Sports

Pope Softball, Cross Country Teams Excel

The Lady Greyhounds reached the state finals while both cross country teams stood out in the regional meet this weekend.

The fall sports strength of Pope High School teams goes beyond football and volleyball.

This weekend the Lady Greyhounds softball team reached as far as it has ever gone, falling Saturday in the Class AAAAA finals to Union Grove in two games. 

After defeating Union Grove to get to the finals, Pope dropped 1-0 and 4-3 decisions in ending its best season with a 28-7 record.

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Pope also advanced to the eight-team final weekend for the first time in school history.

As coach Chris Turco told The Marietta Daily Journal: "Four years ago we didn't even have a winning record in fast-pitch, and now this senior class took us to the state championship [game] our first time in Columbus."

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In Canton on Saturday, the Pope boys cross country team won the Region 7-AAAAA title, and the girls finished second.

The individual region champions also come from Pope, as Patrick Fleming set a new course record time of 15:37.38 to win the boys title. Girls champion Ashley Kehoe finished in 19:22.33.

Both teams have a bit of a break before the Nov. 10 Georgia High School Association meet in Carrollton.

The Pope football team extended its winning streak to six games on Friday, holding on to defeat Riverwood 13-10. That sets up the Greyhounds for next Friday's game at Kell that will determine the Region 7-AAAAA Subregion B champion.

The Pope volleyball team reached the second round of the Class AAAAA GHSA playoffs but fell to McIntosh, ending Pope's bid for a fourth consecutive state title.


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