Blythewood Online 691

Category: Sports

  • Fairfield’s TJ Knight takes 2nd in national competition

    OHIO – Eleven-year-old Fairfield County resident TJ Knight was just two targets short of topping his field of 51 shooters at the 2021 Scholastic Clay Target (SCTP) National Team Championships last week.

    According to its website, the Scholastic Clay Target Program provides kids from elementary through college with the opportunity to participate in the fun and challenging sports of Trap, Skeet and Sporting Clays, as well as the Olympic disciplines of Bunker Trap, Trap Doubles and International Skeet.

    SCTP is the official feeder program to USA Shooting and a path to the U.S. Olympic Shooting Team.

    Knight, who began shooting SCTP/4-H with the Fairfield Gun Club in the 2020/2021 season under head coach John Tate, hit 159 targets in the national 200-target competition. Grant Glossner of Boiling Springs, PA took the top spot in the Championships with 161 hit clays.

    Taking second in the national competition is only the most recent accomplishment from Knight. Earlier this year he claimed the 2021 SCTP State Championship in the Rookie Division.

    At eight-years-old, Knight started shooting sporting clays with a private club, but moved to the 4-H SCTP team for an introduction to skeet, trap and super sporting clays.  Knight is in fifth grade.

  • Griffin girls finish 2nd in region

    COLUMBIA – At the Region 4-3A meet, the Griffin girls team finished in second place behind Mid-Carolina, while the Griffin Boys placed last, but junior Joshua Mosley continued to dominate in the distance events, pulling first place finishes in the 800m run (2:11.12), the 1600m run (5:01.97) and the 3200m run (10:42.20).

    Other top-five finishes for the boys were:

    • Evelino Reyes-Hawes finished second in high jump for the Griffins at 5-8.
    • Tydarion Grier: 100m dash (5th place, 11.13) and long jump (5th place, 19-4.5)
    • 4x100m relay team: Stepheno Gadsden, Stephon Gadsden, Christopher Jackson, Tydarion Grier (3rd place, 43.92)
    • 4x800m relay team: Evelino Reyes-Hawes, Hank White, Derek Cammon, Owen Wilson (4th place, 9:50.41)
    • Mosley, Reyes-Hawes, and the 4×100 and 4×800 relay teams qualified for Upper State this weekend

    Sharmelle Holmes highlighted the Griffin girls team with first place finishes in the 100m dash (12.09), the 200m dash (25.33) and the 400m dash (1:00.88).

    Fairfield’s relay team of Tamerra English, Natalia Gray, Anaya Peay and Holmes placed first in the 4x100m relay finals with a time of 50.53.

    The Griffin girls also saw a handful of second place finishes. Tamerra English placed second in the 100m hurdles. The 4x400m relay team of Celysha Jackson, Teairra McDuffie, Anaya Peay and Ericka Kelly placed second, and the 4×800 relay team of Jackson, McDuffie, English and SaKira Hayes also finished second.

    Other top-five finishers for the girls were:

    • Natalia Gray: 100m dash (5th place, 13.17)
    • SaKira Hayes: 1600m run (3rd place, 6:26.26) and 3200m run (5th place, 16:42.58)
    • Tanisha English: high jump (5th place, 4-2) and shot put (5th place, 26-6)
    • Tamerra English: javelin (3rd place, 67-2)
    • Ericka Kelly: shot put (3rd place, 28-6) and javelin (5th place, 56-9.5)

    Holmes, Hayes, Tamerra English, Gray, Kelly, Tanisha English, and the 4×100, 4×400 and 4x800m relay teams qualified for 3A Upper State.

    The Griffins head to Upper State this weekend in hopes of qualifying for the State meet next weekend.

  • Mosley takes 1st at Falcon Invitational

    Mosley

    COLUMBIA – Joshua Mosley represented Fairfield Central at the Ben Lippen School’s George Johnson Falcon Invitational on April 10. Mosley took first place in the 3200 meter run finals with a time of 10:13.54, two seconds ahead of second place finisher Judson Taylor of Lexington High School.

