Varsity Men’s Lacrosse ended their season with their best record in a few years — 11-5 (3-3 region). The team lost in the first round of the playoffs against Dutch Fork.
“As a whole the season was very good,” Coach Matthew Fox said. “We lost our game against St James, which I thought we should’ve won, out of all the games we played it was a good and enjoyable season.”
He attributed a lot of the season’s success to seniors Rylan Hackett, Braeden Clay, Michael Goswick, Gavin Bolinger, and Skyler DeBruhl.
He is hopeful next season will be strong, too, because of returning players and new ones to come.
“I am cautiously optimistic to see what the next season will look like,” he said.
The Varsity Women’s Lacrosse team ended their season with a final record of 6-11. They lost in the first round of the playoffs against Chapin.
Injuries affected the season.
“We didn’t lose too many people due to injuries, but our players have to deal with ongoing injuries like ankle problems,” junior midfielder Brooke Bushnoe said.
The coaches subjected the players to extensive practices to build strength and encourage multiple skills, followed by 30-minute scrimmages against each other.
“We started off with shuttle lines, and practiced passing,” Brooke said. “Then, we did drills where we focused on offense first, then focused on our plays, and lastly we worked on defense.”
The team took losses as a lesson, Brooke said.
“We learned that it’s okay to lose,” she said. “We win some games and we lose some games, and from that all we can do is grow.”
The 2024 Season Men’s Varsity Soccer team had a final record of 13-7. They lost in the second round of the playoffs against Stratford.
They experienced a rough start this year with injuries of some key players, including defender senior Dylan Garcia. Over the course of the season, they regained their confidence and turned their bad luck into an opportunity to work harder and come together as a team.
“Everyone else got together and we’re doing the best we can,” senior defender Jose Cruz said toward the end of the season.
Their vigorous practices aided them in being successful on the field.
“Practices are intense sometimes; we have to do a lot of running, which is helpful with stamina and discipline,” said senior striker Carlos Rodriguez, who will play on Georgia Southern’s D1 team at college.
Coaches came up with creative ways to help players train physically, as well as build trust in each other.
“We would have a lot of fun practices like yesterday we went soccer golfing and it really helped us bond as a team,” senior forward Brian Vargas said.
Next season, the Mens Varsity Soccer team will be taking a big hit, as the majority of their players are graduating. But players feel if they keep using the skills they learned along the way and help their newcomers, they will still be successful.
“I would say the team is going to look pretty decent next year if all the players are keeping up with playing soccer, practicing, and overall getting ready for the next year,” Brian said.
Varsity Women’s Soccer ended its season with a record of 11-8-1 (5-3 region). The team lost in the first round of the playoffs against Ashley Ridge with a score of 0-4 .
The team battled injuries and loss of seniors from last year. They only had one senior defender, Charlotte Evans, return. Also, senior goalie Rachel Hernandez suffered an ACL injury pre-season.
The team also had to adjust to a new coach mid season, when Coach Jeffrey Church resigned and Assistant Coach Ms. Amanda Urbaniak stepped up to replace him.
Mrs. Urbaniak said Junior Paige Bailey, Senior Carson Barfeild, and Charlotte were strong players this season. A highlight of the season was winning their game against Myrtle Beach.
“They had not beat them in nine years,” she said. “We won that game in overtime with PKs, and it was one of the greatest feelings.”
She said the team should be “strong and competitive” next season.
“I can’t wait to see them play,” she said.
Varsity Men’s Baseball finished with a record of 6-20 (2-10 region).
Chone James said the best part about the season was getting to come together as a whole.
“There weren’t a lot of positives playwise, but the friendships and brotherhood were good,” he said, “like the whole team bleaching their hair because we made the playoffs.”
Overall, he thinks that the season was strong.
“Despite some setbacks there’s been improvement in practices and friendship,” he said.
The Varsity Girls Softball team finished their season with the final record of 2-11. They lost their first round of playoffs against Summerville High School with a score of 0-11.
“The loss of the seniors last year left an impact on our team,” freshman Kinley Byrd said.
Freshman Emma Meridith said the team “tried our best.”
