The Raptor Cross Country team is looking forward to an excellent season, one of the biggest teams we have here at Magnet, and maybe the one with the most talent. This team is filled with athletes from all ages, including six seniors, eighteen juniors, seventeen sophomores, eleven freshmen, and one eighth-grader. This team has a solid core of leaders with ages spread across all grades. We are all hoping this program should stay strong for years to come. 

The Six Seniors: Marly Abdelmalek(12), Zadie Hawk(12), Julia Koch(12), Vanessa Nguyen(12), Kate Stahle-Smith(12), Brayden Bunt(12)

The Eighteen Juniors: Nicholas Ballenger(11), Ryland Bender(11), Mia Dewey(11), Madeleine Flessas(11), Lane Hawk(11), Jamison Kubu(11), Alexander Matheson(11), Isabella Reilly(11), Elizabeth Sams(11), Sophie Skaff(11), Allison Wang(11), Elizabeth Wheelon(11), Andy Wong(11), Hayes de Arellano(11), Colton Reilly(11), Quentin Reilly(11), Lowery Rissmiller(11), Samuel Fletcher(11), 

The Seventeen Sophomores: Cate Angle(10), Parker Blessinger(10), Taylor Cheng(10), Natalie Cina(10), Ian Clair(10), Jake Forte(10), Zoey Gebhart(10), Ivy Gunn(10), Lucille Harper(10), Sarah Lewis(10),  Ailin Norales(10), Nicholas Ramirez(10), John Rosato(10), Evie Hassid(10), Dora Wang(10), Beckett Schleier(10), Vivian Rachman(10), 

The Eleven Freshman: Ronald Armeson(9), Katherine Crean(9), Myla Fletcher(9),  Sona Harris(9), Caleb Hays(9), Dylan Johnson(9),  Saylour LoVallo(9), Carson Maxwell(9), Jack Mebane(9), Lillian Pastre(9), Mary Davis(9), 

The Lone Eight-Grader: Verde Vasilevski(8)

Schedule

The schedule this year has the team traveling all over Charleston and even the state as they even have to travel to Newberry. This season should be an interesting one, but this season is shaping up to be very successful.

08/16 7:20AM Creating Waves 5k  at Summerville High School

08/30 8:00AM Eye Opener 2025 at Roger Milliken Center

09/13 9:15AM Warrior Invitational  at Waccamaw High School

09/27 9:30PM Starlight Invitational at Riverside High School

10/11 TBA Bob Jenkins Classic  at Newberry College

10/22 4:30PM Region VI-AA  at Middleburg Plantation

The Age Gap

One thing that comes with the wide range of ages present on the team is the opportunity for great leadership roles to be taken by the seniors. The average Eighth grader is around 13-14 years old and the average freshman is about 14-15. These young runners will need some older people to look up to, and with the average age for a high school senior being about 17-18, this opens up numerous opportunities for mentoring and growth on the team. While I don’t know if any of the seniors have taken any of the younger students under their wing, I strongly encourage this as some of these younger people might be running for a while and the knowledge they gain from the seniors could be very beneficial.

How to Cheer on the Team

While people may not first think of Cross Country when thinking about sports to watch, it is actually quite nice, Besides the length the races are great because you get to watch people run by, while also enjoying everything that nature has to offer, as many of these courses are in pretty nice places. For example, this year they go to Newberry College, a beautiful campus, and also they run at Middleburg Plantation, which are 2 great places to watch a race. If you aren’t able to make it to any races this season, maybe clear the schedule for next year.