For the first time since 2014, the Pope wrestling team has won a state championship.
The Greyhounds went down to the wire in Saturday’s Georgia High School Association Class 6A finals in Macon, and edged Richmond Hill of Augusta 30-24.
Pope went into the final match of the day nursing a 26-24 lead, after Richmond Hill closed the gap by winning the 182-pound class to gain three critical points.
In the 195-pound class, Pope’s Dylan Moss solidified the title with an 11-3 win over Caleb Gonser, good for four points.
On Friday, Pope barely advanced to the finals as Moss also won the last match of the semifinals in downing Creekview.
In duals wrestling, teams face one another head-to-head as in other team sports, while the traditional format has them competing at the same time.
The state championship was the sixth overall and the fourth in duals for Pope, which also won duals titles in 2012, 2013 and 2014. The Greyhounds won traditional state titles in 2011 and 2012.
The finals against Richmond Hill was close the entire way. The Greyhounds lost the first two matches on falls and fell behind 12-0. But Pope’s Aidan Karpinski picked up six big points for his team in the 106-pound class by recording a fall.
Joey Robinson (120) and Max Druholt (126) won back-to-back. Alex Hearn won by an 11-0 score at 138 for four more points, and was followed by Patrick Haskins (145) and Connor Weeks (152).
Richmond Hill won two of the next three matches to set up the finale, but picked up only six points.
The traditional post-season begins at the end of January and into mid-February, when the state finals also will be contested in Macon. Pope was runner-up in 2019.
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But that was for specifications for seating for 2,500, and was revised to include more capacity and factor in annual construction inflation of six percent.
The building includes varsity locker rooms for the Lassiter girls and boys basketball teams and the Trojans volleyball team, as well as locker rooms for visiting teams and a practice facility for the Lassiter wrestling team.
The Lassiter gym is the second new gym to open for an East Cobb school in recent months.
The new Walton gym was broken in by the Raiders’ state championship volleyball team in the fall.
That’s part of a new $31.7 million project at Walton that includes main and auxiliary gymnasiums, a wrestling room, a weight room, locker rooms, a main theater, a black box theater and band, orchestra and choral suites.
On Jan. 24, Walton will play host to Lassiter in basketball in its new gym.
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After more than a decade, and some questions of whether it would ever come about, Mabry Park opened in 2019, a long overdue passive park addition in East Cobb.
The ribbon-cutting celebration in May included members of the Mabry family, who sold 26 acres of their historic farmland on Wesley Chapel Road to Cobb County right before the recession.
The economic downturn halted the project at that point, although a master plan was later completed to maintain the future park with a rural feel.
The Friends of Mabry Park persisted with their vision, along with Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell, and many citizens of the nearby Northeast Cobb community.
“We couldn’t have gotten here without the community,” said Peter Hortman, the current president of the Friends of Mabry Park.
In another part of Northeast Cobb, a master plan was unveiled and adopted by the Cobb Board of Commissioners for future development.
Like Mabry Park, nearly 18 acres of land of Ebenezer Road will also feature a lake as its centerpiece, but also is proposed to include recreational fishing.
What’s to be called Ebenezer Downs would still need construction funding by the commissioners, and no timetable has been outlined.
The land purchase in 2018 was made with proceeds from the 2008 Cobb Parks Bond referendum.
That same funding source was tapped for the county to acquire 22 acres of the Tritt property on Roswell Road, envisioned as an extension of adjacent East Cobb Park.
In early December, one of the leaders of the Friends for the East Cobb Park was honored as a recipient of the East Cobb Citizen of the Year Award.
Tom Bills was the park volunteer group’s first treasurer, as it scouted property and then worked to fundraise the purchase, and as the park was built for its 2003 opening.
The former Tritt property is designated as greenspace for now.
Bills is currently is a senior construction project manager for the Cobb Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, and was involved in the Mabry Park project.
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After the Cobb Board of Commissioners approved a master plan for the new Ebenezer Road park property Monday night, commissioner JoAnn Birrell said the name of the 18-acre park would be Ebenezer Downs.
The master plan approval came on a 4-0 vote (with commissioner Bob Ott absent), and after a brief presentation by Cobb parks director Jimmy Gisi (previous ECN post here).
The land at Ebenezer and Canton Road was two homesteads that features a lake and wooded areas.
The features of the master plan are a fishing lake and lakeside pavilion, walking trails, a playground, a 30-space parking lot. One of the homes would be used for small events, including wedding receptions and private parties, and public restroom facilities would be built.
The entry to the park would be aligned with the Ebenezer Road entrance to Noonday Baptist Church.
