Lexington 1 hires district's new athletic director. Here are the details
Lexington 1 has found its next athletic director.
Westwood High’s Garrett Knight will be the new athletic director for the district. Knight’s hire was approved at Tuesday’s Lexington 1 school board meeting.
Knight replaces Chad Leaphart, who is stepping down on June 30. Leaphart is headed to Saluda High to be an offensive assistant with the Saluda football team and also teach at the school as part of the state’s hire/rehire program for retired teachers.
Knight is the third athletic director for the district, which created the position in 2016 to help with the districts’ coaches and athletic programs. Former Coastal Carolina and River Bluff football coach David Bennett was the district’s first athletic director.
Knight has almost 20 years of experience in the public school system and has been at Westwood since 2023. Last month, he was named the Class 5A Athletic Director of the Year by the S.C. Athletic Administrators Association.
In 2025, Knight was selected to participate in South Carolina’s inaugural “Tomorrow’s 25” leadership program sponsored by the S.C. Athletic Coaches Association and the S.C. High School League in partnership with the Excellence in Coaching Project.
Before Westwood, Knight was the athletic director at Great Falls High School from 2020-22 and worked in Kershaw County for 13 years. In Kershaw County, he spent time as teacher, assistant football coach, track and field coach and was Lugoff-Elgin boys basketball coach for six seasons.
Knight also serves as the president of the S.C. High School Strength Coaches Association.
