DEL.ICIO.USUGA adds another decorated athlete in Armstrong
Wesleyan star, who will play for Lady Dogs, added 10th state title
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Monday, May 18, 2009
Herschel, you’ve got company.
When Herschel Walker entered the University of Georgia in 1980, the Johnson County running back arrived with 10 high school state championships.
Jason Getz/jgetz@ajc.com
The 6-foot-3 Anne Marie Armstrong, who’ll play only basketball at Georgia, has three state high school titles in basketball, three in volleyball and three in the high jump, plus the track team championship.
Now UGA is about to welcome an equally decorated athlete — Wesleyan’s Anne Marie Armstrong, who won her ninth and 10th titles over the weekend at the state track meet.
The basketball, volleyball and track star wasn’t alive when Walker set the NCAA freshman rushing record, led the Bulldogs to the national championship or won the Heisman Trophy. But she knows she’s in elite company.
“It’s pretty cool,” Armstrong said from Colorado, where she’s on a senior class trip. “I’m kind of shocked.”
Georgia officials can’t definitively say Walker and Armstrong are the most decorated athletes to ever enroll. But, women’s basketball spokesman Mike Mobley said, “We checked our archives and Herschel was the most we could come up with.”
Walker earned state championships in the 100- and 200-yard dashes twice, the shot put twice and the mile relay. His track team won two overall titles, and his football team won it all once.
The 6-foot-3 Armstrong, who’ll play only basketball at Georgia, set a goal of 10 titles after winning her first as a freshman in volleyball. A knee injury almost derailed her at eight.
In late March, after Wesleyan rolled to its third straight hoops title, Armstrong underwent surgery to repair torn meniscus in her left knee. She returned just in time for the region track meet and qualified for state despite almost a complete lack of training.
There she won her third straight high jump, clearing 5 feet 4 inches, and placed third in the shot put. The Wolves won the overall Class A crown, giving Armstrong title No. 10.
Patches honoring those two championships will go on the back of her letter jacket: the sleeves filled up long ago.
“I think I have room for two or three more, so it’s kind of perfect,” she said.
Armstrong finished with three titles in basketball, three in volleyball and three in the high jump, plus the track team championship.
Ten high school championships is not a record; Chamblee distance runner Emily Reese graduated last year with 12, eight in track and four in cross country.
Still, Wesleyan basketball coach Jan Azar said, “I’d guess Anne Marie is the first to do it in that many different types of sports.”
The reigning Miss Georgia Basketball will start taking classes at UGA next month. When she looks back at her high school career, she said she’ll remember the team titles more.
“I was real excited to win the high jump,” she said, “but I feel like it’s more important when you’re playing for a team.”
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