It was a rainy day of first-time champions emerging from the pack alongside former champions returning to glory as the GHSA Track and Field State Championships completed the season at four locations around the state – Rome’s Barron Stadium, Hugh Mills Stadium in Albany, East Jackson High School and Carrollton High School.

Langston Hughes’ boys (Class 5A), Starr’s Mill’s boys (Class 4A), Monroe Area’s girls (Class 3A), KIPP’s boys (Class 2A), Carver-Atlanta’s girls (Class 2A) and Claxton’s girls (Class A-Division II) were the first-timers.

There were three programs to defend titles — Westminster’s girls won the program’s seventh title and fourth-straight after topping Class 4A, joining Sandy Creek’s boys (3A) – which won its third-straight — and Mitchell County’s boys (Class A-Division II) as the teams which defended last year’s championships. For Mitchell County, it marked the program’s second title and first since 1957.

Landmark Christian’s boys added the program’s 11^th championship after finishing atop Class 1A-3A Private with a 98.5-point effort, highlighting former champions returning to the top of the podium. Landmark secured championships victories in 1996-2002, 2016, 2019, 2021.

Buford’s boys won in 1964 and 1982 before winning the Class 6A competition with 74 points, placing ahead of No. 2 Carrollton by just four points. Marietta’s girls won the Class 6A championships, the program’s third – 2001 and 2018. Pope’s girls hadn’t won a title since 1996 before finishing at the top of the Class 5A standings with a 96-point effort, 22 points ahead of second-placed Woodward. Sandy Creek (3A) won the team’s sixth title – 2007, 2008, 2015, 2023 and 2024.

Bleckley County’s boys won the Class 2A title in 2019, its first, before finishing atop Class A-Division I this season. Vidalia’s girls won the program’s first title in 2018 before mounting the top of the podium in Class A-Division I this season. Greater Atlanta Christian’s girls won previous titles in 2005, 2009 and 2012 before leading the final 1A-3A Private standings this year.

Follow the link to see the full standings for each event on both the boys and girls side of the classifications provided by MileSplit.

Final Team Standings

Class 6A

Boys: 1. Buford, 74 points; 2. Carrollton, 70; 3. Richmond Hill, 36; 4. Chapel Hill, 34.5; 5. North Atlanta, 34.

Girls: 1. Marietta, 70; 2. Buford, 58; 3. Harrison, 45; 4. Heritage-Conyers, 44; 5. McEachern, 44.

Class 5A

Boys: 1. Langston Hughes, 99; 2. Alexander, 64; 3. Brunswick, 45; 4. Greenbrier, 36; 5. Dunwoody, 34.

Girls: 1. Pope, 96; 2. Woodward Academy, 74; 3. Langston Hughes, 35; 4. Chamblee, 31; 5. Milton/Rome, 27.

Class 4A

Boys: 1. Starr’s Mill, 42, 2. Benedictine, 40; 3. Cartersville, 40; 4. Marist, 33; 5. Mays/Eagle’s Landing, 30.

Girls: 1. Westminster, 69; 2. Harris County, 66; 3. Cambridge, 58; 4. Pace Academy, 56; 5. Southwest DeKalb, 52.

Class 3A

Boys: 1. Sandy Creek, 99; 2. Jefferson, 79; 3. Calhoun, 49; 4. Stephenson, 44; 5. North Hall, 43.

Girls: 1. Monroe Area, 61; 2. North Hall, 60.25; 3. Jefferson, 51.5; 4. Cherokee Bluff, 50; 5. Monroe, 47.

Class 2A

Boys: 1. KIPP, 56; 2. Franklin County, 47; 3. East Jackson, 42.5; 4. Redan, 39; 5. Therrell, 32.

Girls: 1. Carver-Atlanta, 61, 2. Shaw, 58; 3. Booker T. Washington, 58; 4. Columbus, 55; 5. Redan/Savannah Arts, 44.

Class A-Division I

Boys: 1. Bleckley County, 58; 2. BEST, 55; 3. Social Circle, 53; 4. Bremen, 42; 5. Thomasville, 39.

Girls: 1. Vidalia, 70; 2. Model, 63; 3. Bremen, 57; 4. Bleckley County, 41; 5. Banks County, 39.

Class A-Division II

Boys: 1. Mitchell County, 54; 2. Warren County, 52; 3. Portal, 46; 4. Georgia Military, 43; 5. McIntosh County Academy, 43.

Girls: 1. Claxton, 74; 2. Elite Scholars, 52; 3. Metter, 50.63; 4. Washington-Wilkes, 47.63; 5. Charlton County, 46.63.