    Mosley, a junior, set his personal record in the 3200 meter run at the March 6 Diamond Hornets Invitational with a time of 10:03.09.

    The Griffins were set to compete in Lugoff Elgin’s meet on Wednesday, but scores were not available at press time. They will travel to Keenan for the Raider Twilight Invitational on April 16 and to Columbia International University on April 17 for the Rams High School Invitational.

  • BW students win national track competition

    Blythewood track and field stars Paris Asmond, Peyton Heightower, Madison Ross and Olivia Taylor | Contributed

    SATELLITE BEACH, FL – Four Richland School District Two students won a national title in Track and Field. Paris Asmond, Peyton Hightower, Madison Ross, and Olivia Taylor became the youngest group of females from South Carolina to win a National Championship for the 4×400 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) relay race.

    Ross, a sixth-grader, and seventh-graders Asmond and Taylor attend Blythewood Middle School. Hightower is a sixth-grader at Kelly Mill Middle School. The group is a part of Team Blaze Track Club.

    The 2019-2020 season marks the first year that this group ran together as a relay team. Despite losing much of the season due to Covid-19, Asmond, Hightower, Ross, and Taylor began training at home and in the community.

    On Friday, Aug. 8, the group traveled to Satellite Beach, Florida to compete in two events, the 4X100 meter relay and the 4X400 meter relay. They placed third in the 4X100 meter relay and placed first in the 4X400 meter relay, earning the distinctions of All-American and National Champion. Asmond, Hightower, Ross, and Taylor now hold the South Carolina record in both events for their age group.

  • National women’s golf tourney planned for Blythewood

    BLYTHEWOOD – The Women’s South Carolina Golf Association’s (WSCGA) 3rd annual South Carolina Open Championship is moving from Seabrook Island Club to Cobblestone Park this summer, Mayor Bryan Franklin announced at the Monday night zoomed town council meeting. He said the nationally televised tournament will be held Aug. 12 – 16, promising to bring as many as 3,000 – 4,000 spectators to the town.

    Franklin said the event will bring over 500 touring professionals, senior tour and amateur players and nationally ranked amateurs. Players’ families, caddies, ancillary staff and several national publications and media will also attend, Franklin said, generating substantial revenue for local area hotels, restaurants and businesses in the town.

    The change of venue came after the Seabrook Island Club course was closed this year for major renovations.

    “This is an opportunity for Blythewood to host the event and, of course, if we do a great job with it this year, it might come back,” Franklin told council. “It’s something we may allocate money to.”

    To bring the tournament to Blythewood, the WSCGA is requesting a $20,000 hospitality tax award from the town to go toward the projected $68,000 total budget for the event.

    “That’s a lot of money, but once we get people coming to the tournament and the television stations start covering it, people in Blythewood can rent their homes out. All the hotels will be full. You can do Airbnb, all those kinds of things that will be a shot in the arm for the town,” Franklin said.

    He said admission to the tournament will be free this first year to encourage citizens to come to it and see what’s going on.

    Franklin said much of the credit for bringing the event to Blythewood goes to Kristi Coggins, a former University of South Carolina golf coach and a member of the Ladies Professional Golf Association, who lives in Blythewood.

    “Kristi and her husband Buck have worked hard to bring this tournament to Blythewood,” Franklin said. “Everything here has been shut down and this event could start bringing people back to Blythewood, to get some much needed money in here to stimulate our local businesses and tourism – all that H-Tax and A-Tax revenue that we’re missing out on. This will help our town.”

    Council also discussed awarding H-Tax and A-Tax funds to three other events.

    The Big Red Barn has asked for the most – $25,000 (double what it received last year) – for a music event to be held in September or possibly next spring in Doko Park. The event’s organizers said the top attendance has been around 1,000. 

    A new event, Queens of the Castle Basketball Showcase at Westwood High School is requesting $20,000 for a tournament to be held Dec. 3-5.

    Bravo Blythewood has requested $5,000 for its annual Holiday Market to be held at the Manor, Nov. 5-7.

