Walton won its seventh Regions Directors Cup in the state’s highest classification and Pope of Class AAAAA won its first, giving Cobb County two overall champions in the same school year for the first time in the history of the all-sports competition.
Walton finished with 1,228.5 points and edged Brookwood for the second consecutive year. The Raiders won state championships in boys swimming, girls tennis and volleyball and had runner-up finishes in girls lacrosse and girls golf. No school other than Walton has won more than three Directors Cups and the highest class.
The Directors Cup competition, which has been held every school year since 1999-2000, awards points to each school based on its performances in the playoffs and state meets for the GHSA’s 24 sports. Each school’s eight highest-scoring sports for each gender are counted in the standings.
Pope won a state championship in dual wrestling, was runner-up in boys tennis and girls track and placed five other teams in the top eight to finish with 1,060 points. Second-place McIntosh, which won the competition last year, had 1,012 points in what was the closest race of any classification.
Pope will move to the highest class in the fall and compete head to head with Walton in Region 5-AAAAAA.
“Pretty much everybody around here wanted to stay in AAAAA, but the numbers didn’t fall where we could do that,” Pope athletics director Josh Mathews said. “We took a little bit of bad news and turned it around, and the coaches just got after it and really pushed the kids. Some of our kids were treating it like a AAAAA farewell tour. ... It was a relentless effort to achieve the highest level of success by our coaches and our extraordinary athletes.”
Private schools continued to dominate in the other four classifications. St. Pius of Class AAA finished with 1,441 points, the most of any school in the state, and won its fifth Directors Cup in six seasons. The Golden Lions won eight state championships and had three runner-up finishes. Buford, which had the most points (1,284.5) of any public school in the state, finished a distant second.
Class AAAA Marist won eight state championships and had two runner-up finishes and easily won its 15th consecutive Directors Cup.
Westminster made a late charge by winning three of its four state championships in the spring and claimed the Class AA competition for the fifth consecutive year. The Wildcats, who have won 14 Directors Cups in 15 seasons, placed 16 teams in the top eight in their sports.
Class A Holy Innocents’ finished with 1,127.5 points to win its first Directors Cup. The Golden Bears won a state championship in volleyball and had 10 other teams record top-eight finishes. Gordon Lee took second place, one year after becoming the only public school ever to win the Directors Cup in the lowest classification.
Final Standings
(Top 15 in each classification)
Class AAAAAA
1. Walton – 1,228.5
2. Brookwood – 1,048
3. Lambert – 1,011
4. Peachtree Ridge – 990
5. Johns Creek – 989
6. Harrison – 982.5
7. Mill Creek – 926.5
8. North Gwinnett – 899
9. Lassiter – 802
10. Kennesaw Mountain – 801
11. Milton – 795
12. Hillgrove – 794
13. Parkview – 790.5
14. Etowah – 761.5
15. Collins Hill – 712
Class AAAAA
1. Pope – 1,060
2. McIntosh – 1,012
3. Starr’s Mill – 1,009
4. Northview – 872
5. Allatoona – 832
6. Greenbrier – 735
7. Creekview – 715
8. Gainesville – 709
9. Northside-Columbus – 702
10. Cambridge – 700.5
11. Lakeside-Evans – 675
12. Northgate – 648
13. Glynn Academy – 637
14. Lakeside-DeKalb – 619
15. Richmond Hill – 613
Class AAAA
1. Marist – 1,416
2. Carrollton – 1,099
3. Columbus – 978.3
4. Veterans – 827.5
5. Alexander – 820
6. South Effingham – 673
7. LaGrange – 610.5
8. Dalton – 580
9. Chestatee – 574
10. Statesboro – 571.5
11. Perry – 569
12. Mary Persons – 559.5
T13. Wayne County – 555
T13. Grady – 555
15. Lanier – 534.5
Class AAA
1. St. Pius – 1,441
2. Buford – 1,284.5
3. Blessed Trinity – 1,278.5
4. Woodward Academy – 1,181.5
5. Oconee County – 976
6. North Oconee – 891.5
7. Pierce County – 890.5
8. North Hall – 857
9. Cartersville – 828.5
10. Central-Carroll – 763
11. White County – 648.5
12. Chapel Hill – 630.5
13. Pike County – 546
14. Savannah Arts Academy – 530
15. Peach County – 502
Class AA
1. Westminster – 1,431
2. Lovett – 1,219.5
3. Greater Atlanta Christian – 1,213
4. Wesleyan – 1,160
5. Calhoun – 1,109
6. Jefferson – 982.5
7. Vidalia – 842
8. Thomasville – 748
9. Bremen – 746
10. Bleckley County – 708.5
11. Lamar County – 571
12. Westside-Augusta – 561
13. Cook – 558
14. Benedictine -553
15. Rabun County – 539
Class A
1. Holy Innocents’ – 1,127.5
2. Gordon Lee – 1,041
3. Pace Academy – 1,038
4. First Presbyterian – 1,016
5. Commerce – 1,009
6. Darlington – 988
7. Eagle’s Landing Christian – 839
8. Landmark Christian – 832.5
9. Brookstone – 819
10. Savannah Christian – 775
11. Hebron Christian – 742.5
12. Trion – 740
13. Athens Christian – 724
14. Mount Paran Christian – 721
15. Hawkinsville – 699
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