Athletics

GPS ATHLETIC NEWS FOR 2021-22 SCHOOL YEAR

By Jay Watts, Director of Athletics

THIS SCHOOL YEAR saw a welcomed return to a near pre-COVID level of competition across all our athletic teams. Competing in sports provides a healthy outlet for stress, allows girls to form bonds with their teammates and coaches, offers leadership opportunities, and sets students up for long-term success. Plus it’s just a lot of fun playing with people you love being around! And our families sure enjoy seeing our girls complete. Read below for recaps of a year’s worth of athletic endeavors.

Through Bruiser Boosters, a group that includes eight corporate sponsors in addition to dozens of parents, the athletic department was able to purchase Teambuildr, a software that best supports our athletes with specialized programming in the weight room. Head Strength Coach Matt Green now considers the platform an essential part of training strategy.

“This software allows us to easily track our athletes' progress and fine tune their workouts accordingly to help put them in the best possible position to be successful,” Green says. “More recently, this software has also provided an important additional benefit through allowing us to easily and quickly deliver online workouts whenever needed so our athletes can keep training regardless of the situation. I am incredibly thankful that our GPS Bruiser Boosters gives us the resources to support our girls this way.”

FALL SPORTS

All four of our TSSAA fall sport teams—CROSS COUNTRY, GOLF, SOCCER, and VOLLEYBALL—received academic recognition for maintaining at least a 3.0 or higher GPA during their seasons, with cross country, golf, and soccer all maintaining team GPAs of 3.5 or better. Our fall non-TSSAA teams— cheerleading and rowing—would have qualified for academic recognition by the TSSAA if those were sanctioned sports. When you think about the level of success that is achieved by our teams in competition, it is even more remarkable to see how well our athletes perform in the classroom.

Two of our teams finished in the top four in the state at the end of their seasons. SOCCER reached the Division II AA state semifinals, falling to the eventual state champions, Harpeth Hall. GPS CROSS COUNTRY finished third out of 17 teams at the state meet as the Honeybears from Harpeth Hall ended up with that title as well.

AVA AND OLIVIA SCOTCHIE ’22 both qualified for the state golf tournament as individuals. Ava ended her season with a career best score of 79 in the final round.

GPS VOLLEYBALL finished a rebuilding season with a lot of momentum heading into next year. The Bruisers picked up wins over CCS and Signal Mountain during the regular season and won their division at the local River City Rumble tournament.

The GPS ROWING TEAM was able to enjoy a full fall season in the new GPS | McCallie Rowing Center that officially opened in September and ended with a strong performance at the annual Head of the Hooch Regatta. Our entry in the Youth U19 4x finished fourth out of almost 40 entries and was the top scholastic team in the event. Our U19 2x team of Ella Ingalls ’22 and Maddie Flynn ’22 finished seventh out of over 50 entries.

Our GPS | MCCALLIE BLUE CREW CHEERLEADERS helped cheer on McCallie to their third consecutive state football championship at Finley Stadium on December 2. The following UPPER SCHOOL ATHLETES won additional individual recognition this fall:

» Scholastic All-American in swimming: Ellie Taliaferro ’22 » All-State Cross Country: Frances Bohner ’25, Mariah Ivery ’25, and Gilly Shumate ’25 » News 12 Now Scholar Athlete of the Week: McKamey Bratcher ’23 » All-Region Soccer: Kennedy Ball ’23 (MVP), Sasha Carbone ’23,

Farah House ’26, and Gardner Rustand ’22 » All-Region Volleyball: Ansley Blevins ’22 » Cross Country: Frances Bohner '25, Mariah Ivery '25, and Gilly Shumate '25 were named Best of Preps by the

Chattanooga Times Free Press. » Soccer: Kennedy Ball '23 and Sasha Carbone '23 were named

Best of Preps by the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Our MIDDLE SCHOOL TEAMS all represented the school well this fall:

» Volleyball had an amazing season with several big wins that included a tournament championship at Heritage High School. » Nora Armstrong ’27 and Helen Kates ’28 finished first and second, respectively, at the regional cross country championships at

Woodland Park. » Softball ended its season on a high note with a win over Baylor at

Baylor. » A group of Bruisers from our Middle School club tennis program won a USTA middle school state tournament in Nashville.