Class 1A-3A Private

Boys: 1. Landmark Christian, 98.5; 2. Trinity Christian, 74; 3. Athens Academy, 72; 4. Lovett, 49; 5. Hebron Christian, 46.

Girls: 1. Greater Atlanta Christian, 114; 2. Landmark Christian, 92; 3. Hebron Christian, 61; 4. Mount Vernon, 59; 5. Athens Academy, 39.

Adapted Wheelchair

Boys: 1. Wesleyan, 20; 2. Calhoun 10.

Girls: 1. Starr’s Mill, 10, 2. Gordon Central, 8; 3. Calhoun, 6.

FOUNTAIN – More often than not, history is written by the winners.

And for the first time in school history, Regis Groff is a winner. The Fusion survived a tough first set and then maintained control to beat Pueblo South 30-28, 25-18, 25-19 to capture the first-ever Class 4A boys volleyball championship.

It’s also the first team state championship in Regis Groff history. And the volleyball team hopes this can be a beacon for the other programs to achieve their championship dreams.

“Every year out of all the sports, every program is getting better and better,” coach Oliver Thornton said. “It’s nice us getting here and putting in the work. We didn’t think we would ever make it this far, to the championship. I talks to how much our community supports us.”

And that support showed as the Fusion had to fight for every point in the first set. The Colts led much of the way, and even had set point locked in at 24-20. Having dropped just one set all state tournament, Regis Groff had no desire to drop another and just continued to fight until they secured the 30-28 win.

“I don’t want to give anybody points,” Fusion hitter Eamon McKim said. “I think it’s important to play respectfully and respectively is giving your and showing the other team everything that you have.”

McKim and Ian Simpson tied for a team-high 11 kills. Jayden Flores dished out 22 assists and Taichi Royal had 12. It caps a remarkable season for the Fusion that saw them go 26-3. Their losses were to Bear Creek, Cherokee Trail and Eaglecrest. It was only about 20 minutes after Regis Groff won state that Eaglecrest claimed the 5A title on the neighboring court.

The Fusion had beaten the Colts in the first match of the day on Saturday to earn a trip into the state title match. The Colts had to fight their way back through Severance to get another crack at the Fusion and in the early moments of the championship match, put them on their heels.

Some key kills from Brody Dunlap helped South build and maintain a lead through much of that first set, but it looked like fatigue eventually got the better of the Colts.

The Fusion rallied to tie the match at 24 and battled to secure the win, which made a significant difference moving forward.

“I think the energy is what solidified it,” Thornton said. “When we started catching up, it got quiet. They were very loud [early] and that kind of energy shift is what prompted our boys to start fighting. It got our crowd ramped up and I think that energy carried over on the court.”

It was a monumental day for boys volleyball overall as it was the first year that the sport was split into two classifications. Sixteen teams battled on two courts through three days at Trojan Arena.

And when all was said and done, two trophies were handed out to two first-time champions.

(Dan Mohrmann/ColoradoPreps.com)

DENVER – With the expansion of boys volleyball this year, a state champion has been crowned in two classifications; 4A and 5A. 

Both winners were first-time champions, as Regis Groff won the school its first-ever state championship in any sport, claiming the 4A title. Minutes later, Eaglecrest captured the 5A title, marking the first boys volleyball state championship for the school.

The three-day tournament was held at Fountain-Fort Carson’s Trojan Arena. 

  

Recaps

5A Recap: Eaglecrest Wins It’s First Boys Volleyball State Title
4A Recap: Regis Groff Captures First State Championship
 

State Champions

• 5A: Eaglecrest (First overall)
• 4A: Regis Groff (First overall for the school)

Brackets with final scores

No. 8 Harvard women’s water polo (26-7) made its first program NCAA Tournament appearance in Friday’s first-round match, ultimately falling 18-7 to No. 3 University of Southern California (28-4).

The loss ended the Crimson’s historic 2025 season, which included achievements such as a new single-season win record of 26 and the program’s first-ever CWPA Championship Title.

Battling throughout the season against several Top 25 teams, Harvard rose from No. 21 to No. 8 in the CWPA polls. But, in the first-round NCAA matchup, the Crimson could not prevail over USC’s strong offense, failing to put together enough goals to close the gap.

The first period began with both teams taking speed and power off their shots, focusing instead on placing the ball strategically out of both talented goalkeepers’ reaches.

In less than a minute, USC scored its first point, but was promptly countered by junior attacker Ruby Hodge’s goal less than 30 seconds later.

On several instances, the Trojans’ fast-paced offense allowed them to speed ahead of the Crimson defenders and get one-on-one shots on the Harvard goal. However, freshman goalkeeper Orli Cooper shut down many of these attempts, tallying 10 total saves in the game.

