Midlands teams, athletes dominate at SC track and field championships
Four Midlands track and field programs successfully defended their state championships this weekend.
Blythewood girls, Ridge View boys, Gray Collegiate girls and Fairfield Central boys all repeated as champions at the 2025 SC High School League track and field championships, which wrapped up Saturday.
The Blythewood girls kept their streak going as they won the Class 5A Division I championship held Saturday at Harry Parone Stadium. It was the Bengals’ third straight state title.
The Bengals finished with 107 points, well ahead of second-place Spartanburg (54).
“It is very exciting,” Blythewood coach Aleshia Hawkins said. “We knew we had to perform a lot better than we did last season. We just performed the way we knew we could.”
Ridge View won its second straight title as it moved up in classifications this year. The Blazers won the 4A title last season and were 5A Division I champs this season.
It went down to the final few events as the Blazers finished with 91 points. Spartanburg was second with 87.5. Spartanburg won three more events than the Blazers, but it was RV’s depth that was able to get the points when needed.
“I am just proud of the growth of this program,” RV coach Charles Proctor said. “In four years, we won three region championships, two state titles. … We are just continuing to build this program. I think we can be a perennial powerhouse in the country. I’m just enjoying the process. My wife gets on me all the time about smelling the flowers on the journey. That is something I haven’t been good at. Over the last two years, I have been able to enjoy my guys, my staff, which is the best in the country.”
Gray and Fairfield won their titles Friday night. Gray Collegiate edged Daniel 61-58 for the 4A girls championship while the Griffins won the 2A boys crown.
Class 5A Division I
The Bengals had four first-place finishes and three runner-up finishes in their dominating performance.
Blythewood event winners were Peyton Hightower (400), Brooke Bramlett (100 hurdles), Aminah Rhone (100 hurdles) and the 4x400 relay team. Rhone also was third in the 100 hurdles.
Hayley Hightower was second in the 800 and the Bengals were runners-up in the 4x100 and 4x800 relay. Mallorie Hogue was third in the 3,200.
Ridge View finished second in the 4x400 relay and third in the 4x800 relay. The Blazers’ Destiny Horn was third in the 100 and Kaitlyn McFadden third in the 800.
Lexington’s Kendra Miles was second in the 1,600 and Ciarra Williams second in the long jump.
Spring Valley’s Kaylee Thomas was second in the shot put and Katelyn McNeil third in the 400.
River Bluff’s Patton Casto was third in the shot put.
In the boys event, RV’s Jordyn Best won the 100 and the Blazers won 4x100 relay. RV’s Mounir Spann (400), Quency Grant (400 hurdles) and Amari Stephenson (triple jump) all had second-place finishes.
Blythewood boys finished third in the meet. The Bengals’ Santana Wright won the discus while Marlon Glover was second in the 100 and 200. Spencer Shealy was runner-up in the 1,600 meters and Jacob Powell second in the 3,200.
Lexington’s Josh Voegele was third in the 1,600 and River Bluff’s TyRon Ray was third in the high jump. Dutch Fork finished third in the 4x800 relay.
Class 4A
Gray Collegiate girls finished with 61 points, three more than Daniel and six more than Seneca.
Tamara Steward won the 100 hurdles, long jump and was second in the 400 hurdles to lead Gray. The War Eagles’ Tresta Miller was second in the 100 and 400 and the 4x100 relay team was third.
Lower Richland’s Jhnai Sumter won the shot put, and Dreher’s Kennedi Sanders won the triple jump. AC Flora’s Tyshana Leverette was second in the triple jump. Airport’s Aaliyrah Culbreath was second in the long jump. Brookland-Cayce’s London Page was third in the high jump and Camden’s Sullivan McCoy was third in the javelin.
In the boys race, Richland Northeast’s Ethan Moody won the 100 meters and 110 and 400 hurdles.
Brookland-Cayce’s Aden Price won the 400 and was third in the 100. B-C’s Deandre Jones won the high jump. The Bearcats’ 4x400 relay team finished third. Gray Collegiate’s Damarcus Gaither won the 200, was second in 400 and the War Eagles won the 4x100 relay.
Lower Richland’s Noah Lucas won the shot put. AC Flora’s Kaleb Smith second in 800 and Airport was third in 4x100 relay.
Seneca edged Wren 54-53 to win the girls championship.
Class 2A
Fairfield boys dominated the speed events and finished with 101 points for the program’s second straight title.
Ty Grier won the 100 and 200 while the Griffins swept the 4x100 and 4x400 relay races. Jayden Boyd won the long jump and was second in the 100 and third in the 200.
Jamie Brown won the 400 and teammate Kenyan Douglas was third. FC’s Hank White won the 800.
Saluda’s Tymar Cannon won the 400 hurdles and Batesburg-Leesville’s Sawyer Ringer won the pole vault. Mid-Carolina’s Adam Bedenbaugh was second in the 800 and Jaxson Moody was second in the discus. The Rebels finished third as a team.
Columbia’s Nicolas Frank was second in the 400 and the Capitals’ Lamareon George was third in the high jump. Pelion’s Corey Campbell was second in the pole vault. Johnathan Davis was third in the 100.
B-L’s Ja’Quan Corley was second in the shot put and third in the discus.
In the girls’ championship, Philip Simmons blew away the field with 148 points to win. Saluda was second with 61.
Saluda’s Ceddrianna Springs won the 400 hurdles and Jabria Brunson won the high jump. Saluda’s Oz’lyn Springs was second in the 200. The Tigers were second in the 4x100 and 4x400 relay races.
Batesburg-Leesville’s Keira Frye won the discus and shot put while Pelion’s Madison Kyzer won the javelin.
Eau Claire’s Destinee Tiller was second in the high jump and third in the long jump. M-C’s Callie Wilbanks was second in the discus and Emory Simpson was third in the pole vault. Columbia’s Mia Hammond was third in the 200 and FC’s Natalie Mickle was third in the shot put.
Class 5A Division II
Kaleb Burroughs broke a 41-year-old state record in helping West Florence to its first state championship Thursday.
Burroughs won the 800 with a time of 1:49.64, breaking the mark of Hartsville’s Terrence Harrington (1:52.04) set in 1984. Burroughs also won the 1,600 and the javelin.
The Fort Mill girls won their second straight girls championship.
Locally, Westwood’s Jayden Wilson won the boys’ 100 and 200 and the Redhawks also won the 4x100 relay. Lugoff-Elgin’s Gerold Smith second in the triple jump and Zaquawn Murphy was third in the 100 meters. Chapin’s Summit Wood was third in the 3,200.
On the girls side, White Knoll’s Nyla Fair was second in the 100 and Westwood’s Alexiuna Williams second in the discus. The Redhawks also were second in the 4x400 relay. Chapin had three third-place finishes — Reagan Trevett (800), McKenzie Lindler (pole vault) and the 4x800 relay team.
Class A
Bamberg-Ehrhardt girls and Calhoun County boys won team state championships.
For complete results, go to www.scrunners.com.
This story was originally published May 17, 2025 at 5:33 PM.
