Over the past couple of weeks, Ella Nighbor has put together an extraordinary run of accomplishments. After winning the 1600m and 3200m South Carolina state championship titles on May 14, she went on to address her senior class as Valedictorian at graduation on Thursday, May 28. She then capped off the week by winning the steeplechase at the NCRunners Elite Tune-Up in Concord, NC, where she set a new facility record at Jay M. Robinson High School and established a new personal best of 6:55.03. This season, Ella has also set South Carolina state records in both the 5K and the 2K steeplechase. She is scheduled to compete at New Balance Nationals in Pennsylvania, racing the 5K on June 18, followed by the 2K steeplechase on June 20. She currently ranks among the top 10 in the nation in the steeplechase, and her 16:40 in the 5K stands as one of the top five times nationally. Keep up the great work, Ella! South Carolina is rooting for you! #GamecocksXC

NIGHBOR & JAGIELSKI GO 1–2 IN THE 1600 CLOVER BOYS 4x800 BREAK 8:00 IN A HISTORIC SCHSL 5A D1 STATE CHAMPIONSHIP Ella Nighbor swept the 1600 and 3200, breaking a 21-year state meet record and delivering what is arguably the greatest girls distance double in recent SCHSL championship history. Ava Jagielski ran a lifetime best to finish second in the 1600, and the Clover boys 4x800 shattered the school record in 7:53.44 to earn a place on the state podium. A historic day in Columbia for the Blue Eagles. Spring Valley High School, Columbia, S.C. — May 14, 2026 From the Trackside It was a bittersweet close to the 2026 track and field season. With part of the program set to split between Clover and Lake Wylie High School next year, and with several foundational seniors racing for the final time, the Blue Eagles closed the SCHSL 5A Division I State Championships with the kind of day most programs spend years chasing. Clover left Columbia with two individual state titles, three personal records, multiple top-8 finishes, and a school record in the boys 4x800. More importantly, the Blue Eagles left with performances that reshaped the program’s history. Lady Eagles Rise Girls 4x800m Relay — Setting the Tone 13th Place | 10:12.02 (seeded 10:10.20 — right on seed) The Blue Eagles opened the distance portion of the meet with the girls 4x800. The quartet of Jackie Kirk, Makenna Young, Nadia Andrews, and Kaya Best competed in one of 5A’s deepest fields and held their own, finishing within seconds of their seeded entry time. The 4x800 has long served as the early-meet barometer for effort, composure, and willingness to compete, and the girls established that tone before Nighbor, Jagielski, and the rest of the distance squad took the track. Ella Nighbor (Sr., South Carolina commit) — Double State Champion ☘️ 1600m: 1st Place | 4:56.28 (entered as #1 seed) ☘️ 3200m: 1st Place | 10:43.17 (new SCHSL 5A state meet record) Nighbor capped her Clover career by climbing to the top of the podium twice. A year after winning the 1600 and placing sixth in the 3200, she returned determined to complete the double, and she did exactly that. Her all-time PRs of 4:54.36 in the 1600 and 10:26.58 in the 3200 remain the standard, so both races came just off her lifetime bests in what were true championship efforts rather than chase-the-clock performances. This double cements her as the most accomplished female distance runner in Clover history and one of the best in state history: four individual state titles, a team cross country state title, 13 school track records including relays, a 5K best of 16:40.44, a 2K steeplechase mark of 6:58.71, numerous event and facility records, and multiple state records. In evaluating the best 1600/3200 doubles ever produced on a championship day in South Carolina, Nighbor’s performance is among the very top. After breaking Kate Niehaus’s 21-year-old 3200 record for Spring Valley, Nighbor surpassed the combined doubles Niehaus produced in 2005 and 2006. Niehaus ran 4:59.14 and 10:47.72 for a 15:46.86 total in 2005, then 4:55.45 and 10:48.29 for a 15:43.74 total in 2006. Nighbor’s combined performance was better than both: 4:56.28 + 10:43.17 = 15:39.45 With only about an hour between races, her 10:43.17 now stands as the SCHSL state meet 3200-meter record — the Viking mark finally falling to a Blue Eagle. Ella heads to the University of South Carolina with tremendous momentum. @CHS_BlueEagles @BlueEagleAD @LKWChargerAD @lwhschargers @YCPrepSports #CloverXCTF

Ella Nighbor wins another state title in the 3200m and shatters the 21-year-old state record! She took down Kate Niehaus’s 2005 mark of 10:47.72 with a blazing new South Carolina state record of 10:43.17! 🔥 @lwhschargers @LKWChargerAD @BlueEagleAD @CHS_BlueEagles @YCPrepSports

Ella Nighbor and Ava Jagielski take 1st and 2nd in the 1600 meters!!! @LKWChargerAD @lwhschargers @CHS_BlueEagles @BlueEagleAD @YCPrepSports SO AMAZING!!! Let’s go!!!!!!