Gisi said community suggestions during public feedback meetings in recent months that the county took back to its parks consultant resulted in a better master plan.
“It’s a beautiful piece of property,” Birrell said. “I go by there a lot and people are fishing all the time.”
The master plan approval does not include park construction; that funding would have to approved separately by the commissioners and no timetable for that consideration has been announced.
Also on Monday, commissioners approved spending $373,000 in 2016 SPLOST funds for an operations barn at Hyde Farm in East Cobb. Gisi said construction is expected to be completed by next June.
Also approved was relocation of parking space at the Mountain View Community Center, costing $572,000 due to the adjacent Sandy Plains MarketPlace that’s in private development.
The county formerly shared parking with Mountain View Elementary School before it relocated to make way for the retail center.
Commissioners also voted to rename the East Cobb Senior Center the Tim D. Lee Center, in the memory of the late Cobb commission chairman (previous ECN story here).
Lee’s widow and children were in attendance, as was former chairman Sam Olens, who like Lee served District 3 in Northeast Cobb on the commission.
Commission chairman Mike Boyce also presented a proclamation to Tejas Veedhulur of Boy Scout Troop 1776 for his Eagle Scout project cleaning up the Gold Branch of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area off Lower Roswell Road.
The troop meets at the Catholic Church of St. Ann.
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A proposed master plan for the Ebenezer Road Park to include a lakeside pavilion, playground and walking trails—including access to trails serving nearby Noonday Creek Park—will be considered Monday by the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
The master plan proposal was put together following public information sessions in recent months. Most of the 17.5 acres on Ebenezer Road at Canton Road comprises a lake that the proposal indicates could be used for public fishing, and includes former homes that could be used for events.
The Ebenezer Road Park master plan is one of two on Monday’s agenda, including the new Furr Park on Old Westside Road in South Cobb (read about them here).
The lands were purchased in 2018 with proceeds from the 2008 Cobb Parks Bond referendum. The Ebenezer Road property had an open house for the public before master plan work was conducted.
They’re designed to be passive parks, with most of their natural settings preserved. At the entrance to the Ebenezer Road Park is a parking lot and the playground (in yellow).
A lake takes up most of the Ebenezer Road Park land bought by Cobb County in 2018.
The master plan approval is meant to provide a guideline for build-out of the park, which would have to be approved and paid for separately by commissioners, and no timetable has been established.
It will be the second new passive park in Northeast Cobb in recent years, following the opening of Mabry Park in May.
The recent county land acquisitions include nearly 30 acres of Tritt property next to East Cobb Park. A master plan has not been commissioned for that land, which for now is designated green space.
Also on Monday, commissioners will hear a proposal to build an operations barn at the Hyde Farm property off Lower Roswell Road.
The former farmland has been preserved to re-establish its history as a working farm dating back to the early 1800s. The 2016 Cobb Parks SPLOST program includes funding for the barn, which would store farm equipment and supplies, and a low bid of $373,000 is being recommended.
The pond at Hyde Farm, an 1800s-era working farm, located off Lower Roswell Road.
Commissioners also will be asked to spend $572,687 to relocate and expand event parking at the Mountain View Community Center (3330 Sandy Plains Road), due to nearby construction of the Sandy Plains MarketPlace.
The new shopping center is going up on the former site of Mountain View Elementary School, and the community center shared some of the school’s parking space.
But the new development is private, and the community center’s parking lot is being moved to fit totally onto county-owned land.
The center has recently undergone renovations, but enabling it to serve as a venue for events including weddings, reunions and private parties also requires additional parking under county zoning codes.
Funding for that project also has been earmarked in the 2016 Cobb Parks SPLOST.
Monday’s meeting starts at 6 p.m. in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta.
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The opening of East Cobb Park in 2003 was the culmination of five years of planning, persistence, community involvement and commitment.
What began as a dream for a passive park in the heart of a bustling suburban community turned into a full-throttle campaign that made its reality even more gratifying for those behind it.
Several founding members of the Friends for the East Cobb Park discussed that history this week before the East Cobb Area Council of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, where the park idea was incubated.
“It was a big idea, and it was Sunny’s idea,” said Mary Karras, the first president of the Friends for the East Cobb Park, referring to Sunny Walker.
She was a co-owner of the Frameworks Gallery in East Cobb and a leading arts and community advocate who was the guiding force behind the creation of the park.
“She said, ‘I think we need a passive park in East Cobb,’ ” Karras recalls. “I said, ‘What’s a passive park?’ ”
Walker had a vision, but that’s all the Friends group, formed as a non-profit in 1998, had to go on.
