Aiken, Augusta Prep shine at meet

Aiken and Augusta Prep shined during Saturday's Augusta Prep Cross Country Invitational, a meet that featured over 400 runners from across the Southeast.

The Hornets finished first on the boys side, led by Sam McGill , who completed the course in 17:32 and was second overall in the individual competition. Aiken's Andrew Sherburne finished seventh with a time of 18:53.

Augusta Prep's girls finished second overall, and its boys were fifth.

Amanda Murphy was second with a time of 20:14. She finished behind First Presbyterian's Grace Tinkey , a freshman who set an Augusta Prep course record by finishing in 18:18. The previous record had been held by former Augusta Christian runner Rebekah Madebach .

HORNETS CRUISE: In an interstate clash between two of the top volleyball teams in the area, Aiken rolled past Greenbrier 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-15) on Wednesday. The Hornets, ranked sixth in SCHSL Class AAAA, were led by Meredith Clemmens , who had 38 assists in the game.

"That is hands down the best team we've faced all year," Greenbrier coach Debbie Born said.

Kiki Hennessey chipped in with 10 kills, three aces and three digs for Aiken.

REACHING A MILESTONE: Curtis Baptist starting pitcher Nicole Young earned her 500th career strikeout during a game against Edmund Burke on Sept. 10. The four-year starter recorded eight strikeouts in the contest.

RANKING SHIFT: There was a little shake-up in the PrepCountry.com/GACA softball polls last week.

Screven County, undefeated at 15-0, rose to No. 4 in Class AA and now holds the distinction of being the area's highest-ranked team. Greenbrier, previously fourth in Class AAAAA, dropped a spot after losing three in a row. Evans, meanwhile, remains ranked eighth in Class AAAA.

In South Carolina volleyball, Fox Creek and Ridge Spring-Monetta joined Aiken as the area's only ranked squads.

The Lady Trojans are ninth while the Lady Predators are 10th in Class A.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK:

Today: Harlem at Evans, softball

Both teams are undefeated and playoff-bound. Barring something bizarre, these squads should go into the playoffs as the top two seeds out of Region 3-AAAA.

Today: Laurens at Wardlaw, volleyball

Wardlaw beat Laurens in the SCISA state championship in 2007.

Thursday: North Augusta at Aiken, tennis

Both girls teams made an appearance in the SCHSL Class AAAA playoffs last season.

Reach Joey Jones at (706) 823-3304 or joey.jones@augustachronicle.com.