Dynasty continues! Blythewood girls win fourth straight SC track championship
Aleshia Hawkins knows the routine by now.
The Blythewood girls track and field coach stood patiently with her hands over mouth as her team was ready to douse her with water. Her team eventually completed the ritual as the Bengals won the Class 5A Division I championship on Thursday at Spring Valley High School for their fourth straight title.
“It means a lot. It shows we didn’t back down after the first (title). We just kept going,” Hawkins said. “They never let the pressure get to them. They understood the mission, and we kept it going.”
Blythewood becomes the first program since JL Mann to win four straight championships at the state’s top classification. JL Mann won nine in a row, including four straight in Class 4A (when there were only four classes.)
The Bengals turned in another dominant performance and finished with 125 points. Dorman was second with 75.
Sisters Hayley and Peyton Hightower each won an individual event in their final race together. Hayley, a senior, is headed to Purdue and won the 800. Peyton won the 400. The Bengals also won the 4x100 and 4x400 relay and were third in the 4x800.
“I’m just blessed to share it with my sister,” Peyton said. “I really love her, and we are both state champions in her last year.”
Alexis Jones was second in the long jump and third in the high jump. Brooke Bramlett was runner-up in the 100 hurdles, and Romell Garway second in the triple jump, Olivia Taylor was third in the 400 and Gabrielle Cherry was third in the 100 hurdles.
Lexington’s Ciara Williams won the long jump and was second in the 200. Spring Valley’s Kately McNeil was second in the 400 hurdles and the Vikings second in the 4x400 relay. Ridge View’s Alahna Valentine was third in the long jump.
In the boys meet, Wando denied Ridge View a third straight title. The Warriors finished with 84 points, six more than the Blazers.
Ridge View’s Elijah White won the 400 hurdles and was third in the 110 hurdles. The Blazers won the 4x400 relay and were third in the 4x100 relay. Quency Grant was second in the 400 and second in 110 hurdles.
Lexington’s Josh Voegele won the 800 in an exciting finish. The Wildcats also won the 4x800.
Grant Garrick of Lexington was second in the 100 and third in the 200. Wesley Heimbach was third in the 800.
Spring Valley’s Cam Holmes won the high jump and the Vikings were third in the 4x800 relay. Joseph Robinson was third in the 1,600.
Blythewood had four runner-up finishes — Jacob Powell (1,600 and 3,200), 4x400 relay and Larry Davis was second in the 400.
Dutch Fork’s Gage Stewart was second in the long jump and River Bluff’s Collin Ash was third in the shot put.
Class 4A
AC Flora’s Graicen Edwards (10:35.57) set a state championship record in the 3,200 and was second in the 1,600 in the Class 4A championship at Richland Northeast.
Richland Northeast was the highest-finishing area team with a fourth-place finish in the girls meet. The Cavaliers won the 4x400 and Lacy Samuels won the 400 hurdles. Samuels was third in the 100. Demya Porterfield was third in the 100 and 200.
Lower Richland’s Jhnai Sumter won the shot put and discus. LR’s Maya Jacobs was second in the 400.
Dreher’s Mikayâlah Tilley was second in the 100. Gray Collegiate’s Eliza Kate Rikard was second in the pole vault, and the War Eagles were third in the 4x400 relay.
Gilbert’s Rory Travis was second in the javelin and Lillian Johnson third in the pole vault.
Airport’s Aaliyrah Culbreath was third in the long jump. Brookland-Cayce’s Ashilee Harrison was third in the shot put.
Hilton Head (65.5) won the team title by 7.5 points over Westside.
In the boys meet, South Pointe (61.5) edged May River by .5 to win the team title.
Gray Collegiate’s Caleb Raysor won the 110 hurdles. Camden’s Isiah Smith was third in the 100 and 200.
Dreher’s Chanson Evans was second in the shot put and third in the discus. Jordan Brown was second in the long jump.
Airport’s Johnathan Brown was third in the javelin.
Complete results from the meet can be found at SCMilesplit .
This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 11:49 PM.
