When Richmond Hill was bumped up to Class 7A at the start of this past school year the big question was how the Wildcats would fare athletically.
Now that the final ball has been kicked, thrown, bounced, hit or caught it can be said the Wildcats more than held their own.
A fixture in the Top 10 in the Directors Cup standings the last several years regardless of classification Richmond Hill finished ninth overall in the highest classification standings with a combined 993 points.
Points are awarded using state playoff results with each school’s eight highest boys and girls team finishers scoring sports. Richmond Hill’s boys teams accumulated 478 points in finishing 11th overall while the girls were ninth with 515 points.
Lambert, which won four state championships worth 100 points each, finished first for the sixth time in the last eight years with 1,347 points. The Wildcats easily outdistanced Lowndes County in Region 1-7A as the Vikings, who won the state championship in baseball, tallied 846 points.
“Finishing ninth in the Directors Cup standings was a great accomplishment for our athletic program,” said first-year athletic director Stacy Bennett. “It gives us a snapshot of how we match up across the state.
“With us being so isolated it is hard to track at times,” Bennett said. “It also validates what are focus points as coaches and athletic directors.
“Our mission is to use the vehicles of our respective teams to move and grow young men and women. Keeping a service mindset, teamwork and work ethic at the forefront it allows us to make clear decisions day to day and for the future.”
Now retired athletic director Mickey Bayens was a driving force in improving the Wildcats overall athletic program and Bennett played a key role, too, as the most successful baseball coach in school history and then as Bayens’ assistant for two years.
While every Wildcats team except football, boys basketball and girls tennis qualified for the state playoffs points are awarded based on playoff performance.
An excellent example of how the system works can be found in Bryan County High School which had an outstanding year but yet failed to score a point in the DC standings.
The Redskins had playoff teams in football, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, volleyball, softball and baseball while qualifying individuals in track and wrestling. However, no team made it past the first round thus no points were awarded.
Softball, it should be noted, won its Super Regional but for scoring purposes teams were not bracketed until they reached the Elite Eight in Columbus. The Redskins failed to get out of the first round.
Richmond Hill’s most successful teams in terms of state playoffs finish were registered by Coach Jillian Yontz’s cheerleading squad which finished third in the state. That was good for 85 points and the gameday cheerleading team was fourth for 80 points.
The top finish by a boys team was Coach Steve Peterson’s soccer team which reached the third round of the playoffs for a statewide fifth-place finish for 70 points.
The Wildcats lost to eventual state champion Lambert, 2-0. Two other Richmond Hill teams also lost to state champions as girls soccer was knocked out in the third round by Denmark. Baseball finished second in the region to Lowndes which beat Parkview for its first state title in 20 years.
Parkview, incidentally, beat Coach Hill Thomas’ team in the second round of the playoffs so baseball saw two opponents face one another in the state title game.
“On the coaching side our coaches are relentless in building culture, preparation and innovation,” Bennett said. “We are very blessed to have a community, parents and athletes that also put those concepts at the front.
“There is no secret to success. It takes what it takes! No matter the classification the blueprint stays the same.”
The top scoring girls teams behind the cheerleading squads were: fifth-place soccer 70 points, ninth-place cross country 63 points, 11th-place golf 57 points, 12thplace track 54 points, ninth-place lacrosse 53 points and ninth-place volleyball 53 points.
Following boys soccer were: eighth-place golf 66 points, eight-place cross country 66 points, 10-th-place swimming 60 points and wrestling traditional 11thplace 57 points with wrestling duals, baseball, lacrosse and tennis all earning ninth-place finishes for 53 points. Only three of the ninth-place teams were counted.
Of teams whose statewide finish were not counted boys track was 29th for 16 points while girls swimming was 19th for 36, flag football, basketball and softball all had 25 points each with 17th-place finishes.