Athletes in the News

The girls varsity golf team recently competed at the Red Terrir Ryder Cup in Jekyll Island. The Lady War Eagles brought home the championship over the 74 team field as the twosome of Ayanna Habeel and Teagan Fritts combined for a 7 under par round of 65 to win the tournament by 2 strokes. Amelia Connor and Morgan Ellison shot a 3 under round of 69 to finish second in Division 2 and 4th overall. The girls team finished 2017 as the AAAA State Runner-up and are looking to make a championship run in 2018.

This Week in Athletics

Following up their top 6 finish at the AAAA State Duals earlier this month, the War Eagle wrestling team placed 4th at the AAAA State Traditional Championship in Macon. Woodward qualified eight wrestlers for the traditional format championships with five wrestlers placing in the top six. Sophomores Nick Masters (113 lbs.) and Vincent Mannella (120 lbs.) captured their 2nd individual state championships while junior Malcolm Wiley (195 lbs.) captured his first state title. In addition, sophomore McCoy Pace (132 lbs.) finished as state runner-up and sophomore Malachi Wiley captured 5th place. With all state qualifiers and alternates set to return, Woodward Academy's wrestling team is primed for another title run in 2018-19.

The Woodward Academy boys basketball team went into the Region 4-AAAA tournament as the #3 seed but came out as the 2017-18 Region Champion. The War Eagles opened the tournament with a 68-61 win over a tough Eastside squad advancing the War Eagles to the semifinal game against Henry County. The War Eagles used a 28-point 4^th quarter to mount an impressive come-from-behind win, defeating Henry County 71-68 and advancing Woodward to the championship game. The finals pitted the War Eagles against the #7 ranked Salem Seminoles. Even though the Seminoles held a 2-0 season series edge, the game was back-and-forth the entire evening. With just seconds remaining, sophomore Walker Kessler hit a 3-point shot to tie the game up, sending things to overtime. In the overtime period, the War Eagles outscored the Seminoles 13-2 securing a 66-55 win to capture the Region 4-AAAA Championship and a #1 seed for the AAAA State Tournament. Walker Kessler was named Region 4-AAAA Player of the Year while Kevin Powell received All-Region Honorable Mention honors. The Lady War Eagle basketball team also qualified for the AAAA State Tournament with a third-place finish at the region tourney. The girls squad defeated Eastside High School in their opening round game before falling to #2 ranked Henry County. Woodward matched-up with North Clayton in the consolation game with girls winning 53-45 to capture 3rd place. Senior Tyler Collins earned 1st team All-Region while senior Madison Williams was named Honorable Mention All-Region.

Woodward Academy's boys and girls swimming and diving teams competed in the GHSA State Championships this past weekend at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. The boys team turned in one of their best performances in recent years finishing 2nd overall in the AAAA/AAAAA division. The boys state runner-up finish included several record-breaking performances and one individual state champion. The boys 200 free relay team of Jacob Willis, George Kimbrough, Henry Nichols and Emanuel Abdul-Salaam finished as state champions setting a new school record with a time of 1:28.83. The 200 medley relay team of Harrison Barnard, Jelani Durley, Willis and Abdul-Salaam finished 3rd and set a new school record of 1:38.56 while Harrison Barnard set a new school record of 54.57 in the 100 backstroke finishing 5th overall. In addition to their state runner-up finish, the boys squad finished the year with a perfect 6-0 dual meet record. The girls squad finished 12^th overall in AAAA/AAAAA division. Senior Alissa Cook finished 3^rd in the 200 IM setting a new school record and 2^nd in the 100 Breaststroke.

Woodward's riflery team finished the week with a 1-1 record to improve to 5-1 on the season. The team lost a very close match to a strong East Coweta squad by just 4 points but rebounded later in the week to defeat Langston Hughes 1152-1031. Senior Annalyn Smith continues her strong season posting scores of 290 and 292 (out of 300) against East Coweta and Langston Hughes respectively. Junior Jacob Workman has also been shooting will recording a perfect 100 in the prone position against Langston Hughes.

Spring sports have also gotten underway with several Woodward Academy programs off to strong starts. The varsity boys soccer team is currently 4-0, boys and girls lacrosse have opened the season 1-0 and the girls tennis team is 3-0. More updates on spring sports in the coming weeks.

In other news....Woodward Academy celebrated 14 National Letter of Intent signees at a special ceremony on Wednesday, February 7th in Paget Gym. The student-athletes, across nine different athletic teams, signed their National Letters of Intent to play collegiate level athletics for Division I, II, and III colleges and universities. Congratulations to the following students:

Ethan Cornelius - Wofford (Baseball)
Spencer Felix - Rhodes College (Basketball)
Cade Thomas - Endicott College (Lacrosse)
Caroline Yarbrough - Rhodes College (Tennis)
Josh Armstrong - University of Pittsburgh (Track & Field)
Alex Potts - Tulane University (Track & Field)
Connor Asarch - The College of Charleston (Golf)
Alissa Cook - Ohio State University (Swimming)
Lauren Harrison - University of North Carolina (Volleyball)
Anaya Martin - University of Louisville (Volleyball)
Drew Dunson - Morehouse College (Football)
KJ Phillips - Morehouse College (Football)
Shiva Puttagunta - Colgate University (Football)
Trey Turner - Wake Forest University (Football)

Be sure to follow Woodward Academy Athletics on Twitter - @WAWarEagles – for news, updates and scores throughout the year.

