Fairfield Central High School is offering a Fan Bus ride to the North Central High School football game Friday, Nov. 1. Departure time is 5:30 p.m. Cost is $10. Call 803-635-1441 to reserve your seat before Thursday, Oct. 31. FCHS must have at least 30 riders to make the trip.
Category: Sports
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FCHS offers bus ride to Pelion game
Fairfield Central is offering a Fan Bus to Pelion High School for Friday’s (Oct. 25) varsity football game between the Griffins and the Panther. Fans may contact Terrell Roach or Tamara Robertson at Fairfield Central High School: 803-635-1441. Deadline to sign up is Thursday, Oct 24. Cost is $10 (FCHS must have 30 riders to make the trip). Bus will depart at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 25.
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Blythewood Women Running Like Royalty
Blythewood’s Running Princesses – Front row: Meredith Newman, Stacy Rotluff, Susan Davis, Marilyn Buckmaster, Fairy Godmother Lourdes Villwock, Tammy Carter. Back row: May Vokaty, Pam Schexnider, Laura Urtz, Jessica Stack, Jennifer Coleman, Mary Fleetwood and Malarie Schexnider. BLYTHEWOOD – Several Blythewood women have recently been transformed into princesses – but instead of waltzing in glass slippers, they are pounding the pavement in sneakers. Organized by May Vokaty, a resident of LongCreek Plantation and Food Editor for The Voice, the Running Princesses is a group of women who are focused on running and fitness, but who were inspired in their quest by the lighthearted theme of the Princess Half Marathon at Disney World.
The group started in January 2013, after Vokaty returned from Disney World where she cheered her husband Chris at the Disney Marathon.
“That’s when I learned about the Disney Princess Half-Marathon, which takes place every February. It’s a princess-themed race for women – many of the women wore tutus and tiaras during the race! It seemed really fun,” Vokaty said, “and I thought it would be great to organize a girls’ group back here in Blythewood and train for it.”
Still new to running herself at the time, Vokaty shared her excitement with a few friends.
“At first there were about five or six of us interested in forming a group,” Vokaty said, “so I put together a newsletter about our goals of fitness, fun and fellowship – all with a princess theme, of course! That newsletter was forwarded to friends of friends, and then Brenda Pepin, our pastor’s wife, suggested extending an invitation at the ladies’ luncheon at church. Before long we had about 60 women in our group.”
Most of the women live in Blythewood, but some are from elsewhere in South Carolina. There are even members as far away as Minnesota and Mississippi.
“It’s sort of a virtual group,” Vokaty explains. “We check in with each other, provide encouragement and support. We’re focused on running, but the group has a wide variety of fitness levels, from people who are just starting to run to veteran half-marathoners.”
The group meets for training runs in Lake Carolina and they also volunteer in support roles at local races.
“For instance, we worked at the water station during the Blythewood Labor Day run,” Vokaty said, “and we all dressed as princesses. It adds a fun element to the race.”
Eleven of the women, including Vokaty, are training for the Disney Princess Half Marathon in February 2014, but everyone in the group participates in the daily challenges posted by Princess Tammy Carter.
“For instance,” Vokaty said, “this month we’re focusing on abs, so today’s challenge was to do 35 sit-ups, 15 crunches, 15 leg raises and 25 seconds of a plank. You don’t have to do everything at once – just fit it in wherever you have a few minutes. During the day we all check in on Facebook to keep ourselves accountable.”
Princess Laura Urtz said the group encourages her.
“I know I’m not alone in this,” she said, “even if I happen to be running alone! My goal is to lose weight and to feel good and be fit.”
Vokaty said the group’s vision extends beyond the annual Disney race. Their big goal is to eventually host a 5K or 10K race in Blythewood, with all proceeds going toward a women’s charity. She emphasized that the group is focused on community rather than competition.
“Sometimes people are intimidated and think, ‘Oh, I can’t be a Running Princess because I can’t run’,” she said. “But it’s perfectly fine to walk or do a combination of walking and jogging.”
Of course, there is one qualifying feat required to join the group.
“It is very hard to run wearing a tiara,” Vokaty said, “but a princess can do it.”
For more information on how to become a Running Princess, contact therunningprincesses@live.com.
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FCHS Jamboree Cancelled
FAIRFIELD — Tonight’s football Jamboree at Fairfield Central High School has been cancelled because of inclement weather. There are no plans to reschedule the event.
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Jr. Griffins Football Camp at FCHS
Fairfield Central High School will host their annual Junior Griffins Football/Life Skills camp, July 22-24, for third- through eighth-grade students. The camp runs from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and is free. To register, call head coach Demetrius Davis at 803-635-1441.
