Realignment shakes up SC high school sports: Who’s moving up, down and new regions
Ridge View High School is moving up a classification and Irmo is moving down, according to the proposed South Carolina High School League 2020-22 realignment released Thursday.
Those are among the big changes that affect Columbia-area teams in the proposal. Realignment happens in the state every two years and is done to level the competitive playing field among schools.
Ridge View will be in Class 5A in the state’s biggest classification for the first time and is in the upper state in Region 4-5A with rival Blythewood, Spring Valley, Northwestern and Rock Hill. The Blazers are the 40th biggest school, according to the enrollment numbers used to calculate the changes.
The top 40 schools were picked for Class 5A, meaning Ridge View will be the smallest in the class. The Blazers are going for a third-straight Class 4A title in basketball this season.
More Midlands changes:
▪ Irmo goes from Class 5A down to 4A and is now in Region 5-4A with Aiken, Airport, Midland Valley and South Aiken. Irmo is the 50th biggest school in state according to enrollment numbers. The Yellow Jackets’ travel definitely will go up being in this region.
▪ Lugoff-Elgin also drops back to Class 4A after two years in 5A and is in Region 4-4A with AC Flora, Dreher, Richland Northeast and Westwood.
“We can be competitive and travel is reasonable for all sports,” Lugoff-Elgin athletic director and football coach Matt Campbell said.
▪ Lower Richland and Brookland-Cayce will be moving down, from Class 4A to 3A. LR is in Region 4-3A with Mid-Carolina, Keenan, Fairfield Central and Chester. B-C goes back to 3A after being in 4A the last two years and is in Region 5-3A with Fox Creek, Gilbert, Orangeburg-Wilkinson, Swansea and Strom Thurmond.
“It is going to be tougher travel-wise with Fox Creek and Orangeburg-Wilkinson,” Gilbert athletic director and football coach Chad Leaphart said. “It is a region that going to be tougher. BC and Thurmond will be tougher in football, and this region will offer full allotment of sports to compete against. It will provide more competition.”
▪ Pelion is moving down to Class 2A and be in Region 5-2A with Barnwell, Edisto, Silver Bluff and Wade Hampton. Newberry also drops to 2A and is with Batesburg-Leesville, Columbia, Eau Claire, Gray Collegiate and Saluda.
▪ CA Johnson will be dropping from Class 2A to Class A. CAJ is the only Midlands team in Class A and is in a region with Great Falls, The Governor’s School, Lamar, Lewisville, McBee, Riverwalk Academy and Midlands Stem.
▪ Region 5-5A remains unchanged with Dutch Fork, White Knoll, River Bluff, Lexington and Chapin in it.
Some of the biggest changes statewide included Lucy Beckham High, which opens next year in Mount Pleasant and will be Class 4A and in same region with other Charleston-area and Hilton Head-area schools. May River, which also is moving up to Class 4A, will be in that region.
Catawba Ridge, which opened this year, also will be in Class 4A. Oceanside Collegiate, a charter school in the Lowcountry, also is moving up to Class 3A. Wren, which just won the 4A football championship, is moving down to Class 3A in the same region with Daniel and Belton Honea Path.
Greenwood, Westside and Laurens are all moving down to Class 4A.
This year’s realignment is based on 45-day numbers from grades 9-11. In the past, the 135-day numbers were used through grades 9-12. The goal of this year’s realignment was to shrink the number of schools in Class 5A and increase Class A.
Class 5A went from 48 to 40 schools and Class went from 38 to more than 50 schools although not all play football. The top 40 schools were picked for Class 5A and next 40 for Class 4A. The remaining three classes were divided and factored on a plus or minus schools, giving more flexibility to move teams up or down. Geography also was used as a determining factor.
“I appreciate the hard work and commitment of the staff and the cooperation and patience of the member schools as we worked through this process,” SCHSL commissioner Jerome Singleton. said “We truly appreciate the time and input from the reclassification/realignment guidelines committee as well. The newly formed group of individuals provided a wealth of experience and knowledge to assist us with this project.”
Each school can appeal their region or classification placement. Appeals to each classification’s executive committee will be heard Jan. 28-30. The SCHSL executive committee will hear appeals Feb. 12 and, if needed, they will go before an appellate panel that will hear them Feb. 19.
