Ahead of the Region meet on Thursday, the Academic Magnet Boys and Girls Cross Country teams were invited to the Sandhills Invitational, an annual meet held in Lexington, South Carolina. It was the first time the Raptors competed in the meet, so it presented a new course and challenge for the runners. The invitational consisted of teams from all over South Carolina, a few from Georgia, and an additional team from Kentucky. Teams were divided into gold and green divisions depending on their size and classification.

The Raptors placed in both boys and girls, though the girls team competed in the gold division and the boys team competed in the green division. The girls team finished 1st place overall in group standings, totaling 60 points in their division. Magnet had two runners place in the top ten, Kate Kuisel and Annalise Hafner, who placed 2nd and 6th respectively. Kate ran a 20:03 5k, while Annalise clocked a 20:20 to thrust Academic Magnet into first place. Though the boys team claimed silver instead of gold, they placed second to Hilton Head High School by a slim margin of 7 points. Junior Colin Baker ran an impressive 15:32, finishing third among the pack. This set his new personal record according to online sources, beating out his 10th grade PR of a 16:30 in the 5000 meter (5k).

The cross country teams have now closed the regular season with the Sandhills Invitational. They will compete in the Regional, Lower State, and State meets in hoping to reclaim their title from three years ago.