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Bengals Force Winner-Take-All Game 3
After losing game one of the 4A state championship series, the Blythewood Bengals baseball team laid it all out on the line Wednesday night against the Lexington Wildcats. The Bengals were able to overcome an early 2-1 defect and saved their season with a 7-2 victory. With his team on the brink Blythewood head coach Barry Mizzell never lost faith in his Bengals.
“Our backs were to the wall,” Mizzell said. “But I told our players just get it to a third game and anything can happen.”
Blythewood took the lead in the bottom of the third inning when Tyler Romanik smoked a ball down the left field line for an RBI double to score Andrew Beckwith and put the Bengals on top 3-2. Blythewood did not give up another run and extended their lead with a run in the fifth inning and three more in the sixth inning. In that sixth inning the Bengals sent nine batters to the plate and scored off three hits, two walks, an error and a wild pitch. Blythewood’s starting pitcher Allen Louthian earned the victory allowing two runs on six hits, one walk and five strikeouts in all seven innings of work. With the game-two win the Bengals forced a deciding game three at Carolina Stadium on Friday. Mizzell looks forward to the championship deciding contest.
“I think it’ll be a great atmosphere and a terrific reward for these young men,” Mizzell said.
First pitch is set for 7 p.m.
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Walker’s Grand Slam Lifts Griffins to First Playoff Win
It took 27 years, some clawing, some scratching, some digging and a dramatic bases-clearing shot to get there, but Thursday night the Fairfield Central Griffins baseball squad earned their first postseason victory in school history, overcoming an early 4-0 deficit in Pageland to shock the Central Eagles 9-6 in game one of the Class 2A playoffs.
“What can you say about these kids?” an emotional head coach Scotty Dean said after the game. “They battled. Compton (Walker, starting pitcher) wasn’t his best, but he battled through.”
While Walker battled on the mound, his signature moment came at the plate. Going into the top of the fourth the Griffins were down 4-1, but began chipping away at Central starter Joseph Rollings. A two-out bases-loaded RBI single by Javarius Cook cut the lead to 4-2 and a four-pitch walk by Brandon Adams made it a one-run game. With the bags still juiced, Walker stepped to the plate. He took the first pitch for ball one, then stepped out of the box to confer with his skipper.
“I told him, ‘If you want to be the guy, you got to hit this ball’,” Dean said after the game.
Walker hit it, all right. And it stayed hit.
Walker blistered a fastball to the deepest part of the park, up and over the center field fence for a game-changing grand slam. With the Griffins now up 7-4, Walker went back to the mound to protect the lead. The Eagles threatened in the bottom half, but their rally was put down when Nick Goins made a diving catch near the foul line in deep left to end the inning.
Walker worked six innings Thursday and into the seventh before being lifted for Stanley McManus. The junior right-hander threw 118 pitches, giving up six runs (four earned) on five hits and eight walks, while striking out three and hitting one batter. Walker appeared in control early, coasting through the first two Eagle batters, but then a single, a walk, a pair of stolen bases and a passed ball gave Central an early 1-0 lead. Three walks and a single in the second put the Eagles up 4-0.
Central’s Kelton Myers touched Walker for a leadoff home run in the bottom of the sixth and Ryheem Lockhart scored on an error to make it a one-run game once more, 7-6 Fairfield. But the Griffins squelched the Eagles’ momentum in the seventh when Chris Boyd delivered an RBI double, scoring pinch runner Tyrell Hill. Boyd later came around on a throwing error by the Central catcher for the ninth and final Griffin run.
Walker gave up a single and hit a batter to start the final frame before giving way to McManus, who was seeing his first action in six weeks.
“He had a cast on his hand this morning,” Dean said of McManus.
The gutsy McManus struck out Rollings, got Myers to hit into a 5-3 put-out and forced Cody Hall to hit a grounder to Walker, who had moved to shortstop. Walker scooped up the ball and threw to Boyd at first to end the game.
The Griffins continue postseason play tonight, hosting Andrew Jackson at 6 p.m.
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State Champs: Lady Eagles Bring Home Hardware
Richard Winn Academy head girls’ basketball coach Jason Haltiwanger takes down the net following Saturday’s title victory. 
Marion Walker Coleman (12) and Emily Brigman box out as Jaycie Johnson puts up a shot in the paint. In a game in which they never trailed, the Richard Winn Academy Lady Eagles varsity basketball squad wrapped up their 2012-2013 season by bringing home the SCISA Class 2A state title Saturday with a 46-31 victory over the Marlboro Academy Lady Dragons at the Civic Center in Sumter.
Junior Carson Justice led the Lady Eagles to the Promised Land with 25 points. Jaycie Johnson, Jessie Stidham and Alyssa Atkerson added six points each, while Emily Brigman put up three.
Richard Winn head coach Jason Haltiwanger, reflecting on his first SCISA title, credited a higher power for his team’s success.