Identifying a possible location, purchasing it and then turning it over to Cobb County for development as a park were all formidable tasks.
Finding land that was close to the Merchants Walk area, that was affordable and suitable for passive park was a tall order.
When a member of the Bowles family came to the bank where Karras worked and offered to sell 13 acres of what had been farmland on Roswell Road, he told her he also had done an environmental study.
That’s when Karras turned to Tom Bills, a resident of the adjacent Mitsy Forest subdivision, and an engineer by training.
“The land was clean and good and ready for us to purchase,” said Bills, a former Friends treasurer and president.
Mary Karras and Kim Paris, co-founders of Friends for the East Cobb Park, with current president Lee O’Neal. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
Fundraising was the next step, and it was a comprehensive approach. Cobb County offered a match, but Karras and other Friends advocates had to hustle to get the interest of businesses, foundations and everyday citizens.
Then-U.S. Rep. Johnny Isakson helped the Friends gain access to foundation and business leaders in Atlanta, and the group held events and meetings and wrote letters seeking financial support.
“We were scrambling for every hundred dollars we could find,” Karras said. “We did it because we saw it was an opportunity to create a legacy in this community.”
Without the larger community of everyday citizens contributing their share, the vision of East Cobb Park may not have gone much further.
Scout troops, school groups, families, civic organizations and others chipped in as they could. They included kids turned over big bags of change they solicited from golfers on the Indian Hills driving range.
“That meant as much to us” as the bigger checks, Bills said, “because it showed the support of the community.”
Citizens also could purchase park cobblestones and pickets for the fence around the children’s playground bearing their names. Other contributors had their names, or the names of loved ones, inscribed on park benches.
With all of that support, and most of the money, the Friends group found itself $100,000 short at closing. That’s when Riverside Bank, which had been vital in securing financing during the fundraising drive, agreed to make a loan.
When asked if she or the Friends group ever had any doubts, Karras said no, but understood how their task may come across to some: “Raising $1 million to buy land that we were going to give to the county?”
Yet the laborious fundraising campaign contained the seeds of what the Friends group also had envisioned.
“We started off slow and then we gained momentum,” Karras said. “That gave everybody ownership.”
“There was no giving up,” said Kim Paris, another former Friends president.
“Sunny dreamed big,” Karras said, “and we bought into it.”
Johnny Johnson is the owner of Edward Johns Jewelers and a longtime civic leader who serves as Santa Claus at park’s Holiday Lights festivities: “East Cobb Park became the center of our community.”
East Cobb Area Council president Dan Byers said “East Cobb Park was the crown jewel of this community before we ever moved here.”
More community support followed after the park was built and opened. A second “all-abilities” playground was built with a $75,000 grant from the Resurgens Foundation.
The Friends group continues as an active partner with the county, staging year-round events including concerts and the Holiday Lights tree lighting, which starts at 5 p.m. Sunday.
Last year, a secondary vision of expanding the park became a reality when Cobb County purchased 22 acres of adjacent property belonging to Wylene Tritt, who donated 7.7 acres of what had been the 54-acre Tritt farm.
The Friends group helped the county round out the costs at closing with a $102,000 contribution from its endowment, most of which has been paid back.
For now, the new land will remain as greenspace, but there are longer-term visions of purchasing what’s left of the Tritt land for park purposes.
“History is important, because there is a future for the park,” said Lee O’Neal, the current Friends president. “There are plenty of opportunities to develop that property and purchase more to extend East Cobb Park.”
The Cobb Board of Commissioners voted this fall to name the first bridge connecting the current park to its newer space after Walker, who died in September. A piano was donated in her name in 2017 and sits in the park gazebo.
Karras, now the manager of investor relations for the Cobb Chamber, said Walker also talked about the park one day having an arts center, and would like to see that come to fruition.
For Paris, who’s going to be a grandmother in the spring, her thoughts about the park’s future are more immediate.
“That’s why we did this,” she said, referencing the legacy mission of the park founders, “as the park continues to grow and that our community continues to support.”
Sunny Walker, co-founder of the Friends for the East Cobb Park
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The football season for the last two East Cobb schools remaining ended in crashing fashion Friday in the second round of the Georgia High School Association playoffs.
In Class 7A, Walton had a tough order playing at North Gwinnett, a state champion two years ago, and that throttled the Raiders 35-0 earlier this season.
North Gwinnett nearly doubled that score in a 60-10 rout that equalled the worst loss in Walton football history.
The Raiders fell behind early and never had a chance to get back in the game. They trailed 46-3 at halftime and scored their only touchdown in the second half, well after the outcome had been decided.
