CampusNews
James Hite
With fall sports giving way to winter, wrestling, basketball, swimming and diving all had moments of accomplishment.
Wrestling Coach Billy Maldonado’s wrestlers claimed the Area Duals title, advancing to State, where they took third place in route to a 20-7 dual-match record. As the season transitioned the Traditionals phase, seniors Kyler Allen, Corey Erdoes, William Henagan, and Spencer Lee all took Area championships, with classmate Cooper Ward, and juniors Will Geraghty and James Hite finishing as finalists. At State Traditionals, Allen, Erdoes, and Henagan all advanced to the finals of their weight classes.
Basketball
McKenzie Richards
On the hardwoods, Coach Liz Kennedy’s defending State Champion basketball Lions were led by seniors Taylor Brown and Sydney Umeri, who will continue their careers at Princeton and the University of Virginia, respectively. The girls advanced to State once again, taking road wins against previous foils Model and Rabun County to advance to the Elite Eight. In the quarterfinals, the Lions faced a strong Kendrick team in Columbus, coming up short in a well-played game, to end their efforts to repeat. For the season, both Brown and Umeri were named to the All-Region team, adding to their lists of recognition and accomplishments during their Lovett careers.
Swimming/Diving In the pool, Coach Trish Carter saw her Lions compete through a season that included the girls taking the title at the Clarke-Oconee Invitational at the UGA’s Ramsey Center. Combined with the boys results from that meet, Lovett took third overall in the multi-classification meet. When it 38
Lovett
came time to compete at State, all the Lion relay teams made State cut times, as did individual Samantha Sloman, who made it to the finals in both the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke. In the diving well, senior Robbie Baker and sophomore McKenzie Richards qualified for State. Baker finished in the Top 20 of the A-AAAAA meet, and Richards was the second highest underclass placer on her side, taking sixth.