VOL. 119, NO. 6 WWW.THEITEM.COM
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2013 | SUMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA
FOUNDED OCTOBER 15, 1894
A need for
$1.50
Carolina falls to Tennessee B1
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Triathletes race across Sumter
Ten-year-old Sam Louis Tisdale drives his Rotax cart around the cart track at Camden Motorsports Park on Thursday. Sam is practicing for the Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals in New Orleans on Nov. 13-16.
5th-grader from Wilson Hall eyes international race
More compete in annual event than last year BY TYLER SIMPSON Special to the Item
BY JIM HILLEY Special to the Item It’s not unusual for the buzz of twoand four-stroke engines to fill the air at Carolina Motorsports Park in Camden. On Thursday, young drivers such as 10-year-old Sam Louis Tisdale raced around the cart track, honing their skills and hoping to shave tenths of seconds off their lap times. For Sam, a fifth-grade student at Wilson Hall who has been whipping around the track for about a year and a half, it is preparation for the Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals near New Orleans on Nov. 13-16 at NOLA MotorsPHOTOS BY JIM HILLEY / SPECIAL TO THE ITEM ports Park. The grand finals match 256 champion- ABOVE: Sam Louis poses with his Rotax cart at Camden Motorsports Park. ship-quality drivers from more than 60 countries in several age groups. Tisdale BELOW: Louis Tisdale and Joey Mooneyham give support and advice to Sam Louis. will be racing in the Mini division for drivers aged 10-13. To earn an invitation to the event, “pilots,” as they are called in the series, had to win a designated championship in their home country. In the U.S., seven regional champions were selected to participate, and even though Tisdale lost the PowerAde Rotax MAX Challenge Mini division championship on a tiebreaker to his friend Joseph Lamberth, officials chose to send Tisdale an invitation to the Grand Nationals. The boy’s father, Louis, said his son has had a knack behind the wheel from an early age.
Saturday morning may have started with gloomy clouds and random rain showers, but it was perfect weather for athletes from across South Carolina who came to race in Sumter’s third-annual TriSumter Triathlon at the City Aquatics Center. This year’s triathlon saw a turnout of more than 150 participants, an increase from last year’s 137 athletes according to Sumter recreation programs and facilities director Susan Wild. “The turnout here is absolutely fabulous, and we continue to grow each year,” Wild said. Wild described this triathlon as a “beginner’s triathlon,” also referred to as a sprinter’s triathlon, often held to encourage rookie triathletes to participate. “During this time of year, this is the only triathlon taking place in South Carolina, so we are focused on encouraging people to attend the triathlon and get outdoors,” Wild said. “We feel that by having this kind of triathlon we can encourage the beginners to come and enjoy an exciting event that’s not offered everywhere.” Although this triathlon was projected for beginners, plenty of experienced SEE TRIATHLON, PAGE A4
SEE TISDALE, PAGE A7
Trustees put Career Center renaming on hold BY BRADEN BUNCH bbunch@theitem.com Efforts to rename the Sumter County Career Center were placed on hold earlier this week as some of the members of the Sumter School District Board of Trustees want more time to consider the matter. The proposed rebranding of the school, considered by trustees at their meeting earlier this week at Alice Drive Middle School, from the Career Center to the Sumter Career and Technology Center, comes at a time of several changes at the campus next
door to Sumter High School. In August, the school received a $40,000 grant from the Duke Energy Foundation via Central Carolina Technical College to help restart its mechatronics program. Recently, the school also became licensed by the U.S. Department of Labor as a Youth Apprenticeship program, which recognizes the school has combined high school education, classroom technical training and hands-on job skills education. “Technology has been infused into the fields of study for just about all the fields at
the career center,” said Career Center Director Shirrie Miller at the trustees’ meeting Monday. The possibility of changing the name of the campus was first presented to trustees by interim superintendent Dr. Frank Baker in a memo on Oct. 2, on behalf of Miller. In the memo, Baker wrote the expansion of programs offered at the Career Center, including the partnership with Central Carolina Technical College to offer dual credits at the school, warranted the change. Several of the trustees, however, raised concerns
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about whether the change in the name would have any lasting effect. “Help me to understand how the vision for the center has changed, and how the mission of the center has changed,” trustee Rev. Ralph Canty asked Miller. “Because it’s critical to me that there be more than a name change, but that we have a crystal clear vision for what the center is becoming.” Miller said the school is, at this time, continuing to use the same mission statement. Some of the trustees also SEE CAREER CENTER, PAGE A4
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Verdie F. Young Priscilla D. Cass Charles Hilton Gordon Baker Edward Canty Lillie Cook Cleveland Croskey Jr.
Catherine Geddings Janie Green Hazel L. Prince Scott Rigby Jr. Ellen B. Seymour
TYLER SIMPSON / SPECIAL TO THE ITEM
Shawn Delaney of Sumter crosses the finish line, finishing first in the male 35 to 39 age group.
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