More than halfway through the first quarter, USC managed two successive goals from quick passes and scrambles in front of the net. The Crimson struggled to get close to the Trojans’ goal, as its opponent’s aggressive defense kept Harvard far from it.

The Trojans scored again on another breakaway, racing ahead of the Crimson and putting themselves up 4-1. But Hodge kept Harvard’s momentum alive by muscling the ball past the goal line soon after.

With only seconds left in the first quarter, the Crimson left the goal unattended to make a seven-man push, but were unsuccessful.

In an unfortunate turn of events, a USC player, left with only a second on the clock, launched the ball across the pool into the empty Harvard net to put the Trojans up 5-2 at the end of the first quarter.

Seemingly demoralized by the buzzer-beater goal, the Crimson could only score a point in the second period after USC put away two of its own more than three minutes in.

Sophomore center defender Emma Gilbert delivered the back-hand goal, but the Trojans remained well above the Crimson throughout the eight minutes, finishing the first half of the match up 10-3.

The third period began on a more promising note for Harvard, as sophomore attacker Maya O’Dea earned a penalty shot in the first few seconds.

USC’s offensive onslaught – especially in transition – outpaced the Crimson despite facing resistance from Cooper, who secured key back-to-back blocks.

Harvard fought hard for power play opportunities, but failed to capitalize on them. Several of the Crimson’s passes missed their marks, causing scrambles and wasting precious shot clock seconds.

Hodge once again disrupted Harvard’s scoring drought, earning her hat trick with an impressive skipper shot past three Trojan defenders and the goalkeeper.

O’Dea then ended the third quarter with her second successful penalty shot, but the Crimson entered the final eight minutes facing a difficult 13-6 deficit.

Much to Harvard’s dismay, USC scored within the first 35 seconds of the period. Continually beating their opponents to their own goal, the Trojans’ transition plays seemed like unstoppable points.

The Crimson’s passes, barely missing the mark, continued to harm its offense by preventing the team from converting on defensive efforts and steals.

USC’s defenders swarmed any Harvard attackers who pushed close to the goal, stifling all shot attempts but one. With less than two minutes remaining, senior attacker Erin Kim outsmarted the Trojans with an unexpected, distanced goal to put the Crimson on the scoreboard for the period.

However, the buzzer sounded soon after, signaling the end of Harvard’s record-breaking season as USC moved on to the NCAA semifinals.

“Now that we have a CWPA title and NCAA experience under our belt, we now have zero doubts that we can win again, and we have so much confidence in this group,” Hodge wrote to The Crimson.

Looking ahead to the 2026 season, the Crimson will say goodbye to three seniors and welcome its incoming freshmen class.

“But first, we are able to take this time to appreciate how special this group is and how this group made Harvard history in so many ways this season,” Hodge wrote. “This is just the beginning.”

The Lehi boys volleyball team completed a stunning turnaround of their fortunes from last season by beating Region 3 champion Westlake 2-1 on Saturday (May 10) afternoon to claim third place overall in the Class 6A tournament.

Last year in the sport’s inaugural season, the Pioneers competed hard but couldn’t quite get over the hump in most of their matches. They finished tied for last place in Region 3 with a 2-8 mark and a 4-15 overall record at the end of the regular season.

Both of those league wins came in the final two weeks of competition,so the team was coming on. Lehi was seeded No. 16 out of 18 teams in last year’s final state RPI rankings. The Pioneers were matched against the No. 17 team in the first round and swept to victory, butthen had to face No. 1 Herriman.

They won a set in each match but were eliminated by losses to the Mustangs and No. 8 Davis in the playoffs, finishing at 5-17.

This year was a different story. After a tight early loss to 5A No. 1 Maple Mountain in a tournament, Lehi earned a string of 10 straight victories before dropping a marathon heartbreaker to the Thunder in their first-round matchup in league play.

The second contest also went to five sets, but Westlake prevailed again. The Thunder were undefeated in the league season and were ranked No. 2 entering the tournament with a 22-5 overall record.

The Pioneers had a bye in the first round and easily disposed of No. 13 Pleasant Grove 3-0 to start the playoffs. In the quarterfinals, they faced off against No. 5 Herriman and avenged last year’s loss with a 3-1 triumph.

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That brought on No. 1 Bingham (then 23-4) in the semifinal. The Miners won the first set, but the Pioneers really battled in the second game in a back-and-forth affair that was tied many times and in which neither team ever led by more than two points.

