The search for a new head coach ended for two Cobb schools on Friday. Campbell will hire Hillgrove's co-defensive coordinator Ryan Brady and Walker will bring in Matt Casper, who coached the offense for Class AA state champion Lovett this past season.

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Allatoona fired the best championship-round score in history to win its first- ever riflery state title on Saturday afternoon at the Pool International Shooting Complex in Fort Benning, Ga. The Buccaneers posted a 1,162 total, two points better than both the 2001 Madison County squad and Union Grove in 2008. They shot past the rest of the 14-team field in relatively comfortable fashion, defeating runner-up Upson-Lee by nine points. Lumpkin County finished third, one point behind Upson-Lee with 1,152 points, and East Coweta's 1,149 points put it in fourth place.

Allatoona capped off a great season thanks mostly to Alana Kelly, who earned top individual honors. She set a qualifying-round record with 296 points and posted a total of 396.9. Apalachee's Brandon Thomas (393.1) was second and Brianna Shelton of Winder-Barrow (392.4) came in third. The remaining individual top eight included Lee County's Courtney Weekly (390.9), Allatoona's Ann Clay (389.2), Union Grove's Mitchell Miller (388.4), Monroe Area's Matthew Waters (387.6) and East Coweta's Alex Wright (383.7).

East Coweta, the 2000 state champion, entered as the highest-scoring semifinal team with 1,156 points. Lumpkin County shot the highest total of the tournament with 1,163 points in its sectional match but the Indians fell 11 points shy of that lofty standard on Saturday.

Team Winners

1. Allatoona - 1,162 (New State Team Record)

Coach Ware

Alana Kelly - 296

Ann Clay - 292

Tommy Simrill - 290

Addison Helbling - 284

2. Upson-Lee - 1,153

Coach Meyerriecks

Rosemary Kramer - 291

Alyssa Hanson - 288

Shannon Tyssen - 287

Miranda Baxley - 287

3. Lumpkin County - 1,152

Coach Fugate

Rhiannon Smith - 284

Dakota Spivey - 289

Heather Johnson - 290

Morgan Tritt - 289

Individual Winners

1. Alana Kelly, Allatoona - 396.9*

2. Brandon Thomas, Apalachee - 393.1

3. Brianna Shelton, Winder-Barrow - 392.4

* Alana Kelly set a State Record of 296 in the qualifying round

BOYS

No. 1 Milton cruised to a 14-6 victory over Jupiter (Fla.) on Monday. Jupiter owns a 12-4 record and had previously beaten No. 5 Centennial 9-7 two days prior to the loss to Milton. Centennial rebounded from its loss to the out-of-state Warriors with a 12-5 win over Lake Brantley (Fla.) on Tuesday and jumped one spot into this week's top 5. North Gwinnett dropped out of the top 3 and down to No. 7 after getting handled by McCallie (Tenn.) 12-6 on Tuesday, its first loss of the season.

Photo by Allatoona Athletics

Lambert moved up two places to No. 3 and rolled past West Forsyth 16-5 on Thursday. Walton remains at No. 4 after suffering a tough 7-6 overtime road loss to Westminster (Class A-AAAAA No. 2) on Thursday. 

Westminster has now tallied one-goal victories over Class AAAAAA's Walton and Centennial this season. John's Creek lost to Etowah in double-overtime on Saturday 14-13, but remains at the No. 10 spot. Lassiter was able to beat Etowah 13-10 on Wednesday, but John's Creek's 11-5 win over Lassiter earlier in the season (March 11) gives the Gladiators the edge over the Trojans in the rankings.

In Class A-AAAAA, No. 1 Northview remains perfect (13-0) after a 20-11 win over Nease (Fla.) on Monday. No. 2 Westminster rallied to beat Walton in overtime 7-6 and No. 3 Lovett stifled Class AAAAAA Lassiter for an 8-2 win on Friday. No. 4 GAC, No. 5 Blessed Trinity, No. 8 St. Pius and No. 9 Cambridge all enjoyed the week off. Marist enters this week's poll at No. 7 with its 7-4 win over Holy Innocents' and Allatoona comes in at No. 10 after topping Pope 14-12 on Friday. Pope has proven to be able to play with any team in the state, however, the Greyhounds are just 2-8 against teams with winning records this season and drop out of this week's poll.

GIRLS  

Class AAAAAA No. 1 Milton, No. 4 Chattahoochee, No. 5 Mill Creek, No. 6 Centennial and No. 9 John's Creek were off this past week. No. 2 Lassiter scored an impressive 13-6 win over previously unbeaten Kell on Friday and No. 3 Walton saw an offensive explosion this past week with a 27-9 victory over Etowah and 24-0 win over North Cobb. Etowah's blowout loss to Walton dropped the Eagles to No. 8. West Forsyth moved up a spot to No. 7 with a solid 16-9 win over Kennesaw Mountain on Wednesday. No. 10 Lambert topped Forsyth Central 20-2 on Thursday. 

Only three of the Class A-AAAAA top 10 teams were in action this past week and standings remain the same as Northview, Cambridge, St. Pius, Blessed Trinity, McIntosh, Starr's

Photo by Deanna Fiveash

Mill and Marist had the week off. No. 1 Kell suffered its first loss of the season on Friday 13-6 to neighboring Lassiter (No. 2 in Class AAAAAA) but rebounded from the loss with a 23-3 win over River Ridge (6-3) on Saturday. Kell is 0-9 all-time against Lassiter and this was the closest margin of victory for Lassiter since its seven-goal (14-8) win over Kell in 2006. No. 2 Westminster beat Woodward Academy 21-8 on Thursday before falling to Pennsylvania's Radnor (8-1) by the score of 15-6 on Saturday. No. 4 Pope beat Darlington 20-2 on Thursday.  

The Etowah Invitational took place Saturday and the host school fared well as the girls finished in second place while the boys tied for third. Rutland won the girls' title while Cherokee took home the boys' crown.

The Etowah girls fared well in the field events. Kelsey Keith and Sydney Brim finished first and second place in the pole vault, respectively, and Leena Morris came in first place in shot put and the discus throw. As far as the track events go, Stephanie Newman took second in the 3,200-meter run, Kingsley Green took second in the 800-meter run and Etowah won the 4x800 meter relay.

For the Etowah boys, Ryan Beachem won the 110-meter hurdles while Brandon Johnston was runner-up in the 1,600-meter run. Beachem also won the 300-meter hurdles and the Eagles won the 4x800 meter relay. In the field events, Trey Moore came in second in the triple jump while Chandler Steele came in third place in the shot put.

Over in Acworth, the Marietta boys and girls were winners in the Allatoona Invitational. The girls finished with 186 points while the boys tallied 161.5.

The girls were led by Tatiyana Rayford who finished first in the 100-meter dash and fourth in the long jump. Nyasiah Mercado won the 1,600-meter run while Rebecca Down won the 3,200-meter run. Mercado also won the 800-meter run and the team won the 4x400-meter relay.

For the boys, Kirvonte Benson won the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and was runner-up in the long jump. Dakarai Ellis won the 300-meter hurdles. Khayvon Benson won the 800-meter run. In the field events, Jordan Dukes won the high jump and Christopher Flood was runner-up in the shot put.