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.

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.

The Norcross High boys’ and girls’ basketball teams capped off another memorable year for Blue Devils athletics by winning state championships in March. The two programs have 10 state titles between them, all coming within the last 20 years, and this season was the third time both teams have won the title in the same season.

Boys’ coach Jesse McMillan and girls’ coach Ashley Clanton both said their teams came into the season with talent but not much experience. Both coaches watched their teams grow up quickly as they faced early tests in the first half of the season before hitting their peak in early February.

The boys’ team won 11 of their last 12 games to close out the season, finishing with a 26-6 overall record and a 10-2 mark in Region 7-7A. The Blue Devils won the title game 58-45 against division rival Berkmar, a team that had beaten Norcross three times during the regular season.

The Blue Devils were led by junior guard London Johnson, who is ranked by 247 Sports as the 27th best prospect for the 2023 recruiting class and is the third-ranked player in the state. According to 247, Johnson has offers from 18 Division I schools, including Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, North Carolina, Southern California, Arizona State, Cincinnati, Auburn and Georgetown.

He averaged 18.7 points per game along with 3.3 assists and 1.8 steals. On the inside, Jerry Deng helped lead the Blue Devils with 14.7 points per game and 8.1 rebounds per game. Deng is a three-star recruiting prospect, according to 247, and has offers from Georgia State, Mercer, Georgia, East Carolina and Akron.

With a menacing defense, the girls’ team finished unblemished in region play at 13-0 in Region 7-7A and 26-5 overall as they went on to defeat Harrison High of Kennesaw, Ga., 41-37 in the championship game. The Lady Blue Devils held their opponents to under 30 points nine times and gave up an average of 39.3 points per game throughout the season.

Senior forward Zaria Hurston propelled the Lady Blue Devils, averaging 18 points and 10 rebounds per game. She was named the 2022 Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year by the Gwinnett Daily Post.

More sports success at NHS

The Norcross football team finished 8-4 in 2021 after going 13-1 and making the state semifinals in 2020. The Blue Devils made noise with a near upset of Lowndes, losing 35-34 in a thriller in the second round of the state playoffs. Standout junior receiver Nakai Poole averaged 58.6 receiving yards per game and hauled in 11 touchdown catches on the season. He has not earned a star ranking yet, according to 247 sports, but has early offers from 23 Division I programs, including LSU, Ole Miss, Georgia Tech, Auburn, Cincinnati, Virginia Tech and Virginia.

The girls’ volleyball team won its fourth consecutive region title in Georgia’s highest classification, earning a perfect 6-0 mark in Region 7-7A. The Lady Blue Devils came on strong in the second half of the season after an 8-15 start that included a six-game losing streak. But starting with a 2-1 win over Chamblee High on Sept. 9, the Lady Blue Devils reeled off 11 straight victories and defeated Dunwoody 3-0 in the region title game before falling to Roswell High in the first round of the state tournament.

The girls’ soccer team also had a successful season, tallying a 13-5-1 record and finishing second in Region 7-7A at 9-3. The Lady Blue Devils won seven of their last nine games and earned a first-round playoff win over Milton before losing 3-2 to North Paulding in the second round. Cameron Chapman led the way with 23 goals and eight assists on the season, while goalkeeper Leah Smith made 81 saves.

The girls’ and boys’ tennis teams both made the state tournament, with the girls falling in the first round, while the boys made a run to the state quarterfinals before losing to North Gwinnett.

Featured in our June/July issue of Peachtree Corners Magazine