Grant, Sanderson, Blake, and Gallagher Carry Lady Wildcats to best finish ever at Outback

Morghan Blake hands to Jessie Gallagher for the final leg of their Gold medal winning 4x400 relay performance at the Outback Azalea Invitational in Summerville.

Senior Sprinter Breanna Grant had the biggest day of her career as she joined fellow Senior Jessie Gallagher to lead the Lady Wildcats to their best team finish at a major meet in the history of West Ashley High, finishing 4th in a field of 22 schools. The Wildcats scored 60 points, just 2 behind Fort Dorchester and 7 behind Berkeley who finished 2nd. Host team Summerville won the Girls Championship with 95 points, but that didn’t stop the girls from beating the Greenwave in the marquee 4×400 relay, the last race of the day, in a dramatic come from behind finish by anchor girl Jessie Gallagher for the Wildcats first ever gold medal in the event at a major meet. Morghan Blake had handed Gallagher the lead with one leg to go, until Summerville’s Breanna Blanton who is one of the biggest names in the state, passed her with about 150 meters to go. But then Gallagher reached down deep to regain the lead over the final meters of the race, something seldom done to Summerville’s Blanton, who has already won multiple state championships though just a sophomore. The Wildcat’s 4×400 squad is historically the ladies strongest relay, as they’ve advanced to the state finals two of the past four years including last year. They also have somehow become the perennial silver medalists at the Outback Invitational, so you can be sure the Gold at this traditionally important  meet bodes well for the team’s shot at a State crown this year. West Ashley’s Breanna Grant ran the all important lead leg in the gold medal race and also ran the anchor for the girls bronze medal winning 4×100 squad. Grant is very familiar with success in these two events, so it was her individual performance at the meet that put her name fully on the state radar.  In her first year running the event, Grant won the silver medal in the 400 meter dash and lead a triumvirate of Wildcats to finish 3rd, 4th, and 5th in the highly competitive 200 meter dash, taking the bronze medal while showing the 22 schools in attendance why the Wildcats’ relay teams are so hard to beat. They’re legitimately fast.  Junior star Morghan Blake finished 4th in the 200 meter race while also making the finals in the 100 and earning the Gold and the Bronze in the two sprint relays. And joining the ladies in both relays was super freshman Nykeila “Kiki” Sanderson, who takes home the first Gold medal of her young career while pocketing her second bronze, and truly shocking the crowd by finishing 5th in the 47 woman field of 200 meter runners, though she’s only a freshman. Joining the three sprinters in having a personal record day was Gallagher, who shared the Gold while also taking the bronze medals in both hurdle events including her first elite time in the 400 hurdles (69:87). Gallagher is now ranked in the top three in the state for both hurdle events for the first time in her career. Jessie also finished 4th in the high jump, but dropped out of the finals to focus more energy into the grueling 400 hurdles, or else she likely would have had another 4 medal day. So the day belonged to 4-medal Breanna Grant, and to triple medalist Gallagher, and, their relay partners Blake, and Sanderson who each took the gold and the bronze. Freshman Paige Murray rounded out the medalists as the fourth member of the bronze medal winning 4×100 relay squad.

The Boys team was a bit hamstrung with several athletes missing the meet for SAT testing, so senior star Dana Brown carried the team as its lone medalist on the day. Brown took the bronze in both the 100 meter and 200 meter dashes, while also leading a depleted 4×100 squad to a 4th place finish, one spot out of the medals. Despite the missing athletes, Wildcat boys still finished 9th as a team among a field of 23 schools, so Brown wasn’t the only man scoring points. Senior James Meggett just missed the bronze medal in the 400 hurdles with his 5th place finish, and also scored by finishing 7th in the 110 high hurdles. Chris Davis scored with his 8th place finish in the Triple Jump, and the 4×400 relay squad scored with their 8th place finish. Next up for the Wildcats is the Warrior Relays hosted by Wando High School in Mt. Pleasant.

