By Thomas Grant Jr.
For the first time in school history, Northside Christian Academy has a state champion.
The Lady Crusaders won the SCISA Class 3A cross-country meet held Saturday at Heathwood Hall.
‘Winning the first school team state championship is pretty awesome,” head coach Stephen McNeill said. “We have a bunch of great student-athletes and teams at Northside. The girls’ cross-country team is super proud to represent our school as the first.”
Kendall Murray led the way with a time of 20:41. She, Jennifer and Madison Gause finished third through fifth place and all made All-State. McNeill also credited senior captain Natalie Walke for her leadership.
“We have girls who wanted to work hard and grow as a team off of last year. Last year showed them that hard work pays off. This team loves being together, encourages each other, and works hard to push each other.”
The Northside Christian Academy boys’ team placed eighth at the event.
Football team headed
To Class 3A playoffs
The Northside Christian Academy football team finished the regular season with a two-game winning streak to finish second in SCISA Region 3-2A.
The Crusaders defeated Spartanburg Christian Academy 55-27 on the road. Jefferson McCallum threw three touchdowns to John Lizewski and J.R. Kinard and Sam Burks both had two touchdowns.
Burks returned a fumble 99 yards for a touchdown.
Northside Christian will open the SCISA Class 2A playoffs at Colleton Prep. This is the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
PHOTO BY DEAN HOWELL – The Northside Christian Academy girls’ cross-country team