Lehi was ahead 22-21 when senior Taite Stewart, the towering middle blocker, dislocated his kneecap and had to withdraw from the match. Play resumed after a very long delay to deal with the injury.

The Miners took a time out after the Pioneers were at match point with a 24-23 advantage. Bingham won the next two points but Lehi rallied to tie at 25 and force extra time for a decision.

For the next point, the Miners dug two good kill attempts and then got a tipover by the edge of the net. They made a sideline kill to win the set 27-25. The third game was hotly contested as well but Bingham prevailed 25-22 to send Lehi to the third-place match against their league nemesis.

The Pioneers made a good start against the Thunder and won the first set 25-21. Westlake then earned a 26-24 win in the second game to bring on the tiebreaker. The action went back and forth for a while, but Lehi began to pull away when the scores hit the teens and ended up winning handily 25-18.

The Pioneers finished at 19-5, a 14-game improvement and complete flip from last season. “I’m very proud of the boys,” said Coach Kolby Shewell. “We came into the season as an unknown, but we quickly made our mark and put Lehi boys volleyball on the map.

“We competed with the top teams in the state. I saw improvement from every single player throughout the season. I’m very pleased with how the season went,” he concluded.

For more details on the end of the regular season and all the playoff action, check out the May 15 issue of the Lehi Free Press.

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MANHATTAN BEACH — Corona del Mar had not lost in more than a month, but with a hot start on its home floor, Manhattan Beach Mira Costa reminded the spectators why it was the top seed in the CIF Southern Section boys’ volleyball playoffs.

Mira Costa took charge with heavy jump serving in claiming 12 of the initial 14 points, as the Mustangs stampeded past the Sea Kings 25-13, 25-21, 25-20 to secure a spot in the Division 1 final.

The power ratings prevailed, as the top seed in each pool of the top division advanced. Mira Costa (31-2), a finalist a year ago, will meet Huntington Beach (34-3) in the section championship match on Friday, May 16 at 7 p.m. at Cerritos College.

“It definitely sticks,” said Mira Costa coach Greg Snyder, whose team was the runner-up to Los Angeles Loyola last year. “I think whoever loses the CIF finals has a clear advantage for the next one. They just get hungrier. If you just look at the track record of what’s happened, I think it hasn’t been since Newport [Harbor] that they’ve won twice in a row.

“Usually, the team that finishes second the year before wins the next year. I’m hoping that’s the case this year. I hope that trend continues, but we’ll have to play it and find out because Huntington’s a very, very good team.”

Senior setter Andrew Chapin distributed 31 assists to go with three service aces, three kills and three block assists to lead the Mustangs. Sophomore outside hitter Mateo Fuerbringer had nine kills and three aces.

Apart from its serving, Mira Costa also made matters difficult for CdM (23-6) with its defensive effort, both in retrieving balls on broken plays and in blocking. Early in the third set, junior libero Justin Warner tracked down a ball near the back wall, and senior opposite Grayson Bradford eventually finished the play.

“It’s a momentum-killer,” Snyder said of Warner keeping the point alive. “It crushes their spirits, a play like that. I’m not saying they gave up or anything like that, not at all, but when you’re in a tough rally and a play like that happens and you lose that point, it does take a toll mentally on a team. … They still fought hard, … but that was a big play. … It gave us momentum back.”

Senior outside hitter Thatcher Fahlbusch added 11 kills and two block assists. Senior middle blocker Alex Heins produced eight kills and five block assists, and junior middle blocker Wyatt Davis contributed three additional block assists for the Mustangs.

Corona del Mar was attempting to reach the CIF finals for the second time in three seasons (the Sea Kings lost to Newport Harbor in 2023), which would have been its 18th championship game appearance overall.

Junior outside hitter Ben Brown’s 11 kills paced the Sea Kings. Junior setter Drake Foley dished out 25 assists. Junior opposite Brady Gant (seven kills) and junior middle blocker Jack Robinson each finished with 1½ total blocks. Gant had a team-high seven digs, and UCLA-bound libero Brogan Glenn contributed five digs.

“We knew that going in, that we couldn’t give them any free balls, any opportunities,” CdM coach Katey Thompson said of facing the Mustangs, who are now 3-0 in head-to-head matches this season. “Our goal was to try to make them earn them. Clearly, that didn’t happen in the first set, but hopefully this is something we can learn from as we go into regionals.

“I think every time that we’ve played them, we’ve gotten a little bit better, so hopefully we’re able to utilize this.”

Corona del Mar, which earned a pair of four-set victories over Beckman and San Clemente in pool play, awaits the CIF State Southern California regional playoffs. Those brackets will be released on Sunday, May 18.