On Wednesday, May 19th, Allatoona High School hosted its third annual "Night of Champions" to award and acknowledge its more than 500 student-athletes. The home stands at Buccaneer Stadium were filled with family and friends as "Buc Nation" assembled one last time to celebrate a very successful sports year for the school.

Athletic Director Amie Howard got the evening started with opening comments. "While many other schools around the country weren't even participating in sports this year," she said, "Allatoona was practicing, playing, and winning championships." 

AD Howard went on to thank coaches, parents, and the athletes themselves for adhering to all COVID regulations and precautions that added another level of responsibility on top of an already demanding academic and athletic schedule. "It's because of you that this season has been such an exceptional one for Allatoona sports," Howard said gratefully.

13 of Allatoona's sports team made it to the postseason during the 2020-21 school year. Most made it to the Elite 8 or better, while some broke school records—18 of them in the case of the Swim and Dive team—and won state championships (HotShotz Dance in Hip Hop and High Kick, sprinter Eric Young in the 200-meter dash, and Hannah Stumpf won her third straight diving title.)

The school nominated dozens and dozens of its athletes for Positive Athlete (PA) commendations and recognized two as winners from last year's PA Awards. Kevin Malenius was recognized as a Positive Athlete in Basketball, and Hunter and Fisher Paulsen were recognized as Positive Athletes in Baseball. Hunter and Fisher also received the Buccaneer Triumph Award later in the ceremony.

Dual-sport athletes at Allatoona number around 130 and were officially recognized, as well as 10 multiple-sport athletes competing in three sports, with one competing in four (Rhett Howard).

Cobb Schools' Director of Athletics Don Baker announced that Sophia Haag and Jackson Fountain were finalists for the Georgia Athletic Directors Association (GADA) scholarship. Baker went on to reveal the exciting news that Sophia was the female winner of the GADA scholarship. Haag and Fountain were also awarded the Compass Award for the year, announced by Allatoona's first AD, Benji Morrell (now principal at Pickett's Mill Elementary).

Candace Wilkes, principal at Allatoona, announced the winners of the penultimate award of the evening: the Admiral's Award. Winners of the Admiral's Award display honor, authenticity, cooperation, and team spirit in the most positive way possible, and the 2020-21 winners were Shelby Sorrells and Colin Albert.

To close out the Night of Champions, assistant softball coach Mark Bagwell announced that the Competition Cheer team was voted as the Team of the Year for the Buccaneers. Cheer head coach Anette Gratzer was presented the eight-foot-high trophy, appropriately topped with a one-gallon water bottle, to proudly display in her classroom for the coming year.

Congratulations to all Allatoona student-athletes and coaches for an amazing year of sport. We look forward to what you have in store for us in 2021-22. Go Bucs!