3rd Annual Sandlapper Classic another huge success

West Ashley's Dana Brown won 3 Silver medals on the day

This past Saturday 44 high school track teams from as far away as Atlanta and Charlotte traveled to West Ashley High School to compete at the third annual Sandlapper Track & Field Classic. With perfectly sunny skies and highs in the upper 70’s, it could hardly have been a more beautiful day for the nine hour event. Add the drama of top level competition, the thrill of continues medal ceremonies, and the aroma of Andolini’s pizza in the concessions stand, and it’s no wonder why the crowd stayed strong and enthusiastic from sunrise to sunset.  The public address announcers kept the spectators energized and engaged with lane by lane introductions and plenty of colorful play by play for every race and field event. And of all the names called out, few gained more crowd approval than tiny St. Johns High champion sprinter, Greg Roper.  Roper, who will be seeking his fourth consecutive Class A State Championship in the 400 meter dash, proved that he is “the man” to beat when he edged out James Island’s reigning Class AAAA State Champion, Raymond Eurie in the most dramatic race of the day.  Roper went on to become the first sprinter in Sandlapper history to sweep the sprints with gold in the 100 and 200 meter sprints as well, earning him the prestigious Outstanding Male Track Athlete award. Eurie was last year’s top winner and has become a legitimate media star, but his times proved that he wasn’t quite on top of his game for the season opener, so when he pulled out of competition after the 400 he left the crowd wondering if he may have been under the weather. But that takes nothing from Roper. “I view him as the top sprinter in the state,” said WAHS Athletic Director Richard Luden. “He had the fastest 400 in the state last year, and the fact that he has lacked the facilities or top competition found at the AAAA level for his entire career says a lot about his raw talent,” added Luden. The biggest shocker of the day was the performance of Cane Bay’s true freshman Semaj Tolliver who literally came out of nowhere to win the Outstanding Female Track Athlete awarded. Tolliver set the new meet record in the girls 100m with a time of 12.54 and also won the gold in the 200m with a time of 25.48.  If the name sound familiar, Semaj is the daughter of WAHS Assistant Principal Keysha Williams-Tolliver, who was instrumental in drawing the new Cane Bay High (comprised of just 9^th and 10^th graders) to enter the prestigious meet. In the field, Northwestern High’s Cordarelle Patterson took the Outstanding Male Field Athlete by winning gold in both the high jump and long jump, and Fort Dorchester’s Keri Emanuel took the Outstanding Female Field Athlete for the second year in a row with victories in the triple and long jump. Patterson is also a football and basketball standout at the Rock Hill area school, and all in attendance could see “pro athlete” written all over him so he’s definitely a name to keep an eye on. In the team standings the Wando Warriors edged out Northwestern for the Boys, Girls, and Overall crowns to be the first school ever to pull the team sweep. Wando boasts the largest mostly-volunteer staff of coaches we’ve seen in the state, so let that serve notice to potential volunteers in our communities. Honorable team mentions go to Atlanta area Miller Grove, who traveled with a relatively small yet professionally trained girls’ team of sprinters to take third in the girls scoring. Honors also go to an equally small group of men from Charlotte’s Ardry Kell High School who took fifth, just one spot behind the WAHS boys who finished a respectable 4^th in team scoring.

 

The West Ashley Wildcats turned in several impressive individual performances as they played gracious host. On the girls’ side, senior star Jessica Gallagher lead all lady Wildcat medalists with silver in the high jump, bronze in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of personal best time of15.9 seconds, a strong 4^th place finish in the 400 meter hurdles, and silver as the anchor of the 4×400 relay – a marquee event that the Wildcats have remained perennially powerful for more than 5 years. Joining Gallagher in the 4×400 were senior star Breanna Grant, freshman Nykeila “Kiki” Sanderson, and junior star Morgan Blake. The ladies also looked to continue the new tradition of a strong 4×100 relay squad by winning the bronze in the frenetic event. Joining squad veterans Blake and Grant to earn bronze were Sanderson and fellow freshman Paige Murray. The ladies were region champs in both relays in 2008, so they’re well on their way to repeating in ’09. Blake also narrowly missed the bronze in the girls 100 meters, settling for 4^th against a very fast field, but defeated every region foe in attendance, so her junior season is off to a tremendous start.

