The Heathwood Hall Lady Highlanders cross country team began the 2009 season with a respectable third place finish (out of 7 schools) at the Ben Lippen Invitational cross country meet on August 25. 
Led by freshman Brook Grice (5th place out of 45 runners) and 7th grader Sydney Ellen(13th place of 45), the Lady Highlanders defeated SCISA foes Cardinal Newman, Orangeburg Prep, and Augusta Christian on the hilly Ben Lippen course.  
In the Skyhawk Invitational the Lady Highlanders showed significant improvement .  
Grice ran a personal best time of 20:17 over the 5K course and finished in 5th place out of 63 runners.
Sydney Ellen also ran a PR (22:31) with a 15th place finish.  
The Highlanders 4th place finish (just two points behind Ben Lippen) came at a meet that featured SCISA cross country powerhouses ST. Joseph’s (defending state champions), Hammond, and Ben Lippen.  
Cardinal Newman, Pinewood Prep, Wilson Hall, and Orangeburg Prep rounded out the 5th through 8th place spots.
The young team features only one upper classman (junior and first year runner Leigh Yarborough) four sophomores, one freshman and eight middle school student-athletes.  
The loss of 5 of the top 7 runners from last year creates voids that will have to be filled by a very young and inexperienced group.  
The summer training (the girls collectively ran over 1,000 miles) and determination to be competitive should help the Heathwood girls team make steady progress during their rebuilding season. 
While it will be difficult to improve on their 5th place finish at the SCISA State Championship last year, look for the Lady Highlanders to lay the foundation for what promises to be a very competitive group of runners in the future.