Which will be the team to beat in 2011?

None of those, according to MaxPreps, which released one of the first national preseason polls on Wednesday.

Instead, Grayson – the only AAAAA program that has reached the quarterfinals or better each of the past four seasons – is the choice of Steve Spiewak, who coordinates the MaxPreps’ top 25.

Grayson, which returns about 11 of 22 starters, is the only Georgia team ranked, coming in at No. 25.

“The more I looked into Grayson, the more I liked them,’’ Spiewak said. “They have a quarterback [Nick Schuessler] who can allow them to expand out of their Wing T offense. Korey Jones [a running back] seems like a legit athlete that can be used a number of ways. Devin Gillespie and Terrius Watson will also benefit from an experienced offensive line. On defense, [defensive lineman] Robert Nkemdiche …

I’m sitting in Fort Valley waiting for Fayette County to tip it off against Lovejoy in one of the top QF games of the weekend. Eager to watch Adam Smith, one of the state’s premier scorers. This should be a good one.

On Saturday, the top game is Norcross vs. Wheeler at West Georgia. These are the only teams in AAAAA that can challenge Milton. There, I said it. Not sure I’m going out on a limb with that.

Speaking of good QF’s, I see that Kentavious Caldwell scored 40 in Greenville’s 2-point win over Wilcox County, the team I picked to win Class A. Nick Marshall had 16.

As far as girls go, I don’t think there’s a better team in Georgia than Fayette County. Just saw them hammer Warner Robins. hard to defend a 6-4 post w/ skill, plus a UConn signee. The sophomore PG is smooth. We need an all-clas tournament.

OK, got to go. Smith just hit a 3 …

Miller Grove’s chances for a national title probably slipped away Saturday at Norcross, where Wolverines lost 70-63 to Dr. Krop of Miami.

Miller Grove (16-1) was ranked between No. 2 and No. 4 in four national polls entering the game. Dr. Krop’s star player, Kansas State-bound Angel Rodriguez, scored 16 points and had seven steals, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post’s game story. Miller Grove was only 2-for-9 at the foul line.

MG still could finish in the top 10 or top 5 of the national rankings. It’s been a great season. Dr. Krop is a nationally known program as well, and was ranked No. 24 by ESPN.

Georgia teams did have some nice wins over the weekend otherwise.

In Morgantown, W.Va., Columbia’s boys went 2-0, beating Jamesville-Dweitt 55-40 and Thomas Jefferson 71-57. Both opponents were from new York.

Jamesville-Dewitt’s top player was DuJuan Coleman is rated the No. 2 center among juniors by one recruiting service, but Columbia’s Jamal …

Cook (AA) beat Colquitt County, the preseason #5 in AAAAA. Fitzgerald blew away Tift in another Region 1-AA vs. 1-AAAAA game.

But for symbolism, there was a more significant upset:

Kell over Grayson, the #10 team in AAAAA.

It really wasn’t much of an upset as far as a surprise goes. Grayson suffered heavy graduation losses, and Kell was a AAAAAplayoff team in 2009 that returned an AJC Super 11 player in Brian Randolph.

But this is what’s significant: Kell is one of 54 schools that dropped in classification this year.

Several major programs – from Northside to Warner Robins to Carver to Dalton to Sandy Creek to Charlton County – moved down.

With less fanfare, several more solid programs also went down: Kell, Pope, East Paulding, Union Grove, Chapel Hill, Chattahoochee.

In doing preseason all-state teams for GHSF Daily last week, I noted that the AAAA all-star team would …

E-mail the AJC's Michael Carvell

Columnist Rick Reilly from ESPN The Magazine says he’d like to clock him.

Danny Davis of The Austin American-Statesman says his team’s action were classless.

But Yates High coach Greg Wise couldn’t care less what those guys say. His Lions routinely rout lesser teams with a singular purpose — they’re looking for another state basketball crown.

Here’s what Reilly writes about Wise’s blow-’em-out coaching philosophy:

“Coach Wise is the hammerhead who believes it’s his right to toast other basketball teams by 100 points. Sometimes more. He thumped Lee High School this season by 135 points, 170-35. Wise’s team was up at the half, 100-12. And full-court pressed to the very end!

“Wise is to sportsmanship what tsunamis are to beach chairs. So far this season, he’s beaten teams by 135, 115, 99 (twice), 98, 90 and 88 points. Trying to get to 100 points in a crushing of Westbury, his players intentionally fouled to stop the clock.”

Davis says …

The Georgia High School Association has called a special meeting of its executive committee on Feb. 24 in Forsyth to discuss it.

At issue is whether the GHSA’s bylaws allow the association to change a school’s class assignment after reclassification has been ratified, as it was in January, when Northside was placed in AAAA with a projected enrollment of 1,820. The cutoff for AAAAA is 1,900.

