Mattress storein Hanahan, SC

HANAHAN, S.C. (WCIV) — Hanahan High School has named Milan Turner as the next varsity football coach.

Turner was announced as the high school's head football coach in a press release on Jan. 24.

Read more: 4 months after departure, BCSD says former Hanahan HS head coach Art Craig retired

“We are elated to welcome Coach Turner to the Hawk family,” Hanahan Principal Tom Gallus said in a statement. “Our community is very fortunate to have a coach of this caliber to lead and develop our student-athletes on and off the field. Coach Turner is a proven educator and leader. He knows what it takes to build a successful high school football program and to ensure that each student is prepared for their next steps after high school. I look forward to serving alongside Coach Turner and seeing our Hawks shine under the Friday night lights.”

According to the press release, Turner has been an educator since 1994 and has coached in six state championship games during his time at five Georgia high schools. He was most recently serving as the director of high school relations on the football staff for Georgia Southern University.

Read more: Hanahan High School announces interim head football coach in place of Art Craig

"First, I would like to thank Coach Clay Helton and Georgia Southern University for the incredible opportunity I had to serve this year on the football staff," Turner said. "I want to also thank Principal Tom Gallus, Athletic Director Kim Joseph, the search committee, and the Berkeley County Board of Education for this incredible opportunity to be a teacher and head football coach at Hanahan High School. I am extremely excited for the future of our school and athletic program. I cannot wait to get to work with our team and to meet the Hanahan community. Wendi and I feel extremely blessed."

"Thank you to Coach Helton, Staff, Players, Administration and Eagle Nation for an exciting journey this year. Thank you for letting me be a small part of something Special! The future is bright at Georgia Southern, You ain’t seen nothin’ yet! #GATA #HailSouthern," Turner's Twitter post read.

Girls blank Hawks, clinch 2nd

LowcoSports.com

The region title was nice, but the real prize for Beaufort High’s boys soccer team Friday night came from the joy on longtime coach Terry Rawlins’ face — and his Griddy dance across the field after the Eagles beat visiting Hanahan in a penalty shootout.

“Seeing Coach Rawlins after 13 years win his region championship, it’s something I won’t ever forget,” senior captain Ben Christian said on this week’s episode of Lowco FC on the Lowco Media YouTube channel. “We are still electric. We’re hyped up. We’re ready.”

Despite playing a man down for much of the night, the Eagles took a 2-1 lead in the 69th minute only to see the Hawks find the equalizer inside the final two minutes of regulation. Beaufort broke back on top just two minutes into the first extra period, but Hanahan answered in the second extra session to send it to penalties.

Beaufort keeper Nigel Bell stopped one of the Hawks’ five attempts, and the Eagles went 5-for-5 with junior Eduardo Loza delivering the clincher to give Rawlins his long-awaited region crown.

The win capped off a stellar week for the Eagles, who set the stage with a 2-0 win at Hanahan on Tuesday and blanked Whale Branch 5-0 at home on senior night.

Beaufort (9-2, 7-1) hosts Bluffton at 7 p.m. Friday to wrap up the regular season before opening the Class 3A playoffs at home against Swansea at 6 p.m. Monday.

Beaufort’s girls also swept the Hawks to lock up the No. 2 seed from Region 8-3A, and they did so in dominant form with a pair of clean sheets. After a 4-0 win Tuesday on senior night, Georgia Southern signee Quinn Wilson and the Eagles’ defense blanked Hanahan 5-0 on the road Thursday for their fourth straight shutout in region play.

The Eagles kept it rolling with a 2-0 win over Beaufort Academy on Monday, as Selena Duncan scored a pair of goals and Wilson made five saves to collect her sixth shutout of the season. Beaufort (6-6, 4-2) hosts May River at 7 p.m. Thursday for its regular-season finale and will host a first-round playoff game Tuesday.

HANAHAN — A parade of emergency response vehicles and a school bus were the first to drive a newly opened mile-long stretch of Railroad Avenue, a road project recently completed after years of work.

The extension runs from Mabeline Road to Eagle Landing Boulevard, adding a two-lane roadway along the eastern side of the existing CSX rail line, with a sidewalk along one side of the road.

Though only a mile, the new stretch connects the northwest corner of the city, where several neighborhoods and Hanahan Elementary School are, to the rest of the city, said Mayor Christie Rainwater.

Prior to the extension, drivers had to take a roundabout route and cross the railroad tracks twice.

“In order to get to the Eagle Landing ... part of the city, you actually had to leave the city, cross over the railroad tracks, go to another city (North Charleston), and then go down Rivers Avenue, cross back over the railroad tracks and get back into (Hanahan),” she said. “So obviously it was inconvenient to say the least.”

It was also completed after more than two decades of delays, which ballooned the cost from a $4 million federal earmark in the 1990s to more than $20 million by the time the county broke ground on the project in 2021.

Berkeley County’s 1 percent sales tax to pay for infrastructure contributed more than $16 million to the funding.

Officials said the delays were due to a number of bureaucratic hurdles and discussions between the county, the S.C. Department of Transportation and CSX, all of which had to review and approve various aspects of the project. Funding issues contributed as well, Rainwater said — the longer other delays took, the more expensive the project became and the more time it took to secure further funding.

Town and county officials held a ribbon cutting for the road extension on March 17, with a cohort of former mayors and other public officials in attendance such as former U.S. Rep. Henry Brown, who helped secure the initial federal earmark. Officials, local emergency responders and other attendees took to the school bus and emergency vehicles to drive through a blue ribbon and up the mile of road.

