Often overlooked, but never out-toughed, here are the 2020 'South of the Border' honors recognizing the overall girls' "Runner of the Year' (ROY) and district runner of the year if not selected as overall ROY. All South of the Border squads coming Monday evening.
'South of the Border HS Girls ROY'
Kiley Murphy of Brookstone is the South of the Border HS Girls ROY.
Only a sophomore, we should be seeing much more of the Brookstone Cougar for another two and a half years. Murphy was a busy girl this Fall competing in 13 races! She won eight races, putting herself on the map with an early win at the Bob Blastow 3-mile going 18:25 in 'race 2'. She also had big wins at Waffle House (Alabama) and the championship race at Carrollton Orthopaedic (19:17) Murphy was unchallenged in the A-Private state race clocking a 19:10 for the title and ended the high school season with a PR of 17:54 at RunningLaneXC Nationals.
Southeast District Girls 'ROYS'
Kendall Lynes of Savannah Christian is co-Southeast district Girls ROY.
Only a junior, Lynes from Savannah Christian Prep is one of the most improved runners 'South of the Border' and in A-Private. After a 19th place finish in 2019, Kendall shot all the way up to 4th overall improving her time at Carrollton 1:19 down to 20:08. With the exception of Carrollton Orthopaedic (21:18) back in the brutal mid-September heat, Lynes raced exclusively in the Savannah area where she won eight races including the region title.
Candace Kieffer is co-Southeast District Runner of the Year.
The junior from Effingham County enjoyed a splendid season. She actually bested Kendall Lynes twice when they raced head to head. Not sure how this was possible, but she raced 16 times this season in four different states including Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia. Her PR of 18:48 was achieved at
RunningLane XC Nationals, She won 8 of those races including the 2-AAAAAA region title, and was 11th overall in class 6A at GHSA state posting an 18:43.