The new region placements for the 2026-28 classification period have been released by the South Carolina High School League. 

Lexington County will now have at least one team in every classification. 5A championships will no longer be split into two divisions, as the classifications were built from the bottom up this time. 

The new region plans were released just a few days after the classification appeals concluded. 

During the appeals process, Gray Collegiate and Brookland-Cayce asked to be moved down a classification. The motion to move Brookland-Cayce from 4A to 3A passed a vote by the appellate committee, 5-1. Gray’s request to move from 5A to 4A was denied by a unanimous vote. 

With the new classification plan finalized, the league quickly developed its new region plan. Lexington County has six 5A teams, one 4A team, four 3A teams, two 2A teams and one Class A team. 

For the most part, all the local teams were grouped together. 

Lexington County’s major 5A region remains largely intact, minus the removal of Irmo, which will return to 4A play. Chapin, Dutch Fork, Lexington, River Bluff and White Knoll will continue to be rivals for at least the next two years. 

Gray Collegiate was not placed in the same region as the other local 5A schools. The War Eagles were instead grouped with other Midlands schools outside Lexington County: Blythewood, Ridge View, Spring Valley and Sumter. 

As the only 4A school in the area, Irmo was placed with no local competition. They weren't even placed with fellow Midlands teams. 

Instead, the Yellow Jackets will play against some of the Aiken-area teams that the current local 4A teams are in a region with. These include Midland Valley, North Augusta, Aiken and South Aiken.

Lexington County will go from having one 3A school, Swansea, to having four with the additions of Airport, Brookland-Cayce and Gilbert. All four teams were placed in the same region and have experience going against each other before. 

Brookland-Cayce and Gilbert are currently in the same 4A region. From 2022-24, Swansea also played in a region with Brookland-Cayce and Gilbert. 

Pelion and American Leadership Academy stayed in the same 2A region. The conference has a few additions and will feature seven teams, including a non-football school. 

Batesburg-Leesville moved from that 2A region down to Class A. The Panthers are the only local single-A team and will be in a conference with teams both in and around the Midlands. 

While there are usually fewer complaints about region placements, teams do have the opportunity to appeal. Teams will appeal region placements for many reasons, including travel requirements, competitive balance and maintaining local rivalries. 

Teams have until Feb. 1 to appeal the high school league’s decision. Appeals will be heard from Feb. 3-5.

Below are the full region placements for all 14 Lexington County SCHSL teams. 

New region placement plan 

5A Region 3

Chapin

Dutch Fork

Lexington 

River Bluff 

White Knoll

5A Region 4 

Blythewood

Gray Collegiate

Ridge View

Spring Valley

Sumter

4A Region 5

Aiken

Fox Creek

Irmo

Midland Valley

North Augusta

South Aiken

3A Region 4

Airport

Brookland-Cayce

Camden

Gilbert

Lower Richland

Swansea

2A Region 4

American Leadership

Horse Creek

Orangeburg-Wilkinson

Pelion

Silver Bluff

Strom Thurmond

Saluda

Class A Region 2

Batesburg-Leesville

C.A. Johnson

Clear Dot Charter

Eau Claire

Ridge Spring-Monetta

Whitmire