Top sports moments of the year

What were your top Daniel Island sports stories for 2021? Here’s one man’s opinion.

 

Carlisle Cup: The Carlisle Cup, which is awarded to the state’s top five athletic programs from Class A to Class AAAAA, ended up at both Daniel Island schools, Philip Simmons and Bishop England, for the 2020-21 academic year.

 

The Iron Horses won top honors in Class AA for the first time in the school’s history by claiming three state championships: boys’ tennis, girls’ track and field, and boys’ track and field. The program had two state runner-up teams and claimed eight Region-6AA championships.

 

Bishop England was the top Class AAA program in the state. Bishop England has won the award every year since it was given out beginning with the 1999-2000 academic year. The Bishops earned state crowns in cross country, girls’ tennis, girls’ lacrosse and boys’ lacrosse.

 

Credit One tennis:  Veronika Kudermetova is the answer.

 

The question is: Who was the last winner of the Volvo Car Open?

 

Kudermetova won the singles tournament in April and soon after, the tournament’s name was changed to the Credit One Charleston Open.

 

In July, Charleston Tennis, LLC unveiled Credit One Bank as the new title sponsor of the WTA event. The tournament is the largest women’s’-only tennis tournament in North America and will celebrate its 50th year April 2-10, 2022.

 

Fans will experience a newly renovated tennis facility in 2022 at the LTP Daniel Island tennis center, now called the Credit One Stadium.

 

Charleston Tennis, LLC, which manages the stadium under a lease from the City of Charleston, is nearing completion of a major renovation of the 20-year-old stadium.

 

Credit One Stadium will expand from 7,500 seats to 11,000 seats and feature 16 permanent suites, new concession stands, more bathrooms and a 75,000-square-foot Stage House with a partial roof.

 

Volvo Cars USA will continue to support tennis as the official vehicle of the WTA 500 event.

 

Philip Simmons Football: The Philip Simmons Iron Horses were in the news on a weekly basis as one of the state’s top football programs.

 

The team posted an 11-2 record and won the Region 6-AA championship with a 5-0 record. 

 

The offense averaged 36 points per game, while the defense surrendered only 12.7. The Iron Horses landed eight players on the first team of the state coaches’ association’s all-state squad, while five players earned honorable mention.

 

BE Coaches: Bishop England had two of its legendary coaches in the news in 2021: Ed Khouri and Dave Snyder.

 

Khouri coaches boys’ soccer and picked up his 500th career victory in the spring. He was just the third BE coach to reach 500 career wins.

 

Khouri has built the boys’ program into an elite program. He has guided the teams to 17 all-time state titles, which is best in state history. Khouri was only the fifth coach in Palmetto State history to reach the milestone.

 

Meanwhile, Snyder, the longtime girls’ soccer coach, retired. He began his career at BE as the coach of the boys’ junior varsity soccer team and was named girls’ coach in 2003. He posted a 309-108-17 record from 2003-21, winning 10 state titles.

 

Emma Schimpf top athlete: Daniel Island resident Emma Schimpf was named the 2021 MaxPrep female athlete of the year in South Carolina. She was a golfer for the Oceanside Collegiate Academy girls’ golf team.

 

In 2021, Schimpf was 11-under-par for the two-day state tournament and beat runner-up Sydney Roberts of Chesnee by five strokes for the match, which was held at Hackler Course on the campus of Coastal Carolina University in Conway.

 

Schimpf’s biggest accomplishment at OCA was a state record at the Class AAA golf state championship in 2020 when she carded a two-day total of 133 to win medalist honors.

 

BE Lacrosse goes 18-0, streak at 64: The Bishop England girls’ lacrosse team had one of the greatest seasons ever in state history, topping Oceanside Collegiate Academy 25-2 to win its fifth straight state championship and finish with an 18-0 record.

 

The Bishops, who will begin the 2022 season with a 64-match win streak, outscored opponents 325-34 during the season, and in four playoff games, the Bishops averaged 21 points to the opponent’s one.

 

The Bishops have not lost a game since Charlotte Catholic defeated them in 2016.

 

State championships X2: Philip Simmons won girls and boys titles in two sports during 2021. The boys’ team captured another Class AA state championship in Class AA tennis, while the girls’ team won their first state championship to kick off the fall sports season.

 

The common factor? Coach Richard Schulz, who coaches both teams.

 

Meanwhile, the Iron Horse boys and girls both captured Class AA state titles in May. The boys’ team outscored Greer Middle College 99-67, while the girls easily defeated Woodland 161-60.

 

Noah Ward and NaJhyrai Watson who both turned in national elite efforts in distance and spring events, respectively. It marked the final high school meet for Ward, one of the top distance runners in state history.

 

Daniel Brooks: Bishop England’s Daniel Brooks was in the news for outstanding seasons in both basketball and baseball.

 

He was named all-state on both sports and considered entering the Major League Draft. However, the money wasn’t right and he’s attending the College of Charleston on a baseball scholarship.

 

Brooks led the Bishops with a .379 batting average and 34 RBI. He collected 25 hits in 66 at-bats with seven doubles and two home runs. He shone on the mound. He struck out 75 batters in 44 innings while walking only 15 with a 1.45 ERA.

 

BE football player gets perfect score: Matthew Fishburne plays football and track and field at Bishop England. He’s also an excellent student. He scored a perfect score, 36, on the ACT.

 

Less than half of 1% (0.334) of test takers each year record a perfect score. That equates to about 5,500 students an academic year – nationwide.

 

Fishburne has a 5.2 GPA on the Bishop England scale and has been ranked No. 6 in his class of 175 students the past two years.

 

PS sweeps BE: For the first time in Philip Simmons five-year history, both the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams beat Bishop England on Dec. 3 at Father O’Brien Gymnasium. A week later, both Iron Horse teams completed the sweep of the series in front of a packed

house at Philip Simmons’ gymnasium.

 

On Dec. 3, the Iron Horse boys used a smothering second-half defense to gain a 53-36 victory.

 

A week later the Iron Horses claimed a 56-43 home court victory.

 

The Iron Horse girls also swept Bishop England this season. On Dec. 3, the Iron Horse girls posted a 60-35 victory, its first ever victory against BE. A week later, they posted a 41-30 home court victory over BE.

 

Kylee Kellermann scored her 1,000th career point in the first victory over BE and tallied 23 points, with seven field goals and seven of 10 from the foul line in the second game.