BE girls’ lacrosse team’s 98-game winning streak ends

The Bishop England High School girls’ lacrosse team’s 98-game winning streak came to an end when the High School League ruled the Bishops used an ineligible player in the first five games of the 2023 season.

The Bishops’ bid for a seventh consecutive state title also appears to have come to an end with the High School League’s ruling. According to organization’s bylaws, if a school is forced to forfeit more than one game that affects playoff seeding, the school is ineligible for the playoffs.

The Bishops self-reported the violation that involved a fifth-year senior who transferred to BE. Bishop England’s process of determining a player’s eligibility does not differentiate between seniors and fifth-year seniors

“We were wrong. We played a player who was ineligible,” athletic director Paul Runey said. “It was just one of those things, that we missed, that fell through the cracks and I take full responsibility. Kit Brownell, the director of admissions, caught it. If she hadn’t, the girl would still be playing. The name just didn’t register with me at the time.”

Runey said the student-athlete had some health issues and that’s why she was in her fifth year of high school. Runey said she played late in games when the team was already winning by a large margin.

The Bishops outscored foes 91-11 in the five games the student-athlete played in.

The Bishops, who were heavily favored to win yet another state title, have not lost to a foe on the field since Myers Park out of Charlotte topped the Bishops on April 10, 2017. The last time the Bishops lost to a team from the Palmetto State was March 4, 2017 when J.L. Mann topped the Bishops.

MaxPreps.com still has the Bishops ranked as the No. 1 team in the state, and No. 3 in the country despite the five forfeits.