Bishops, Iron Horses lace up for track and field championship run

The South Carolina High School League will crown state champions in track and field in mid-May, and the Philip Simmons and Bishop England high school teams will be among the contenders for the Class AAA and Class AA crowns, respectively.

 

Bishop England has been a power for a long, long time, with the girls’ team winning 14 state crowns, including last year, while the boys have claimed four state championships, with their most recent title eight years ago.

 

Philip Simmons, meanwhile, has been open for seven years. The girls’ team won state titles in 2021 and 2022 while finishing second last spring. The boys won a state championship in 2021 while finishing in second in 2022 and fourth last spring.

 

On April 19, PSHS and BE competed in the Coaches Classic Elite Meet at Seneca High School. The best way to describe the meet is that it’s like an all-in-one state meet, with the biggest difference being schools of all sizes compete. That means the Bishops and Iron Horses were competing against some schools twice their size.

 

The Daniel Island schools fared well with a sister act highlighting the Iron Horses effort, while it was a sibling effort that made the highlight reel for Bishop England.

 

Only one athlete from each school claimed a medal, but in this event, a top-10 individual finish could equate to a medal at the state meet, which is broken down into four classifications.

 

The Iron Horses were led by Ashley and Reagan Roush, who finished second in the pole vault with a national elite effort of 12 feet, 6 inches, while Reagan claimed fifth with a vault of 11-6.

 

“Ashley and Reagan have consistently been leaders in the pole vault this season,” coach Emma Santor said. “It’s really special to watch them compete and succeed as sisters.”

 

The Iron Horses’ Pierce Walker posted a national elite time of nine minutes, 36.18 seconds in the 3,200-meter run to finish in eighth place.

 

Laura Perry, one of the top seventh-grade distance runners in the nation last year, turned in a national elite clocking of 5:09.93 to finish in sixth place in the 1,600-meter run.

 

Matthew Yaun and Walter Gregg finished eighth and ninth in the javelin, with Yaun’s effort recorded at 153-5.

 

Meanwhile, Bishop England’s Nora Brahim and Marc Brahim both finished 10th in their specific event. Nora finished in 10th place in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:16.42, while Marc claimed 10th in the 3,200 in 9:38.19.

 

Nora captured silver medals in both the 1,600 and 3,200 last spring at the state championships.

 

Playoff Schedules 

The South Carolina High School League will crown state champions in lacrosse this weekend.

 

The boys’ tennis playoffs were slated to start on April 23, while soccer ends on April 26 with the seedings revealed.

 

The baseball season ends on April 27, with the playoffs slated to commence on April 30.

 

Soccer playoffs will start on April 29, while softball is penciled in to start on May 1.