Walton’s season ends with a 6-6 record.
In Class 5A, Kell also had to go on the road at Starr’s Mill, and hung tough after a scoreless first quarter.
But the Fayette County school turned the pressure on in the second quarter to lead 24-7. Going into the fourth quarter, the Longhorns trailed 24-21 but Starr’s Mill scored three unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including on a fake punt play, to win 45-28.
Kell was 9-3 on the season.
It was announced this week that Walton and Kell will once again start the 2020 season by participating in the Corky Kell Classic next August.
In fact, the Raiders and Longhorns will be playing one another on Saturday, Aug. 22, at 9 a.m. at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta.
In recent years they’ve been the only two East Cobb schools invited to play in the start-of-season event, named after the late Wheeler football coach.
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On Dec. 3, the East Cobb Area Council of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce will reveal its 2019 East Cobb Citizen of the Year at its last breakfast meeting of the year.
The event also includes a discussion about the past, present and future of East Cobb Park with founders and visionaries of the park, including Mary Karras, Kim Paris, Tom Bills and Lee O’Neal.
The breakfast is from 7:30-9 a.m. at Indian Hills Country Club (4001 Clubland Drive). The cost is $25 for Chamber members and $35 for guests. Online registration ends on Nov. 29 (click here).
Each of the area councils of the Cobb chamber honor a citizen for work in the community with the Citizen of the Year designation. Last year, the East Cobb Citizen of the Year was Brenda Rhodes of Simple Needs GA, and in 2017 the recipient was U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson.
East Cobb Park opened on Roswell Road in 2003, after years of community advocacy and the purchase of what had been farmland belonging to the Tritt family. The all-volunteer non-profit Friends for the East Cobb Park was organized for that task, and to provide programs and events and assist with maintenance of the park, which is part of the Cobb Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Affairs.
Last year, Cobb commissioners voted to spend $8.3 million in park bond funds to purchase 22 acres of adjoining Tritt property, with plans to preserve it as greenspace and eventually expand East Cobb Park.
The Friends for the East Cobb Park contributed more than $100,000 from its endowment to complete the purchase, and launched a fundraising drive. In August, the county reimbursed $90,000 to the group.
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After losing some heartbreakingly close games this season—including to Newnan at Raider Valley—the Walton football team was involved in another nailbiter in a rematch Friday night in the first round of the Georgia state playoffs.
The Raiders took an early 10-0 lead, but Newnan kept hanging around until the final minutes, scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter. This time, however, Walton didn’t squander the lead, and came away with a 27-24 victory to move on to the second round.
Walton is only 6-5 on the season, but four of those losses have come by a combined 15 points.
What’s facing the Raiders next? The other team that beat them this season, and it was a blowout. Walton travels to North Gwinnett next Friday in another rematch in Class 7A.
North Gwinnett, which defeated Walton 35-0 in September, is coming off a 51-14 win over Shiloh on Friday.
The Gladiators, whom Walton beat two years ago en route to a state championship, are 10-1 and ranked No. 4 in Class 7A. They haven’t lost since the opening game of the season, to second-ranked Colquitt County (which ended Walton’s season last year).
The Kell Longhorns jumped to an early lead and never gave it up, defeating Columbis 48-32 in a Class 5A game Friday at Avondale Stadium in DeKalb County.
The Longhorns are 9-2, and will head to Fayetteville on Friday when they play at Starr’s Mill (8-3), which downed Harris County 28-7.
A blocked extra point made the difference between winning and losing for Sprayberry, which reached the playoffs for the first time since 2011.
The Yellow Jackets had a chance to tie the game after scoring a fourth quarter touchdown at Lanier, but the point-after try was blocked, and they fell 15-14 in a Class 6A playoff game in Gwinnett County.
Sprayberry finishes the season at 6-5 and will return running back Demarion Owens, who rushed for more than 1,500 yards as a junior.
Wheeler also was back in the playoffs after a four-year absence, and faced the daunting prospect of playing at Roswell. The game was close in the first half, but after halftime the Hornets rolled to a 31-0 win in Class 7A.
The Wildcats were 5-6 under first-year head coach Bryan Love, and will move next year to Class 6A and compete in the same region with Lassiter, Sprayberry, Pope and Kell.
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Five of the six public high schools in East Cobb will be competing in the same region next year in varsity sports.
That’s after the Georgia High School Association granted an appeal by Kell High School on Tuesday to move up to Class 6A.
The Longhorns have been competing in Class 5A, and were assigned to stay in place. But the reclassification process includes the right to appeal to move up or move down.