Class 5A
Region 1: Hillcrest J. L. Mann Mauldin T. L. Hanna Woodmont
Region 2: Byrnes, Dorman, Riverside, Spartanburg, Wade Hampton
Region 3: Boiling Springs, Clover, Fort Mill, Gaffney, Nation Ford
Region 4: Blythewood, Northwestern, Ridge View, Rock Hill,Spring Valley
Region 5: Chapin, Dutch, Fork, Lexington, River Bluff, White Knoll
Region 6: Carolina Forest, Conway, Socastee, St. James, Sumter
Region 7: Berkeley, Cane Bay, Goose Creek, Stratford, Wando
Region 8: Ashley Ridge, Fort Dorchester, Stall, Summerville, West Ashley
Class 4A
Region 1: Easley, Pickens, Travelers Rest, Walhalla, Westside
Region 2: Eastside, Greenville, Greenwood, Greer, Laurens
Region 3: Catawba Ridge, Indian Land, Lancaster, South Pointe, York
Region 4: AC Flora, Dreher, Lugoff-Elgin, Richland Northeast, Westwood
Region 5: Aiken, Airport, Irmo, Midland Valley, North Augusta, South Aiken
Region 6: Darlington, Harstville, Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, South Florence, West Florence, Wilson
Region 7: Beaufort, Bluffton, Colleton County, Hilton Head Island, James Island, Lucy Beckham, May River
Class 3A
Region 1: Belton-Honea Path, Daniel, Pendleton, Seneca, West-Oak, Wren
Region 2: Berea, Blue Ridge, Carolina, Palmetto, Powdersville, Southside
Region 3: Broome, Chapman, Clinton, Emerald, Union County, Woodruff
Region 4: Chester, Fairfield-Central, Keenan, Lower Richland, Mid-Carolina
Region 5: Brookland-Cayce, Fox Creek, Gilbert, Orangeburg-Wilkinson, Strom Thurmond, Swansea
Region 6: Camden, Crestwood, Lake City, Lakewood, Manning, Marlboro County
Region 7: Aynor, Dillon, Georgetown, Loris, Waccamaw
Region 8: Academic Magnet, Battery Creek, Bishop England, Hanahan, North Charleston, Oceanside Collegiate
Class 2A
Region 1: Abbeville, Christ Church, Crescent, Greenville Tech, Liberty, Ninety Six
Region 2: Blacksburg, Brashier MC, Chesnee, Greer MC, Landrum, Legion Collegiate, St. Joseph
Region 3: Andrew Jackson, Buford, Central, Cheraw, Chesterfield, Legion Collegiate, North Central, York Prep
Region 4: Batesburg-Leesville, Columbia, Eau Claire, Gray Collegiate, Newberry, Saluda
Region 5: Barnwell, Edisto, Pelion, Silver Bluff, Wade Hampton
Region 6: Burke, Lake Marion, Philip Simmons, Ridgeland-Hardeeville, Timberland, Woodland
Region 7: Andrews, Kingstree, Latta, Lee Central, Marion, Mullins
Class A
Region 1: Calhoun Falls, Dixie, High Point Academy**, McCormick, SCSDB**, Southside Christian, Ware Shoals, Whitmire
Region 2: CA Johnson, Governor’s School**, Great Falls, Lamar (football only), Lewisville, McBee, Midlands Stem**, Riverwalk Academy**
Region 3: Blackville-Hilda, Calhoun County, Denmark-Olar, Hunter-Kinard-Tyler, North, Ridge Spring-Monetta, Wagener-Salley, Williston-Elko
Region 4: CE Murray, Carvers Bay, East Clarendon, Hemingway, Scott’s Branch
Region 5: Coastal Leadership**, Green Sea-Floyds, Hannah-Pamplico, Johnsonville, Lake View, Lamar, Timmonsville
Region 6, Allendale-Fairfax, Bamberg-Ehrhardt, Bethune-Bowman, Branchville, Bridges Prep**, Estill, Polaris Tech**, Royal Live Oak**
Region 7: Baptist Hill, Charleston Math & Science, Cross, Low Country Leadership**, Military Magnet, Palmetto Scholars**, St. John’s, Whale Branch
** denotes no football
This story was originally published December 19, 2019 at 12:42 PM.
