By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Mt. Pleasant – The Palmetto Christian Academy Eagles track and field teams has finished in the top ten at the SCISA division II state meet last year and the program continues to improve and is getting larger as a number of young kids have joined the program. Because of the youth on the team head coach Dale Hoover’s expectations are a bit tapered but his program has always been more working to get the most out of his team while developing their confidence that they can get better through hard work. “There is always a fine line between expecting too much from athletes and pushing them to be their best and with the youth of our team, my goal for this season is to develop the competitive desire within our athletes while tempering expectations to make sure they don't feel defeated if they fall short,” said coach Hoover. Coach continued, “I see this year as building for our future and that approach allows me to celebrate what we have instead of focusing on how young we are. As in past years, these kids continue to impress me with their work ethic and strong character. They genuinely cheer for each other and that continues to make coaching here a lot of fun for me.” Another thing that has been exciting for coach Hoover has been the addition of one his former athletes to his coaching staff in Lauren Pernell. She along Chris Mercer coach the distance runners. The Eagles return the top two pole vaulter s in SCISA in seniors Sam Smith and Gavin Wease. Smith set a new SCISA pole vault record last season at the state meet with a vault of 14’8” while Wease finished second with a vault of `14’. They both recently competed in the All-American Track classic where Smith finished fifth and Wease finished 16 th . The distance events are where the strength of the Eagles boys’ team and they return several key runners in juniors Trey Wilson, freshmen Alex Avinger and Heyward Neely and seventh grader Lucas Rodriguez-Porcel. Avinger is the top returner having run in the state meet last season finishing in the top 15 in both the 800 and 1600 meters while Neely ran in the 1600- and 3200-meters finishing 12 th and 8 th respectively. Seventh grader Jackson Pollard has a bright future in the sprints and has run a 13.47 while eighth grader Davis Padgett has improved tremendously and currently ranks second in the state among 8th grade boys for Javelin. Junior Josie Hurley placed second in the 1600 and third in the 800 at last year’s state meet and is the leaders of the girls team. She has a personal best of 2:32.8 in the 800 and 5:47.69 in the 1600. Our fastest distance runner has been 6th grader Evelyn Mercer , who has broken our school records for the 3200 and 1600 this year. She is currently ranked #2 in the nation among 6th grade girls and 6th in the nation for the 1600. Sophomore Sydney Geiger has been the leader in the field events in the long and triple jumps. She also runs the 100, 100 hurdles and 200 meters. Also returning to the girls team in the distance events are freshmen Caton Newbern and seventh graders Elizabeth Craft and Blakely Cole and in the sprints are sophomore Teagan Delaney, freshmen Anna Grace Works and eighth grader Lola Perry.

PCA head coach Shelly Kaiser with team captains (L) Ava Brown and (R) Cokey Suddeth

