The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • J4

-Composite Proof 0:27 0:00 RZJ1209OJ4FZJ1209OJ4 Gwinnett 4J 4J RR RR BlueRedYellowBlack Blue RedYellowBlack J4 Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2003 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Gwinnett Sports CONTACT US. SCOTT BERNARDE, GWINNETT SPORTS, 6455 BEST FRIEND ROAD, NORCROSS, GA 30071. PHONE: 770-263-3863. TO REPORT SCORES: FAX, 770-263-3011.

PHONE, 770-263-3862. FROM STAFF REPORTS The Shiloh boys placed eighth, and the girls tied for 10th with Chattahoochee, competing against teams from Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina in the McCallie Invitational swimming and diving meet in Chattanooga. Shiloh has placed in the top 10 all five times it has entered the event. The high scorer for the Shiloh boys was Justin Vorherr who was second in the 50 freestyle and ninth in the 100 butterfly. Shiloh freshman diver Chris Cruz placed, along with Jeff Box (100 breaststroke) and Darrell Ford (100 free).

Each relay team reached the championship heat (top eight) and qualified for state. For the girls, Katie MacDonald was the high scorer, finishing third in the 500 free and eighth in the 100 fly. Samantha Hill scored in the 200 individual medley and 100 fly, and Lizzy Miller and Courtney Vechart each placed in the 100 breaststroke. The Shiloh girls placed in the top eight with state qualifying times in the 200 medley relay and the 200 free relay. South tops Ridge Led by freshman Steven Currie and sophomore Ashlie Conley South Gwinnett won its first dual meet of the season over Peachtree Ridge.

Currie and Conley each took first in diving, with Currie scoring 163 in his first high school competition. Other notable performers were divers Kenny Huffman and Kristen Springer and state swimming qualifiers Brandt Allen (100 breaststroke), Emily Roberts (100 breaststroke, school-record 200 IM) and Maegan Tait (50 free); boys and girls 200 medley relays; boys 400 free relay; and girls 200 free relay. Parkview sweeps Parkview defeated Collins boys 96-85 and girls 101-81 Saturday at Collins Hill. Parkview boys winners were John Tait Matthew Odom Kyle Packer and Jay Fitzgerald 200 medley relay; Packer, 200 free and 100 back; Fitzgerald, 50 free and 100 free; Michael Bennett 1-meter diving; Odom, 500 free; and Odom, Packer, Sean Thomas and Fitzgerald, 400 free relay. Collins Hill boys winners were Nat Emmett 200 IM; Scott Williamson 100 fly; Drew Moore, Drew Getty, Caleb Lovelady and Kass Rutledge 200 free relay; and Moore, 100 breaststroke.

Emmett also qualified for state in the 100 breaststroke. Parkview girls winners were Meredith Banks 200 free and 100 breaststroke; Corrie Jones 200 IM; Kelsey Duncan 100 fly and 100 back; Caroline Ruse 100 free; Marsha Guy 500 free; and Duncan, Katherine Childs, Ann Hicks and Guy, 400 free relay. Collins Hill girls winners were Halley Espy, Charlotte Goode, Jayne Lafave and Marissa Matichak 200 medley relay; Maggie Powers 50 free; Marci Hoppa 1-meter diving; and Matichak, Powers, Goode and Christina Collepardi 200 free relay. Hoppa scored 213.60, improving on the school record she set last year. Jordan Horsley scored 215.45, breaking the record set by his brother Ryan in 1998.

Berkmar takes nine Berkmar won nine events in a dual meet against Norcross on Saturday at Bogan Park. Berkmar winners were Nathan Cornett, Paul Aphi- vantrakul, Tim Arnold and Risto Pekkalainen 200 medley relay; Aphivantrakul, Tuan Le, John Bailey and Jon Webler 200 free relay; Cornett, 200 IM and 500 free; Arnold, 50 free; and Pekkalainen, 200 free; and Arnold, Cornett, Pekkalainen and Bailey, 400 free. Berkmar girls winners were Laura Pekkalainen 200 free; and Laura Morena diving. Buddy Pinkston SWIMMING ROUNDUP Shiloh again in top 10 By BUDDY PINKSTON Anyone who considers Buford tailback Darius Walker a shoo-in to break the Georgia High School Association season record for touchdowns needs to remember the Charles Grant factor. Playing for unbeaten, top-ranked and heavily favored Miller County in 1997, Grant went into the 13th game of his senior season needing one touchdown to break a tie with Herschel Walker for the GHSA record.

He get it that night against Lincoln County, and he never got another chance. put nine people in the Grant said. people did it, too, but not like they did Averaging 3.75 touchdowns a game, Grant was on pace to surpass the state record of 50 set by Milton Byard in 1950. Byard played for Risley High School of Brunswick in the all-black Georgia Interscholastic Association before state high school sports were integrated in 1967. But a shocking thing happened on the way to the Georgia Dome: Miller County was upset 14-12 in the Class A quarterfinals, and Grant was kept out of the end zone.

all-time mark and Herschel share of the GHSA record were safe. And though Grant eventually would take his athleticism to the NFL, his days of ball-carrying glory were over. At Georgia, he would rush 17 times and score three touchdowns before moving permanently to defensive end. He became the 25th pick in the 2002 NFL draft, leaving Georgia after his junior season, and is in his second season producing sacks for the New Orleans Saints. And pulling for Darius Walker, who has broken mark of 42 rushing touchdowns and is one shy of the GHSA overall mark with 44.

