Blythewood, Spring Valley win appeals as extra region added in Class 5A
After losing their realignment appeals before the executive committee, Blythewood and Spring Valley decided to come together for their second appeal.
The plan worked. The appellate panel voted 7-0 on Tuesday in favor of Blythewood and Spring Valley’s joint appeal of switching regions.
“We felt like we had a good shot, and what we had made sense,” Spring Valley athletics director Tim Hunter said.
Under the realignment proposal, Spring Valley and Blythewood were to be in Region 3-5A with Rock Hill area schools. Both Hunter and Blythewood athletics director Barry Mizzell said that would have cost each school more than $100,000 in travel expenses.
In addition to travel costs, both cited missing school time and parents having to travel farther for away games.
The two schools wanted to stay with the Midlands schools in an eight-team Region 4-5A.
But there wasn’t a chance for a 10-team region, so the two schools proposed to split that region into two five-team regions.
Spring Valley and Blythewood will be in the newly formed Region 8-5A with Irmo, Sumter and Lugoff-Elgin, which lost its appeal to move back to Class 4A. Region 4-5A will be Chapin, Dutch Fork, Lexington, River Bluff and White Knoll.
Region 4-5A will be in the Lower State and Region 8-5A will be a swing region, meaning some of the teams will be in the Upper State for playoffs and some in the Lower State.
There won’t be a mandate that the regions will be cross bracketed and play each other, but Hunter and Mizzell said they will likely schedule teams in Region 4-5A for their nonconference schedules.
Lugoff-Elgin and Brookland-Cayce lost their appeals Tuesday. The appellate panel voted 4-3 against L-E’s appeal to move from Region 4-5A to Region 3-4A. Last week, the executive committee voted against the same appeal.
“I’m shocked,” Lugoff-Elgin coach Matt Campbell said. “If you look at the evidence, I felt like we have full justification.”
L-E could appeal to the classification committees, but Campbell said “that would be a lost cause.”
Campbell and other L-E officials stated their case, citing travel time, missed classes plus added expenses that go along with being in the new region. It was estimated that it would cost more than $70,000 in expenses in the two years of the new alignment.
Brookland-Cayce was trying to stay in Region 5-3A instead of moving to proposed Region 5-4A.
York, Berkeley, Union County, Landrum and Dixie each won their appeals. York will stay in Region 3-4A instead of moving to Class 5A. Berkeley will move to Region 6-5A instead of being in Class 4A.
Union County won its appeal and will move from Class 4A to Region 3-3A and join Newberry and Mid-Carolina. Landrum goes from Region 2-3A to Region 1-2A. Dixie is going from Region 1-2A to Region 1-A.
Cheraw, Carolina High School and Lewisville appeals were denied. The panel voted 7-0 against Carolina High School and Academy’s appeal to put off realignment for two more years. Cheraw was denied to move from Region 6-3A to Region 4-2A.
New Class 5A
How Class 5A and other classifications will look in 2018 after Tuesday’s appellate panel decisions:
Region 1: Easley, Greenwood, J.L. Mann, Laurens, T.L. Hanna, Westside, Wade Hampton (G), Woodmont.
Region 2: Boiling Springs, Byrnes, Dorman, Gaffney, Hillcrest, Mauldin, Riverside, Spartanburg
Region 3: Clover, Fort Mill, Nation Ford, Northwestern, Rock Hill
Region 4: Chapin, Dutch Fork, Lexington, River Bluff, White Knoll
Region 5: Carolina Forest, Conway, Socastee, South Florence, St. James, West Florence.
Region 6: Cane Bay, Goose Creek, James Island, Stratford, Wando, Berkeley
Region 7: Ashley Ridge, Colleton County, Fort Dorchester, Summerville, West Ashley.
Region 8: Blythewood, Irmo, Lugoff-Elgin, Spring Valley, Sumter
Class 4A
Region 1: Belton-Honea Path, Daniel, Palmetto, Pickens, Walhalla, Wren.
Region 2: Berea, Blue Ridge, Eastside, Greenville, Greer, Travelers Rest
Region 3: Lancaster, Ridge View, Richland Northeast, South Pointe, Westwood, York
Region 4: A.C. Flora, Crestwood, Dreher, Lakewood, Lower Richland, Orangeburg-Wilkinson.
Region 5: Aiken, Airport, Brookland-Cayce, Midland Valley, North Augusta, South Aiken
Region 6: Darlington, Hartsville, Marlboro County, Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Wilson.
Region 7: Beaufort, Bluffton, Hilton Head, Stall
Class 3A
Region 1: Crescent, Liberty, Pendleton, Powdersville, Seneca, West-Oak.
Region 2: Berea, Carolina, Chapman, Chesnee, Southside
Region 3: Clinton, Emerald, Mid-Carolina, Newberry, Woodruff, Union County.
Region 4: Camden, Chester, Fairfield Central, Indian Land, Keenan.
Region 5: Edisto, Gilbert, Pelion, Strom Thurmond, Swansea.
Region 6: Aynor, Cheraw, Dillon, Lake City, Loris, Marion
Region 7: Battery Creek, Lake Marion, May River, Ridgeland-Hardeville, Wade Hampton
Region 8: Bishop England, Academic Magnet, Georgetown, Hanahan, Manning, Waccamaw
Class 2A
Region 1: Blacksburg, Brashier MC*, Christ Church, Greenville Tech*, Greer Middle College*, Next**, Southside Christian, St. Joseph, Landrum
Region 2: Abbeville, Batesburg-Leesville, Fox Creek, Ninety-Six, Saluda, Silver Bluff
Region 3: C.A. Johnson, Calhoun County, Columbia, Eau Claire, Gray Collegiate
Region 4: Andrew Jackson, Buford, Central, Cheraw, Chesterfield, Lee Central, Lewisville, North Central.
Region 5: Allendale-Fairfax, Bamberg-Ehrhardt, Barnwell, Whale Branch, Woodland
Region 6: Andrews, Burke, Garrett, North Charleston, Oceanside Collegiate, Palmetto Scholars*, Timberland, Philip Simmons
Region 7: Carvers Bay, East Clarendon, Hannah-Pamplico, Johnsonville, Kingstree, Latta, Mullins.
Class A
Region 1: Calhoun Falls, Dixie High Point Academy**, McCormick, South Carolina School for Deaf and Blind**, Ware Shoals, Whitmire, Dixie
Region 2: Governor’s School*, Great Falls, Lamar, McBee, Timmonsville.
Region 3: Blackville-Hilda, Denmark-Olar, Hunter-Kinard-Tyler, North, Ridge Spring-Monetta, Wagener-Salley, Williston-Elko.
Region 4: Baptist Hill, Bridges Prep**, Estill, Low Country Leadership**, Military Magnet, Charleston Charter, Royal Live Oaks**, St. Johns.
Region 5: Bethune-Bowman, Branchville, C.E. Murray, Cross, Richland One Middle College** Scott’s Branch.
Region 6: Coastal Leadership **, Creek Bridge, Green Sea-Floyds, Hemingway, Lake View.
**Doesn’t have football program
This story was originally published August 29, 2017 at 10:38 AM with the headline "Blythewood, Spring Valley win appeals as extra region added in Class 5A."