Also at question is whether the Houston County school board’s revised projection of 1,994 students, released in January, is the appropriate figure to determine Northside’s placement. The number changed amid rezoning negotiations to accommodate Houston County’s newest school, Veterans High.

“The bottom line is a mistake has been made and we …

Chambers chased after national marks in the weight and hammer during her prolific career at Kell High, where she graduated in 2009. One person was picked per event on the All-Decade team.

Wrote DyeStat, “Near the top of the weight and hammer lists her entire career, Chambers pushed hard for the high school records as a senior.  In the weight, she improved early to 59-09.50, then in February went to The Armory and exploded out to 61-07.50, No. 2 all-time.  She went on win at Simplot and (nationals), but would have to settle for second-best ever.  In the hammer, she went from her junior year (personal record) of 184-09 to 191-11 early, then in May reached 201-06, a big (personal record) and No. 2 all-time, but an agonizing inch short of the (U.S. record).  She would add a 201-03 later, and win (nationals), but couldn’t quite get the mark …”

Lauren …

The chance to make an impression is now for MLK and Stephenson, which play each other Friday, and Collins Hill, which takes on Peachtree Ridge, another team that has something to prove.

I think Peachtree Ridge will reassert itself as a state-title contender and handle Collins Hill. I have no feel for MLK-Stephenson other than a sense that one is better, and one is worse, than we all think and that it could be a blowout.

In other news, I’d like to her people’s take on Lowndes-Valdosta. The score – 57-15 – was stunning, but then Lowndes also beat Peachtree Ridge by similar numbers. Valdosta had some injury issues. I expected Lowndes to roll, but not like that.

Because it’s Valdosta, I quickly went to some of the message boards to hear the backlash after the game.

I don’t know Rick Tomberlin well, but I’ve had many conversations with him, and it’s hard for me to …

So how does Georgia football compare to that in Alabama? North Gwinnett was impressive in its victory over Prattville. Hold on just a minute … . Nevermind, that was just Sam Gibson being sacked again. Now if Camden County can just whoop Hoover again on Sept. 11, Georgia will turn westward and thump its chest for a good year.

North Gwinnett coach Bob Sphire tells me that Peachtree Ridge is the best team in the state. (Of course, you don’t want to say Grayson or Lowndes is the best when P’Ridge is the one in your region, but I think the coach was sincere.). I’d love to see P’Ridge at Lowndes this week. It will be hard not to rank the winner No. 1 next week, especially if it’s decisive.

Southwest DeKalb’s Buck Godfrey says he still thinks SWD will win state. He told Chip Towers that after SWD’s loss to MLK. Remember that MLK is a Class AAAAA team, and SWD’s quarterback went down on the first play. If it were me, I’d still guess SWD or Griffin …

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 …

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 …

By Rana Cash

Georgians  have not posted blistering times this track season. While few records are expected to fall, the heat of competition heading into this weekend’s boys’ state championship at Jefferson High is no less intense. 

Here are athletes and events you don’t want to miss:

Kenneth Gilstrap, Miller Grove, senior, Middle Tennessee State: He enters with a region time 10.48 in the 100 and is eyeing the 10.33 state record held by Mt. Zion-Jonesboro’s Deangelo Cherry. Look for Perron Jones (10.36) and Jonathan Finch (10.11) from Evans to make this one of the fastest AAAA 100s the state has ever seen.

Andre Carter, Alexander, senior, South Carolina: Carter’s career-best 400-meter time (46.97) isn’t close to his region time (48.50), but expectations are high. In AAAAA, Jaron Roberson, a junior from Campbell, posted a 47.91 in the region meet, but should be pushed by Parkview senior Ethan Kasson.

Vince Brown, McIntosh, senior: After finishing second in the 800 last year, …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Would South Atlanta's Derrick Favors make your team? (Jason Getz / AJC)

Two questions for the gallery:

What’s your all-class Top 10, and what’s your all-state team in each class?

The Georgia Sports Writers Association is collecting nominations for the basketball all-state teams this week. The AJC also will be selecting a team to be published later this month.

I’m going to throw five names in each class to generate some discussion. I haven’t talked to many coaches or others in the media yet, so these are debate-starters, not something that I’m ready to stake my reputation on. What reputation, you ask? Good question.

Here’s a look at the Class AAA boys state champion South Atlanta Hornets – and Georgia Tech commit Derrick Favors – taking the Region 4-AAA title. Check out these highlights.

VIDEO: South Atlanta captures the Region 4-AAA basketball title (2009)

Now, let’s rank the teams:

BOYS

1. Wheeler

2. South Atlanta

3. Miller Grove

4. Norcross

5. Centennial

Others: Columbia, …