SCORES (2/9/2018 – 2/15/2018):

Varsity Boys Basketball 66 Salem 55

Varsity Girls Basketball 53 North Clayton 45

Varsity Boys Soccer 9 Salem 2
Varsity Boys Soccer 3 Alexander 0
Varsity Boys Soccer 3 Riverwood 1
JV Boys Soccer 0 Druid Hills 4
JV Boys Soccer 0 Alexander 1
JV Boys Soccer 0 Riverwood 3

Varsity Girls Soccer 2 Salem 1
Varsity Girls Soccer 0 Riverwood 3
JV Girls Soccer 10 Druid Hills 0
JV Girls Soccer 3 Riverwood 0

Boys Varsity Tennis 5 Wesleyan 0
Boys Varsity Tennis 5 Northgate 0
JV Boys Tennis 0 Westminster 5

Girls Varsity Tennis 3 Wesleyan 2
Girls Varsity Tennis 4 Northgate 1
JV Girls Tennis 3 Westminster 2

Varsity Baseball 5 Lovett 2
Varsity Baseball 1 Columbus 6
Varsity Baseball 1 Alexander 2

Boys Varsity Lacrosse 6 Buford 2
JV Boys Lacrosse 10 Buford 4

Girls Varsity Lacrosse 17 Maynard Jackson 3

Riflery 1149 East Coweta 1153
Riflery 1152 Langston Hughes 1031

The Woodward Academy boys basketball team went into the Region 4-AAAA tournament as the #3 seed but came out as the 2017-18 Region Champion. The War Eagles opened the tournament with a 68-61 win over a tough Eastside squad. The win advanced the War Eagles to the semifinal game to face a quick and athletic Henry County squad. The War Eagles defeated Henry County 71-68 behind a 28-point 4th quarter to advance Woodward to the championship game. The finals pitted the War Eagles against the #7 ranked Salem Seminoles. Even though the Seminoles held a 2-0 season series edge, the game was back-and-forth the entire evening. With just seconds remaining, sophomore Walker Kessler hit a 3-point shot to tie the game up, sending things to overtime. In the overtime period, the War Eagles outscored the Seminoles 13-2 securing a 66-55 win to capture the Region 4-AAAA Championship and a #1 seed for the AAAA State Tournament. Walker Kessler was named Region 4-AAAA Player of the Year while Kevin Powell received All-Region Honorable Mention honors.

The Lady War Eagle basketball team also qualified for the AAAA State Tournament with a third place finish at the region tourney. The girls squad defeated Eastside High School in their opening round game before falling to #2 ranked Henry County. Woodward matched-up with North Clayton in the consolation game with girls winning 53-45 to capture 3rd place. Senior Tyler Collins earned 1st team All-Region while senior Madison Williams was named Honorable Mention All-Region.

Following up their top 6 finish at the AAAA State Duals earlier this month, the War Eagle wrestling team placed 4th at the AAAA State Traditional Championship in Macon. Woodward qualified eight wrestlers for the traditional format championships with five wrestlers placing in the top six. Sophomores Nick Masters (113 lbs.) and Vincent Mannella (120 lbs.) captured their 2nd individual state championships while junior Malcolm Wiley (195 lbs.) captured his first state title. In addition, sophomore McCoy Pace (132 lbs.) finished as state runner-up and sophomore Malachi Wiley captured 5th place. With all state qualifiers and alternates set to return, Woodward Academy's wrestling team is primed for another title run in 2018-19.

Woodward Academy celebrated 14 National Letter of Intent signees at a special ceremony on Wednesday, February 7th in Paget Gym. The student-athletes, across nine different athletic teams, signed their National Letters of Intent to play collegiate level athletics for Division I, II, and III colleges and universities. Congratulations to the following students:

Ethan Cornelius - Wofford (Baseball)
Spencer Felix - Rhodes College (Basketball)
Cade Thomas - Endicott College (Lacrosse)
Caroline Yarbrough - Rhodes College (Tennis)
Josh Armstrong - University of Pittsburgh (Track & Field)
Alex Potts - Tulane University (Track & Field)
Connor Asarch - The College of Charleston (Golf)
Alissa Cook - Ohio State University (Swimming)
Lauren Harrison - University of North Carolina (Volleyball)
Anaya Martin - University of Louisville (Volleyball)
Drew Dunson - Morehouse College (Football)
KJ Phillips - Morehouse College (Football)
Shiva Puttagunta - Colgate University (Football)
Trey Turner - Wake Forest University (Football)