Timberland High School senior runner Cayden Chance is the sixth annual Best of Prep Sports male cross country runner of the year.
Chance placed sixth out of 111 runners in the Class AA state meet for the second straight season in November and bettered his junior time by more than 20 seconds at the Clemson Sandhill Research Center in Columbia. The Erskine College signee is a repeat winner of the Best of Prep Sports cross country award.
He crossed the line in the state race with a time of 16:50.96, guiding the Wolves to a fourth-place finish as a team. A year earlier, Chance shaved off almost a full minute from his sophomore time at state to pace the Wolves in a fourth-place finish.
He’s proven to be a natural on the trails at the St. Stephen school.
“Sergeant Hodges came out and was recruiting for cross country and I could run a mile so I thought maybe a 5K wouldn’t be too much harder,” Chance said in a Berkeley County School District student spotlight video last year. “I came out here and loved every second of it. I’ve not looked back since. I’ve got some really good teammates right behind me. They always push me forward.”
Also in the fall, Chance recorded victories in the Wolf Run, the Sumter Gamecock XC meet and the Class AA state qualifier in Newberry. He also placed second in the Region 7-AA championship and third in the Iron Horse Derby.
Chance doubled up on his responsibilities as a student-athlete. He was one of the school’s top performers academically and ran track for the Wolves before graduating in December.
