St. Pius Weekly Sports Recap

celebrated two league titles last week as volleyball took the Area 5-AAA crown and softball captured the Region 5-AAA championship last week in their respective tournaments. Both sports have won four consecutive titles and will host state playoff events this week. Idle last week, football moved up a spot to No. 2 in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution rankings while slipping to No. 5 in the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association poll. The Golden Lions boys’ cross country team was also off this weekend and continues to be the top-ranked team in AAA the ga.milesplit.com poll and moved up in the All-Classification poll to No. 5. The girls’ cross country team has a firm hold on its second spot in the AAA poll after this weekend’s event.

Volleyball, which slipped to No. 2 in the GACA rankings last week, took its fourth straight Area 5-AAA championship. The Golden Lions defeated No. 6 Riverwood twice in the double elimination tournament. St. Pius stands at 45-5 on the season and will host Troup County, the fourth-seed out of Area 2, on Wednesday. Troup and St. Pius have faced one common opponent, No. 4 Columbus. The Golden Lions won all three matches against the Blue Devils while Troup lost both of its matches against its Area 2 rival. 

The softball squad moved to 20-11 on the year with its fourth consecutive Region 5-AAA title. The Golden Lions knocked off Cedar Grove, Riverwood and Woodward to set-up the first championship game versus Woodward. That would be the only championship game as St. Pius downed the War Eagles in six innings, 10-2. The Golden Lions have now won nine of its last 10 games and will host a doubleheader with the fourth-seeded Central Carroll from Region 6 on Wednesday in the best-of-three state playoff first round at 2pm. If necessary, game three will be played Thursday at St. Pius at 4:30p.

The girls’ cross country team travelled to Hoover, AL, Saturday to run in the Southeast Showdown. The Golden Lions finished ninth overall in a field representing five states. Elizabeth Pettit paced St. Pius, finishing in 32nd place, while Emily Thurston (34), Sarah Fristoe (37) and Katy Gilbert (40) all ran strong races. The lady harriers travel to Gainesville to compete at the Coach Wood Invitational, as will the boys’ cross country team, which was idle this weekend.

Football was off last week as it prepares for the last three games of region play before the region playoff game Nov. 4. The Golden Lions are 6-0 and will welcome Druid Hills to George B. Maloof Stadium on Friday night at 7:30pm for Senior Night. The Red Devils enter the game on a three-game winning streak and stand at 4-3 overall and 3-1 in Region 5-AAA.

The competition cheer squad took first place at the Rumble in the Jungle at Parkview High School this weekend for the second consecutive year.  The next competition is Oct. 29 at the Northeast Georgia Cheerleading Invitational at Winder-Barrow High School.