BE, Philip Simmons battle top teams at All American Track Classic
In the fall of 1990, Spring Valley High School principal Ben Nesbit convinced his school district to replace the clay track at Harry Parone Stadium with an all-weather track.
The following spring, the school hosted its first major track and field meet with 13 teams bidding for the championship.
That was the humble beginning of what would become the All American Track Classic, which today is the biggest meet east of the Mississippi River. This year’s event, contested April 9-11 at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina, featured more than 100 teams and more than 3,000 athletes, including some of the top performers in the country.
The talent pool included Myrtle Beach High School high jumper Julian Brown, a junior who has the top high jump in the country this spring at 7 feet, 4 ¼ inches. He won the gold at Spring Valley, clearing 7-1 ¾. Bishop England and Philip Simmons both competed in the meet as both programs entered the final month of the season.
With such incredible talent on display, the All American Track Classic gave athletes a chance to see how they stack up against top-notch competition.
“We go into the meet with the mindset that the meet is a great chance for the athletes to compete against some of the best competition on the East Coast,” BE coach Tony Colizzi said. “Both of our teams are starting to peak at the right time. It should be an exciting last month of the season.”
Blythewood High School won the girls’ title with 51.25 points to top Mallard Creek, which scored 42. St. James Academy was third with 34 points.
Ashley Roush led the Philip Simmons girls with a gold medal in the pole vault. Roush was the only local athlete to win an event and accounted for 10 of the Iron Horses’ 14 points, which was good enough to finish tied for 17th place in the team standings. Roush cleared 12-11 ¾.
The BE girls finished in a tie for 36th place with seven points. Kinsley Wood shone brightly, holding down sixth place in the javelin while finishing seventh in the discus. Katie Griffin finished fifth in the pole vault and Victoria Wood was 10th in the long jump.
Archbishop Carroll, located in Washington D.C., won the boys’ title in one of the most competitive finishes ever. Archbishop Carroll won with 37 points to edge Mallard Creek and Wando High School. Both teams scored 36.
The Bishop boys finished in a five-way tie for 44th place with five points. Connor Good claimed fourth place in the 3,200-meter run while the 4x800-meter relay team finished 10th.
Trent Manning led the Iron Horse boys with eight-place finishes in the 1,600-meter run and the mile run. Lucas Shively was seventh in the discus while Jack Robinson and Luke Robinson finished seventh and ninth in the javelin. Matthew Perry finished in 10th place in the 3,200-meter run.