A.C. Flora athletics: A community of champions
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The A.C. Flora athletic program enjoyed one of, if not the greatest year of high school sports in South Carolina public school history in 2020-2021. The Falcons started off the year strong with several dominant performances in the SC AAAA State Swim Meet under Coach Kim Gould. Tanner Edwards shattered two state records and he joined teammates Darden Tate, Benjamin Tanner, and Hill Teas as they won individual titles in four events. Gracie McCoy joined in the winning by capturing the SC AAAA Girls Golf Individual Championship and leading her team to a state runner up finish under Coach Robert Dargan. The championship fever was strong as the winning ways continued. The Flora Football team led by Coach Dustin Curtis capped off an undefeated season by winning the first ever football state championship in A.C. Flora History and first in Richland One in over 50 years. Just a few weeks later, Coach Lyndsey West led the Falcon Competitive Cheer team to its first ever state championship – also a first ever in Richland One.
As the calendar turned, the winning didn’t stop for A.C. Flora athletes. Coach Mickey Purdy led the Boys Lacrosse team to the state finals and finished as state runner ups. Championships then came in bunches as the school year came to an end. The Boys Tennis team (Coach Amy Martin), Boys Golf team (Coach Robert Dargan), and Baseball (Coach Andy Hallett) all won their respective state championships. The Track and Field programs led by Coach David Worstall and Coral Johnson also added individual state championships won by Robert McCray, John O’Cain, Madison Gibson, Aaliyah Lewis, Alicia Lewis, and Laronda Quattlebaum.
Overall, Falcon teams won five team state championships, two team state runner ups, and eight individual state titles. Nine of the 22 sport programs won a team or individual championship in this school year alone. The collective accomplishments earned the A.C. Flora athletics its second consecutive Carlisle Cup (2019, 2021) given by the South Carolina Athletic Administrators Association to the top overall athletic program in South Carolina.
Athletic Director, Dr. Edward Moore attributes the success to the strong network athletes, coaches, and community. “We are blessed to have great Head Coaches in every sport. All of our coaches share the same championship expectations and goals and are extremely cooperative with other sports to ensure that the championship culture permeates throughout the department.”
The Falcons are also blessed with a dedicated, full time strength and conditioning coach that works with all athletes. Dr. Moore states, “Coach (Trey) Tuten does an excellent job in working with all sports and all athletes to tailor individual work outs to their specific needs. Strength and Conditioning is not just for select sports; all of our student-athletes are expected to train to become overall better athletes, not just better players of their sport.”
Another aspect of the Falcon athletic community that stands out is the support network behind the scenes. “People often don’t realize the amount of operational, organizational, and logistical tasks that are required to run programs as large and as robust as ours are. That’s where our outstanding support staff comes in. Patti (Moore, Assistant AD) does an excellent job in her role, we have three full time members of our sports medicine team, and combined with amazing support from our parents and community, we are able to remove almost all obstacles that would unnecessarily occupy our coaches’ time and hinder their ability to lead and coach their sport.”
A.C. Flora athletics is leading the way not just in Columbia, but across the state. In just the last 10 years, 14 sport programs have won a team or individual championship. The diversity of success the Falcons have enjoyed is unmatched throughout South Carolina. A.C. Flora Athletics, truly is a community of champions.
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