 

On the track for the boys, senior super-star sprinter Dana Brown, now a senior, was one “Greg Roper” away from winning the boy’s Outstanding Track Athlete award, as he took the silver in the 100 and 200 while also anchoring the 4×100 relay team for his third silver on the day. Brown, the only returning member of the Wildcats squad that took silver at State in ’08 for All State honors, projects to be a favorite to contend for the State crown in both short sprints this year, so keep an eye on Dana. Joining Brown in the elite relay were sophomore Ronald Jenkins, sophomore Roemelle Mack, and sophomore Nick Bosley. In the field, senior star Donovan Pinckney proved he’s a front runner for the State crown in the Discus by winning the Wildcat’s lone gold medal on the day, while fellow senior thrower Cedric Chisolm won the silver in the shot put.

 

Be sure to visit SandlapperClassic.com for more than 400 photos from the event. Next up for the Wildcats is the prestigious Outback Azalea Classic in Summerville this Saturday.

 

St. Johns’ Roper Sweeps Sprints, Wando Rules at 2009 Classic

With more than 400 photos from the 3rd Annual Sandlapper Classic, it will take several hours for the upload to complete, but you can CLICK HERE to see the gallery while it uploads. With every passing minute more photos will be added, so be sure to check back often. And while we wait for Kay Sorin’s color article that will be published in this week’s issue of West Of, which will include more detailed results, below we’ve posted the article in today’s Post & Courier written by Phillip Bowman that includes all Gold Medalists, MVP’s, and final team scoring among top finishers.

Co-Founder Gettys Glaze celebrates with the Wando team after their sweep of the 3 Championship Team Trophies

Islanders’ Roper shines in 400 win

By Philip M. Bowman (Contact)

The Post and Courier

Sunday, March 8, 2009

As the Sandlapper Track and Field Classic wound down late Saturday afternoon, the public address announcer asked coaches to make nominations for the top performers of the meet. When it came to the outstanding male track performer, he could have asked for a coronation.

St. John’s standout sprinter Greg Roper is the king of the 400-meter dash in South Carolina and he proved he is the man to beat this year. Roper, who had the best 400 time at the state meet last year regardless of school classification, beat the reigning Class AAAA state champion Raymond Eurie in the best race of the day at West Ashley Stadium.

Roper, whose school competes at the Class A level, ran a 49.64 to win the gold, and edge Eurie by .34 of a second.

“We’re very close friends,” Roper said of his top rival. “We talk about running and we hope to go to the same school so we can-tag team together.”

Roper also won the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.77 and completed the sweep of the sprints with a clocking of 22.25 in the 200-meter dash.

Roper is seeking his fourth and final state championship in the 400 this spring.

“I was watching SportsCenter this week, and I heard someone use the term four-peat,” Roper said. “I never heard the term before. But that’s me. I want to win the 400 again this year so I can tell people I have a four-peat.”

While Roper is concluding his career, Cane Bay’s Semaj Tolliver’s is just beginning. The freshman set a meet record in the girls 100 with a time of 12.54 and won the 200 in 25.48 to earn the top female track performer award.

Fort Dorchester’s Keri Emanuel repeated as the top female field performer with victories in the long and triple jumps.

Northwestern’s Cordarelle Patterson was the top male field performer with gold medals in the high jump and long jump.

Wando dominated the team standings.

The Warriors won the girls’ crown with 104.5 points, while Northwestern was second with 94.5. Miller Grove claimed third with 84.5.

Wando edged Summerville 100-97 for the boys’ title. Northwestern was third with 93.

Wando won the combined team championship with 204.5 points. Northwestern was second with 187.5 and Summerville third with 172.

Event winners

Girls

100: Tolliver, Cane Bay, 12.54. 200: Tolliver, Cane Bay, 25.48. 400: Harris, Miller Grove, 59.66. 800: McDavid, Wando, 2:32.29. 1,600: Brandli, Wando, 5:44.57. 100 Hurdles: Austin, Miller Grove, 15.15. 400 hurdles: Austin, Miller Grove, 1:06.56. 400 relay: Miller Grove 49.58. 1,600 relay: Miller Grove 4:15.41. 3,200 relay: Wando 10:10.79. 6,400 relay: Wando 23:38.63. Distance Medley: Wando 13:33.02. HJ: Glover, Summerville, 5-2. PV: Metraud, Wando, 10-00. LJ: Emanuel, Fort Dorchester, 17-4. TJ: Emanuel, Fort Dorchester, 37-1.5. SP: Sullivan, Fort Dorchester, 36-4.25. D: Simmons, Hanahan, 112-1

