GYMNASTICS _2021 DEKALB COUNTY_ $2.00 1 DEKALB COUNTY GYMNASTICS GUIDE DEKALB COUNTY FACTS CONTENTS Address: 5829 Memorial Drive Gymnastics history .................................................................. 2 DeKalb boys gymnastics championships ................................ 3 Stone Mountain, Georgia 30083 ................................. - DeKalb girls gymnastics championships 4 Phone Number (678) 676 1821 ..................................................................... Arabia Mountain 5 Location: Northeast Atlanta Chamblee ................................................................................ 6 Number of High Schools: Nineteen Druid Hills ............................................................................... 7 Dunwoody ............................................................................... 8 DIRECTORY Lakeside .................................................................................. 9 .................................................................................. - Lithonia 10 Superintendent Cheryl Watson Harris ................................................................................... McNair 11 Executive Athletic Director James Jackson Southwest DeKalb .................................................................. 12 Gymnastics Coordinator Dr. Tekshia Ward -Smith Stephenson ............................................................................. 13 Athletic Specialist Chris Chilton Tucker .................................................................................... 14 Athletic Specialist Mark Brock Team state champions ............................................................ 15 ................................................ Girls state champions by year 16 ALIGNMENTS Boys state champions by year ................................................ 17 Girls state champions by school ............................................. 18 DeKalb County teams Boys state champions by school ............................................. 19 Arabia Mountain Chamblee Girls individual county champions ......................................... 20 Druid Hills Dunwoody Boys individual county champions ........................................ 23 Lakeside Lihonia Girls county event champions ................................................ 25 McNair Southwest DeKalb Boys county event champions ................................................ 27 Stephenson Tucker Regular season and state information ..................................... 29 - SOUTHWEST CLAIMS SHORTENED ALL SPORTS Other state teams Alpharetta Bainbridge Southwest DeKalb raced to a commanding lead in a shortened all Bremen Buford -sports trophy race in the 2019 -20 school year. Cambridge Camden County The Panthers used strong showings during the fall and winter Carrollton Cartersville - Centennial Central Carrollton sport seasons to score 185 points to the 160.5 of runner up Druid Chattahoochee Cherokee Hills. Colquitt County Denmark - Final All Sports Trophy Point totals: Dutchtown Eagle’s Landing Etowah First Presbyterian 1) Southwest DeKalb .......................................... 185.0 Forsyth Central Hampton 2) Druid Hills ...................................................... 160.5 Harrison Henry County .......................................................... 3) Lakeside 157.5 Jackson County Jones County ............................................................ 4) Tucker 157.0 Lambert Lassiter ....................................................... Locust Grove Lovett 5) Dunwoody 156.0 Lowndes County Luella 6) Chamblee ........................................................ 150.0 Madison County Milton 7) Martin Luther King Jr. .................................... 149.0 Newnan North Atlanta 8) Arabia Mountain ............................................. 136.0 North Oconee Northview 9) Stephenson ...................................................... 135.5 Oconee County Ola 10) Cedar Grove .................................................. 124.5 Pace Academy Pike County 11) Stone Mountain ............................................. 109.5 Pope River Ridge 12) Columbia ....................................................... 101.0 Roswell South Forsyth 13) Clarkston ......................................................... 95.5 Stockbridge Thomas County Central 14) Redan .............................................................. 89.5 Tift County Union Grove ........................................................... 15) Lithonia 89.5 Villa Rica Walton ................................................... 15) Miller Grove 89.5 Washington Washington County ............................................................ West Forsyth Westminster 17) Towers 74.0 ............................................................ Woodland Stockbridge 18) McNair 59.5 19) Cross Keys ...................................................... 45.5 2 GYMNASTICS HISTORY The Georgia High School Association instituted gymnastics as a state championship sport for the first time in 1956. The championship was conducted for the boys only in 1956 and from 1964 through 1968. The first girl’s state championship was held in 1969. The boy’s state championship continued uninterrupted through 1979, with the sport eventually being discontinued in 1987. The girl’s state championship is still going strong entering its 44th season. DeKalb County has certainly made its presence felt, literally ruling the sport over the years while collecting a combined total of 37 state titles between the boys and the girls. Starting with Druid Hills in 1956, DeKalb County schools won all 17 boys state gymnastics championships that were officially sanctioned over a 32 -year period. Sequoyah had the most impressive streak of this group, winning four consecutive top state prizes from 1969 -72. Briarcliff also conquered the field three straight times from 1977 -79 and added a fourth crown in 1974, while Druid Hills collected a total of three state trophies in 1956, 1964 and 1965. Gordon (1966 and 1967) and Peachtree (1975 and 1976) won two state championships each. Walker (1968) and Lakeside (1973), on the other hand, each walked away with one boy’s state victory. DeKalb County quickly proved to be equally dominating on the girls front, winning the first 11 officially sanc- tioned state meets and 20 of 21 big prizes overall from 1969 -89. Lakeside realized special fame during this period, gaining a place in the Guinness Book of World Records by winning nine consecutive state titles from 1971 -79. Lucia Norwood , who once served as Athletic Coordinator for gymnastics and several other sports in the DeKalb County Athletic Department, started this Lady Viking dynasty that has never been equaled over the years. Norwood guided Lakeside to its initial five state crowns from 1971 -75, and Shirley McDaniel followed suit as Norwood’s successor in the head coaching department by adding four more state trophies to the streak from 1976 -79. Tucker ranks second to Lakeside in the state championship picture, having collected six total first place awards in 1969, 1970, 1982 -84 and 1989. Pat Floyd was the head coach for the last four of those triumphant performances. Redan also boasts a brilliant history of excellence on the state level as the owner of the remaining five champi- onship trophies collected by local squads. Coach George Carden fostered a Lady Raider run that included claiming the ultimate prize in 1981 and four straight from 1985 -88. Westminster was the only non -DeKalb County team to win a state championship over the first 21 years, that coming at the end of Lakeside’s reign in 1980. The list of local individual champions is a long and impressive one as well. Those who sit at the top of this con- tingent deserve special recognition for standing out the most in an elite gathering. Lakeside presented several top stars during its glorious run in the 1970s, with Barbara Hall and Karen Loewen heading up this long and illustrious contingent. Hall ruled the local and state field during the middle stages of the decade, highlighted by state all -around tri- umphs in 1973 and 1976. This wondrous performer actually captured a total of nine state gold medals over her four years of varsity competition. Loewen, meanwhile, arrived on the scene a few years after Hall’s rule, and proceeded to eventually pass her cel- ebrated predecessor in the long run. Tall and remarkably agile, Loewen claimed state all-around crowns in 1979 and 1980 and ended her spectacular career with 10 total state top finishes. Tucker and Redan, on the other hand, produced the two most accomplished overall state champions in DeKalb County history in Patty Parker and Terri Duffy respectively. Parker dominated the local scene for Tucker from 1982 -85, sweeping to three state consecutive all -around victo- ries from 1982 -84 and 12 total state triumphs. She also snared county all -around honors in 1982 and 1983. Duffy then completed DeKalb’s dominating run of champions in the 1980s, snaring state all -around titles three straight years from 1986 -88. The Lady Raider standout also matched Parker for most overall local state titles at 12. Tucker’s Aimee Schneider , Lakeside’s Rachel Mann and Stone Mountain’s Genny King served as the three leading state stars among local entrants in the 1990s. Schneider secured state all -around triumphs in 1989 and 1990 and won eight overall state gold’s. Mann topped the state all -around field in 1998 and 2000 and won six total state events. King claimed