The new millennium may be only five years old, but it’s going to take some doing to top the past year from a sporting standpoint.

From team championships galore, to returning legends to national recognition for local athletes, 2005 was a year that packed a lifetime of memories into 12 months. If anything, trying to put together a year-end list of THE top 10 stories was more difficult than usual because of the significant events that seemingly occurred on a daily basis.

Nevertheless, it’s time to give the departing year one more day in the spotlight as the T&D recaps those sports events which made 2005 special:

1. Hunter-Kinard-Tyler sweeps

Class A basketball championships

The tri-towns of Neeses, Norway and Springfield could each share in the moniker of “The Town of Champions” as both the H-K-T boys and girls dominated their respective Class A championship games to become the first school since St. Matthews High in 1976 to win both titles in the same classification in the same year.

2. Alex Barron selected

in first round of NFL Draft

A $10 investment by his father put the younger Barron on a lucrative path in pro football. After an All-American career at Florida State, the former Orangeburg-Wilkinson offensive lineman became the first T&D Region graduate to be drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft when he was selected 19th by the St. Louis Rams. Although his rookie year was marred by a late arrival to camp due to prolonged contract negotiations, a thumb injury and the Rams’ losing record, Barron did eventually work his way into the starting lineup.

3. South Carolina State misses Division

I-AA playoffs

The Bulldogs entered the fourth season under head coach Oliver “Buddy” Pough looking to take another step into national prominence. While SCSU finished ranked in the Top 25 for the second straight year and matched last year’s 9-2 record, heartbreaking losses to Coastal Carolina and Hampton kept the team from making its first Division I-AA playoff appearance in 23 years.

4. High schools

dominate state

championships

It wasn’t 1849, but there was certainly a “gold rush” in the T&D Region. A total of seven local schools added state championship trophies to their respective trophy cases, with numerous athletes bringing home gold medals for first-place individual performances in track and golf. Fittingly, 2005 closed with an all-T&D Region final in Class A football between Blackville-Hilda and Calhoun County.

5. Willie Jeffries

returns to

Orangeburg

As the year began, the South Carolina State coaching legend was settling into his new role as Grambling State University athletics director. Once word became public that Jeffries planned for his tenure to be one year only, he was forced to cut his new “challenge” short by four months and return to a hero’s welcome to his “real” home.

6. Calhoun County

andH-K-T battle

for Class A supremacy

It was the proud champion against the upstart lion and it made for a riveting rivalry in 2005. The Saints and Trojans split four meetings last season, with each matchup more anticipated and intense as the previous one. In the end, it was H-K-T which ended Calhoun County’s streak of consecutive state title appearances with a dramatic 59-55 win in the Upper State finals. The two teams meet again on Jan. 20 in St. Matthews.

7. Claflin moves up to NCAA Division II

Moving forward by taking bold initiatives has been a trademark of Claflin University under the leadership of President Henry Tisdale. Not surprisingly, this vision extended to the athletics department. Having dominated the Eastern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference of the NAIA as the perennial winner of the Commissioner’s Cup, Claflin took the initial steps towards joining the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

8. Dorchester Academy football player

Charles Murray dies

in car accident

The Dorchester Academy lineman was having a senior year to remember. Not only did he rebound from a cracked vertebrae to become team caption, he was named to the inaugural Oasis All-Star Classic for SCISAA schools and was leading the Raiders to a possible second straight title-game appearance. Tragically, Murray became the latest T&D Region student-athlete to lose his life in a car accident.

9. Ricky Sapp earns

All-American status

At 6-foot-5 and a lean, fierce 255 pounds, the Bamberg-Ehrhardt senior defensive end was a “Wanted” man in recruiting circles. Despite making his college choice early with Clemson University, Sapp remained a hot commodity as he was selected as an All-American in two publications (U.S. Today and Parade Magazine) and named to play in the U.S. Army All-American game on Jan. 6 at the Alamodome.

10. Tony Felder

relieved as O-W

head football coach

It was a tenure which started out with great promise. In his first two seasons, Felder led the Bruins to their best start in over a decade and a return to the playoffs after a two-year absence. This season, injuries and inconsistent play on offense made it nearly impossible for O-W to avoid its worst campaign in 29 years at 1-10. In a bitter irony, Calhoun County reached the state finals with head coach Tommy Brown, whom Felder replaced back in 2002.

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