St. Pius Weekly Sports Recap

Last week, two more athletic teams began the regular season as both cross country teams opened up the 2012 season. The Golden Lions have four programs ranked in the top ten in their respective polls with boys' cross country sitting atop the AAA ga.milesplit.com poll. Girls' cross country is No. 2 in the same poll while volleyball is the third-ranked team in the Scoreatl.com/Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll. Football, which opens the 2012 season this week, is No. 4 in the AJC poll.

Boys' cross country finished tied for first with Mill Creek at the Walton/Peachtree Ridge Stage Races in Duluth. The Golden Lions, ranked No. 2 in the all-classification poll by ga.milesplit.com, had four of five runners win their respective stages. Austin Sprague, Calvin Tirrell, Andrew Anastasiades and Joey Ferrugia led the Golden Lions with their wins as St. Pius had the highest finish in school history at the Stage Races. The harriers are off this weekend and are back in action in a multiple-team meet at Mill Creek next week and travel to the Berry Invitational on Sept. 8.

The volleyball team took five of its seven matches last week. On Wednesday, St. Pius (8-5) defeated No. 5 Lovett (2A) and No. 3 Wesleyan (2A) in straight games. The Golden Lions participated in the Northview Play-date over the weekend, winning three matches while dropping two. St. Pius knocked off No. 1 Landmark Christian (A) and Lassiter in three games while sweeping Allatoona in two. The two losses came in three games to No. 5 Northview (5A) and McIntosh. The Golden Lions are back in action this Friday and Saturday as the netters travel to Huntsville, AL, for a two-day tournament.

Girls' cross country finished third at the Mercy Invitational on Saturday. The Golden Lions were led by senior Devon Dabney whose 20:01 was good for a sixth-place finish. Freshmen Katie Glenn and Emma Jayne Braxton finished 22nd and 24th, respectively, while senior Sarah Fristoe placed 26th. The lady harriers will have the weekend off before heading to the Berry Invitational on Sept. 8.

The Golden Lion softball team dropped its only two contests of the week. St. Pius (1-6) lost to Eastside, 10-1, and dropped an 8-0 decision to Westminster. Natasha Sherrod has led all batters hitting .533 and four of the team's seven extra-base hits. This week the softball squad will take on Riverwood on Monday, before travelling to Wesleyan on Wednesday. Thursday will mark the first competition of any fall sport in Region 6-AAA of the 2012-13 school year as the Golden Lions host McNair.

Football will open up the season on Friday, travelling to Westminster for a 7:30pm kickoff. This will mark the second consecutive year that the Golden Lions have lifted the lid on the season at Westminster. St. Pius defeated the Wildcats last year, 28-21.