NEWBERRY COUNTY — Now that 2018 has come to a close, it’s time to take a look back at some of the top sports story that took place in Newberry County over the last year. The following are the Top Five Sports Stories of 2018, which include three teams winning state championships.
1. The Newberry High School Lady Bulldogs won the AAA State Championship
Topping this year’s list is the victory of the Newberry High School Lady Bulldogs basketball team in March. The Lady Bulldogs defeated Ridgeland-Hardeeville 57-50 at the Colonial Life Arena. This was their first state championship since they first fielded a team 90 years ago.
Newberry concluded their 2017-18 season with an overall record of 25-4, including going 11-1 at home this year. The Lady Bulldogs lost only one of their 17 games they played since Jan. 1 of this year.
Head Coach Melissa Mendenhall said that the win didn’t come easy for the team, after the game.
“They went out there, played their game and did what we asked them to do. We worked hard this week in practice and they listened and followed every direction,” she said.
2. The Mid-Carolina High School Cheerleading team wins the 2018 State AAA Competitive Cheerleading Championship
Another championship first this year was the Mid-Carolina High School Cheerleading team winning the 2018 State AAA Competitive Cheerleading Championship in November, this is the first win for the team in the school’s history.
At the state competition, Head Coach Sherry Bedenbaugh said they had two and a half minutes for their routine. Twenty seconds of that was the cheer, a minute and a half can be music. In the routine they needed to have two different stunt sequences, one harder than the other. They also had to combine three jumps, do a pyramid, a dance, four basket tosses and tons of tumbles.
This year, the team picked a theme for their routine, which was baseball. Bedenbaugh said no other team had a theme this year.
“Theme was baseball, because of my son Will that I lost in a car accident in 2010, he was a college baseball player at Charleston Southern University. My other son, Alex, coaches baseball at Mid-Carolina, and played at Brevard in college,” she said. “Girls wanted to use Will Power as the theme, which is our foundation we started in Will’s name, a non-profit organization we give scholarships to Mid-Carolina High School athletes every year.”
With the theme in mind, the girls wore baseball socks, with Will Power on the side, and they added baseballs to their bows. Their music was also baseball music, Bedenbaugh said during an interview after the team’s victory.
Prior to the State Competition, the team had to compete in two preliminary competitions to be able to attend the State Qualifiers. They then went on to the State Qualifiers, which were held at Mid-Carolina High School on Nov. 8. During the qualifier, 25 teams competed, with only 16 advancing. Mid-Carolina came in second.
3. The Chapin-Newberry American Legion baseball team won the State Championship
Another State Championship, The Chapin-Newberry American Legion baseball team, sponsored by Newberry Post 24 and Chapin Post 193 of the American Legion, were once again State Champions, after defeating Sumter, for the second time in three days, at the Spirit Communications Park by a score of 4-2, in August.
This is the third State Championship win the team has had in six years, they won in 2013 and 2015, which was also the year they went all the way in the World Series.
“It never gets old, it is one of those things we put on our goals for the year, every year. It is a matter of having a chance to play for the State Championship, and it feels good any time you can meet your objective. They worked hard throughout the summer, I’m glad they were able to do this,” said Head Coach David Coats after the team’s victory.
With the win Chapin-Newberry improved to 20-5 on the season, prior to the Regional Tournament.
4. Mid-Carolina High School Head Football Coach and Athletic Director Louie Alexander resigns
At the end of March, Mid-Carolina High School Head Football Coach and Athletic Director Louie Alexander decided to step down from his positions after 13 years with the Rebels.
“It’s been a great ride, but we haven’t been as successful as I want the team to be, and I think the best decision was me stepping down,” Alexander said after the announcement he was stepping down.
Alexander said that telling his players and coaches he was stepping down was hard.
“It was tough on the kids because they are great kids and that parts always hard, it was just something that in the best interest of myself and my family, it was just time to step away. Having those conversations with coaches and kids is never easy,” he said. “My time at MCHS has been great and I’ve worked with really good principals, teachers, coaches and mentors for our kids, that’s the hard part. I’ve been here 13 years and every day I did the absolute best that I could and people that know me will attest to that.”
Alexander added that he was blessed to have built relationships with coaches, teachers and kids and he will miss them as he moves on.
5. Chris Arnoult named the head football coach and athletic director at Mid-Carolina High School
In April, Chris Arnoult was named the head football coach and athletic director at Mid-Carolina High School, after being approved by the Newberry County School Board.
After spending more than 20 years as a football player and assistant coach at Irmo High School, he became the head football coach at Chesterfield High School in 2014. As head coach, he won 28 games in four years and in 2015 his team won the 4-AA Region Championship.
Arnoult was born in Tennessee and moved to Irmo in the late 1970’s with his family. After high school he played at Georgia Southern as an offensive lineman and was a member of the Georgia Southern University Eagles’ 1989 and 1990 National Title Teams.
Arnoult was a part of eight region championship teams and three state runner-up teams at Irmo, a Class 4A school as a position coach and coordinator, before he became the head football coach at Chesterfield High School.
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