    All H-Tax and A-Tax requests will be voted on at a later meeting or as event dates are finalized in conjunction with COVID-19 social distancing restrictions.

  • Last week to enter U-Pick-’Em contest

    BLYTHEWOOD/FAIRFIELD  COUNTY – Need some extra cash to pay off some of those Christmas bills that are adding up? Then you might want to consider entering The Voice’s annual College Bowl U-Pick-‘Em contest that can be found on page 8 of this week’s issue.

    Three $100 dollar bills will be presented to the winner by contest sponsor Chris Griffith, owner of Alltemp Comfort Services. The winner will be announced after the Jan. 13 College National Championship game.

    This is the last week that the contest entry form will be published in The Voice. Only one entry per person, no photo copies of entry forms, and all entries must be postmarked by midnight Dec. 27. Do not drop them by our offices since the envelopes must be postmarked.

    And don’t forget the tie-breaker! Last year, one person lost just because he had not included the tie-breaker on his entry.

  • Seidel sanction limited to one week

    BLYTHEWOOD – The Chief Communications Officer for Richland School District Two provided documents on Tuesday confirming that Blythewood head football coach Jason Seidel received a one-week suspension and was reprimanded by the District as punishment for violating the school’s recruiting policy.

    Seidel

    The Voice obtained the documents through a Freedom of Information Act request.

    Richland Two launched an investigation in late January of Seidel’s interaction via Twitter with several football players at Ridge View High School in December of last year and January of this year after it was reported to Richland Two District office by Ridge View High Principal, Brenda Mack-Foxworthy. Seidel exchanged numerous tweets with the players over that time frame, encouraging them to transfer to Blythewood to play for the Bengals, according to a statement issued by Richland Two.

    The District did not at that time disclose what discipline it had meted out to Seidel.

    Seidel was missing from the sidelines of his team’s game against Fairfield Central High School on Friday, Sept. 6, and there was speculation at the time that it was the likely result of his punishment.

    Kevin Rohletter was the Bengals acting head coach for the team that evening in their 35-21 victory over the Fairfield Central Griffins.

    Documents provided Tuesday verified that Seidel received a one-week suspension in which he would be “prohibited from any activities with the team during that week, including any games the team played that week.”

    The specific week the suspension would be served was not disclosed.

    Complaints against Seidel also accused him of directing players to cover up his interactions. In one tweet, Seidel mentioned to one player to “delete our convo…”  In another conversation with a player, he said about the player’s mother “I would like to meet her when she can. I want you both comfortable. But you and your mom can’t say we met either.”

    According to District Two policy, “Recruiting of prospective students for athletic purposes is a serious ethical violation of the philosophy and ideals of interscholastic athletics and will be treated as such.”

    District Two went public on the matter only in mid-August, when local television news station WIS received word of the issue and aired a story on Seidel’s contacts on Aug. 16.

    After District Two had investigated and addressed the situation in March, Mack-Foxworth filed an appeal March 19 with Keith Price, the District’s assistant superintendent for middle schools and high schools and requested that the District send the issue to the South Carolina High School League (SCHSL), which oversees public school sports in the state. The SCHSL later said that “no violation within the S.C.H.S.L occurred” because none of the students in contact with Seidel transferred to Blythewood.

    Seidel was notified of his discipline by Richland District Two in May.

    The South Carolina High School League, which governs public school athletic programs, passed on making a decision because there was no evidence that any student transferred based on Seidel’s actions.

  • BHS to induct first Hall of Fame class

    BLYTHEWOOD – The Blythewood High School (BHS) Athletic Hall of Fame announced its inaugural induction class.

    Created in 2019 to recognize the outstanding contributions to Blythewood High School athletics, the Hall of Fame will honor five inductees at a banquet on Thursday, Oct. 31. The inductees will also be recognized at Blythewood’s final regular season varsity football game on Friday, Nov. 1.