Boys

100: Roper, St. John’s, 10.77. 200: Roper, St. John’s, 22.25. 400: Roper, St. John’s, 49.64. 800: Rojas, Kell Ardrey, 2:03.60. 1,600: Klecker, Kell Ardrey, 4:39.81. 110 Hurdles: Ravenna, Summerville, 14.92. 400 Hurdles: Cunningham, Northwestern, 56.65. 400 relay: Northwestern 42.56. 1,600 relay: Summerville 3:32.41. 3,200 relay: Kell Ardrey 8:30.18. 6,400 relay: Kell Ardrey 19:06.24. Distance Medley: Bishop England 11:18.83. HJ: Patterson, Northwestern, 6-4. PV: Hart, Wando, 14-0. LJ: Patterson, Northwestern, 22-4.5. TJ: Funnye, Andrews, 44-3.5. SP: McCutheon, Goose Creek, 46-0. D: Pinckney, West Ashley, 156-2.

For Complete Results as published at SCRunners.com, CLICK HERE

Sandlapper Classic Happening This Saturday!

3rd Annual Sandlapper Classic set for March 7!

With the Sandlapper Classic returning for it’s third year, founder, co-creator, and primary sponsor Gettys Glaze joins WAHS Athletic Director Richard Luden to inform coaches of a tighter schedule, a large inter-school staff of meet officials, an exciting new relay event, and everything that made past Sandlapper Classics the Southeast’s premier season opener.

Coaches please click here to open and print the registration form and detailed information. Registration is already active at DirectAthletics.com, and feel free to contact Coach Luden at Richard_Luden@Charleston.k12.sc.us if you have any questions, and check back soon for more details. Cheers!

2008 Sandlapper Classic Retrospective

2008 Outstanding Athlete Award Winners Named

Now that all results are final, Meet Director Richard Luden today announced the MVP honorees for the 2008 Sandlapper Classic. For the girls, Northwestern’s Mary Kate Dubard staked a convincing victory for the girl’s Outstanding Track Athlete Award by taking the gold medal in the 1600 meter run and also the 3200 meter run, where her time of 11:30.64 broke both the meet record and the Wildcat Stadium record. By leading her Northwestern team to the ‘08 Sandlapper Girl’s Team Championship, she was surely the top victor of the meet. In the field, the girls MVP race was rare and unusual as Fort Dorchester teammates Searra Jones and Keri Emanuel traded Gold and Silver in both the long and the triple jump, with the senior Jones taking the triple and sophomore Emanuel taking the long. The tiebreaker for the top award went to Emanuel for breaking the meet record with a jump of 17′5″. Jones won the top award at last year’s Sandlapper, and is the reigning AAAA State Champion in both events, so she seemed content watching her protege take her turn in the spotlight, but “just once,” quipped the smiling Searra. For the boys, Woodland’s Andrew Johnson won the gold medal in both the long jump and the triple jump to win the boy’s Outstanding Field Athlete Award. And of course, as noted below in the full event article, James Island’s Raymond Eurie (pictured above with his award) shattered the stadium records in both the 200 and 400 to take gold and the boys Outstanding Field Athlete Award. For honorable mention, Pendleton’s Jasmin Stowers broke her own Stadium record in the 100 meter high hurdles and would likely have repeated as MVP this year had she not bowed out of the 400 hurdles due a cold she’s been fighting, an event for which she also holds the stadium record. It was announced at the meet by Pendleton’s Coach Moses that just last week Jasmin set a new National sophomore record in the 60 meter indoor hurdles. With the Nike Indoor National’s just days away, Jasmin seems primed to again make history, and possibly take the National Crown. We’ll keep you posted. Meanwhile defending State Champion and Sandlapper ‘07 MVP Marcus Pope also failed to repeat as MVP after false-starting his way out of the 110 high hurdle finals, but went on to successfully defend his gold medal in the 400 nonetheless. He still holds both meet and stadium records set from his ‘07 performances. Congratulations to these great athletes, their teammates, their coaches, and their schools!

