You go, girls! ACS track team wins state

A state championship isn't as rare as it used to be at Augusta Christian. The Lions have hoisted state title trophies in football and baseball during the past year.

On April 29, it was the girls time to shine.

The Augusta Christian girls track team, led by head coach Bryan Wilson, won the South Carolina Independent Schools Association Class AAA state championship this past weekend with a dominant performance at Heathwood Hall in Columbia.

More impressive, the feat was accomplished with a perfect 53-0 record.

"They're great athletes," Wilson said of his undefeated squad. "Heathwood beat us last year and brought everyone back, but we were convinced that we were going to get better."

The Lady Lions did just that with a 23.5 point win over Heathwood Hall spurred by four individual state championships.

Junior Casey Brush won in high jump (5.0 feet) and discus (101 feet, 7 inches). Senior Jordan Little won in the shot put (32 feet, 2 inches) and the long jump (16 feet, 1.5 inches).

Augusta Christian's 4x400 relay team (Brush, Lynlee Satcher, Whitney Waters and Calyssa Lawyer) also earned a state championship by breaking the SCISA state record with a time of 4:18.42.

Although the individual state titles are rewarding, Satcher said winning a championship in track as a team was more important.

"It's more of a team sport than you think," Satcher said. "A lot of the others just left after their events, but not our team. We have a team rule that we don't leave until every event is finished."

That final event was the state-record breaking 4x400 relay. For a few of the four Lady Lions running, the event wasn't a familiar one.

"Initially I wasn't sure who was going to run. Whitney only ran the 400-relay twice," Wilson said. "I saw what they were doing, and knew they could win it."

Wilson's adjustments resulted in a state title and one last award - the girl's track AAA state coach of the year. It's the second consecutive year Wilson has won the award.

"With these girls it was more motivating than coaching," Wilson said. "I knew they had the talent. I just got them motivated."