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.

By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Mt. Pleasant – Palmetto Christian Academy wrapped up a good athletic year with a good spring as the boys’ and girls’ soccer teams reached the play-offs, the boy’s golf team made the state tournament, track and field finished in the top 10 and the baseball team despite being very young made great strides. Athletic Director Dan Hoover told the HSSR last summer, “Our parents want a Christian education for their kids and covenant relationship to the school. We have built our athletic programs around those ideals.” On the pitch the Eagles earned play-off spots for both the boy’s and girl’s teams. The boys’ team finished the year 4-5-1 with their season ending in the first round of the SCISA AAA tournament. They were led by junior SCISA All State selection Evans Baker . Lady Eagles lost in heartbreaking fashion to Spartanburg Christian Academy , after finishing the match tied and remaining that way after an overtime period. They lost 8-7 in a shoot-out. They will say good-bye to four seniors Bella De Los Reyes , Autumn Benton , Anne Lancaster , and Ana Taylor . The boy’s golf team finished 9 th at the SCISA state meet with a score of 758. Jack Semeraro led the way shotting 167 over the two-day tournament 167. He was followed by Joseph Terry at 192, Anna Claire Romine at 190, Miles Johnson at 209 and Simms O’Neil at 232. The Eagles finished the year with two top ten finishes at the SCISA state meet as the boy’s team placed 7 th and the girl’s finished 9 th . The boys were led by senior Hans Payne . He won a gold and a silver medal for the Eagles in the 1600 and 800, respectively. He won the 1600 by .01 in a new PR OF 4:32.47. In the 800 he also set a new PR of 2:04.76. He did all this after overcoming an early season injury, The Eagles won gold and silver in the Pole Vault as juniors Sam Smith and Gavin Wease went one-two. Smith’s vault of 14-08 was new school and PR. Eighth grader Alex Corley , who is ranked the top eighth grade Javelin thrower in the country, won gold with a throw of 149-05. It was a new school record. The girls’ team was led by sophomore Josie Hurley . She won silver in the 1600 in a new PR of 5:47.69 and bronze in 800 with a new PR of 2:32.83. Also medaling for the Lady Eagles was the 4x100 relay team as they finished third. Two eighth graders Margaret Askins and Anna Grace Works , freshmen Sydney Geiger , and seventh grader Lola Praise Perry made up the team.

By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Mt. Pleasant – The Palmetto Christian Academy Lady Eagles soccer team has experienced its ups and downs over the years but with renewed excitement surrounding the program they are looking to build one of the top soccer programs in SCISA . “The girls Varsity soccer program generated a lot of interest amongst the PCA student body this year. As a result, we had a fantastic turnout for evaluations. This allowed us to expand our Varsity roster to twenty-one and still have a complete Junior Varsity squad. It is officially exciting times for the program” said head coach Alex Fritts . The Lady Eagles have used that excitement to jump out to a 4-2/1-1 start on the pitch. They have recorded three shutouts on the year and picked up a big win over perennial SCISA state power Hilton Head Christian Academy in a shootout. “We feel good about where we are as a team. However, I expect we will get stronger throughout the season as we build chemistry as a team. While our goal each game is to work hard and have fun from first whistle to last, we ultimately do want to earn a playoff spot,” coach Fritts said. The Lady Eagles have four seniors that bring experience to both sides of the pitch. On the defensive side Bella De Los Reyes and Autumn Benton are the core of a solid defensive unit while Anne Lancaster (Striker) and Ana Taylor (Mid field) provide the same leadership when attacking the opposing team’s net. Joining Reyes and Benton on the defensive side of the pitch are some young but talented Lady Eagles in sophomore goalkeepers Ava Benton and Alyssa Carper and sophomores Grace Parker and Saylor Sorensen and freshmen Callie Pagenkopf playing in front of them. This group allows less than two goals a match. Offensively, the Lady Eagles have the senior leadership of Lancaster and Taylor, it is their younger teammates that have provided the scoring. Layla Lynch and Bella Pollard , just eighth graders, are first and third in scoring for the Lady Eagles. Lynch has scored eight goals and tallied nineteen points while Pollard has found the back of the net six times and has fourteen points. Freshman Juliet Olson is second on the team in goals and points with seven and seventeen points respectively with sophomore Addison Surratt scoring two goals and seven points. Juniors Bria Olson and Emily Romfo and sophomore Alden Baugh round out the rest of the offensive side of the pitch. Olson and Baugh have also found the back of the net for the Lady Eagles. Key newcomers to the Varsity include juniors Scotty Wrenn and Lauren Pabst , sophomores Sophia Ralph and Skye Edwards , and eighth grader, Addy Carper , “Ultimately, the girls have built such unrivaled fellowship as students at PCA, that playing and competing together is second nature. They collectively understand that athletics, soccer in this case, is simply a vehicle for them to grow as Christ did in wisdom and stature,” said coach Kitts.