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By David Shelton Senior Writer James Island – Though the football team will play through October, and possibly into November, the rest of the fall sports teams at First Baptist School will be winding up their 2024 campaign over the next few weeks. State playoffs for swimming, girls golf, girls tennis, volleyball and cross country begin by mid-October and Hurricane athletes are hoping for a state title opportunity. One First Baptist athlete that will certainly have a chance to win a state gold medal is James Tyler of the boys cross country team. Tyler has been among the top distance runners in SCISA over the last two years and appears to be peaking in time for the state meet later this month. Tyler hopes he and his teammates can have a successful run at the state meet. Tanner Honeycutt and Miles Jackson are the next two runners in line and have had solid fall performances. Brody Jackson and Edings Walpole round out the top five, with Thomas Doyle and Matthew Roof each posting times under the 20-minute mark. Leading the effort on the girls team is Isla Hunt with Daisy Carter and Ella Harvey also competing this season. The volleyball team is not likely to make a playoff run as the team rebuilds under a new coach this season. Providing the senior leadership for coach Zuri Fenderson are McAlley Burr , Jade Melanson , Lila Wrenn DuPre , Kaitlyn Plueger and Emily Jane LaRoche . Six girls fill out the roster for the golf team this fall. The roster includes sophomores Cate Counts , Lainie Oberg , Izzy Tracy , Ellison Cummings and Isla Hunt , along with freshman Olivia DiCampli. The girls tennis team wrapped up their regular season during the first week of October. The program shows potential as much of the roster were underclassmen this fall. The lone seniors on the team were Ansleigh Brewer and Libby Sweeney. The two juniors were Wells Griffin and Fynnley Domrese . Sophomores on the team were Taylor Westerfield , Reese Tipton , and Grace Schaffer . Rounding out the roster were freshmen Olivia Seabrook and Ava Dismuke, and seventh-grader Kessler Domrese .
James Island – It’s always a good summer when First Baptist athletic director Graham Haley does not have to spend a lot of time filling vacancies on his athletic coaching staff. Some summers there are multiple openings while others there are few or none. Haley’s 2024 summer was pretty easy as he had only one coaching opening to fill. And that replacement was an easy find. Volleyball coach Sabina Wang resigned during the spring to better care for her parents in Taiwan. Wang had built the program into a solid winner, making several state playoff appearances over the last decade. Along her side in recent years was Zuri Fenderson, a key assistant coach. Haley says offering the job was a no-brainer. “She played at The Citadel and had been here for a few years. She knows the game very well and more importantly, she knows our team and our players,” Haley said. “She is ready for this opportunity and the team already has had a good summer. I’m excited for her.” Haley was happy to report than the remaining varsity head coaches are returning. With associate athletic director Presley Singleton, the athletic department is under solid leadership. Haley, a 2003 graduate of the school, has devoted his entire working life to coaching and mentoring First Baptist athletes. He has coached at all levels of basketball, boys and girls. Prior to taking over as athletic director, Haley was a successful head coach of the girls basketball team from 2011-17. When Haley went to the top spot, he hired Singleton as the girls basketball coach and associate athletic director. Singleton came over from rival Northwood Academy where he won state SCISA titles and contended for a few more. She has won numerous coaching honors and has the Hurricanes in contention on a yearly basis. Mara Redmond is another key leader in athletics as an assistant while Brittany Lang is the athletic trainer. Returning head coaches include Jamaal Birch (football), Ralph Lundy (boys soccer), Holland Fava (cheer), Lauren Langston (swim), Erin Jackson (cross country), Antoine Saunders (boys basketball), Alex Snider (baseball), Marc Simpson (girls soccer), Katelyn Powell (softball), Tim Tyler (track) and Jacob Redmond (boys golf). “Our coaches are dedicated to their sport and to our kids,” Haley said. “We compete well across the board, sometimes with limited numbers. The athletes work hard.”
Pinewood Prep claims the 2024 SCISA 3A Boys Soccer Championship
James Island – Sometimes the best motivation for an athlete is failure. If an athlete uses failure the right way and learns from his shortcomings, success can certainly be attained through extra hard work. James Tyler of the First Baptist School track and cross country program used a disappointing effort at the 2023 SCISA state cross country meet to bring out a better work ethic. The junior trained hard during the winter months and into the spring track and field season, hoping to right the wrong. Tyler finished a disappointing eighth-place at the SCISA state meet last October. On May 4, he turned that disappointment into elation as he won the SCISA AAAA 3200 meter run gold medal. “The cross country thing was disappointing but it fueled me to put in more effort,” Tyler said. “It was my motivation all spring. I trained much harder for today and it feels good to see it pay off.” Tyler also competed in the 1600 meter run at the track meet, finishing third. He also qualified for the 800 meter run but opted not to run that event. For the 3200 meter victory, Tyler says he was confident going into the state meet race. “I was the top seed so I was favored but I knew I had to go out and run my race,” he said. “I went out pretty fast and got a good lead. I just felt no one would catch me, I had a good race and I am definitely pleased.” The success at the state track meet is already fueling Tyler for the fall cross country season. He has set definite goals for his senior year. “I want to win the state championship in cross country then I want to win the 3200 and 1600 at the state track meet,” he said. “Today gave me a lot of confidence, knowing that If I put in the work, good things will happen.” Tyler was one of several Hurricanes to participate in the state meet. On the boys side, Edings Walpole finished third in the 800 meter run. Tanner Honeycutt was fourth in the 1600 and eighth in the 800 while Miles Jackson was 11 th in the 800. Henry Hunt ran seventh in the 3200 and 20 th in the 1600 and Bates Walpole was 10 th in the javelin. Marik Gibbs placed 18 th overall in the 100 meter sprint. Ellie Blitch was one of the top performers from the girls team at the state meet, finishing sixth in the 1600 and seventh in the 800. Jasmin Pedersen was third in the 100 meter hurdles and fourth in the 400 meter hurdles.
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