The champion newspaper. (Decatur, GA) 19??-current, February 08, 2024, Image 9
SPORTS THE CHAMPION, THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 8 - 14, 2024 • PAGE 9 STAR Continued From Page 1 Gordon on Atlanta United 2—which is a reserve team and will slate him against other Major League Soccer (MLS) teams next season—until he makes the jump to the Atlanta United First Team on a Homegrown Player contract in 2025. Gordon has also made four appearances and recorded one goal for Jamaica's under 17 national team, all of which came at the 2023 championship in Guatemala. The goal Gordon scored for the national team came on Feb. 12, 2023, in a 4-2 win against Cuba. The schedule for the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro- the league Gordon will play in—had not been released at press time. A former Tucker High School student from Decatur was signed by Atlanta United at the age of 16. Photo provided by Atlanta United Chamblee surges for county swim title BY MARK BROCK Chamblee High School's Lady Bulldogs swim team collected 13 top-three finishes Feb. 2 - 3 to win a Dekalb County School District (DCSD) Swimming and Diving Championship over defending champion Lakeside High School by a score of 239-219. The win marked Chamblee's fourth country championship in six seasons, and it combined with the Bulldogs victory on the boys' side to give Chamblee its first-ever sweep of the county swim meet. Emily Myers got Chamblee started by winning the one-meter diving gold with a score of 374.60. It was Myers' second consecutive win in the event after finishing third in 2022. The win also qualified her for state. Mena Alexandrova (5:23.24) won the 500-yard freestyle gold; teammate Hailey Hamilton (5:28.32) finished second in a one-two finish for Chamblee. Both swimmers scored state qualifying times. L.C. Smith grabbed the third individual gold for Chamblee with a state qualifying time of 1:00.61 in her second consecutive win in the 100 backstroke. The win gave Chamblee another one-two finish as Sonia L.C. Smith won an individual gold in the 100-meter backstroke and in the 200-yard relay. Peters finished second in 1:02.82 to also qualify for state. Chamblee picked up the gold in the 200-yard medley relay as the team of Smith, Mina Overway, Caroline Johnson, and Alexandrova swam a time of 1:55.40. It was Chamblee's third consecutive gold in the event at the county championships. Lakeside swam to 10 top-three finishes including six gold medals as the Lady Vikings came close to a repeat in the championships. Katelyn McClintock and Sophia Hook doubled on individual golds to lead the Lakeside charge. Hook became a six-time county champion by sweeping the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle races for the third consecutive season. She swam state qualifying times of 24.69 in the 50 and 54.96 in the 100. McClintock won her fourth and fifth county gold medals as she racked up state qualifying times in the second consecutive sweep of the 200-yard freestyle (1:58.56) and the 100-yard butterfly (1:00.28). She also won the 100 backstroke in 2021. Lyla Richards swam to gold in the 200 individual medley (2:15.00) while also qualifying for state to round out the individual golds for SEE SWIMMING ON PAGE 10