Prep Zone: AJC High School Sports

Northview celebrates after winning four state tennis championships in a row

Miller Grove’s Kenneth Gilstrap perhaps earned the title as the “state’s fastest man” at the GHSA track championships Saturday in Jefferson.

Gilstrap led the Lithonia school to the Class AAAA championship by sweeping the 100 and 200 meters. A day earlier, Gilstrap posted a 10.37 in a qualifying heat to barely miss breaking the seemingly untouchable state record of 10.33 in the 100.

“I feel like I’m the fastest man in Georgia, and I feel like I proved it,” Gilstrap said. “I didn’t get the record, but that wasn’t my aim. My goal was to help us win the team title, to make our school and community proud. We did that.”

The 5-foot 9-inch, 175-pound Gilstrap will run track and play football at Middle Tennessee State next year. He won five medals Saturday, including two as member of Miller Grove’s 1,600- and 400-meter relay teams.

In Class AAAAA, Parkview’s Ethan Kasson won the 400 with a blistering time of …

Continue reading Is Miller Grove’s Kenneth Gilstrap the state’s fastest man? »

Walton's Elizabeth Kilborn (AJC file)

The Walton girls won their sixth consecutive Class AAAAA tennis championship and came within a single match of completing one of the most dominant seasons in GHSA history.

Other state tennis champions included the Marist girls and boys in Class AAAA, along with the Woodward Academy boys and St. Pius girls in AAA.

Walton defeated rival Centennial 3-1 in the final ,  giving the Raiders 116 straight wins . The Cobb County school finished this year  16-0  and didn’t lose a point in a team match until Friday when Centennial’s Megan Kurey defeated Emily Lauten at No. 2 singles.

“It was amazing to win because Centennial was strong and we knew it would be a tough match,” Walton coach Roberta Manheim said. “Emily has been sick [and missed most of the season], but she gave it everything she had today.”

“I’m so proud of the girls. They were under a tremendous amount of pressure to win and not break the streaks. They rose to the occasion and are …

Continue reading Walton girls win No. 116 in a row for Class AAAAA tennis championship »

Scores after Day 2

Classification: A

3200 METER RUN

Place Name School Time Points

1 Luke Baker Eagle’s Landing Christian (7-A) 9:41.190 10

2 Matt Lethbridge Our Lady of Mercy (5-A) 9:58.460 8

3 Ian Rogan Prince Avenue Christian (8-A) 10:03.250 6

4 Darryn Hutchinson Mt. Paran Christian (5-A) 10:09.860 5

5 Malcolm Brooks Taliaferro County (4-A) 10:26.350 4

6 Jonathan Preg Providence Christian (7-A) 10:31.270 3

7 Kyle Scott Savannah Country Day (3-A) 10:34.220 2

8 Colin Bishoff Athens Christian (8-A) 10:35.760 1

9 Abraham Dixon Marion County (2-A) 10:57.880 0

10 Jesse Baker Darlington (6-A) 11:08.280 0

11 Jaymes Turner Schley County (2-A) 11:17.280 0

12 Sam Caldwell Bremen (6-A) 11:19.050 0

13 Ian Tierney Aquinas (4-A) 11:31.330 0

14 Ryan Thomas Calvary Day School (3-A) 11:50.470 0

15 Kelly Medders Bacon County (1-A) 12:37.830 0

16 Josh Stalvey Clinch County (1-A) 13:20.150 0

Team Results

1. Athens Christian 53

2. Our Lady of Mercy 28

3. Bremen 19

4. Eagle’s Landing Christian …

Continue reading GHSA track results after Friday’s second day »

Continue reading Athletes to watch at this weekend’s state championship track meet »

Providence Christian's Michelle Shealy

Michelle Shealy scored the first perfect “10″ of her life on Georgia’s biggest stage for high school gymnastics.

The junior from Providence Christian was the all-around champion at Friday’s state gymnastics meet, while also leading the Lilburn Class A school to the team championship.

The clincher for both state titles was Shealy’s perfect performance on the floor exercises, which drew a standing ovation from the crowd at Westminster Academy.

“Scoring a perfect 10 is something you always dream about least once in your gymnastics career, but you never know if it is going to happen,” Providence Christian coach Gwyn Puckett said.

When Shealy finished her floor routine, fans from all teams rose out of their seats, stomped their feet in the stands, and began chanting “10, 10, 10.” Shealy busted out in tears and ran to hug her teammates, who were also crying, as the judges agreed with the roaring crowd on the perfect score.

“I was very thankful …

Continue reading Providence Christian’s Michelle Shealy scores ‘10′ to win gymnastics championship »

GHSA's Swearngin

The GHSA has tentative plans on how to react if the swine flu reaches Georgia high schools and affects spring sports.

