Fall athletes preparing for playoff run at James Island

By David Shelton

Senior Writer

James Island – The tart of the Class AAAAA state playoffs is fast approaching and the fall sports teams at James Island are looking to make their mark in the postseason.

James Island has made the move from AAAA to AAAAA this year, which means an increase in the level of competition across the board.

One team that should handle the move up pretty well is the always strong girls cross country team. Coach David Lee has led the program to multiple state championships and will again race a competitive group of runners that return from last year’s AAAA state championship team.

Leading the way this fall is Avery Belk, a returning all-state performer and considered a medalist contender in the state meet. Belk finished fourth in last year’s state meet. She is joined by Kirra Borg at the top of the running order.

Alexandra LaRue finished 13^th at the state meet last season and Alice Taylor placed 16^th overall. Both are having strong fall campaigns. Others adding depth include Caroline Osborn, Anna Gladu and Fabiana Jennings-Perdome.

On the boys side, Jackson Pearce and Jack Wallace are the top performers. Both recorded top 25 finishes in last year’s AAAA state meet.

Others competing for spots in the top five include Alex Ciucci, Elias Doughty, and Lee Hilton. Zachary Osborn is an up and coming performer, having won the junior varsity division at the prestigious Lowcountry Invitational meet in late September. Bodhi Millis finished second in that event.

The girls volleyball team is going through a bit of a rebuild this fall but it still quite competitive overall. Having lost several key players to graduation, the roster includes a bevy of underclassmen this season. The Trojans opened region 7-AAAAA play with a 2-3 record.

Two seniors that are contributing this fall include Josie Rucker and Maddison Rigsby. Rucker has nearly 200 assists as a setter while Rigsby has more than 125 defensive digs.

Eighth-grader Aubree Lanham also works as a setter and has more than 250 assists. Junior Lucy McKendrick and freshman Maddie Warthen are leading the team in kills. Freshman Addy Smith has recorded more than 100 digs, as has junior Natalie McGeorge.

The Trojans football team went 4-1 in their non-region slate of games, winning four in a row after a season-opening loss to Gray Collegiate.

James Island opened region play on Oct. 4 against West Ashley.

The team is led by a strong defense, a unit anchored by linemen Malachi Jefferson and Hendrix Beran. Through five games, Jefferson has 32 tackles, including 13 tackles for loss and four sacks. Beran has 32 tackles, 14 for loss and four sacks. Linebacker Coleman Jones is averaging eight tackles per game as well.

The big weapon offensively this season has been senior speedster Jalen Brown-Singleton, who has rushed for 200 yards and has 227 receiving yards. He also is one of the state’s top kick and punt returners.

Quarterback Connor Dantzler, a first-year starter, has 700 passing yards through the first five games.