Kilbreth honored during first Low Country Tri-County Meet of Champions

2013-2014 s.c. tf
John Olson

Photos by Clayton Evans for scrunners

Longtime coach Jim Kilbreth was honored Saturday during the Low Country Tri-County Meet of Champions during a surprise ceremony where meet directors named the boys 4x800-meter relay after him. 

“It is indeed an honor to have the boys 4x800 relay named after me,” said Kilbreth. I was completely surprised on Saturday when I was called to the award stand. I really appreciate the track coaches of Dorchester, Berkeley, and Charleston Counties voting to put the award in my name. There are so many good track coaches in those three counties that I really felt fortunate to have been chosen. Summerville winning the boys and girls 4x800 relays just made the day extra special.”

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The meet, in its first year, takes the top two performers from the three area county meets (Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester) plus the next two best times or marks.


Kilbreth retired from Summerville in 2010 following his wife Eileen that retired in 2009. The Kilbreths coached for 46 years and remain involved today. The family moved from Spartanburg to Summerville in 2005. 

“Since I spent 46 years being associated with track and cross country, I just want to continue to attend as many meet as I can.,” Kilbreth said. “Coach (Joe) Call and his staff at Summerville allow me to help out at their home meets and Eileen and I usually work the finish line at the Outback, Coaches Classic, Taco Bell, Class AAAA Qualifier, and the state meet. It is nice to stay involved in both sports and we get to see the coaches during the meets.” 

Kilbreth said he likes the meet format and it will bring excitement to the area. 

“I think the format of the Tri-County Meet of Champions is excellent and will add some excitement to the outdoor track season in the Low Country. Having each county qualify to get to the Meet of Champions should make it very exciting.”

“Our hope is that this meet will spark a greater interest onto our sport in the area,” West Ashley coach Richard Luden added.
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Kilbreth concluded in an interview with scrunners, “My love for the 4x800 relay started in 1976, when I was coaching at Lyons Township High School, LaGrange, Illinois.The state put the event in the state meet series that year and "LT" placed second in 7:35.7, in spite of an anchor leg of 1:51.0. What we did not realize at the time was that Illinois had the seven fastest times in the USA, with seventh place being 7:41. Track and Field News called it the greatest relay race in  history. After moving to Spartanburg in 1978, I found that the 4x800 relay did exist at the state level. SHS did manage to run 7:53 at the Florida Relays in 1982 and that time stood as S.C.'s best for 30 years. The Summerville boys got close to the school record in the 4x800 relay, but were not able to break it. The Summerville girls were able to set a school and state record in 2007, which was broken by Wando. As you can tell, I was very fortunate to have coached some wonderful athletes over the years and will not ever forget them.”

Charleston County won the meet with 515 points, Dorchester County second (389) and Berkeley County third with 329 points. 
 

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