By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Mt. Pleasant – The Palmetto Christian Academy Lady Eagles had the most successful season in their short history as they made the SCISA AAA state semi finals for the first time, in fact, their only loses in the state tournament were to the two state AAA finalist runner up Florence Christian and State champion First Presbyterian Academy at Shannon Forest. Despite moving up to AAAA expectations are high as the Lady Eagles return their entire roster including three Lady Eagles who played in the SCISA AAA all-star game. “This is our first year being moved up to SCISA 4A. We have a great team with young and experienced talent. I have told the team from the beginning of the season, "Why not us" Why not us to win Region and why not us to win State. The best team does not win, the team that plays the best does. And that is what this team continues to do,” said head coach Shelly Kaiser . Coach Continued, “We have depth this year offensively and defensively and I am excited to see what God will do through this team. Our verse of the year is Proverbs 16:3 "Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. The Eagles currently sit at 20-8-4 after beating Pinewood Prep three sets to none. They are also 5-0 in region play and has they head down the stretch they can wrap up a region championship securing one of the top seeds in the upcoming SCISA AAAA volleyball tournament. Leading the way for coach Kaiser are four seniors in Cokey Suddeth , Ava Bowen , Hannah Delaney , and Bria Olson . Cokey and Bowe are in the starting lineup while Delaney and Olson provide valuable minutes off the bench. Cokey is a senior captain and a middle and outside hitter. She is a three-time All-region selection and was SCISA AAA All-State last season. As a junior she was named the region player of the year while getting her 1000th career kill. She is also one of the top senior basketball players in the state. Bowen is also a captain and is the teams emotional leader. Coach says she provided great energy on the court. Juniors Chloe Guyan and Reed Jones are returning All-Region as well. Guyan is the teams libero and provides the team with leadership, with her offense at the service line and her defense with her serve receive and defensive play while Jones (Middle and outside Hitter) is strong at the net, plays great defense and is one of teams top servers. Sophomore Adelaide Suddeth is also one the best players at the net. She was named All-Region as a freshmen. Two freshmen that have made an impact are Banks Jenkins and Coco Kucaba . They have added depth on both sides of the court. Jenkins is the teams setter and gets them in their offensive sets while Kucaba is second on the team in kills and blocks. Juniors Saylor Sorensen , and Alyssa Carper round out the Lady Eagles roster. They also add depth to the Lady Eagles lineup. “I am grateful to get to coach this amazing group of girls. Each week this season the team is seeing for themselves for what a GREAT team they truly are and are believing what I have always known they were. Coupled with love for the game and each other, they are having fun,” said coach Kaiser

PCA, Senior, Cokey Suddeth

By: Gerald Doolittle Goose Creek, S.C . - The South Carolina Independent Schools Association is preparing to open its 55 th football season with a new two-year alignment. Can Hammond (4A), Hilton Head Christian (3A), Bethesda Academy (2A), Patrick Henry Academy (1A) and Jefferson Davis Academy (8 Man) defend their 2023 titles? Hammond will be playing for their 8 th straight title in Class 4A. The top five pre-season ranking for Class 4A : 1. Hammond 2. Laurence Manning 3. Porter-Gaud 4. Northwood Academy 5. Cardinal Newman. Laurence Manning was runners-up to Hammond in 2023. Augusta Christian, Ben Lippen and Heathwood Hall will earn a playoff spot by finishing in the top eight. The top five pre-season ranking for Class 3A : 1. Hilton Head Christian, 2. Wilson Hall, 3. Pinewood Prep, 4. Florence Christian and 5. Trinity Collegiate. Hilton Head Christian defeated Wilson Hall for the 2023 title. John Paul ll, Palmetto Christian and Camden Military will earn a playoff spot if they finish the regular season in the top eight. The top five pre-season ranking for Class 2A : 1. Bethesda Academy, 2. Clarendon Hall Academy, 3. St. Johns Christian, 4. Orangeburg Prep and 5. Pee Dee Academy. Bethesda Academy defeated Williamsburg Academy (now in 1A) for the 2023 title. Greenwood Christian, Spartanburg Christian, Calhoun Academy, Dillon Christian, Thomas Sumter Academy, Hilton Head Prep and Christian Academy all will earn a playoff spot by finishing in the Class 2A top eight. The top five pre-season ranking for Class 1A : 1. Williamsburg Academy 2. Patrick Henry Academy 3. Lee Academy 4. Dorchester Academy 5. Thomas Heyward Academy Patrick Henry Academy defeated Lee Academy for the 2023 title. Colleton Prep, Beaufort Academy, Faith Christian, Andrew Jackson Academy, and Carolina Academy can get playoff spots by finishing in the top eight. The top five pre-season ranking for Eight Man are: 1. Jefferson Davis Academy 2. Holly Hill Academy 3. Richard Winn Academy 4. Wardlaw Academy 5. Laurens Academy W.W. King Academy, Newberry Academy and Oakbrook Prep can earn playoff spots by finishing in the top four of Region One. Cathedral Academy, Cross Schools and Conway Christian can earn playoff spots by finishing in the top four of Region Two. The Kings Academy is a new comer Region Two moving to 8-man play this season.