“We serve a good God, and that’s our motto,” Haltiwanger said. “We play unto the Lord, and these girls understand that. He went all out for us, so we go all out for Him. They understand that and play for that.”
After dropping last year’s title game, 46-42 to Heyward Academy, and losing all-star center Alex Maass, 2012-2013 was expected to be a rebuilding season for the Lady Eagles. But in spite of starting two juniors, a sophomore, a freshman and an eighth-grader, and with two sophomores, two freshmen and an eighth-grader coming off the bench, Richard Winn put doubters to rest with a 29-1 record and a convincing championship win.
“We had good leadership from our past,” Haltiwanger said. “We had Alex (Maass) last year, an unbelievable leader, and they followed that example. The guards stepped up and led for us, we had good coaching and good genes – a lot of these parents were state champions over here and their daughters play for us.”
Both teams got out of the gate slowly Saturday, with the game scoreless into the 5:37 mark when Atkerson finally broke the ice with a 2-point bucket on an in-bounds play. A steal and layup by Justice on the ensuing in-bounds play gave the Lady Eagles an early 4-0 lead. Atkerson scored the final points of the quarter with a layup at the buzzer, giving Richard Winn a 10-7 edge after one.
It was a slightly different look for the Lady Eagles’ defense Saturday, as Haltiwanger eschewed their standard full-court pressure for a more traditional look.
“They were used to their bigs, their post players, to bring it up, which causes a problem,” Haltiwanger explained. “If their guards bring it up, we can put a lot of pressure, but they knew that so they brought their post players up to handle the ball and that made it tough for us to put a lot of pressure on them like that.”
With 6 minutes to go in the second, Justice nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key, opening up the flood gates for the Lady Eagles, who out-scored Marlboro 14-9 in the period. Up 24-16 at the half, the Lady Eagles built a 10-point lead early in the third quarter. But with 5:16 to go, Marlboro Academy’s McKalyn Pruitt slipped through the half-court trap and laid in a 2-pointer. It was the first points for the Lady Dragons since the 2:36 point in the second quarter and began a run that cut the Lady Eagles’ lead to 26-22 by the 4:07 mark. Justice ended the Eagles’ drought with a 3-pointer with 3:45 to play in the period, but the Lady Dragons were on a tear. With 2:11 to play in the third, Marlboro’s Megan Quick sank a 3-pointer, cutting the lead to 29-28, but Justice answered on the other end with a long ball of her own to make it 32-28 Richard Winn.
“We got frustrated,” Haltiwanger said of the third quarter drag. “We missed four layups there to start the half, so that was 6 to 8 points there that made it closer, and we got messed up on a few assignments on who was guarding who and left #11 (Quick) wide open and she drained a 3 on us. But we stayed resilient, showed a lot of resolve and kept battling.”
Although out-scored 12-10 in the third, the Lady Eagles held a 34-28 lead to start the final period, and by then the wind had gone out of the Lady Dragons’ sails. Richard Winn slowed the pace of the game, draining the clock while working the perimeter on offense. The tactic opened up another 3 for Justice with 6:21 to play, upping the ante to 37-28. The Lady Dragons inched closer, 37-31, as Pruitt hit one of two from the foul line with 3:07 to play, but the charity stripe would ultimately prove to be the downfall of Marlboro Academy and the deal-closer for the Lady Eagles down the stretch. The Lady Eagles hit 14 of 22 from the foul line on the night, with Justice a perfect 4-for-4 and Emily Brigman 1-for-2 in the final quarter. The Lady Dragons, meanwhile, made only six of 25 attempts from the stripe all game long.
With a title under their belts, and with their entire lineup returning, the Lady Eagles present a formidable challenge to the rest of SCISA Class 2A for years to come. Still, Haltiwanger is reluctant to start tossing around the term “Dynasty.”
“I don’t know,” he said. “Whatever happens happens, but I hope so.”
RWA—Carson Justice: 25, Jaycie Johnson: 6, Jessie Stidham: 6, Alyssa Atkerson: 6, Emily Brigman: 3.
MA—Megan Bolger: 4, Megan Quick: 9, Katie McClaren: 6, McKalyn Pruitt: 7, Katherine Holmes: 5.
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Lady Eagles in Championship Round
Richard Winn Academy’s Lady Eagles topped Bible Baptist 56-47 Thursday night to advance to the SCISA Class 2A state title game, Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at the Sumter Civic Center vs. the Marlboro Lady Dragons.
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Softball Registration Ends Saturday
Girls 8 and under who are interested in joining a Blythewood softball team are invited to participate in open practices Feb. 22 and 23, starting at 5 p.m. at the Blythewood Park Recreation facility on Boney Road, field 3. To register online, go to leaguelineup.com/formpreview.asp?url=blythewoodsports&sid=933356381&t=77896. Registration has been extended until Feb. 24.