The Photos start to pour in… and here comes Video too…

Pendleton High School made another strong showing

Here are the early returns on photos from the pros… enjoy, and be sure to check back daily for more!1.Slideshow By Kyle Nowlin
2. Gallery By Kyle Nowlin
3. Visit KyleNowlinPhotography.com to purchase full quality images from Kyle Nowlin
4. Gallery at www.SCrunnners.com
5. Slideshow by SCrunners.com
6. Video interviews by SCrunners.com
7. Slideshow by WildcatTrack.com
8. Gallery by WildcatTrack.com
9. Slideshow by D. Keith Driggers
10. Gallery by D. Keith Driggers
11. Visit KeithDriggersPhotography.com to purchase photos by D. Keith Driggers

2nd Annual Sandlapper Classic exceeds the Inaugural

With more than 1000 athletes in attendance, Wildcat stadium had seldom if ever hosted so many competitors in a single day, and the equally large crowd of fans easily got its money’s worth. With more than 50 teams and numerous male and female state champions on the roster, the 2nd Annual Sandlapper Classic produced thirteen new meet records and a whopping nine new stadium records. While Pendleton H.S. sophomore “Team USA” hurdler Jasmin Stowers was again the media darling, James Island’s Raymond Eurie stole the show on route to winning the Outstanding Boy’s Track MVP Award. Eurie won gold medals in both the 200 meter 400 meter dashes and added a bronze medal in the 110 meter high hurdles. Even more impressive, Eurie shattered the stadium records in both gold medal events, beating the silver and bronze medalists soundly in each race. Last year’s MVP, Marcus Pope from Andrews, again made a great showing but after being disqualified for a false start in the 110 hurdle finals the perennial gold medalist took a rare back seat to the James Island star. Pope is the reigning state champion in both boys hurdle events and also holds the Wildcat Stadium record for each, so Eurie’s MVP victory should fuel him well in the race for the state crowns in his top events.In the team competitions, both the 2007 boys and girls team champions were forced to settle for second this year. The Wando boys team flexed considerable muscle to outrun Atlanta, GA’s Miller Grove High School (86.5 to 66) and the Northwestern girls edged the Summerville girls by just one half a point (86 to 85.5). But with a strong third place showing by the Greenwave boys team, Summerville High School repeated as Combined Team Champions. Meanwhile the West Ashley Wildcats’ boys and girls teams finished a strong 6th and 7th respectively.

On the hometown front, the lady Wildcat’s put familiar faces on the track to win a fist full of silver medals. Individually, two-time All-State honoree, Nodia Robinson (Sr.) took the silver in the 800 meter run and Jessica Gallagher (Jr.) took the silver in the 100 meter hurdles. Gallagher looked especially impressive running side by side with 6-time State Champion Stowers for a good portion of the race, and though Jasmin pulled away over the final hurdles, all agree that finishing second to the nation’s 3rd ranked high school hurdler is certainly an achievement to celebrate. Robinson and Gallagher joined 3-time State Finalist Amber Caparas (Sr.) to lead the girls to silver medals in both medium relays, with state finalist Lauren Bass (Sr.) and Breanna Grant (Jr.) each earning a silver medal as the fourth member of the 4×800 and 4×400 meter relays respectively. For the Wildcat boys, Jr. Donovan Pinkney won the silver medal in the discus, sophomore David Melton took the silver in pole vault, Sr. Deandre Gray took the bronze in the long jump, and the boys 4×100 relay squad of Deshawn Mazyck (Sr.), Rashaad Mack (Sr.), Gray, and Dana Brown (Jr.) won the bronze.

Check back soon for complete final results sheets, photo galleries, and video!

 The Day after the BIG event…

What a day. If you attended the meet as an athlete or coach or spectator or sponsor, surely you are resting today! Wow. Due to the computer issues that sprung up late in the afternoon, we hope you can bear with us as the Meet Directors take the day to ensure the accuracy of their scoring and work towards publishing the final results, hopefully later today. Meanwhile photo galleries and video clips will be posted across the week, with some photos going online later today, so please be sure to check back throughout the week. We have more than 1000 images to post, and we want you to see every shot… especially the one’s that show you or your favorite team in action. Congratulations to Wando H.S. for winning the Boy’s team Championship trophy, to Northwestern H.S. for winning the Girl’s team Championship, and to Summerville H.S. for defending their Overall School Championship with a 2nd consecutive victory. MVP award winners will be named after all results are confirmed, so please check back Wednesday when these honors are finalized. Until then, enjoy the beautiful Southeastern weather! Here in Charleston, our perspective is still very golden. Cheers!