Rainwater said the extension saves at least 10 minutes of driving, and that’s without traffic and train-related delays. During rush hour or when a train is stopped on the tracks, it took even longer for drivers to get to their destination.

Berkeley County Supervisor Johnny Cribb pointed out it will also help ease congestion on Rivers Avenue.

“Think about all the cars that leave Hanahan, go out on Rivers Avenue, go to the intersection of Ashley Phosphate and Rivers needlessly every single day,” he said. “Every one of those cars are now pulled off that road, so that helps regional transportation.”

It was also a public safety issue when emergency vehicles are trying to get to the northwest part of town, Rainwater said.

Though acknowledging that not all road projects take so long, attendees at the ribbon-cutting made a number of jokes about the length of time it took to complete the extension. Rainwater said one resident called her reporting that her daughter was about to graduate from high school and to ask if the student could drive it before she left for college.

“If anybody here has got a good idea on a road project that might be done in the next 30 years, let us know today before you leave so we can get it done in your lifetime,” Cribb joked.

Cribb pointed out each county has a “dinosaur” of an infrastructure project that has taken years to complete, referencing the Highway 526 in Charleston County and the Berlin G. Myers Parkway in Dorchester County. The Railroad Avenue extension has been Berkeley County’s, he said.

Last year, Siqi Fang, an eighth grader at Hanahan Middle School in Berkeley County, didn’t make it to the Spellbound! Bee, the Lowcountry’s only regional bee officially sanctioned by the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

She was knocked out of the competition at the district level.

This year, standing under the beaming spotlights at Charleston Southern University’s Lightsey Chapel, her left palm turned upwards to mimic her college ruled paper and her right hand holding an imaginary pen, Fang spelled the winning word.

“F-E-R-R-U-G-I-N-O-U-S,” she said, meaning of, relating to or containing iron.

All eyes glued to center stage, cheers and applause erupted from the crowd.

The contest had gone down from 30 students to two: the other was Zachary Teachman, a student at Thomas C. Carlo Middle School in Charleston County.

Teachman was given the word “epenthesis,” which is defined as the insertion of a sound or letter in the body of a word.

The bell, notorious for sending rows of competitors to sit on the other side of the stage to watch the remaining spellers, followed, echoing throughout the chapel.

Suddenly, the bee sting on Fang’s right finger that had pestered her the past few days felt obsolete.

“I was kind of nervous,” Fang told The Post and Courier after posing for myriad photos with her winning trophy. “My competitor was also really good.”

Fang would have to spell the word correctly along with one final word to win.

“This year she seemed to be more comfortable on stage,” Fang’s mother, Cui He, told The Post and Courier.

“I’m maturing,” Fang interjected proudly.

Students go through an intense series of elimination rounds to compete in Spellbound! They have to win their school and district spelling bees to qualify. More than 40,000 students compete for the finals.

The contest this year marked the bee’s 31st anniversary and represented students from Charleston, Berkeley, Colleton, Dorchester 2 and 4 school districts, the Catholic Diocese of Charleston, and S.C. Independent School Association.

The Post and Courier is a sponsor of Spellbound!

The winner advances to the virtual preliminary rounds of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Those who make it through the virtual preliminaries go to National Harbor, Md., to compete for the champion title.

HANAHAN, S.C. —

Milan Turner has Carolina on his mind.

Turner, who was head coach at three different Georgia high schools, has been named the new head coach at Hanahan High School in South Carolina.

Turner had successful head coaching stints at Emanuel County Institute (2005-2010), Thomson (2011-2013) and Veterans (2018-2021). He served as the director of high school relations for the Georgia Southern football program in 2022.

This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Thank you to Coach Helton, Staff, Players, Administration and Eagle Nation for an exciting journey this year. Thank you for letting me be a small part of something Special! The future is bright at Georgia Southern, You ain’t seen nothin’ yet! #GATA #HailSouthern pic.twitter.com/yaTU5ZqoUv

— Milan Turner (@MilanTurner_GS) January 25, 2023

Turner compiled a 112-43 record over 13 seasons as a head coach in the Peach State. He would lead Emanuel County Institute to 65 wins and a state championship in 2007. The Bulldogs would finish GHSA Class A runner-up in 2008.

“We are elated to welcome Coach Turner to the Hawk family,” Hanahan High Principal Tom Gallus said. “Our community is very fortunate to have a coach of this caliber to lead and develop our student-athletes on and off the field. Coach Turner is a proven educator and leader. He knows what it takes to build a successful high school football program and to ensure that each student is prepared for their next steps after high school. I look forward to serving alongside Coach Turner and seeing our Hawks shine under the Friday night lights.”

Turner takes over a Hanahan program that went 6-4 in 2022. He replaces interim coach Steve Blanchard, who took over after Art Craig stepped away and eventually retired.

Recommended

With rumors of another beach party this weekend, Tybee Island mayor says the city is preparing

Turner has been an educator since 1994. Prior to becoming a head coach, he spent time as an assistant at several Georgia schools. Turner has coached in six GHSA state championship games during his time at five different Georgia high schools.

He has been named the North/South All-Star Head Coach, Region Coach of the Year, Atlanta Touchdown Club Class A Coach of the Year, GACA Class A State Coach of the Year, and was selected to coach in the 2008 Under Armour national all-star game.

This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Can’t thank you enough for what you mean to our football family coach! You were meant to be apart of kids lives! We will all be cheering for you in South Carolina! https://t.co/ttjDWBHhqO

— Clay Helton (@GSCoachHelton) January 25, 2023