“USC Union is on the up and up and I hope you all are ready,” said Athletic Director Zach Simmons. “I love seeing the growth of our campus over the past seven years.” With talented players and new facilities, Bantam Athletics has an exciting year ahead. Scroll to learn more about our 2023-2024 sports teams!
“The process for building the men’s [soccer] program here at USC Union has been 5 years in the making,” said Head Soccer Coach Marc Curlee. He says that he worked with Simmons to build the program from the ground up. They had challenges in the beginning but as the program has gained traction, they have been able to compete with teams that have been established longer than they have. Last year, the team made it to the semi-finals for the first time, had 3 All Region players, and had the NJCAA Region 10 player of the year. The team also ranked #2 in the nation academically for men’s soccer. They currently have 23 players on the roster from 10 different countries. “We don’t look to where will be at the end of the season as far as ranking. We look at what we have to accomplish today and tomorrow,” he said. “The goal that I have set for this year’s team is to only do better than last year even if by just 1 more win. This team is early in the season and we will continue to do the best we can and give all we can to accomplish a successful season as a team.
USC Union’s volleyball team is under new leadership with Annastacia McKnight, who is Head Coach this season. She stated that, with a great freshman class and talented retuning players, the team has amazing potential this season. “As the new head coach of USC- Union Women’s Volleyball, my plan is to continue to help our program and our student-athletes grow with each season that goes by,” she said.
Our softball team is currently celebrating its 7th season as a member of the NJCAA Region 10 Division 1 and has seen major growth in all areas of the sport. Last year, the team celebrated its best season with the most wins of any team on campus, broke most of the hitting and pitching records, and ended the year with a top 4 ranking with the highest GPA in the nation. Other accolades include finishing the past 3 years 2nd in the conference and earning runner up honors twice in the Region 10 Conference Tournament. USC Union continues to be invited to national pre-season tournaments and will participate in the Adidas JUCO Classic in Clearwater, Florida in the Spring of 2024. “Softball continues to grow as a formidable sport on the USC Union Campus especially as we break ground on the new complex soon,” said Head Coach William Royce. “It will be a state-of-the-art facility which will take the program to the next level with prospect camps/recruiting and hosting tournaments. The future looks bright for The Lady Bantams!”
Last year, our baseball team tied the school record for most wins, won three games against the #3 ranked team in the nation, and also won their very first region tournament games. Along with our other sports teams, they also gained a new indoor practice facility. “We plan to build off last year’s success and hopefully set some new milestones this season,” said Head Coach Micah Stancil. “We are very excited for the 2023-2024 season.”
The USC Union Anglers program is currently in its third year under Head Coach Cameron Coone. In that time, the team has qualified for three different national championships. They are currently ranked #44 in the nation out of the 375 plus schools that have a fishing team. Last year’s team of Mark Kershaw and Jacob Butts won the 2022 Lake Russell SC Bass Nation Event. They currently have two former Bassmaster All-Americans on their roster (Jacob Butts and Kaleb Butts). “Our anglers enjoy giving back to our sport and the community,” said Coone. Anglers Austin Tucker and Kyler Murray regularly volunteered for the Miracle League last season. Angler Cole Hunter is a big supporter of the “Cast with Cops” event in Greer every season and has spoken with multiple elementary school classes about fishing in college. Several of the anglers also volunteer their free weekends as boat captains for the various high school fishing trails. They also participate in the Aftco Bank Clean-Up Program, where they help clean up litter around our local waterways.
Our Bantam Rifle Team is in their fourth year and currently working toward another successful season. Last year, the team won a silver and a bronze medal shooting in various competitions, and team captain Briana Gooch [Fish], a former Air Force JROTC National Champion at Clover High School, brought home a silver medal at the first match of the year at Georgia Military College. The team is currently comprised of two shooters, Walhalla High School graduates Keagan Dean and Bianca Monteith. Coach Doug Gilliam says that they have been competing well so far this year, with Montieth bringing home a bonze medal in a recent competition at Walhalla. Over the weekend, the team competed against Wofford College, an NCAA team, and Clemson University, with Monteith scoring 545 out of 600 and Dean scoring 548 out of 600 in her first collegiate match. “It has been a great experience getting to coach some of our students who have come from high school shooting air rifles,” said Gilliam. “It is great to see them improve.”
New to USC Union this year is our golf team, which will begin competing at the club level in the fall semester of 2024. The team is practicing hard in their new facility at the Laurens Location under Coach Gil Moss. “We’re having fun,” said Moss. “These are good kids.” He currently has a seven-man team, with two sophomores who played for the Union County High School team and five freshmen, including the #1 players from Laurens (Jaeden Weathers), Ware Shoals (Logan Crawford), and Chester High Schools (Ashton Faulkenberry). The team splits their time between their outdoor driving range and their indoor golf simulator, which uses a Garmin to measure their distance, ball speed, and much more. Their home course is Lakeside Country Club in Laurens, and they are looking forward to playing scrimmages in the coming weeks, starting with a scrimmage match against USC Sumter on Tuesday, Oct. 3.
Featured image: Lapri Cromer
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