Nodia Robinson and Deandre Gray named 2008 WAHS Athletes of the Year

The 2008 Wildcat Track team’s top performers show off plaques presented to them during the awards banquet. Left to right are Nodia Robinson,  Amber Caparas, and Gabby Bodison along with Todd Page and Deandre Gray. Not present among the award recipients was boy’s sprinter Dana Brown.

Wildcat Track athletes take three of the school’s top four Senior Awards
With the 2007-2008 school year commencing this week, the Wildcat Track team put the finishing touches on their already historic season by winning the lion’s share of West Ashley High School’s top senior awards at last week’s Senior Awards Ceremony attended by the entire class of 2008 and their family invitees. With track & field being a traditional sport for multi-sport athletes, it’s no surprise that the Wildcats’ top runners went on to capture the school’s top annual awards. After her second season as a varsity basketball player and third straight year with All-State honors in track, middle-distance star Nodia Robinson won the girl’s Athlete of the Year award. Robinson advanced to the state finals a school-record 7 times, and earned Al-State honors in both the 800 and the 3200 meter relay (4×800) as a senior. Likewise, All-Region football honoree Deandre Gray clinched the boys’ Athlete of the Year award after earning All-State honors for the 400 meter relay (4×100) with a school record time that qualified his squad for the Nike Outdoor National Championships this summer. Both athletes were also silver medalists at the State Championships. Meanwhile Amber Caparas garnered the girls’ National Scholar Athlete Award presented by the U.S. Army to the top female scholar-athlete each year. In addition to her All-State honors and three-sport status as a senior (track, cross country and swimming), Amber is likely to finish the year ranked 2^nd in her class with a whopping 4.92 grade point average. Being a recent transfer student, Amber doesn’t qualify for Salutatorian honors, but we think she’ll survive disappointment. Also earning Scholar Athlete honors with Caparas were Nodia Robinson for the girls team and Rashaad Mack for the boys. Mack was also a football star and earned All-State honors in the 400 meter relay. At the Track & Field awards banquet, boys head coach Richard Luden and girl’s head coach Jeremy Morris awarded Varsity letters and awards plaques to the team’s top performers. Distance runner Todd Page, still just an 8^th grader, was awarded as the boys’ Most Improved Athlete while Senior pole vaullter Gabby Bodison was honored as Most Improved among the girls. Deandre Gray was honored as the boys’ Outstanding Field Athlete and Dana Brown was named the boys’ Outstanding Track Athlete. To round out the special awards, Nodia Robinson was honored as the girls’ Outstanding Track Athlete and Amber Caparas was awarded as the team’s Most Valuable Player. During the banquet coach Ron Sutton spoke of his 30+ years of coaching experience and said that this year’s combined team was likely “the most talented group of young athletes” he had ever coached.  With many of this year’s team returning for at least one more season, both coach Luden and coach Morris spoke of high expectations for next year’s team. All present were in agreement. Congratulations to the class of 2008, and go Wildcats!  

Amber Caparas signs to run College of Charleston Track

As published in the May 19, 2008 Issue of West Of

By Editor Lorne Chambers

Amber Caparas signs with the College of Charleston to run track. WAHS Principal Mary Runyon are joined by Coach Jeremy Morris, Athletic Director Richard Luden, and Amber's father Wayne Caparas, also a volunteer coach.