The following UPPER SCHOOL ATHLETES won additional individual recognition this winter: » Swimming: Our 400-yard freestyle relay team of

Ellie Taliaferro '22, Scout Chapin ’24, Frances Bohner ’25, and Keller Williamson ’23 won state. » Basketball: Kennedy Ball '23 and Farah House '26 were named All-Region.

Our MIDDLE SCHOOL ATHLETES were able to enjoy successful seasons of basketball, swimming, diving, and cheerleading over the winter months. » For the second year in a row, our swimming and diving team won the NW Georgia Championships. » Our basketball team enjoyed a great win over Baylor. » Sixth-graders at GPS were able to participate in cheerleading for the first time this winter, and we look forward to adding them to our annual athletic offerings. » Ellie Taliaferro ’22 set two school records at the meet, upping her tally to four during her GPS swimming career. She was also part of a state champion 400yard freestyle relay team that included

Scout Chapin ’24, Frances Bohner ’25, and Keller Williamson ’23. » Kendall Rizer ’23 and Anabel Wilson ’23 qualified for the finals in diving scoring additional points for the Bruisers in the final standings.

WINTER SPORTS

Our SWIMMING AND DIVING PROGRAMS saw great success in the pool this year. The Bruisers finished second overall in the TISCA state meet on February 12—the highest GPS has finished in the final team standings in 20 years!

Head coach ROGER DAHLKE was named State Girls Coach of the Year.

In January, our VARSITY BOWLING TEAM represented GPS at the TSSAA State Championship in Smyrna, losing to St. Benedict in the quarterfinals after qualifying as the secondplace team in the region. The Bruisers finished the regular season with a 7-1 record thanks to leadership from Caroline Farris ’22, Emily Richardson ’22, Gardner Rustand ’22, Julia Wiedmer ’22, and Sam Williams ’22.

After having to field a noncompetitive schedule last year because of COVID-19, our CLIMBERS were able to get back on the wall and perform at a high level against a number of area high school programs. GPS finished the season with a three-match winning streak led by Abby Kueter ’22 and Chloe Newman ’22. Climbers took part in 11 meets at High Point gyms across the area. Of nine climbers on the team, four had never competed before, so this year was more of a development season. Coach Sean Caulfield reported significant improvements across the season, with each team score higher than the previous meet and our climbers posting high points at two meets.

BASKETBALL dropped a tough game against Knox Webb at home to close out their regular season. The Bruisers finished the year with a 10-11 record that included big wins over Baylor, Rhea County, South Pittsburg, and CCS. The away win over Baylor was especially satisfying as the Raiders had defeated GPS at home earlier in the season.

SPRING SPORTS

Our SOFTBALL program finished second in the state, dropping their final game during the TSSAA Spring Fling but not before another 20-win season and a record-breaking performance at the plate from Ansley Blevins ’22, who was named the Chattanooga Times Free Press Player of the Year after setting a new school standard for home runs in a season.

Our East Region champion GPS TRACK AND FIELD squad also competed at Spring Fling and finished sixth. Emily Kreek ’22 set a new school record in the 300-meter hurdles en route to a first place finish in that event.

LACROSSE set a new school record for goals in one season and reached the TGLA State Semifinals before falling to the eventual state champion, Harpeth Hall. Reagan Ziegler ’23 and Evie Jackson ’22 were both named to the All-State team.

Our ROWING program placed two boats in the SRAA Championships in New Jersey, and we look forward to seeing our younger rowers return next year even stronger.

TENNIS reached the state quarterfinals after defeating Harpeth Hall 4-0 in the opening round. The Bruisers also picked up wins over CCS and Brentwood during the regular season. The following UPPER SCHOOL ATHLETES won additional individual recognition this spring

» Softball: Ansley Blevins '22, McKamey Bratcher '23, Maddie

Grace Hubbard '22, and Abbie Reel '22 were all named All-

Region. Ansley was also named Region Player of the Year.

