It was a busy year for athletics around Lexington County with many major storylines developing further or coming to a close.

This past year represented the end of many eras at different schools around Lexington County. From the fallout of the competitive balance debate to new faces in new places, the high school sports landscape in Lexington County will look very different next season.

Here are some of the biggest storylines from the past year.

Legendary coaches depart teams after years of successful service

This year marked the last for many successful local coaches on the gridiron and the court.

Three long-time area coaches retired and three others resigned, opening many enticing job opportunities in the area.

Irmo basketball coach Tim Whipple called it a career after 43 years on the job. He retires as the second-winningest basketball coach in state history.

Whipple’s success at Irmo spanned across multiple decades, building the program into a yearly contender. The Yellow Jackets made the playoffs in all but three of his years as the head coach and won its first state title in 1991 before proceeding to win two more in the ‘90s.

The program and Whipple stayed together during some struggles in the 2000s but eventually found their way back to the top, winning titles in the 2010s and 2020s.

“I think we live in a world, in a society now where it’s immediate gratification and the grass is always greener somewhere else type of situation,” Whipple told the Chronicle in December. “I’ve had tremendous coaches to work with. Our teachers and our staff don’t come any better, so they’re great to work with, and then I’ve been fortunate enough to have a lot of really good, talented players who are motivated and have had a desire to be the best they can be.”

Whipple did not get a storybook ending after leading his team to the 2023 state title. In 2024, Irmo struggled finishing 5-21 before losing in the first round of the playoffs.

But for Whipple, it was never about the wins; it was about the experience and his players.

“I’ve had many, many people say, ‘You should have just retired after winning a state championship,’ and, you know, it’s not about a state championship. It’s about that journey. It’s about watching these guys progress,” Whipple said. “That is what motivates me.”

Joining Whipple in the sunset is long-time River Bluff and former Irmo soccer coach Phil Savitz.

Savitz was the state’s all-time winningest soccer coach with over 800 victories. He officially hangs his cap after 45 seasons of coaching.

“Most people really don’t love what they do, and they just can’t wait to get to that point where they can not do it,” Savitz told the Chronicle in February. “Every year, I’ve kind of gone ‘Yeah, I think I’m definitely going to do it another year,’ and this year, I started thinking with two grandkids, and I’ll be 69 on my birthday in July. I started thinking maybe take a step back and just see what it feels like.”

Savitz ended his decorated career with 14 state titles, 13 of which came at Irmo. He made the move to River Bluff in 2014 when the school first opened doors and won a title within three seasons.

In his final year, Savitz led River Bluff to the third round of the SCHSL playoffs and an 18-3 record. His final career record stands at 824-118-7.

“It’s hard to retire because there’s always that next group that you want to be a part of, and then there’s that next group, and that never ends,” Savitz said. “We have an unbelievably talented young nucleus coming up. River Bluff soccer is going to be fine, and this next coach is going to be blessed.”

While not as decorated as Savitz or Whipple, former Chapin football head coach Justin Gentry will be remembered for his leadership during a period of massive growth for the Chapin program.

The coach retired after 14 years at the school, which saw it transition from class 3A to 5A, the largest classification in the state.

“Being blessed is an understatement, and after 30 years of roaming a sideline, I am retiring,” Gentry said in a released statement. “I can’t begin to explain how much I am going to miss the outstanding young men and coaches who have dedicated themselves over the years, and I thank them for laying the strong foundation for this football program.”

Gentry retires with 146 career wins, with just under 100 of them coming from his time with Chapin. He led the Eagles to six winning seasons, including back-to-back 11-win years in 2015 and 16.

“I tell my players that all good things must come to an end and today, my end as Chapin’s head football coach has come,” Gentry said.

Two Gray Collegiate coaches who had been at the school since its inception resigned and are pursuing different opportunities outside of high school coaching.

Basketball coach and six-time state champion Dion Bethea resigned after leading the War Eagles to their second three-peat in seven years. The coach is set to take a college coaching position as an assistant at Georgia Southern where some of his former players play.

“After much prayer, I’ve decided it’s time to advance and continue to invest in myself for whatever God has in store,” Bethea said in a press release.

Bethea built the Gray Collegiate program, and in his 10-year reign, the coach earned nine region titles and 273 wins, while developing players for the next level, including Tommy Bruner, the NCAA’s leader in scoring this past season.

Bethea has not been shy about his interest in coaching collegiate basketball in the past. After winning in the state title game, he said to “be on the lookout.”