One of the most decorated student-athletes in West Ashley High School history will be staying close to home following graduation this year. Senior track, cross- Country, and swimming athlete Amber Caparas recently accepted a scholarship to the College of Charleston where she will run track for the Cougars for the next four years. She will likely be a part of the school’s 4×400 relay team and run the 400 hurdles, which is probably her strongest event. “I’m very excited to be running track at the College of Charleston,” says Caparas, who is currently one of the best intermediate hurdlers in the state. “It is just an honor to be a collegiate athlete.” While at WAHS Caparas set personal records of 60.54 (400-meter), a school record 1:06.84 (400-meter hurdles), and 2:28 (4×800 leg). She also shares the school record in the 4×400, 4×800, the shuttle hurdle relay, and the 4×100. WAHS girls’ track coach Jeremy Morris had high praise for Caparas. “She’ll be successful whatever she does. She is a very determined young lady,” says Morris, who knows that Caparas brings more than athletic talent to a team. Her outgoing personality is inspiring and helped meld the WAHS girls’ track team together as arguably the best team in school history. But despite the All-State honors and four gold medals at the Region Championship, Caparas says it is that team atmosphere that she cherishes most. “We established a character as a team that was infectious,” she says. “Amber’s personality and positive outlook excites our staff,” says CofC track & field head coach Amy Schuckert. Other than her achievements in the athletic arena, Caparas will graduate in the top three of her class, maybe even number one once all the final grades are tallied. She was also a South Carolina All-Star cast honoree while a theater major at Charleston County School of the Arts, where she attended until her senior year. While only a student at WAHS for one year, she participated in Wildcat athletics throughout her high school career. “We finally got her to come over here this year,” jokes WAHS athletic director Richard Luden. Many at WAHS will probably remember Caparas as the girl who played guitar and sang in the school library’s café, a job she was hired to do. In addition to earning six varsity letters over her career and all the extracurricular activities, Caparas is also the student leader of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at WAHS. “I think the secret to Amber’s success is that she’s made a genuine effort to honor God through her high school experience, especially during her senior year and especially in her personal life,” says her father Wayne Caparas. “She stays really busy doing things that really matter. She blows me away.” An obvious workaholic, Caparas is excited about making the transition from a Wildcat to Cougar. In fact, she’ll start her college training regiment this summer before she even sits in a college classroom for the first time. While Wayne Caparas is thrilled to have his daughter close to home. CofC coaches are equally pleased to have such a talented and outgoing person on their track team. “Coupled with a tremendous amount of potential to improve on her already impressive marks, we look forward to her being an integral part of our 4×400 relay as well as being very competitive in the 400 hurdles,” says CofC’s Schuckert.

Amber Alert: The High School Achievements of Amber Caparas
1. 2008 All-State Honoree
2. Seven time All-Region honoree (Most ever for a Wildcat in any sport)
3. First Wildcat ever to win Region Championship in all four of her events in a single season
4. Nine time County Champion
5. Five-time State Finalist
6. Holds school record in the 400 meter hurdles with elite time of 66.84
7. Holds school record in the 300 meter hurdles with elite time of 48.84
8. Holds school record in the 4×400 relay(with Amami-Antia Obong, Amber Campbell, and Nodia Robinson)
9. Holds school record in the 4×800 relay (with Nodia Robinson, Lauren Bass, and Ashley Wescott)
10. Holds school record in the 4×100 relay (with Germetria Forrest, Morghan Blake, and Breanna Grant)
11. Junior Olympics State Champion in 100-meter intermediate hurdles and 400-meter low hurdles as a freshman (IG Class, freshman and sophomores)
12. Earned six varsity letters over her career and was a three-sport letterman as a senior (Track, Swim team, and Cross Country)

