Ridge View wins AAAA boys track and field state championship

 Columbia – The year before Charles Proctor arrived at Ridge View High School as its boys track and field head coach, the Blazers didn’t qualify for a single event in the AAAA state meet.

That was 2021. On Saturday, Ridge View brought home its first state championship since 2006.

 The Blazers piled up points in the sprint events and hurdles to finish with 84, edging second place Northwestern with 79 at Spring Valley’s Harry Parone Stadium. That snapped Greenville’s run of state championships at three.

“These young men have worked their behinds off since I got here.in 2022,” Proctor said. “In 2021, we didn't have any individuals at state, so for us to be here three years later, winning our first title in 18 years, it's a testament to the hard work that these young men have put in, and the amazing staff that I have. I have the best staff in the world and I could not have done it without them.”

 And the Blazers most certainly couldn’t have done it without sophomore Jordan Gidron. He was a part of all three events won by RVHS, winning the 100- and 200-meter dashes and running a leg on the 4x100-meter relay team.

Gidron won the 100 in a time of 10.70 seconds while taking the gold in the 200 in 21.73. He was joined on the 4x100 team, which won in a time of 41.91, by freshman Chris McDonald, senior Christien Fields and freshman Khristian Jackson.

Jackson finished third in the 100, junior Mounir Spann finished third in the 400 dash and senior Davin Stanley was fifth in the 200. Also, the 4x4 team of senior Jacob Holmes, junior Darrell Price, junior Macaire N’twa and Spann finished third.

Holmes was a freshman in ’21, the year before Proctor took over the program. The year before that,2020, there was no season at all because of the coronavirus pandemic. Holmes knows exactly how far the program has come under Proctor.

“He kind of built a family for us,” Holme said. “He is someone we can count on, somebody we can talk to. We built a connection as a team.”

Junior Jaciyah Johnson led the way in the hurdle events, finishing second in the 110 and fifth in the 400. Sophomore Quency Grant was sixth in the 400 and senior Jalen Bellinger was eighth in the 110.

N’twa finished third in the 800-meter run, sophomore Angel Brooks Jr. was fifth in the javelin and senior Khalil Wright scored points with eighth-place finishes in the shot put and the discus.

The 4x8 team of Price, freshman Orin Striggles, senior Caleb Williams and sophomore Malik Ward finished fifth.

           “It means everything in the world to win this,” Proctor said. “I want to give a shout-out to the ‘04, ‘05, ‘06 teams (RVHS won consecutive AAAA titles in ’05-06) ran by (head coach) Jeff Buys. He is a mentor of mine.”

           Ridge View also won the girls title on Saturday.

“This si the first time in history the boys and the girls have won at the same time. and I don't think it will be the last,” Proctor said.

“Last year they did it. We felt like we had to do it this year,” Holmes said of the achievement. “It's a matter of the whole Ridge View track team is a winning ecosystem.”

Northwestern was led by senior twins Jayden Burris and Jaylen Burris. Jayden won both the long jump and the triple jump with Jaylen finishing second in both, just one foot behind in each event.

Jayden won the long jump with a jump or 24 feet, 2.50 inches. Jaylen had a jump of 23-01.50. In the triple jump, Jayden won with a jump of 48-11 while Jaylen had a jump of 47-04.

Westwood’s 4x4 team set a state record with a time of 3:16.32. Members of the team are senior Mike Balkman, senior Christian Banks, junior Chase Simmons and senior Domminick Young.

Balkman was the winner in the 400 in a time of 48.35, and Westwood senior Tavaris Bell won the high jump with a jump of 6-10.75.

         South Pointe senior Garrett Brown and James Island senior Magnum Chestnut both won two events. Brown won the 1,600 run in a time of 4:08.63 and the 3,200 run in 9:19.19. Chestnut won the discus with a throw of 164-07.25 while winning the shot with a throw of 57-10.

         Lucy Beckham senior Henry Goldsmith just missed winning both of the hurdle events. Goldsmith won the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.51 and finished second in the 400. Richland Northeast junior Ethan Moody won the 400 in a time of 53.81.

         Other individual winners were junior Jackson Wyatt of Eastside in the 800 run in a time of 1:52.64, Eastside junior Connor Finley in the pole vault with a vault of 14-05.25, and West Florence senior Jonathan Neighbors in the javelin with a throw of 176-02.25.

         Eastside won the 4x8 relay in a time of 7:47.79. Members of the team are junior Anderson Boetsch, freshman Garyn Richardson, senior Noah Starker and junior Jackson Wyatt.

         In the team competition, West Florence finished third behind Ridge View and Northwestern with 69 points. Westwood finished fourth win 52 points followed by Greenville with 42, James Island with 41, Eastside and Lucy Beckham both with 35 and May River with 25.