She said a standout player was sophomore pitcher Ella Hinson.
“She got hurt many times but never gave up,” Emma said. “She encourages the whole team to become better.”
The next season will introduce new obstacles, such as the loss of senior pitcher Anna Reese Pratt.
“We are losing a senior that has been there since 7th grade which will negatively affect the team,” Freshman Kinley Bryd said, “but there are a bunch of new girls coming, so that’s good.”
Men’s Golf had a so-so season.
The team went to regions on April 29 and placed 5th overall. However, senior Talin Patel went to the lower states on May 7th and qualified for states.
“Talin Patel is truly one of the best members of the team and he puts in his all to golf,” Junior Jeffrey Baggesen said.
Another top player was junior Daniel DeVaux, who was very consistent, according to Talin.
The team’s practice sessions typically involved chipping and putting on the green, followed by a walk of 9 holes.
“Practices were very consistent and we worked hard during them,” Daniel said.
With Talin graduating, the team faces a challenge for the next season.
“We are losing one of our better players, so we’re going to need people to step up and play harder,” Jeffrey said.
This year’s track team had a successful season with 31 student athletes making it to regions.
Hurdler senior Nathaniel Sims, along with distance runner senior Ben Mothershead were among the strongest male runners this season. Ben broke the school record for the men’s 800-meter dash. The previous record of 2:02.1 was set in the year 2000, and he broke it by 0.2 seconds.
“Seeing the timer display 1s instead of 2s as I approached the finish line was so encouraging,” he said.
Nathaniel praised Benjamin for his hard work in distance running. “He is incredible when it comes to distance and I’m very proud of his growth,” he said.
Benjamin’s performance earned him a scholarship to run for D2 at Mars Hill University.
Nathaniel who runs 400m hurdles remains undefeated for the track season so far. He plans on going to Columbia college and purse his track career there.
After years of being in track, he says that listening to his coaches was one the things the team learned this year.
“A lot of us are trying to rush into things that we aren’t ready for yet which leads to injuries,” he said. “Our coaches know that we shouldn’t peak too early and as long as you are trusting the process and them will lead to greatness.”
Another highlight of the season is junior Rowen Thompson also broke the Pole Vault School that has not been broken in 31 years.
Among the women, strong runners were freshmen sprinter Le’Asia Smith, distance runners junior Ashlyn Canney and 8th grader Layla Holladay. They are members of a 4×8 relay team, along with junior Erin Maguire, that qualified for Lower States.
“Seeing the timer display 1s instead of 2s as I approached the finish line was so encouraging,” he said.
Nathaniel praised Benjamin for his hard work in distance running. “He is incredible when it comes to distance and I’m very proud of his growth,” he said.
Benjamin’s performance earned him a scholarship to run for D2 at Mars Hill University.
Nathaniel who runs 400m hurdles remains undefeated for the track season so far. He plans on going to Columbia college and purse his track career there.
After years of being in track, he says that listening to his coaches was one the things the team learned this year.
“A lot of us are trying to rush into things that we aren’t ready for yet which leads to injuries,” he said. “Our coaches know that we shouldnt peak too early and as long as you are trusting the process and them will lead to greatness.”
Another highlight of the season is junior Rowen Thompson also broke the Pole Vault School that has not been broken in 31 years.
Among the women, strong runners were freshmen sprinter Le’Asia Smith, distance runners junior Ashlyn Canney and 8th grader Layla Holladay. They are members of a 4×8 relay team, along with junior Erin Maguire, that qualified for Lower States.
Despite a challenging season, the tennis team persevered and made it to the first round of playoffs. They lost to Stratford with a score of 3-4.
According to freshman Preston Widner, freshmen Cowen Cox was a standout player this year, nearly winning every region match. Junior Michael Schindler also put in an impressive performance this season.
“They both played really well and went against many top players in our region,” he said.
Cowen remains optimistic about the team’s future, hoping that they can learn from this season and grow even stronger.
“After this season, we grew closer as a team and learned from each other’s mistakes,” he said. “We know how to keep pushing forward and learn from our experiences.”
The team is looking forward to the next season and the new players who will join the team.