Boys team finishes 9th in the State, record 8 Wildcats earn All-State Honors

All-State Honorees All: Deshawn Mazyck, Rashaad Mack, Deandre Gray, and Dana Brown (L-R) celebrate their Runners-Up victory with the Gold Medalists and State Record holders from Dorman High, including Marcus Rowland (far right) who is the fastest man in South Carolina high school league history.
Dana Brown leads the boys’ 4×100 relay team to a new WAHS school record and Silver at State
With eventual state champions Dorman High School boasting the fastest team ever assembled in this South Carolina – including  Marcus Rowland who is the fastest man in state history – the WAHS boys 4×100 relay squad stepped onto the State Championship track knowing that it was basically going to be a 7 team race for the silver medal. Entering as the sixth ranked team among the eight state finalists, the boys squad of Dana Brown, Rashaad Mack, Deandre Gray, and Deshawn Mazyck could have felt good about moving up to fourth or even fifth in the state, but they came prepared to prove they were faster than their ranking indicated.  Those who follow Wildcat track know the boys have had many victories and great races throughout the season but had yet to click in all three baton transfers, and with all but Brown being a graduating senior this was their last chance. As expected, Dorman shattered the state record in the race (a record that had stood unchallenged for 13 years), but trailing just one second behind the historic foursome were our Wildcats, who stunned the field with a 2^nd place finish that earned them the silver medal and All-State designations for all four runners. In any other year these Wildcats would have been your state champions, so finishing 2^nd to the fastest team in state history is no minor feat.  Even more, the performance hurled the boys track team to an impressive 9^th place finish overall among the 48 schools in the state’s largest class.  For a team that started the year far out of the top 25, the end results have produced a most remarkable season for coach Richard Luden’s boys. Also contributing to the State Championships point total was sophomore pole vaulter David Melton who finished 7^th; junior discus thrower Donovan Pinckney who also finished 7^th; and senior Deandre Gray who finished 6^th in the long jump. But no one was more impressive or more important to the team’s Cinderella finish to the 2008 season than junior sprinter Dana Brown who also finished 5^th in both the 100 meters and 200 meter dashes and earned nearly half the team’s total points. Also earning All-State honors was the girls 4×800 meter relay squad of Nodia Robinson, Amber Caparas, Lauren Bass, and Jessie Gallagher whose time of 9:59.41 was fast enough to ensure this group of Wildcat legends go down in high school league history with the state’s highest team honor. It was a dramatic race, as Jessie Gallagher fought off the anchor runner from cross-town rivals Wando High for the entire 100 meter home stretch to produce the historic finish, so we can thank the Warriors for pushing our girls to victory. This is the first Wildcat girls’ relay team ever to earn the honor. The resulting group of eight from both squads is by far a record of All-State honorees in WAHS history. Speaking of 800 meters runs, Nodia Robinson was involved in probably the most startling race of the championship meet. Nodia was the silver medalist in 2005 when she pushed current Carolina Gamecock runner Jessica Nichols to break the state record in the event with a time of 2:14.  Entering this year’s finals as the top seed and with a career best time of 2:15.68, it appeared Nodia was poised to win her first state championship and for the first 90% of the race she was dominant. But wen Ridgeview’s Sierra Henderson caught Nodia just before the finish line, history repeated itself as a runner’s gutty effort to beat Nodia resulted a new state record. Nodia shaved a full 3 seconds off her time and ran a national elite time just over 2:14 (which is her personal record and would win at many college meets) but Henderson somehow shaved 5 seconds off her season’s best, which is unheard of in such a short race. So Nodia again takes home the silver, and another All-State designation – a record third time for a Wildcat runner, so all’s well for the Furman University-bound senior. Also scoring well for the girls was the 4×800 relay squad of Amber Caparas, Robinson, Lauren Bass, and Jessie Gallagher who jumped 3 spots in the finals to finish 5^th in the state – the best finish ever for a WAHS girl’s relay team. Rounding out the girls scoring was the 4×400 relay squad of Robinson, Caparas, Breanna Grant, and Gallagher who entered eighth and finished eighth. With a final season ranking of 21^st among 48 schools, coach Jeremy Morris’s girls team also made a big leap in their state ranking, and this was the by far the most girls ever to earn All-State honors, so there are many kudos to go around – especially to coach Ron Sutton who began training these girls since they were freshmen and saw them through to the very end. As any sports fan knows, an athlete will carry their All-State designation with them for the rest of their lives, and it serves our community well to see our young athletes contributing to the legacy of WAHS athletics with such class and style. At the end of the final day of a very long season, one thing is sure, the West Ashley High School track & field program has re-proven itself as a legitimate force in the state, and though many key seniors are graduating to the college ranks, many more underclassmen have proven themselves ready to pick up the torch and keep the proud legacy alive. After the team banquet we’ll give a wrap up of the historic season and post-season honors and also review the career records set by the graduating seniors. Until then, if you see a Wildcat runner, be sure to offer your congratulations for a race well run!

Watch the Video of the boys 4×100 Silver Medal Finish