    The first Bengals inducted will be Nicole Quinlan Durig (2008) – volleyball and track; Grayson Greiner (2011) – baseball; Vince Lowry – first BHS Athletic Director; Richard Mounce (2008) – football and baseball;, and Jeff Scott – first BHS varsity football coach.

    Tickets to the Induction Banquet, held at Columbia Country Club, are available to the public for $25. Ticket inquiries may be directed to Buzzy Myers (buzzmy- ers@live.com) or current BHS Athletic Director Barry Mizzell (bmizzell@richland2.org).

  • Seidel missing from sidelines

    BLYTHEWOOD – Blythewood head football coach Jason Seidel was missing from the sidelines of his team’s game against Fairfield Central Friday, the likely result of his being punished by Richland District Two.

    Seidel

    Kevin Rohletter was the Bengals acting head coach in their 35-21 victory over the Griffins.

    When asked about the possibility that Seidel’s absence in the game Friday was a part of District Two’s discipline of the coach, District Spokesperson Libby Roof declined comment.

    Seidel’s interaction via Twitter with several football players at Ridge View and Richland Northeast high schools in December of last year and January of this year drew the attention from the media. Seidel exchanged numerous tweets with the players over that time frame, encouraging them to transfer to Blythewood and play for the Bengals.

    Further, Seidel directed players to cover up his interactions. In one tweet, Seidel mentioned to one player to “delete our convo…”  In another conversation with a player, he said about the player’s mother “I would like to meet her when she can. I want you both comfortable. But you and your mom can’t say we met either.”

    According to District Two policy, “Recruiting of prospective students for athletic purposes is a serious ethical violation of the philosophy and ideals of interscholastic athletics and will be treated as such.”

    District Two went public on the matter only in mid-August, when local television news station WIS received word of the issue and aired a story on Seidel’s contacts Aug. 16.

    The contact, explained in detail in the Voice’s Aug. 22 cover story, involved students at Ridge View and Westwood High Schools.  Ridge View principal Brenda Mack-Foxworth reported the contact Jan. 19, according to the District’s timeline of events.

    Later, after District Two had addressed the situation, Mack-Foxworth filed an appeal March 19 with the District’s assistant superintendent for middle schools and high schools and requested that the District send the issue to the South Carolina High School League (SCHSL), which oversees public school sports in the state. The SCHSL later said that “no violation within the S.C.H.S.L occurred” because none of the students in contact with Seidel transferred to Blythewood.

    Seidel was disciplined by Richland District Two in May. The Voice has submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the District to acquire Seidel’s personnel record, which is public.

    The South Carolina High School League, which governs public school athletic programs, passed on making a decision because there was no evidence that any student transferred based on Seidel’s actions.

    Three more non-region games are on the slate for Blythewood (2-1).

    The Bengals travel to North Augusta Friday, play host to Dutch Fork Sept. 20, and travel to Beaufort Sept. 27 before opening Region 4-5A play at Irmo Oct. 11.

  • Blythewood beagles tops at NC field trials

    Jan Robertson shares the tailgate with Up The Creek Little John, left, who won both the Indian and Lure Beagle Clubs’ 15-inch male classes and Up The Creek Prince Valiant, right, who won the Lure Beagle Club’s 13-inch male class. | Pat Robertson

    VALE, N.C. – The opening week of beagle field trial season was triple fun for Pat and Jan Robertson of Blythewood as they won three of the four male classes at a two-club event last week at Indian Beagle Club at Vale, N.C. Up The Creek Little John won both the Indian and Lure Beagle Clubs’ 15-inch male classes, and Up The Creek Prince Valiant won the Lure Beagle Club’s 13-inch male class.

    It was the first two wins for Little John, who has placed in previous trials, and the first win and place ever for Prince Valiant. In addition, another of the Robertsons’ dogs, Cotton Hill Benjie, took an NBQ (Next Best Qualified) Award on Wednesday and a second place on Thursday.

    Field trial beagles must earn three wins and a total of 120 points to be recognized as an American Kennel Club champion.

    “We are looking forward to competing with these dogs and our other beagles at field trials in the Carolinas and Georgia over the coming months,” Jan said.