As they did in the postseason, the Calhoun Lady Yellow Jackets dominated the Georgia Class AAA all-state softball team.
The teams for each of Georgia's six classifications were released recently by the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association, and Calhoun, which won its second consecutive state title, had seven members of the first team, including player of the year Taylor Kelly, pitcher of the year Kinsey Liscio and coach of the year Diane Smith. Other Calhoun members are pitcher Emily Mitchell, infielder Jana Johns and outfielders Ryan Brzozoski and Maddie Green.
Three Lady Jackets -- catcher Chloe Rice, infielder Ashlyn Barnes and outfielder Allie Jones -- were named to the second team. Another area Class AAA first-team honoree was Murray County catcher Emily Osborne, while teammate Ashley Strong was named to the second team as a utility player.
In Class AA, Gordon Lee's Emily Armour was named the pitcher of the year, while infielder Addi Taylor and outfielders Tiffany Holland and Courtland Middleton were also named to the first team and freshman outfielder Gracey Kruse was a second-team honoree.
In Class AAAA, Heritage had three first-team members, led by pitcher Lauren Lawson. Senior catcher Shelby Hammontree and outfielder Olivia Tamewitz also were first-team choices, while infielder Hannah Wills was named to the second team along with Northwest Whitfield pitcher BriLeigh Baggett.
In Class A, Trion infielder Jayden Morrison was named to the first team and outfielder Kerrigan Ramsey made the second team.
Dalton dominates football all-region
Football coaches in Georgia Region 7-AAAAA recognized Dalton's strong debut in the league by naming 11 Catamounts to the 2014 first-team all-region squad, which also included Dalton's Matt Land as coach of the year.
Quarterback Payton Veraldi was named the offensive player of the year, while linebacker Nate Mays was honored as the defensive player of the year. Other first-team offensive members were running back Kelvis Rhodes, tight end Chase Westfall, receiver Peter Sigmon and linemen Hayden Gross and Chris Hicks. Defensively, lineman Chipper Elrod and linebackers Jase Chastain and Eder Mora were selected.
Georgia's 7-AAAA honors area 13
Georgia Region 7-AAAA's football coaches recently met to honor its best players, and 13 from Chattanooga-area schools earned first-team recognition.
Southeast Whitfield, after earning its first playoff appearance in 30 years, had quarterback Will Swantic, lineman Martin Nunez and kicker Victor Garcia selected to the first team. Ridgeland had tight end Tyler Collis, offensive lineman P.J. Gardner and linebacker Ian Hayes selected, while Northwest Whitfield had special teams player of the year Bryan Villa, receiver Clay Phillips, defensive lineman Dexter Stamper and linebacker Austin Morrison picked. Heritage had defensive back Grant Gunter on the first team, and LaFayette was represented by receiver Kolbe Mosely.
Trion, Christian Heritage players honored
In voting for the Region 6-A football all-region first team, coaches chose nine combined members of the Christian Heritage and Trion teams.
For Christian Heritage, which earned a playoff berth, quarterback Tyson Cooper, receiver Ahmad Tanner, defensive lineman John Wesley Whiteside, linebacker Evan Townsend (also voted on as the punter) and defensive back Ian Robbins were selected to the first team.
For Trion, Addison Meeler was voted co-lineman of the year in the region, while defensive lineman Jake Daffron, linebacker Malik Martin and defensive back Gabe Howell also were chosen to the first team.