Top-ranked Buford (13-0) plays No. 6 Decatur (13-0) at noon Saturday in the Georgia Dome. hope he breaks the record and they go on and win the state Grant said. Grant make a sales pitch for his Bulldogs to the undecided recruit, who is weighing offers from all over the country. just needs to go wherever Grant said.

Like Walker this year, Grant played on a high school team that rarely needed its No. 1 offense in the second half. could have scored 60 said Grant, whose season high was five in a game. most of the time, we play after the second or third Also like Walker, whose team has won 43 in a row, Grant was counting victories, not points. thinking about personal he said.

just wanted to win that game. We wanted to win But he deny that there was at least one moment of individual pride during the season. I tied Herschel Walker for the record, and they gave me that game ball, it was a great Grant said. to be mentioned with a great player like that was unbelievable. made it even better when I gave that ball to my TD race still won, former contender warns RICH ADDICKS Staff DAVID TULIS Staff Charles Grant played for Georgia in 1999, two years after tying Herschel Georgia High School Association season record for touchdowns.

Darius Walker (top) is one shy of breaking that record. FROM STAFF REPORTS Parkview 189-pounder Wade Hudson defeated last undefeated Class AAAAA champion Cody Runnels of Lassiter in the finals to help the Panthers win the 21-team Knoxville Invitational held Friday and Saturday at Knoxville Catholic High School. Hudson beat Runnels 3-1 and was one of six Parkview wrestlers to win individual titles. Parkview scored 308 points to beat second- place Baylor School of Chattanooga, which had 267 points. Lassiter was third with 172 1 2 points.

Other Parkview champions: Brett Baird, Jonathan Matlack, Steven Stromie, Sean Yin and Keith Hudson, twin brother. Matt Huff and Daniel Mabee placed second, Jesse Miller and Josh Matlack took thirds, Ryan Galloway fourth, Matt Stewart fifth and Brett Butler sixth. Collins Hill wins Walton Duals Cody Black, Michael Johns, Tyler Parker and Nick Lukacs all went 4-0 to lead Collins Hill to the championship at the eight-team Walton Duals Saturday. The Eagles defeated McCallie (Chattanooga), the No. 2 team in Tennessee, 44-34 for the championship.

Collins Hill also defeated Centennial (No. 6 in AAAAA Georgia) 40-24, Pope 60-8 and McEachern (No. 3 in AAAAA). The match with McEachern ended in a 32-32 tie, but the Eagles were given the win by the rule book tiebreaker, based on technical-fall decision at 112 pounds. Collins record is 11-0.

North 4-1 at Henry County Duals North Gwinnett went 4-1 at the Henry County Duals Saturday. Thomas Skowronski, Josh Rhymer and Kyle Chewning went 5-0; Justin Funk and Brent Smith went 4-1. The Bulldogs (9-2 in dual matches) beat Winder-Barrow 51-29, Tri-Cities 60-21, Fayette County 44-24 and Northside 60-13, and lost to Henry County 39-27. Dacula sixth at Jackson Open Dacula finished sixth at the Jackson County Panther Open Saturday. Dustin Jenkins (135 pounds) and Zach Tharpe (152) won their weight classes, and Ronnie Mosby (130) and Jake Mauldin (275) placed second.

Matt Moulder (125) placed fourth. Hudson stops state champ HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING By LARRY HARTSTEIN Two up-and-coming girls teams with hopes of making the state tournament will clash tonight when 4-1 Norcross visits 6-0 Shiloh. The Generals are off to a great start because they have to rely solely on Christian Pace anymore. Pace, the powerful 5-foot-10 junior, is getting her typical double figures in points and rebounds. She averages 15 and 11.

But now the Generals are getting increased production from a 6-1 post player, junior April Parker, and a talented backcourt trio: 3-point specialist Shannon Head, slasher and shooter Ashley Hagans and freshman point guard Jessica Baker. only senior, Whitney Glenn, has returned from injury to provide a spark off the bench. of the other girls have picked up their first- year coach Dale Grant said. was a lot of pressure on last year, and taken a little bit of pressure off of Grant was a varsity assistant who coached Shiloh Middle School to a perfect record last year, and Baker was the leader of that team. With Baker directing offense now and distributing the ball, Grant believes the Generals could have four players averaging in double figures.

More than anything, Grant attributes his quick start to defense. Shiloh plays a lot of half- court man-to-man and mixes in a full-court zone press. been clamping down on defense pretty Grant said. just trying to give people some different looks, depending on who The Norcross game will be a measuring stick to see how much Shiloh has improved from last 11-14 mark. The Blue Devils went 16-11 last year and are off to another good start.

In 59-29 win over South Forsyth, junior Naqwantis Mitchell scored 14 points and senior Monica Alexander added 12 points and three steals. knocked us out of the region tournament last Grant said of the Blue Devils. it will be a nice little Region 8-AAAAA will send four teams to the state playoffs. With Collins Hill and Parkview combining for the last three state titles, it looks like the other 12 teams are competing for two spots. Shiloh and Norcross should challenge for those berths.

The Shiloh and Norcross boys both undefeated will play at 7:30 p.m., making for an entertaining doubleheader. BASKETBALL Balanced Generals begin 6-0 (Girls games at 6 p.m., boys games at 7:30) Berkmar at Dacula Peachtree Ridge at Luella Collins Hill at Brookwood Greater Atlanta Christian at Union County North Gwinnett at South Gwinnett Norcross at Shiloh Central Gwinnett at Duluth Oconee County at Parkview Chattahoochee at Mead- owcreek Buford at Rabun County Providence Christian at Lumpkin County GAMES KENT D. JOHNSON Staff Whitney Glenn goes past Petra Nagy last season..