Northwestern moving to 4A changes landscape of Rock Hill-area high school sports
Region 3 in South Carolina’s Class 4A is about to be loaded.
According to realignment results distributed by the South Carolina High School League on Friday afternoon, Northwestern High School will have its athletic teams compete in Class 4A starting in 2022-23. The decision moves the Trojans down from the largest classification of 5A and makes them a part of Region 3-4A — a conference packed with local foes York, Catawba Ridge, Lancaster, Indian Land and South Pointe.
It’s worth repeating: Northwestern and South Pointe — two of the three high schools in Rock Hill with a rich rivalry history — will be in the same region.
“That’s exciting right?” Northwestern athletic director Jimmy Duncan said in a phone interview with The Herald Friday. “Pretty much every single sport will have highly competitive games and matches. The Rock Hill schools are rich in tradition in athletics, so it’s going to be a battle.”
The SCHSL tweaks classifications and regions every two years in a process called realignment, with one goal of leveling the playing field for the schools in each class. Per a memo from the SCHSL to school officials, schools were assigned their classifications based on their enrollment counts, and some modifications were made to address “some of the challenges that (geography) and scheduling presented.”
Any school wishing to appeal its placement must notify the SCHSL office by 1 p.m. Jan. 17.
Northwestern has been a Class 5A school since 2016, the first year S.C. had five classifications.
There are several positives to the Trojans’ realignment. Among them: Northwestern will now likely play archrival Rock Hill in football in the season’s opening week. And all of region play will be against geographically close teams — limiting travel (which is crucial for mid-week sporting events) and potentially boosting attendance at different games.
“Obviously these are all very good schools with great athletic programs, so it’s nice from a competition standpoint,” Duncan said. “One of the biggest things I’m excited about is location and distance. ... When you say our longest road trip for region play is Indian Land? I mean, that’s exciting. It just allows kids to get home at better hours.”
Duncan emphasized that this does not mean Northwestern High School lost students: The school’s student body actually grew in two years, per the school’s enrollment numbers, but Class 5A shrunk from 40 teams in the previous realignment to 36 in the new one.
Here’s a full look at each classification — and a few takeaways of how the movement impacts schools in York, Chester and Lancaster counties.
Asterisks indicate that the team doesn’t play football.
Class 5A (36 schools)
Region 1: Hillcrest, JL Mann, Mauldin, TL Hanna, Woodmont
Region 2: Byrnes, Boiling Springs, Dorman, Gaffney, Spartanburg
Region 3: Blythewood, Clover, Fort Mill, Nation Ford, Rock Hill, Spring Valley
Region 4: Chapin, Dutch Fork, Lexington, River Bluff, White Knoll
Region 5: Carolina Forest, Conway, Socastee, St. James, Sumter
Region 6: Berkeley, Cane Bay, Goose Creek, Stratford, Wando
Region 7: Ashley Ridge, Fort Dorchester, Stall, Summerville, West Ashley
Takeaways: Clover, Fort Mill and Nation Ford stay in the same region together. They welcome Rock Hill High, Spring Valley and Blythewood, three teams that will be coming from Region 4-5A. Clover, Fort Mill, Nation Ford and Rock Hill are in York County and will have to travel to the Columbia area to take on the rest of the Region 3-5A field.
Class 4A (41 schools)
Region 1: Berea, Easley, Greenville, Greenwood, Pickens, Westside
Region 2: Eastside, Greer, Laurens, Riverside, Wade Hampton
Region 3: Catawba Ridge, Indian Land, Lancaster, Northwestern, South Pointe, York
Region 4: Aiken, Airport, Midland Valley, North Augusta, South Aiken
Region 5: AC Flora, Irmo, Lugoff-Elgin, Richland Northeast, Ridge View, Westwood
Region 6: Darlington, Hartsville, Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, South Florence, West Florence, Wilson
Region 7: Bluffton, Colleton County, Hilton Head, James Island, Lucy Beckham, May River
Takeaways: Region 3-4A — home to the 2021 4A football state champions and incoming football power Northwestern — will be a strong football conference, yes. But it’ll also be good at everything else in 2022-23: Catawba Ridge has built an astonishingly good running program since opening in 2019. And South Pointe, Northwestern, Catawba Ridge and Lancaster all have a girls’ or boys’ basketball team in the top-10 of this week’s South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association poll.
