Academic Magnet Boys & Girls Each Win Respective AA Soccer Titles

By David Shelton

Senior Writer

Columbia - When it comes to academic prowess and soccer success, few schools do it done at Academic Magnet school.

For years, the school has been recognized as one of the top academic schools in the country. Now, the soccer program is making a name for itself.

Both the boys and girl’s teams from Academic Magnet played in the Class AA state championship in May 21 in Columbia. And, as expected, both teams defended the titles they won a year ago with relative ease. When it comes to Class AA soccer, there were very few high caliber programs to compete, and Magnet seems like years away from the rest of the pack.

The girls team knocked off Andrew Jackson 5-0, their 23^rd win of the season. The Title was the program’s seventh and coach Alistair Delong has won four as head coach.

“We’re very relaxed and focused for every game,” said Coach Delong. “We have some veteran players who do a good job leading us. Once the game started, we were loose. Today we just had an edge.

“We didn’t know a lot about them, and we may have started a little slow,” said Coach Delong. “But we got loose and got going. You just have to be patient and let things happen. Sometimes it might look easy, but it’s not. There’s a lot of work that goes into it.”

Sophomore Bridget Lee was certainly relaxed as she scored Magnet’s first three goals, giving her 27 goals this season. Hannah Collins added a goal and sophomore Kamya Pham closed out the scoring.

Andrew Jackson is head coached by Lee Hanna.

Jason Hamil is a fixture on the sidelines of the boy’s team, and he led his Raptors to a seventh state title.

The boys team beat Buford, 3-1. Like the girl’s team, the boy’s program has high expectations and winning championships is part of the entire school experience.

“The way I see it, an athlete doesn’t have to take a back seat academically,” said Coach Hamil. “We know why these kids are here, but we want to help them in every aspect. Soccer is a good teacher. You can be a good student and be a good soccer player.”

Cesr Ramirez got the Raptors on the board first, splitting two defenders for an easy goal. The score remained 1-0 at halftime but Buford scored quickly to start the second half.

Magnet regained the lead midway through the half as Jaidon Daley headed in a long throw in from Blake Yarborough for a 2-1 lead.

With time running out, Ramirez tacked on a goal for the final margin.

“These guys work so hard and they deserve this,” said Coach Hamil.



Buford finished 21-5 on the season. They are coached by BJ Griffin.