Allendale-Fairfax track athletes chase Lower State qualifying spots in busy week

Allendale-Fairfax put its spring on a fast track, moving from a home meet with several schools into regional field events at Whale Branch Early College High School and then into Lower State qualifying at Carvers Bay. For a small county program, the difference between advancing and packing up often came down to one relay handoff, one jump or one late race on the clock.

The district’s live feed said the Tigers hosted a home track meet one day, then traveled the next to Whale Branch to try to qualify for Lower State on May 9. That stretch sat inside the South Carolina High School League’s 2026 championship calendar, which set qualifiers for May 8-9 and state championships for May 14-16, with the Class 1A state meet scheduled for Saturday, May 16, at Spring Valley in Columbia.

Allendale-Fairfax also had the burden and advantage of familiarity. MileSplit South Carolina listed the program as the host of the SCHSL 1A Region 4 meet at Whale Branch Early College High School in Seabrook on April 28-29, a setup that helped frame the Tigers’ recent run of home-and-away competition. By the time Lower State arrived in Hemingway, the roster had already been tested in a stretch that demanded depth across sprints, distance, hurdles, jumps and relays.

The Lower State results included Janaisha Potts, Jadia Sanders, Chandler Morrell, Logan Chisolm, Au’Bre Capers, Tra’von Eady, Terrance Coleman, Anthony Johnson, Ephesian Bunch, Crainerus Nickens and Terriyanna Carter. Tra’von Eady placed ninth in the boys 400-meter dash in 53.93 and finished 13th in long jump at 6.19 meters. Terrance Coleman took seventh in the boys 800-meter run in 2:23.36, giving the Tigers a point of emphasis in one of the meet’s most demanding middle-distance races.

The broader picture matters in Allendale County because track success rarely rests on one standout. Relay teams, field-event places and second- and third-tier scorers can decide whether a small roster keeps moving or sees its season end early. A later district post underscored that reset, saying, “We look forward to rebuilding our program together!” and pointing to a new coach.

If the Tigers advanced out of Lower State, the next stop was the SCHSL 1A state meet on Saturday, May 16, at Spring Valley in Columbia, where the season’s final sprint to a championship began at 9 a.m.