Alpharetta swam to a combined team victory in Saturday’s Fulton County Championships at Emory. The Raiders boys led the way by compiling 471 points, at least 161 more than any rival. Alpharetta’s girls finished third behind Johns Creek and Northview to help the overall team effort. Individual victors for the Raiders included Max Lee in the 50-yard freestyle, Patrick Cusick in the 100 butterfly (by four one-hundredths of a second ahead of Chattahoochee’s Mick Litherland) and Morgan Lyons in the girls 100 backstroke.
The Gladiators girls got victories from Emily Ranzau in the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle, Evie Bragg in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke, Kaitlin Kitchens in the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle and Caroline Price in 1-meter diving.
Overall, Johns Creek finished 18 1/2 points behind Alpharetta, with 751.5 points.
More swimming: Lovett finished third in a field of 24 teams in the Clarke-Oconee Invitational on Saturday at the University of Georgia's Ramsey Center. Freshman Andrew Ferrell finished fourth in the 100 backstroke and sixth in the 500 freestyle for Lovett, and Jay Bland came in fifth in the 50 freestyle. Wesleyan's Lady Wolves won 232-216 in a girls meet at Collins Hill, and Collins Hill got the best of the boys meet, 260-193.5. … Riverwood prevailed with 178 points to Pace Academy's 172 and Paideia's 134 at Pace Academy on Wednesday. The Raiders and Knights swapped spots at the top in the girls competition, with Pace's 196 points besting Riverwood's 146 and Paideia's 109. For the Riverwood boys, Mark Grenader triumphed in the 100 freestyle, and Alex Kaye secured top individual honors in the 500 freestyle. Gwynnie LaMastra earned victories for the first-place girls in individual medley and breaststroke events and on relay teams in the 200 medley and 200 freestyle. … Teams throughout the state are making a push toward the state championships that will be held Feb. 7-8. Pace will compete in the Dalton Invitational on Saturday. Dual meets Tuesday will feature Woodward at Westminster and Lassiter at Marist.
Wrestling: Archer, which owns a 22-0 duals record this season, cruised past Lowndes, Newton, Collins Hill and Camden County by a combined score of 226-46 to claim its second duals title in school history during the weekend. As wrestling heads toward the Traditional meet, the Tigers are the favorites to record a sweep and join Collins Hill as the only other school to do so in Georgia's top classification. … In AAAAA, Pope aims for its third consecutive sweep of titles after rallying to win the 2014 duals title. The Greyhounds had a state-best five individual wrestlers place first at the state meet last season and graduated three of the five. But seniors Tyler Haskin (126), T.J. Collins (132), Jake Henson (152), Joey Tabachino (220) and Jake Adcock (126 at Carrollton) all finished in the top three as juniors and head another dominant senior class. Henson and Tabachino were Pope's two underclassmen that won state championships last season. … AAA Buford made school history and captured its first wrestling state title with a 44-23 victory against defending state champion Banks County in the finals. The Wolves have one of the best wrestlers in the nation in senior Chip Ness, but depth was not considered a strength. Buford qualified four wrestlers for state last season, but finished in the top three in all four appearances. Ness, Jack Barber (113) and Brayden Harley placed first, and sophomore Darius Bunch placed third at 106. The four could lead Buford to its first sweep.