Ansley Blevins '22 and Abbie Reel '22 were named Best of

Preps by the Chattanooga Times Free Press, with Ansley also nominated as the Scrappy Moore Female Athlete of the Year. » Lacrosse: Abi Austin '22, Evie Jackson '22, Gracie Pritchett '24,

CJ Polk '22, Chapel Tremain '23, and Reagan Ziegler '23 were all named All-Region. Evie and Reagan were both on the Division

II All-State team as well. » Track and Field: Louisa Bohner '22 (Shot Put), Frances Bohner '25 (1600 Meter), and Emily Kreek '22 (300 Hurdles) all set school records this season. Emily was named Best of Preps by the Chattanooga Times Free Press. » CJ Polk '22 was recognized as a WGOW Sport Talk Senior

Spotlight winner for lacrosse and basketball in May.

Our MIDDLE SCHOOL ATHLETES continue to impress in their spring competitions:

» Fourteen members of our track and field team qualified for the

East Tennessee Elite Championships in Knoxville. » Lacrosse wrapped up another great season in April with multiple wins over Baylor. » Golf also defeated Baylor in the regular season before moving on to win the district championship at Brainerd Golf Course in May. » Tennis competed well in the face of a strong schedule and collected wins against Baylor and Dalton.

HEAD COACHING UPDATES

COACH ALFIE DODD returns to GPS this fall as our head varsity volleyball coach. Dodd coached volleyball at GPS in 2016 and 2017, winning the Choo Choo City Invitational in ’17 as well as taking the Bruisers to the state tournament. A Division I athlete at the University of Memphis, Dodd was the MVP of the Tigers’ volleyball team in 1997 and was a part of the USAV indoor men’s program for 15 years, playing competitively in a number club circuits until 2016. He coached locally at Boyd Buchannan in 2014 and 2015 winning two district championships with the Buccaneers and reaching the state quarterfinals in 2014.

We are also excited to welcome back BETSY BROWDER ’10 as our new head middle school cheerleading coach. Browder was a member of the GPS Blue Crew during her time as a Bruiser and on the GPS competitive squad as well. She will lead our expanded Middle School program that now includes sixth-graders. The middle school girls will be able to cheer in both the fall and winter this next school year. DAN SHARPLIN will head up the new GPS squash program next winter after leading the McCallie program to great heights this year. Coach Sharplin attended UDC Finance Squash Institute of New Zealand, a school for elite players, and had the opportunity to play as a professional in the 1990s. Sharplin has also directed and coached at several clubs around the world and had the opportunity to serve as a National Coach of the Luxembourg Squash Federation. We look forward to seeing the work he can do with the Bruisers in just a few months. Squash will be a varsity winter sport at GPS.

Replacing the retiring Susan Crownover, LONDON CORNELIUS will join us this fall as a PE teacher and varsity softball coach. Since 2018, Cornelius has served as a PK-8 physical education teacher, health and wellness teacher, athletic director, and team leader at Wake Forest Charter Academy in North Carolina. She is a two-time collegiate softball captain and has also served as an NCAA coach. She has extensive experience working with softball athletes of all ages, specifically in outfielder development and defensive strategies.

FOLLOW GPS ATHLETICS ON FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, AND TWITTER.

@BRUISERATHLETICS @GPS_ATHLETICS @BRUISERSPORTS

COLLEGE

ANSLEY BLEVINS

Softball | Middle Tennessee State University

LOUISA BOHNER

Track & Field | Auburn University

MADDIE FLYNN

Rowing | West Virginia University

MADDIE GRACE HUBBARD

Softball | Huntingdon College

EMILY KREEK

Track & Field | College of Charleston

CLAIRE NICOLA ELLIE TALIAFERRO

Volleyball | Webster University

Swimming | Vanderbilt University SIGNINGS