With an illustrious 2023 fall sports season finally coming to an end, North Atlanta now rears itself to challenge the previous Dubs sports stardom. The most recent fall season saw countless records broken and historic records set. From a star-studded cross-country squad to a fourth straight region championship in softball, and the greatest season in program history for football, the fall season has set an impressive precedent for the North Atlanta sports department. Now, with the spring season and January tryouts growing ever closer, how do these sports look to shape up and compete in 2024.
The North Atlanta track team has seen unprecedented success in recent years. Under the leadership of head coach Bryce Doe, the Warriors have never lost a region championship. This success culminated in last year’s stellar state championship performances with a 2nd place finish on the boys side and a 7th place finish for the girls. Despite losing plenty of senior talent, including multiple division one collegiate athletes, such as sprinter Carl Murray who is now at Charleston Southern and distance runner Sumner Kirsch who is now at Georgia, the squad still has plenty of talent to compete for another region title. The boys are led by senior sprinter Darius Malcolm Jr. senior distance runner Teddy Meredith. The girls are led by Kayleigh Stargell, who is committed to Vanderbilt, and senior distance runner Catherine Townsend. “Last year set a standard for us, and we know that we can challenge for another region championship,” said Malcolm, “We came so close to winning state last year and we know we have the talent to seal the deal this year.”
On the diamond, the Warriors decimated everybody on their schedule in route to an undefeated region championship. The team was led by outfielder Isaiah Drake and infielder Antonio Anderson, who are playing professionally, and now Rutgers pitcher Gunnar Plante. Despite all of this talent and an amazing regular season, the Warriors fell to a talented Tift County team in the second round of the playoffs. Off the back of this heartbreaking finish, the 2024 squad with plenty of future collegiate talent including Georgia Tech commit Ira Jeffries-Harris and two-sport star Xaden Benson look to once again cruise through the region and make a deep state playoff run.
Warriors’ soccer has been a consistent playoff contender in recent years on both the boys’ and girls’ sides. The boys side returns plenty of talent and looks to return to the playoffs after last year’s disappointment. They are led by senior captain’s goalkeeper Keller Martin and midfielder Owen Patton. For the girls, they look to finish what they started last season. Even though they cruised through the playoffs all the way to the third round where they fell in a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Pope. This year the team is led by senior and collegiate talent Avery Braswell and junior Quinn Alpers. Lacrosse returns in a similar position to the soccer team with both the girls and boys looking to once again go to the playoffs. The boys are led by seniors Brooks Newberry and Colin Crites as they look to avenge their first-round playoff exit at the hands of Lassiter. The girls are led by seniors Anna Samuelson and Kenzie crow as they look to make their way back into playoffs. “We know we can do something this year,” said senior soccer player Mary Martin, “I can’t wait to get back on the pitch and show the state what we can do.”
With tryouts and the start of the spring season growing ever closer, everyone surrounding North Atlanta sports can’t wait to make a splash in the state sports scene. With tons of talent across the board and multiple future collegiate stars, the future of North Atlanta sports looks bright.