For the next two seasons, Region 6 of Class 6A will be all Cobb County high schools, and includes Kell, Lassiter, Pope, Sprayberry and Wheeler.
The other schools in the proposed new region will be Allatoona, Kennesaw Mountain, Osborne and South Cobb.
When GHSA made reclassification assignments last week, it moved Lassiter and Wheeler down from Class 7A. Pope and Sprayberry remain in Class 6A.
Walton remains in Class 7A, but will have different region foes. Instead of competing against Roswell, Etowah, Cherokee and Woodstock, the Raiders will be in a Region 3 field that includes Harrison, Hillgrove, Marietta, North Cobb and North Paulding.
For the last few years, only Lassiter and Walton were in the same region. Wheeler has been in a far flung region in Class 7A that includes Pebblebrook, Campbell, Westlake of Atlanta, Newnan and East Coweta.
Pope and Sprayberry were in different regions in Class 6A, and Kell’s region rivals in 5A also were spread out, from Cartersville to Rome to Carrollton.
On Friday, four East Cobb schools will compete in the GHSA football playoffs: Sprayberry at Lanier (Gwinnett County), Wheeler at Roswell, Kell at Columbia and Newnan at Walton.
The only ranked East Cobb team heading into the post-season is Kell, at No. 8 in Class 5A.
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Three of them have been familiar faces in the post-season in recent years, while the other will be returning to the playoffs for the first time in a long while.
Sprayberry pounded River Ridge 40-7 Friday to close out the regular season at 6-4, and earn the No. 3 seed in Region 6 of Class 6A.
It’s the first playoff bid since 2011 for the Yellow Jackets, whose third-year head coach, Brett Vavra, is a former Sprayberry player and graduate.
Sprayberry must travel in the playoffs, visiting Lanier of Gwinnett County. The Bulldogs are 9-1 on the season and are ranked 8th in Class 6A. The Yellow Jackets’ star player, running back Damarion Owens, ran for more than 300 yards Friday, and is the leading rusher in Cobb County with more than 1,500 yards.
Comeback for the Wildcats
Wheeler’s last season in Class 7A will come with a playoff appearance. The Wildcats came from behind late on Friday to defeat Pebblebrook 21-14, getting the winning touchdown with one second remaining on the game clock.
Wheeler (5-5) earned the fourth and final playoff spot from Region 2 of Class 7A, its first post-season berth in four years. On Friday, Wheeler, under first-year coach Bryan Love, will play at Roswell.
Kell had already nailed down the No. 3 seed from Region 7 of Class 5A before Friday’s regular season finale at winless Woodland, but didn’t let up in a 51-7 win to improve to 8-2.
The Longhorns’ high-powered offense led by quarterback Corbin LaFrance was clicking from the outset. Two early-season losses to Rome and Carrollton, however, have prevented them from starting their playoff run at home.
Kell, ranked No. 11 in Class 5A, travels to DeKalb County on Friday to play Columbia, which is 5-5.
A familiar foe for the Raiders
Walton was hoping to close out the regular season as champion of Region 4 of Class 7A. For most of Friday’s game at Raider Valley against Woodstock, the game was close.
But the teams were tied at 22-22, forcing overtime. Walton scored first to lead 29-22, then Woodstock tied the game with a touchdown. Then the Wolverines, who had only two wins on the seasons, went for a two-point conversion and got it to win 30-29.
It was the third heartbreaking loss of the season for the Raiders, who are 5-5 but get to play at home in the playoffs. They will be playing host on Friday to Newnan, 6-4, which defeated Walton earlier in the season in one of those close games, by a 10-7 score.
The loss also prevented an all-East Cobb contest in the playoffs, since Walton, and not Roswell, would be facing Wheeler.
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Thanks to Jeff Barrett for the photo and information about Walton’s seniors, who will appear in Saturday’s Georgia Volleyball Coaches Association all-star game at Providence Christian School in Lilburn:
All Five Walton Volleyball Seniors were named to the Georgia Volleyball Coaches Association (GVCA) Senior All Star Team. From left to right Phoebe Awoleye MB, Kendall O’Brien Libero/DS, Coach Suzanne Fitzgerald, Katie Strickland MB/OH, Madison Morey Libero/DS, Sydney Barrett OH.
The match starts at 3 p.m., and afterward the GVCA will announce its all-state teams and player and coach of the year.
Also on Friday, Awoleye was named to the 2019 Under Armour national high school volleyball All-American team. Awoleye, who will be attending the University of Georgia, was named to the Under Armour second team and is one of two players from the state of Georgia on the three teams selected.
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Mabry Park opened this summer on Wesley Chapel Road. (ECN file).