The threat of swine flu has postponed all high school athletic competition in Texas and Alabama. Georgia’s governing body is monitoring the situation and has taken no action at this time.

“If Georgia were put in the same situation that Texas and Alabama finds itself in, then obviously all the extracurricular activities would have to be stopped,” GHSA executive director Ralph Swearngin said. “We’ve had some of these same type of discussions a few years back when there was the possibility of the bird flu. There were concerns that the epidemic was going to hit, and the CDC and other groups had seminars for our school people.”

The GHSA’s top priority would be to complete the state championships of all of its spring sports.

Here’s how things might work under Sweargin’s swine flu scenario:

Wait on others before reacting swiftly. “Once the word came …

Continue reading GHSA has plan in place if swine flu reaches Georgia high schools »

AJC All-State offensive lineman Chris Burnette will be speaking at Troup High School's graduation ceremony on May 23

It looks like Georgia coach Mark Richt won’t be attending Troup High School’s graduation after all.

Georgia officials had unofficially contacted the NCAA to ask for permission for Richt to attend the graduation if Troup offensive lineman Chris Burnette would be speaking. But Burnette, who has already signed with Georgia, narrowly missed out on being class valedictorian.

When Richt asked to attend the May 23 graduation anyway, NCAA officials said that request was unlikely to approved.

“Mark still wanted to attend the graduation to support Chris,” UGA compliance director Eric Baumgartner said. “However, after speaking with the NCAA, they were comfortable with [Burnette] being valedictorian, but the NCAA couldn’t get there for [Richt] to attend the ceremony without Chris being the valedictorian.”

Richt didn’t know that NCAA rules prohibited him from attending such …

Continue reading NCAA rules prevent UGA’s Mark Richt from attending Troup High graduation »

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — High school athletes in Florida will play fewer games for the next two years under a new rule approved by the Florida High School Athletic Association that is designed to save money during tough economic times.

The group’s board of directors voted 9-6 Monday to cut the number of varsity games by 20 percent and all other play by 40 percent through the 2010-11 school year. The policy applies to all sports except for football.

“It’s written in the proposal to have a sunset after two years. That’s it. We really mean two years,” board president Greg Zornes said in a statement. “We fully intend to restore what we had until today at the end of the two-year period.”

The rule change was designed to cut costs for Florida high school athletic departments, which are facing tough budget constraints.

“These are unprecedented times,” Zornes said. “People are losing their jobs as schools are cutting millions and millions of dollars from their budgets. Our job is to …

Continue reading Florida takes cost-cutting measures with high school sports »

VOTE ON IT: Which of Todd’s early Super 11s would make YOUR list? SEE OUR PHOTOS

The AJC won’t be selecting its annual football Super 11 team of high school seniors until late summer. But discussion begins today with you.

I’m going to throw out 11 names. I haven’t studied how all these guys are being recruited. Our Michael Carvell is the expert about that. I just follow high school football. That doesn’t mean I haven’t heard a few things about recruiting. But my picks might more influenced by the players I’ve seen or been told about by high school fans and coaches.

Tell me what you think about these 11. Who would you pick?

RB Ean Pemberton, Grayson: He won’t be a big recruit because he’s not, well, big. He’s 5-3. Pemberton rushed for close to 2,000 yards last season. Should a super high school player be Super 11 if he’s not a big-time recruit?

OL JaWuan James, North Gwinnett: James is almost the opposite of Pemberton. Good high school player, but not the best player on his …

Continue reading Back to football: Here are some early Super 11 picks »

Miller Grove and Tucker are a couple of boys teams Take 10 files under "Me Likey." (Jason Getz / AJC)

The nets have been cut. The jerseys packed away. The hot dogs thrown in the freezer until next season. Basketball season is officially done. The champions have been crowned, but we know that’s not good enough for you.

We’ve examined the best boys and girls metro-Atlanta teams. It wasn’t easy or always fair. But we here at Take 10 Headquarters did what we could to ignore early tournament exits and consider the season as a whole.

Here are the metro Atlanta power rankings for the 10 best boys and girls teams this season:

10. Blessed Trinity (boys)/Mays (girls): The Titans fell short of a state title against Dublin but finished the season 26-7. The Raiders were a powerhouse in Class AAAA, only losing to Fayette County and Northwest Whitfield.

9. Whitefield Academy (boys)/Campbell (girls): Tyrone Johnson earned a long-awaited state championship after losing the crown in 2006 and …

Continue reading Take 10: South Atlanta boys, Redan girls top metro Atlanta final basketball power rankings »