Realignment leads to region changes for Lancaster, Chester, York County high schools
We now have an idea of what next year’s high school sports landscape is going to look like.
The South Carolina High School League released its initial realignment/reclassification plans for 2020-22 on Thursday. According to the release, five area schools will be classified as 5A; five as 4A; one as 3A; three as 2A; and two as 1A.
Clover, Fort Mill and Nation Ford are slated to compete in Region 3-5A from 2020-22 — which will also have Boiling Springs and Gaffney. City rivals Rock Hill and Northwestern have been moved to Region 4-5A.
All five teams covered by The Herald in the 4A classification are in Region 3: Lancaster, South Pointe and York remain from the two previous years. Catawba Ridge — a school located in Fort Mill that is still in its inaugural year — and Indian Land, previously in 3A, round out the region.
Chester is the only team in The Herald’s coverage area that’s in 3A.
Legion Collegiate, Rock Hill’s newest public charter school, is in 2A. Its football team will compete in a different region than its other sports teams. Andrew Jackson is also in 2A.
And longtime rivals Lewisville and Great Falls are in the same region again (Region 2-1A), as Lewisville went down from 2A to 1A.
The reclassification is pending any appeals, which will be handled in the new year.
A full list of the regions
Below is a full listing of the South Carolina high school regions, per Thursday’s release.
The Herald’s area schools are in bold. The “**” denotes that the school doesn’t have a football team.
CLASS 5A
Region 1: Hillcrest J. L. Mann Mauldin T. L. Hanna Woodmont
Region 2: Byrnes, Dorman, Riverside, Spartanburg, Wade Hampton
Region 3: Boiling Springs, Clover, Fort Mill, Gaffney, Nation Ford
Region 4: Blythewood, Northwestern, Ridge View, Rock Hill, Spring Valley
Region 5: Chapin, Dutch, Fork, Lexington, River Bluff, White Knoll
Region 6: Carolina Forest, Conway, Socastee, St. James, Sumter
Region 7: Berkeley, Cane Bay, Goose Creek, Stratford, Wando
Region 8: Ashley Ridge, Fort Dorchester, Stall, Summerville, West Ashley
CLASS 4A
Region 1: Easley, Pickens, Travelers Rest, Walhalla, Westside
Region 2: Eastside, Greenville, Greenwood, Greer, Laurens
Region 3: Catawba Ridge, Indian Land, Lancaster, South Pointe, York
Region 4: AC Flora, Dreher, Lugoff-Elgin, Richland Northeast, Westwood
Region 5: Aiken, Airport, Irmo, Midland Valley, North Augusta, South Aiken
Region 6: Darlington, Harstville, Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, South Florence, West Florence, Wilson
Region 7: Beaufort, Bluffton, Colleton County, Hilton Head Island, James Island, Lucy Beckham, May River
CLASS 3A
Region 1: Belton-Honea Path, Daniel, Pendleton, Seneca, West-Oak, Wren
Region 2: Berea, Blue Ridge, Carolina, Palmetto, Powdersville, Southside
Region 3: Broome, Chapman, Clinton, Emerald, Union County, Woodruff
Region 4: Chester, Fairfield-Central, Keenan, Lower Richland, Mid-Carolina
Region 5: Brookland-Cayce, Fox Creek, Gilbert, Orangeburg-Wilkinson, Strom Thurmond, Swansea
Region 6: Camden, Crestwood, Lake City, Lakewood, Manning, Marlboro County
Region 7: Aynor, Dillon, Georgetown, Loris, Waccamaw
Region 8: Academic Magnet, Battery Creek, Bishop England, Hanahan, North Charleston, Oceanside Collegiate
CLASS 2A
Region 1: Abbeville, Christ Church, Crescent, Greenville Tech, Liberty, Ninety Six
Region 2: Blacksburg, Brashier MC, Chesnee, Greer MC, Landrum, Legion Collegiate (football only), St. Joseph
Region 3: Andrew Jackson, Buford, Central, Cheraw, Chesterfield, Legion Collegiate (non-football sports), North Central, York Prep
Region 4: Batesburg-Leesville, Columbia, Eau Claire, Gray Collegiate, Newberry, Saluda
Region 5: Barnwell, Edisto, Pelion, Silver Bluff, Wade Hampton
Region 6: Burke, Lake Marion, Philip Simmons, Ridgeland-Hardeeville, Timberland, Woodland
Region 7: Andrews, Kingstree, Latta, Lee Central, Marion, Mullins
CLASS A
Region 1: Calhoun Falls, Dixie, High Point Academy**, McCormick, SCSDB**, Southside Christian, Ware Shoals, Whitmire
Region 2: CA Johnson, Governor’s School**, Great Falls, Lamar (football only), Lewisville, McBee, Midlands Stem**, Riverwalk Academy**
Region 3: Blackville-Hilda, Calhoun County, Denmark-Olar, Hunter-Kinard-Tyler, North, Ridge Spring-Monetta, Wagener-Salley, Williston-Elko
Region 4: CE Murray, Carvers Bay, East Clarendon, Hemingway, Scott’s Branch
Region 5: Coastal Leadership**, Green Sea-Floyds, Hannah-Pamplico, Johnsonville, Lake View, Lamar, Timmonsville
Region 6, Allendale-Fairfax, Bamberg-Ehrhardt, Bethune-Bowman, Branchville, Bridges Prep**, Estill, Polaris Tech**, Royal Live Oak**
Region 7: Baptist Hill, Charleston Math & Science, Cross, Low Country Leadership**, Military Magnet, Plametto Scholars**, St. John’s, Whale Branch
This story was originally published December 19, 2019 at 2:43 PM.
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