SCA Ranked Top 5 Athletic Programs in Spartanburg County

Posted Jun 23, 2018 at 4:58 PM Updated Jun 23, 2018 at 4:58 PM

One of the most successful athletic seasons in Dorman High School history has earned the school the Herald-Journal/GoUpstate General Excellence award.

“It was definitely one for the record books,” Dorman athletic director Flynn Harrell said of Dorman’s season. “We tied the school record for state titles and had quite a few individual titles as well, and the number of region titles is incredible. It’s going to be hard to top this one. It was an exciting year from start to finish. We are blessed with great coaching and with some amazingly talented athletes.”

In its 18th year, the award is designed to reward schools for their annual athletic accomplishments, and allows schools to compete against each other regardless of size. Points are awarded based on different criteria — such as state titles, region titles and Herald-Journal/GoUpstate awards. After the points are tallied, the number is divided by the number of sports in which the school competes for a region title. The school with the most points after the math is the winner.

The Cavaliers won four state championships, six individual state titles and recorded one runner-up finish on the year. Dorman also won 13 of the 22 available region titles in Region III-5A, and had six athletes who earned Herald-Journal/GoUpstate Player of the Year honors as they amassed 19.3 points in the competition.

Dorman won state titles in boys cross country, volleyball, boys basketball and baseball, and added a runner-up finish in football. The Cavaliers scored individual titles as Wynn Johnson won 5A boys cross country and gold medals in the 1,600 and 3,200 meters at the 5A track meet, and Rachel Reistroffer won the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle events at the 5A swim meet, and the 4×400 meter swim relay team took gold.

The Cavaliers won or shared region titles in girls swimming, volleyball, competitive cheer, boys and girls cross country, football, boys basketball, boys and girls lacrosse, baseball, boys and girls soccer and boys track.

“We always feel like when you play in Region III-5A with the type of competition we see in Spartanburg County and from Gaffney, if you can hold your own there you should do well statewide,” Harrell said. “There’s no question that level of competition helps us.”

Spartanburg Day School’s outstanding season put the Griffins in second place. Spartanburg Day won state titles in girls swimming, boys cross country and boys basketball. Kathleen Babb won three individual track titles and helped the Griffins to a relay win, and Spartanburg Day also notched wins in the pool as they compiled 18.6 points in the standings.

Spartanburg was third at 12.5 points, Spartanburg Christian was fourth with 10 points and Chapman finished fifth with 5.3 points.