David Emanuel Academy finished tied for second in the GISA Class A overall athletic excellence competition for the 2010-11 school year. DEA, and arch rival Thomas Jefferson both accumulated 48 points to finish behind Westwood who came in with 71 points, earning them the Dr. Michael Drake Athletic Excellence Award in Class A.
The award is given to the top athletic program in each of the three GISA classifications based on a system of points awarded for and based on the order of finish in 20 different state competitions. (10 points for first, eight points for second, six points for third, four points for fourth, two points for fifth and one point for sixth). The awards will be presented on Wednesday July 13 by the GISA Coaches Association at the annual Awards Banquet at the Best Western Inn on St Simon’s Island.
The award is named in honor of Dr. Michael Drake who has spent his entire life involved with independent education. From being a student; to a teacher; to a coach; to an administrator; to the Executive Directorship of the Georgia Independent School Association, he has championed the athletic strivings of the student-athletes and coaches of the GISA throughout his entire career. Dr Drake is currently the interim Head of School at Tattnall Square Academy in Macon.
DEA’s point total was led by the boys tennis team that earned 10 points for winning the GISA Class A state title. The runner-up girls tennis team picked up eight more points with their second place finish. Andy Sutton, who coached both DEA tennis teams this past season, will be recognized as the Class A boys tennis Coach of the Year at the Banquet on Wednesday night.
The girls basketball team, the golf team and the girls track and field team at DEA all collected six points each to the total by finishing third in the state in their respective sports. Softball, boys basketball and baseball, all picked up four points each to complete to overall point total.
“Overall I’m proud of the success we had in athletics during the past year” said DEA Athletic Director Andy Callaway. “Eight of our 13 varsity athletic competition teams advanced to the state playoffs and all of them advanced further than the first round. We had one state champion, one runner-up and four other teams finish in the top four. We also had individuals in other sports like cross country, boys track and field and wrestling that did well at the state level but their efforts were not reflected in the point total as only team results were considered.”
Westwood School from Camilla ran away with the top award in single A by winning state championships in football, girls tennis, boys track and field and girls track and field. The Wildcats were also state runner-up in girls basketball, boys tennis and baseball. The rest of the field behind DEA and Thomas Jefferson were: Oak Mountain Academy (38), Georgia Christian School (31), Randolph Southern School (30), Memorial Day School (27), Crisp Academy (25), Westminster Christian Academy (20), Lafayette Christian (18), Nat Greene Academy (15), Dawson Street Christian (10), John Hancock (10), Twiggs Academy (6), Solid Rock Christian (4), Heritage Christian (4), Brandon Hall (4) Heirway Christian (2), New Birth Christian (2), and Providence Christian (2).
Frederica Academy of St Simons won the Dr Michael Drake Athletic Excellence Award in Class AA with 70 points while Mt de Sales of Macon won the award in Class AAA with 89 points.
DEA finishes second in Athletic Excellence
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