Submitted information:
Cobb County PARKS received the Georgia Recreation and Park Association (GRPA) Agency of the Year Award during the GRPA awards banquet on Wednesday, Nov. 6. The award was presented to five population groups within the state, with Cobb County falling into the largest population category – 150,000 and over.
The GRPA Agency of the Year Award recognizes excellence and leadership in providing quality recreation programs, parks and facilities that enhance the quality of life in communities.
Nominees are judged on staff development, staff involvement in park organizations, park facilities, new and outstanding programs, and major accomplishments over the past year.
The department had a monumental 2018-2019 year. Some of the highlights included opening a new 44,000 square foot event center at Jim R. Miller Park, cutting the ribbon on Mabry Park and adding 406 acres of Cobb PARKS inventory. In late 2018, Cobb became the first Georgia county to establish an Emergency Locator Marker (ELM) Program. The mission of the ELM project is to provide trail markers at every quarter mile on Cobb County’s Trail System.
Cobb PARKS is responsible for 239 buildings and 6045 acres of park land. The department offered a total of 108 new programs this fiscal year and held hundreds of classes, activities and events, including the first annual Cobb International Festival.
“Cobb County PARKS is very proud to receive the GRPA Agency of the Year Award for the largest population category,” said PARKS Director Jimmy Gisi. “Our staff, with the support of the Board of Commissioners, has worked extremely hard during 2019 to provide quality recreational programs and exceptional facilities. We were in competition with several excellent large agencies from across the state but our year was just a little better.”
The Georgia Recreation and Park Association was formed in 1945 as a private, non-profit institution to support and promote the recreation and park industries within the state of Georgia.
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Lassiter played Walton last weekend in the Class 7A state volleyball finals, but Trojans teams and those from Wheeler may compete next year in Class 6A. (ECN file)
After competing in sports in Class AAAAAAA (7A)—with the biggest high schools in the state—Wheeler and Lassiter may be dropping down for the next two school years.
The Georgia High School Association on Tuesday announced its reclassifications for 2020-22, and changes are proposed for those two East Cobb schools.
The listings that were made public (you can read them here) have Wheeler and Lassiter in Class AAAAAA (6A), where Pope and Sprayberry have been competing.
Kell would remain in Class AAAAAA (5A), and only Walton would be in Class 7A from East Cobb.
Currently, Walton and Lassiter are in the same Region 4 in Class 7A. Wheeler has been in a more far-flung region with Pebblebrook, Campbell, Newnan and East Coweta.
The GHSA reclassifies schools every two years, and it’s based strictly on enrollment figures. New region alignments also will be drawn.
Wheeler’s full-time enrollment in 2019-19 was 2,179, with a classification count of 2,654, which would be the largest school in Class 6A. Lassiter’s enrollment is 2,340.
They would be among 56 schools in Class 6A. Pope would remain there, with an attendance of 2,082, as would Sprayberry, which has 1,881 students.
Class 5A also would have 56 schools. Kell’s attendance last year was 1,502.
Walton’s attendance had held steady at 2,655 last year. Class 7A would have 47 schools.
The Walker School and Mt. Bethel Christian Academy would remain in Class A, private school division.
Schools can appeal their reclassification assignments until Nov. 11, and the GHSA will begin hearing any challenges the following day.
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Walton players and coach Suzanne Fitzgerald (standing at right) savor another GHSA state championship. (East Cobb News photos and video by Wendy Parker)
The first few minutes of Walton’s state volleyball title game were very un-Waltonlike.
Lassiter got off to a hot start, leading the first set 5-0 before Walton coach Suzanne Fitzgerald called a timeout to settle down her team.
“I just reminded them why they’re here, what they’ve been playing for,” Fitzgerald said. “They responded very aggressively.”
The Lady Raiders were able to come back with such a flourish several times as they downed their East Cobb rivals 25-18, 25-17 and 25-14 Saturday night at Marietta High School.
For Walton (32-8) to win a fifth consecutive Georgia High School Association Class 7A title was not a surprise.
The dynasty Fitzgerald has maintained—nine state titles in the last 10 years, and the school’s 13th in all—is as strong as ever.
But after last year’s seniors departed—and they were an integral part of Walton’s 2017 team that won the MaxPreps national title—some new leaders and a good number of new starters had to step forward.
“Every team is so different,” Fitzgerald said. “With this team, we had a lot of kids who have been in the program a long time. They were representing something larger than themselves, and they showed it tonight.”
Some of those players have been part of Walton’s feeder system since the third grade. That experience, and that sense of togetherness, paid off when the Lady Raiders needed to separate themselves from Lassiter.
