Iron Horse athletics shine in ‘24-25 with 4 state titles, high GPA

Ask Dan Minkin what it was like to walk past the athletics trophy case when he was named the athletic director at Philip Simmons High School in time for the 2019-20 academic year, and his answer might surprise you.

 

“This is actually a funny question,” said Minkin, who took over as AD in the school’s third year of existence.

 

“We didn’t have a trophy case when I was first hired. Our Gameday Booster Club bought one a couple of years ago, and as soon as we put the trophies in, it was too small. We have to rotate out the latest region and state championship trophies every year.

 

“It’s a good way to measure success, but for us, it’s more of what we do off the field as well,” Minkin added. “We ended the year with the highest GPAs we had in school history, thanks to our mandatory study hall program.”

 

The Iron Horses completed a banner year that included four state championships (girls’ and boys’ cross country, boys’ golf, and girls’ track and field), while claiming state runners-up in boys’ track and field and baseball.

 

Throw in 10 Region 6-AA championships the Iron Horses earned, and they are in the running for the Carlisle Cup, a yearly award given to the top five schools by classification in overall athletics. This would be the Iron Horses’ bid for their third Carlisle Cup. Philip Simmons is the only traditional public school to ever win the AA cup and the only Berkeley County school to ever win it, regardless of classification.

 

Those achievements are at the successful end of the spectrum compared to Minkin’s first year on campus, which was the 2019-20 academic year. That, of course, was when COVID-19 arrived, shutting down many sports and activities.

 

“When you take a new job, you always sit back and see how things go,” Minkin said. “You want to see how things work. But things shut down. I was told spring would be my busiest season since there was a game every night. But the first spring, 2020, I worked one baseball game, and that was it.”

 

Minkin says the common denominator in achieving success is the student-athletes’ commitment and the coaches’ leadership.

 

“That common denominator is the athletes’ buy-in,” Minkin said. “That comes from the coaches, who we have the best in the state, modeling the behavior both on and off the field. This causes the athletes to buy in, and at that point, the winning begins. The athletes want to know the coaches care before they care about what they know.”

 

The school’s enrollment in 2024 was about 820 students, with 75 percent of students playing at least one sport, while 60 percent play at least two or more sports. The Iron Horses produced more than 60 all-region performers, with 15 earning scholarships, and the just-completed academic year marked academic achievements as well, with a record GPA.

 

Minkin said the next area of athletic growth will be continuing to offer the best athletic programs in the area and putting more students in the best position to grow as individuals by offering every South Carolina High School League-sanctioned sport.

 

“We will continue to monitor the SCHSL-sponsored sports and will continue to add as the league adds,” Minkin said.