Batesburg-Leesville's Keira Frye wins shot put, discus in AA girls track state meet
Panthers' baseball team reaches championship round of AA upper state tournament
Batesburg-Leesville – Keira Frye can say she is a 2-time track and field state champion.
The Batesburg-Leesville High School thrower won both the discus and shot put events in the AA state meet on May 15 at the Richland Northeast track in Columbia.
Frye won the discus with a throw of 151 feet, 6.11 inches. Frye’s teammate, Raya Etheredge, finished third in the event.
Frye won the shot put with a throw of 43-04.08.
On the boys side, Batesburg-Leesville placed in four events, including two seconds.
Ja’Quan Corley was second in the discus with a toss of 166-04.06. Braylen Davis was second in th8e high jump at 06-04.77.
Bishop Sims placed fifth in the shot put, and Ta’Maj Gilliam was sixth in the triple jump.
Those girls who competed in the state meet but did not place were Kiya Wootoon in the 100-meter hurdles and Jayda Hinson in the shot put.
For the boys, it was Cameron Martin in the high jump, KD Whitt and Gilliam in the long jump, Corley in the shot put and the 4x100-meter relay team.
In the Region 2 meet held on April 28 in Pelion, Frye was the only region champ, winning the same two events. Malaun Henley was second in the 100-meter dash, Callie McDougal was second in the 100-meter hurdles, Ariana Stroman was second in the long jump and the triple jump, and Etheredge was second in the discus.
There were four region champions in the boys meet. Corley won the discus and Sims claimed the shot put, while Davis won the high jump. The 4x100 relay team also won region.
The second-place finishes included Whitt in both the 100 and the lonh jump, Martin in the high jump, Shappelle Morris in the discus and Corley in the shot put.
B-L BASEBALL BACK IN UPPER STATE TOURNAMENT
The Batesburg-Leesville baseball team wasn't able to defend its state championship, but it made another deep run. The Panthers reached the championship round of the AA upper state tournament.
B-L beat Landrum 4-1 in its upper state opener. It then lost to eventual state champion Clinton 11-0. Batesburg-Leesville beat Chesnee 4-1 in an elimination game to get back to Clinton. Al;though the Panthers lost, it was a much better showing. They dropped a 4-3 decision to finish with a 17-10 record.
The Panthers finished second in Region 2 but came through the District 2 tournament undefeated to earn a spot in the upper state tournament.
Bateburg-Leesville blasted Fairfield Central 15-0 in the opening game before going on the road and beating Mid-Carolina 2-1. It then beat Mid-Carolina again to advance.
When asked if he’s surprised the Panthers advanced as far as they did, head coach Rob Bouknight had a mixed response.
“Yes and no,” Bouknight said. “No because I know the type of players we had coming back from last year and the way they go about things. Yes, I am surprised because of the way our season went early, but we have gotten some breaks of late and some things have gone our way
“I am super proud of our players and coaches for the job they have done this year.”