In the second set, Lassiter (32-8) also led early, with Fitzgerald calling another timeout. Walton responded in a similar fashion, roaring to a 20-15 lead that the Trojans could not match.
During the break, Fitzgerald said was overcome with some emotion as she prepared her team to try and close out Lassiter in a sweep.
“I saw that they realized they really were playing for each other,” she said. “We played a very clean match today.”
In the final set, Walton never trailed, taking a 6-1 lead, then 13-4, before putting Lassiter away for the third time this season.
Like the senior class before them, this class of Walton seniors has never known anything but winning a state title: Madison Morey, Kendall O’Brien, Phoebe Awoleye, Sydney Barrett and Katie Strickland.
“This senior class has left a legacy of selflessness,” Fitzgerald said.
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The Walton boys cross country team placed two runners in the Top 10 of the Georgia High School Association Class 7A state meet on Saturday, and that helped the Raiders claim the team title.
Walton finished with 98 points, ahead of Lambert, West Forsyth and Marietta, on the course in Carrollton.
Connor Old of Walton was 5th with a time of 16:18, and teammate Zac Shaffer was 7th with 16:21. The other Raider team includes:
Sam Balboa, Brick Conway, Evan Sommer, Wylie Bingham and Harrison Waddell.
The Walton girls finished in 3rd place, behind Hillgrove and South Forsyth. In the individual standings, Walton’s Sarah Burwell came in fourth, with a time of 19:31. The Raiders girls team also includes:
Isabella Bazan, Hannah Walker, Ellen Chamberlain, Arden Keeter, Emily McNiece and Riley Michaud.
On Friday, Pope’s teams finished among the top teams in the Class 6A state meet, also in Carrollton.
The Greyhounds boys were seeking a second state title in a row, but finished second behind Cobb rival Harrison. Three Pope runners finished in the Top 10:
Cole Heron (2nd), Will Brown (4th) and K.C. Heron (8th).
The Pope boys team also includes:
Zane Pizutti, Nicholas Corso, Carter Spohn and Alec Wark.
The Pope girls finished third, behind Cambridge and Allatoona, and their team members include:
Charlotte Dunn, Sophie Boice, Lorel Golden, Rachel Dodsworth, Isa Blair, Bella Hock and Sarah Juhn.
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Walton and Lassiter will play for the Georgia High School Association’s Class 7A volleyball state championship this weekend after sweeping their semifinal opponents on Tuesday.
Walton (31-8), which is seeking its fifth consecutive state title and 13th overall, downed Roswell, while Lassiter (32-7) did the same at Etowah.
Neither the Raiders nor the Trojans have lost a set during the state playoffs.
The state championship match will be played Saturday at Marietta High School (1171 Whitlock Ave.) at 6:30 p.m., after matches to determine the winners in Class 4A, 5A and 6A. Tickets are $8 per person and admission is for all the matches.
Lassiter has never won a state championship in volleyball. The teams have met twice this season, with Walton winning by a 3-1 score in August and 3-0 in the Region 4AAAAAAA tournament.
Pope also was aiming to repeat as state champions in Class 6A, but the Greyhounds were defeated in three straight sets on Tuesday by Sequoyah, which will meet Cobb school Allatoona for the title.
The Greyhounds ended their season at 37-13.
The Walker School volleyball team has reached the finals of the GHSA’s Class 1A/2A private school division, and will play Hebron Christian Saturday at 11 a.m. at McEachern High School (2400 New Macland Road, Powder Springs). Tickets also are $8
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Thanks to Tammi Ryley, parent coordinator of the East Cobb Rugby Club, for the photos of the team and information about its fall registration and recruitiment event on Nov. 4:
For our 2019/2020 Season, East Cobb Rugby Club is actively seeking middle school and high school men and women to fill our ranks as one of the Southeast’s fastest-growing rugby clubs. Rugby experience is not necessary, but those athletes with a strong desire to learn, who possess integrity, passion, and grit are bound to succeed in this sport. We’ve seen incredible success with football players, lacrosse, soccer, and wrestlers who have just joined this sport! We welcome athletes from all East Cobb schools as well as home schooled.
Join us for our Fall Introduction and Registration Event at Mt. Zion Methodist Church [1770 Johnson Ferry Road, Marietta] this Monday, November 4th at 7pm sharp.
Shake hands with the players and coaches leading our teams. Learn the rules. Learn about rugby’s focus on proper tackling techniques. Learn about rugby scholarships and leadership opportunities. Stop by to experience just a bit of the community that we are all a part of. The opportunities for this global sport are endless.
