The 2024-2025 school year has brought exciting extracurricular additions to the International Charter Academy of Georgia (ICAGeorgia), with the launch of new cross country and track programs.

Intended for upper-elementary and middle school students in grades 4-6, the new programs were started by Coach Shawn Nix, who joined the ICAGeorgia staff this fall. She comes to the school with 17 years of teaching experience in the Gwinnett County School System and 13 years of coaching experience. She was named Gwinnett County Coach of the Year twice during her tenure there.

Nix said that her goal in creating the cross country and track programs at ICAGeorgia was to “give students an introduction to cross country, teach them the value of teamwork and cultivate the future generation of runners.”

“The parents are thrilled about the addition of the cross country program,” she added. “They’ve expressed their excitement to me, and they are at practice and meets supporting the athletes.” 

Cross country

Twenty-three academy students signed up for cross country this year, excited to be part of the inaugural team.

The season began on September 3 with the school’s first meet at Legacy Park in Decatur, where students competed in the one-mile dash against 210 other athletes from Atlanta area-schools.

Three of the school’s young athlete’s placed, with one sixth grader taking third in the girls division; another sixth grade student placing 24th in the boys division and one fourth grader placing 16th in the boys division.

They recently wrapped up the season on November 13 with a meet held at Midtown High School.

Though the season was short — most meets had already closed their entries by late August, and one meet was cancelled due to Hurricane Helene — the ICAGeorgia team was able to get in two good competitions and a lot of practice sessions.

Track season

According to Coach Nix, some students that were interested in cross country weren’t able to sign up for the team in time, but they’ve said they will be coming out for track in the spring. She’s expecting at least 20 students to join the team.

Track season begins in February, and the opening meet is scheduled for March 8at Lanier High School in Sugar Hill.

Upcoming track meets will feature the following events: long jump, triple jump, high jump, shot put, disc throw, 3200m, 1600m, 800m, 400m and 4×100, 400 and 800m relays.

Future plans

Following the success of the new cross country and track programs, Coach Nix shared that ICAGeorgia plans to offer more after-school sports in the near future.

“The sports we add will be gauged by an interest survey, keeping in mind the facilities we have,” she said. “But we would love to add basketball and soccer.”

For more about ICAGeorgia, visit them at internationalcharteracademy.org.

The Greater Atlanta Christian School (GAC) Athletic Department has announced that Crystal Lee will take the helm as the new Head Volleyball Coach at GAC.

“I am excited to announce that we have selected Crystal Lee as our new Head Volleyball Coach,” said GAC Athletic Director Tim Hardy. “Crystal Lee embodies the characteristics we want in a head coach at GAC. First, she has a strong Christian faith that guides her daily life.

“Second, she has a natural ability to connect with student-athletes and foster trust through relationships. Third, she loves Volleyball and has a passion for using the game to develop her athletes as people, as well as players. Finally, she has a clear vision for the future of Spartan Volleyball.”

Coach Lee was a GAC Varsity Assistant Coach during the 2022 season and played an instrumental role for the Spartans’ state championship team. She previously coached at Johns Creek High School from 2019-2021, and she coached club Volleyball at 575 Volleyball and A5 South as well. Coach Lee also played collegiate Volleyball at Georgia State University from 2015-2018.

“I am honored and privileged to serve as the head coach of this program, and I look forward to inspiring and developing these young women not only as exceptional athletes but also as outstanding members of the community. It is my prayer that these young women will be guided into successful lives after GAC, regardless of whether or not they pursue athletics,” Coach Lee said.

“As an assistant last year, I witnessed the program’s success, but I was most inspired by the guiding principles that embody GAC’s mission. The rich tradition of academic, spiritual, and athletic excellence of GAC is a place that I am honored to be a part of, and I’m humbled to take on this role,” she added.

Wesleyan School graduate Druw Jones ’22 was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks as the second overall selection in last night’s Major League Baseball draft.

A Wesleyan evergreen who attended Wesleyan from kindergarten through twelfth grade, Jones completed his high school baseball career alongside his teammates and coaches when the team won the state championship in May of this year. This summer, Jones was named the Gatorade Georgia Baseball Player of the Year, and he is a two-time Gwinnett Daily Post high school baseball player of the year. Jones currently holds Wesleyan School records for career and single season batting average, as well as most hits.“Coaching Druw in high school has been a delight,” said Brian Krehmeyer, Wesleyan’s varsity baseball coach. “Not only is he an incredibly gifted player, but he is also a great teammate. I could not be more thrilled for Druw and his family.”

In his senior season, Jones finished the season with a .570 batting average, 13 homeruns, 72 runs, and 32 stolen bases.