Class 3A (43 schools)
Region 1: Crescent, Daniel, Pendleton, Seneca, Walhalla, West Oak
Region 2: Belton-Honea Path, Fountain Inn, Palmetto, Powdersville, Southside, Wren
Region 3: Blue Ridge, Broome, Carolina, Chapman, Travelers Rest
Region 4: Chester, Clinton, Emerald, Union, Woodruff
Region 5: Brookland-Cayce, Dreher, Gilbert, Lower Richland, Orangeburg-Wilkinson, Swansea
Region 6: Camden, Crestwood, Lakewood, Manning, Marlboro County
Region 7: Aynor, Dillon, Georgetown, Loris, Waccamaw
Region 8: Battery Creek, Beaufort, Hanahan, North Charleston, Philip Simmons
Takeaways: Chester High School remains one of the smallest 3A schools in the state. The Cyclones will face all new region opponents, though, because of the new realignment: They’re no longer in the same region as Fairfield Central, Keenan, Lower Richland and Mid-Carolina.
Class 2A (44 teams)
Region 1: Blacksburg, Chesnee, Greenville Tech, Greer MC, Landrum Liberty, Abbeville (football only), Ninety Six (foottball only)
Region 2: Abbeville, Mid-Carolina, Newberry Saluda, Ninety Six
Region 3: Batesburg-Leesville, Fox Creek, Pelion, Silver Bluff, Strom Thurmond, Saluda (football only)
Region 4: Columbia, Eau Claire, Fairfield Central, Gray Collegiate, Keenan, Mid-Carolina (football only), Newberry (football only)
Region 5: Andrew Jackson, Buford, Central, Cheraw, Chesterfield, North Central, *York Prep
Region 6: Barnwell, Edisto, Ridgeland-Hardeeville, Wade Hampton, Woodland
Region 7: Academic Magnet, Bishop England, Lake Marion, Oceanside Collegiate, Timberland
Region 8: Andrews, Kingstree, Lake City, Lee Central, Marion, Mullins
Takeaways: Nothing changes among the local schools in Class 2A. (Well, besides the arbitrary region name. AJ and York Prep will be in “Region 5-2A” after two years of being in “Region 4-2A.”)
Class A (55 schools)
Region 1: Brashier MC*, Christ Church, Greenwood, Christian, High Point Academy **, SC School for Deaf & Blind*, Southside Christian, St. Joseph’s, Calhoun Falls (football only), Dixie (football only), Ware Shoals (football only), McCormick (football only)
Region 2: Dixie, Calhoun Falls, McCormick, Ridge-Spring Monetta, Ware Shoals, Whitmire
Region 3: CA Johnson, The Governor’s School*, Great Falls, Lewisville, McBee, Riverwalk**, Whitemire, Midlands Stem** (At-large)
Region 4: Wagener-Salley, Blackville Hilda, Calhoun County, Denmark-Olar, Hunter Kinard Tyler, North, Williston-Elko, Ridge-Spring Monetta (football only)
Region 5: Carvers Bay, CE Murray, East Clarendon, Hemingway, Johnsonville, Scott’s Branch
Region 6: Green Sea Floyds, Hannah-Pamplico, Lamar, Lake View, Latta
Region 7: Allendale Fairfax, Bamberg-Ehrhardt, Bethune Bowman, Branchville, Bridges Prep **, Estill, Royal Live Oak **, Whale Branch, Polaris Tech ** (at-large)
Region 8: Baptist Hill, Burke, Charleston Math & Science, Cross, Low Country Leadership**, Palmetto Scholars**, St. John’s
Takeaways: Great Falls and Lewisville remain in the same region in Class 1A — easing the fears of some who might’ve thought the Lions would be bumped up to 2A, a place they found themselves in 2019-20. Another positive? The two will not have to compete with 1A football juggernaut Lamar for the region title in 2022-23, like they have had to recently.
This story was originally published December 17, 2021 at 4:02 PM.
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