Rugby is more than a sport. If it is a ‘fit’ for your athlete, it will become an important part of your child’s life and the leadership, sportsmanship, and athletic skills your child will gain will chart them on a very positive path. Any questions, send an email to: eastcobbrugbyclub@gmail.com. See you November 4th at 7pm.
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Pope players, coaches and school administrators celebrate at dusk on the Greyhounds’ home field. (East Cobb News photos and slideshow by Wendy Parker)
A little more than 48 hours after taking a 3-0 lead in the first inning of the state championship game, the Pope softball team picked up where it left off Monday afternoon, except in a different place.
After their Georgia High School Association Class 6A finale against Lee County was postponed Saturday due to pouring rain in Columbus, the Greyhounds learned they would get to play at home when the game resumed.
That’s because Pope (30-4), which had lost early in the season to Lee County, was the higher seed.
“At first, they were kind of bummed out, that they wouldn’t have a chance to win it in Columbus,” Pope coach Chris Turco said. “But when they realized they’d get to play in front of their home fans, they got really excited. Having those fans behind us really helped.”
Before a standing-room-only home crowd, Pope tacked on three more runs in the fifth inning for a 6-0 victory.
Pitcher Hallie Adams allowed only one hit, and it was a freshman who gave the Greyhounds some extra breathing room with her bat.
Jaydn Laneaux banged out three hits, including two triples, the latter leading Pope’s big inning.
Even with all of those advantages, Turco wasn’t ready to breathe a sigh of relief.
“I didn’t feel comfortable until the seventh inning,” said Turco, who also led Pope to its other state title in 2014 with pitcher Kelly Barnhill, later a collegiate All-American at the University of Florida.
Hallie Adams got the last Lee County batter to hit a pop foul, clinching Pope’s state title.
A year ago, Pope also reached the state finals, but fell to Harrison. Turco said he felt good about Pope’s chances of winning it all with his returning players.
In the fifth inning, Jaydn Laneaux, the younger sister of Pope senior star shortstop Zoe Laneaux, burned around the bases after drilling her second triple into left center field.
Adams brought her home with a bunt that the Lee County pitcher threw home, but too late to get Laneaux. Carolyn Deady, one of Pope’s seniors, singled to center, and Bailey Chapin drove home Emily Ricci with a single to left.
The Greyhounds finished off the scoring—and the Trojans—when Katie Ward hit a grounder to shortstop that resulted in an error, with Zoe Laneaux crossing the plate.
Jaydn Laneaux said her key was that she was prepared for the riseball. “I was confident the whole time, and so was our team,” she said. “We all knew do to whatever it took” to win the game.
“I knew all the fans would come out. We had a huge cheering section and that helped.”
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Walton will play host to Roswell Tuesday in the GHSA Class 7A volleyball semifinals.
On Tuesday three East Cobb schools will continue play in the Georgia High School Association volleyball tournament, with a chance for an all-East Cobb final in Class 7A.
That’s because defending state champion Walton and Lassiter are in opposite brackets in the semifinal round.
The Lady Raiders, who are 30-8 and have been ranked No. 1 all season, will be at home Tuesday against Roswell. Match time is at 7 p.m. and admission is $8.
Walton easily downed Lambert three games to none to earn the right to stay at home for the semifinals, which has been dubbed a “jersey out” event in which Walton fans are asked to their favorite jerseys in support
Lassiter went on the road Saturday to defeat Norcross, also in three games, to get to the semifinals. It was the third straight match in which the Lady Trojans have won on their opponents’ home floor, and they’ll have to do it again Tuesday when they visit Etowah.
That match also is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Lassiter is 31-7 and Etowah is 35-13. Both are in the same Region 4 as Walton and Roswell (24-9).
In Class 6A, Pope is still in the hunt for a second consecutive state championship after sweeping River Ridge in the quarterfinals on Saturday. On Tuesday, the Lady Greyhounds (37-12) will play at Sequoyah in the semifinals. The other semifinal match features Allatoona vs. Alpharetta.
The GHSA finals in Class 6A and Class 7A will played on Saturday at Marietta High School.
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But the Fayette County school turned the pressure on in the second quarter to lead 24-7. Going into the fourth quarter, the Longhorns trailed 24-21 but Starr’s Mill scored three unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including on a fake punt play, to win 45-28.
The Greyhounds boys were seeking a second state title in a row, but finished second behind Cobb rival Harrison. Three Pope runners finished in the Top 10:
Lassiter has never won a state championship in volleyball. The teams have met twice this season, with Walton winning by a 3-1 score in August and 3-0 in the Region 4AAAAAAA tournament.
