St. Pius X Finishes Third in MaxPreps Cup National Rankings

St. Pius X Catholic High School has finished third in the 2012-13 MaxPreps Cup national rankings recognizing the top high school athletic programs in the nation. 

The Golden Lions put together the best athletic season in school history with six state championships, three state runners-up and 21 of 22 teams qualifying for state playoffs or competition. In addition, St. Pius X won the GADA Regions Director’s Cup for the fourth time in five seasons.

“Not only does this affirm the job that our student-athletes, coaches and parents are doing but is also affirmation of the foundation laid by the individuals that have attended St. Pius X over the years,” Director of Athletics Mark Kelly said.

The 2012-13 school year began with the fall sport programs setting the tone for the rest of the athletic department, capturing two state titles and two state runners-up. Boys’ and girls’ cross country both took state crowns. For the male harriers, it was their third consecutive championship, while the girls’ took their second title in three years. Volleyball finished as state runners-up for the second straight year and third of the last four campaigns. Football advanced to the state title game before falling to Buford and finishing the best Golden Lion season on the gridiron since the 1968 edition won the AA state championship. Competition cheer has advanced to the state meet each year of its existence.

The winter sport season continued with similar success. The girls’ basketball team won its fourth state title in the last ten seasons while the boys’ cagers advanced to the state quarterfinals. The girls’ and boys’ swim finished in third and fifth, respectively, at the state meet, as wrestling sent five student-athletes to the state meet.

St. Pius X Principal Steve Spellman said, “Everyone associated with St. Pius X is thrilled with the announcement that our athletic program was recently ranked as the third best program in the nation by MaxPreps. This recognition is significant as it validates the effort put forth by our student-athletes, coaches and parents in maintaining an exemplary program in every sport.”

In the spring, both soccer programs won a state title. For the girls’ it was the fourth such championship in the past five seasons and the boys’ won its’ second in three years. The boys’ track and field program won the state championship. Baseball advanced to the state semi-finals for the first time in school history, while girls’ lacrosse ended the season in the quarterfinals. Boys’ golf finished third at the state meet and boys’ tennis finished as state runners-up.

St. Pius X was one of four schools from Georgia to finish ranked in the Top 25.

According to the MaxPreps web site, the MaxPreps Cup rankings are compiled by giving schools points for finishing first or second at the state level. For states that don't have state competition, point totals were adjusted to award first and second-place teams at the section level. Points were also awarded for size of playoff division (championships won at the large school level were worth more than championships at the small-school level), size of state (championships for Texas, for example, were worth more than championships for less populous states like Alaska) and type of sport (football championships were worth more than tennis championships).

This report was prepared by the school and edited for publication.