In the weight room at Lugoff-Elgin High School Feb. 6, teenagers spread around the gym and prepared to powerlift.
Many are Special Olympics athletes part of the Special Olympics Unified Champion School model at Lugoff-Elgin High School, a national program where students with and without intellectual disabilities can participate in school athletics. Coaches of each team must take Special Olympics training courses, which include a unified sports course.
Ron Doiron has coached the team for about four years.
He said over that time, he has watched his athletes build both muscles and friendships.
"The swagger that these kids have, in many ways, very underestimated," he said.
About a dozen Special Olympic athletes train with Doiron and the rest of the volunteer coaching staff.
On this Friday, one of those athletes, 18-year-old La’Darius James, was looking to improve his personal best weight.
James has been powerlifting for about three years.
He placed first in his category at the 2025 Powerlifting United South Carolina State Championship in North Charleston. But in the 52 weeks that had passed since that competition, James's heaviest competed deadlift had grown from 402 pounds to 418 pounds.
James wanted more.
This time, James was looking to deadlift 435 pounds in the middle of a school day. Lunch would have to wait.
To the eruption of cheers in the audience of parents, students and volunteers, James did exactly what he intended to do, throwing up his hands in celebration.
His mother, Eva Nelson, watched his lift from a black folding chair. She said she’s used to watching her son compete, whether in powerlifting, bowling or track and field.
She credited the volunteer coaches and school staff, saying they’ve successfully pushed her son to try new experiences that he otherwise would not have shown interest in.
"These guys are always present for the kids," she said.
Nelson especially credited Ashley Middleton, the school's Unified Champion Schools liaison. "She fills in the blank when we can't," Nelson said.
Middleton approached James and his mother with the prospect of powerlifting three years ago. Nelson said she was wary at first. Many parents, she and Middleton said, matched her reservations.
"We have a lot of parents that are scared initially," Middleton said.
It wasn’t just safety that worried guardians.
Some parents were concerned the powerlifting would be heavier on their pockets than the weights in their kids' hands.
"This is one of our most expensive sports," Middleton added.
The school provided equipment like benches and weights. But proper shoes, socks and weightlifting belts were in parents’ hands.
Local sportswear shops occasionally donated equipment to athletes like James. The program also received grants from the Special Olympics.
Friday's meet functioned as a fundraiser. Each athlete had to pay an entry fee to lift. Middleton said the group raised about $250 that will contribute to the 2026 Lake Murray Polar Plunge.
The plunge is a yearly fundraising event that benefits Special Olympics South Carolina. Middleton and other staff will enter the waters of Lake Murray in Lexington to commemorate certain fundraising goals.
Freshman Benjamin Smith and his mother, Myranda Smith, are in their first powerlifting season at Lugoff-Elgin High School.
Her husband played football and her other son already had lifting experience. She said it was natural for her son, who everyone calls Ben, to join the team.
"This has really helped bring him out," she said.
Kelsey Miller, Special Olympics South Carolina's director of Youth Initiatives, said 454 schools in South Carolina participate in the Unified Champion Schools model, which is roughly a fourth of the state's public and private school count. And of all Special Olympic athletes in the state, athletes at Lugoff-Elgin High School are some of the only who can participate in powerlifting on a consistent basis.
The school is one of South Carolina's 32 National Banner Unified Champion Schools. Those schools "demonstrated commitment to inclusion by meeting 10 national standards of excellence," according to Special Olympics guidelines. As of 2025, 886 schools in the nation were given the title.
Lugoff-Elgin High School touts the moniker, but it means high school students in Kershaw County have just one school option to participate in unified sports with their classmates.
Myranda Smith said that while the model has worked for her own son, she recognized the level of dedication and care that programs for students with disabilities are given varies from school to school — even at those unified schools.
She said even if school support is limited, she hopes parents take initiative to teach their children that their classmates with disabilities are, in her words, "still just kids — just a little different."
"Get your kids out there and let them learn," she said.
The teammates who currently lift together have done their best to make each other feel welcome. Genesis Mosby, a sophomore Special Olympic athlete at the high school, did not look back at his start in the program with much fondness.
"It kind of sucked for me. It was nerves because, at the same time, I just started and I couldn't lift nothing, really," he said.
He gave feedback to fellow athletes like Ben Smith. The conversations eventually evolved from form corrections to banter.
"It's really not that hard to just say, 'Hi,' to someone," Mosby said.
The day ended with an awards ceremony for the athletes. And Ben Smith and Mosby hit their signature, three-part handshake to cap off the session. Now, Lugoff-Elgin High's Special Olympic athletes will work toward the 2026 State Summer Games at Fort Jackson in May.
