Championship race

Catawba Ridge took fourth out of 45 teams in the Championship girls race with 278 points, behind Spartanburg with 107, River Bluff with 154 and Westminster Schools of Augusta with 231.

Junior Olivia Gillespie was the school’s top finisher, placing 18th overall in 21 minutes, 25.8 seconds. Junior Morgan Hartley followed in 23:07.8 and junior Dorothy Artley ran 23:13.0. Sophomore Adele Beard and junior Karley Johnson finished within a half second of each other in 23:31.7 and 23:32.2 to complete the scoring.

Senior Maeve Beard (24:10.4) and junior Nicole Bauer (24:15.0) rounded out the varsity seven, and freshman Hadley Cordes ran 25:53.9.

Photos by Larry Mull, https://www.larrymullphoto.com/

Fort Mill girls third and boys fifth

The Fort Mill girls finished third out of 41 teams in the International race with 198 points, behind North Lincoln with 87 and Chapin with 152.

Sophomore Lauren Allen led the way in 19:52.2, the fastest time posted by any runner from the three district schools in either girls division. Senior Kaylee Rovenstine ran 20:01.2 and senior Mia Zook ran 20:04.4, putting three Fort Mill runners in the top 30. Junior Bailey Nolin (20:36.9) and sophomore Isabel Morstad (21:17.7) closed the scoring, with the five separated by 1:25.5.

The Fort Mill boys took fifth in the International race with 261 points in a field of 45. Senior Hudson Haley was 21st in 16:11.2 and junior Owen Ware was 30th in 16:22.1. Senior Ben Madej (16:59.4), freshman Ian Zook (17:14.0) and sophomore Jacob Audley (17:19.6) completed the scoring, giving Fort Mill a spread of 1:08.4.

Catawba Ridge boys 12th and Nation Ford 15th

Catawba Ridge placed 12th in the International boys race with 406 points. Sophomore Lincoln Smith ran 16:35.5 and senior Ryan Pierson ran 16:44.1, both inside the top 50 overall. Junior Tyler Merrigan (17:22.7), junior William Kowalski (17:49.4) and junior Landry Macdonald (18:01.1) finished the scoring.

Nation Ford was 15th with 442 points and had the tighter pack of the two. Freshman Sparsh Vaghani led in 16:47.3, followed by junior Alex Royall in 17:17.0, senior Robert Saddler in 17:25.2, eighth grader Richard Bailey in 17:35.7 and freshman Alejandro Luna in 17:59.1. Nation Ford’s five scorers finished within 1:11.8.

The Nation Ford girls took 20th in the International race with 590 points. Senior Haley Garcia was the top finisher in 20:32.1, followed by freshman Eva Mabey in 21:23.6 and junior Karson Woodring in 22:00.1.

Photos by Larry Mull, https://www.larrymullphoto.com/

Junior varsity results

Fort Mill won the junior varsity girls race with 59 points, edging Lexington by one. Seventh grader Sloane Brunelli was third in 22:59.7 and junior Chloe Henson was fourth in 23:02.2. Catawba Ridge was 14th in the same race, led by freshman Audrey Johnson in 24:43.8.

In the junior varsity boys race, Fort Mill placed second with 93 points behind Lexington, Catawba Ridge was seventh with 279 and Nation Ford was 18th with 596. Freshman Nolan Sova (18:19.1) and senior Reeves Parker (18:32.7) went ninth and 10th for Fort Mill. Junior Anderson Harden led Catawba Ridge in 19:59.8 and seventh grader Asher Clemente led Nation Ford in 20:58.9.

Other York County programs on the course included South Pointe, which took 16th in the International boys race, Clover in 31st and Lake Wylie in 37th.

Full results for every division are posted through the meet’s timing provider. Schedules for all three schools are listed on the Fort Mill School District athletics pages.

Varsity Results Box

Fort Mill School District finishers in the varsity races. Overall place, name, grade, time.

Championship Girls, Catawba Ridge (fourth, 278 points)

18. Olivia Gillespie, junior, 21:25.8
19. Morgan Hartley, junior, 23:07.8
20. Dorothy Artley, junior, 23:13.0
21. Adele Beard, sophomore, 23:31.7
22. Karley Johnson, junior, 23:32.2
23. Maeve Beard, senior, 24:10.4
24. Nicole Bauer, junior, 24:15.0
25. Hadley Cordes, freshman, 25:53.9

International Girls, Fort Mill (third, 198 points)

25. Lauren Allen, sophomore, 19:52.2
26. Kaylee Rovenstine, senior, 20:01.2
27. Mia Zook, senior, 20:04.4
28. Bailey Nolin, junior, 20:36.9
29. Isabel Morstad, sophomore, 21:17.7
30. Rachel Vinson, senior, 21:35.7
31. Emerson Beightol, eighth grade, 21:51.3
32. Charlotte Spatola, sophomore, 21:52.2
33. Eve Zook, seventh grade, 22:22.9
34. Leah Ackerman, senior, 22:46.7
35. Kaitlin Huggins, eighth grade, 22:50.0

International Girls, Nation Ford (20th, 590 points)

45. Haley Garcia, senior, 20:32.1
46. Eva Mabey, freshman, 21:23.6
47. Karson Woodring, junior, 22:00.1
48. Annabelle Clemente, freshman, 22:47.5
49. Sofia Gibbs, freshman, 22:49.8
50. Madison Frazier, junior, 22:51.2
51. Elise Posko, senior, 23:00.3
52. Madison Littlehale, junior, 23:40.6
53. Brooklyn Cox, freshman, 24:13.0

International Boys, Fort Mill (fifth, 261 points)

21. Hudson Haley, senior, 16:11.2
22. Owen Ware, junior, 16:22.1
23. Ben Madej, senior, 16:59.4
24. Ian Zook, freshman, 17:14.0
25. Jacob Audley, sophomore, 17:19.6
26. Greyson Pogalz, junior, 17:38.1
27. Liam Doheny, sophomore, 17:40.7
28. Preston Cullen, senior, 17:54.2
29. Will Raymond, freshman, 17:59.3
30. Zack Larner, senior, 18:16.9
31. Wyatt Gremillion, junior, 18:49.7

International Boys, Catawba Ridge (12th, 406 points)

38. Lincoln Smith, sophomore, 16:35.5
39. Ryan Pierson, senior, 16:44.1
40. Tyler Merrigan, junior, 17:22.7
41. William Kowalski, junior, 17:49.4
42. Landry Macdonald, junior, 18:01.1
43. Ethan Broyles, junior, 18:14.6
44. Mason Greear, senior, 18:23.7
45. Thomas Peterson, sophomore, 19:13.1
46. Justin Silverman, junior, 19:25.6
47. Kushal Yedugani, junior, 19:58.7
48. Owen Sibley, senior, 20:39.4

International Boys, Nation Ford (15th, 442 points)

50. Sparsh Vaghani, freshman, 16:47.3
51. Alex Royall, junior, 17:17.0
52. Robert Saddler, senior, 17:25.2
53. Richard Bailey, eighth grade, 17:35.7
54. Alejandro Luna, freshman, 17:59.1
55. Caleb Henry, senior, 18:50.8
56. Carter Clary, freshman, 19:08.9
57. Ethan Haynes, eighth grade, 19:23.5
58. Isaiah Moorman King, sophomore, 19:28.4
59. Semyak Madeyanda, sophomore, 19:33.3
60. Caleb Nieves, senior, 19:44.0