“Gray will forever hold a dear place in my heart and always be home,” Bethea said. “It’s not an ending. It’s just the point in the story where you turn the page.”

Former athletic director and football coach Adam Holmes resigned after leading the team to an appearance in the 2A championship game.

Not much was said about Holmes’ reason for departing, but he has not moved into another coaching or athletic administration role as of yet.

Holmes was the public charter school’s first football coach and athletic director, serving in those roles since the school opened in 2014. Gray announced soccer coach Kevin Heise would replace Holmes as AD and hired D’Angelo Bryant to be the next football coach.

“As I reflect on the many successes at Gray over the past year, my mental, physical and emotional health has suffered greatly,” Holmes said. “It is time for me now to focus on my family and myself and see where this journey leads me professionally.”

Finally, Gilbert football coach and AD Chad Leaphart resigned to become the new Lexington 1 District AD after David Bennett announced his retirement.

“It was tough to step away from my current position,” Leaphart told the Chronicle in December. “I have a lot of great relationships with our athletes and coaches in Gilbert, but I am looking forward to building new relationships with our athletes and coaches in all our Lexington 1 schools.”

Leaphart will step off the sidelines after a long career in the area, including stops at Pelion and Swansea. He resigned as the winningest coach in Gilbert’s history.

Competitive balance debate reaches its conclusion with new alignment on the horizon 

The debate surrounding competitive balance between private, charter schools and public schools that began last year came to a conclusion this year with a new rule in place that will change the landscape of athletics in the state.

After Gray Collegiate’s region opponents felt they were at an unfair disadvantage last season, the schools opted to forfeit all their regular season matches against the War Eagles in 2023-24.

It wasn’t just Gray, though. In other places around the state, private and charter schools were dominating lower classifications. A public school has not won the Class A football championship in three seasons and private and charters dominated the playoffs this season.

This forced the high school league’s executive committee to meet and find a solution to the problem.

Their answer was a new multiplier rule that will count each student, not just athletes, who live outside of their school’s designated zone as three students toward the total enrollment.

“Is it perfect? No, nothing we ever come up with is going to be, but it satisfies all the legal parameters if we apply it evenly across the board,” committee member Matthew Hiers said as the motion was being discussed.

The committee considered a few other options besides the multiplier, including a separate playoff for charter and private schools, but it was agreed the multiplier was the best option.

“I think it is the cleanest, most easily understood, most evenly applied proposal that I think exists before us,” committee member J.R. Green said. “I think it is very important that we move forward with something.”

As expected, Gray was one of the most affected schools. Next season, the team will jump from class 2A to class 4A, but many of the school’s coaches are confident their success will carry over.

“Classifications are just that. There are a lot of numbers. But there are bad 5A teams, too, so, numbers are just numbers. Sometimes it comes down to the quality of your 11,” Gray soccer coach and new athletic director Kevin Heise said.

The multiplier will take effect at the start of the 2024-25 school year and will be taken into consideration when the high school league’s realignment committee sends its plan for the next shift.

New athletic director hires mark beginning of a new trend

A new trend in athletic hirings is spreading across programs in Lexington County.

This year, many schools split the position of football coach and athletic director for the first time. Gray Collegiate, River Bluff and Gilbert became the latest teams to split the responsibilities, joining Irmo, Chapin Batesburg-Leesville and Swansea.

Splitting the roles will give whomever fills them more time to focus on the job’s duties without having to take up all of their time.

“Being the athletic director, it’s a lot. There’s a lot on your plate, and it’s a lot to manage,” new River Bluff AD Andrew Peckham said. “I think with coach Hardin now being able to focus in on the football program, more so than the entire athletic department, I think that’s going to enable him to have even more success with those guys in that program. And I think being the AD, and not coaching a sport, it enables me to really have more of a bird’s eye view.”

The move for Gilbert and River Bluff is part of a new strategy being implemented by the  Lexington 1 school district and is expected to hit the district’s other schools sometime in the next few years.

“Being able to devote that time, being able to be with our coaches, being at practices, being at all the games that we need to be at and just giving 110% to our staff and our students, is the most important thing for us,” Amick said. “The split just allows for you to focus solely on that.”

Gray Collegiate took advantage of their previous AD and football coach’s resignation to split the position, though new AD Kevin Heise still holds his head soccer coach position.

With the rapid growth of the county, it has become increasingly hard to oversee all of an athletic department and coach football. Next season, the county will be home to six 5A schools and four 4A schools.

Five of those schools have split the positions so far, but don’t be surprised if more do so in the future.