Valdosta High School

Valdosta High School is a public high school located in Valdosta, Georgia, United States.

Valdosta High School
Address
4590 Inner Perimeter Road

,
31602

United States
Information
School typePublic, high school
School districtValdosta City School District
PrincipalDr. Janice Richardson
Faculty121.50 (FTE)[1]
Grades9-12
Enrollment2,191 (2018-19)[1]
Student to teacher ratio18.03[1]
Color(s)Gold and black   
AthleticsGHSA
Athletics conferenceAAAAAA (6A) Region 1
MascotWildcat
RivalLowndes High School
WebsiteValdosta High School

School

Valdosta High School serves grades 9-12 in the Valdosta City School District.

As of July 1, 2014, the Valdosta City School system still has a federal lawsuit against for failing to comply fully with desegregation. The lawsuit originally filed in 1970 is being reviewed for dismissal by a federal judge.[2]

Athletics

Football

Valdosta High School is home to the high school football program with the most wins in the United States, with a record 929 wins, 235 losses, and 34 ties as of the 2019 season.[3] From 1913-2016, the Wildcats have won six national championships in football, 24 state championships, and 42 regional championships.

Valdosta High plays its home games at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium in downtown Valdosta. Cross-town rival Lowndes High School has also built a strong program, winning five state titles (1980, 1999, 2004, 2005 and 2007).[4] Since 1968, the Wildcats' record against Lowndes County is 33-16 with 0 ties, scoring an average of 20.9 ppg as compared to Lowndes County's 10.1 ppg. The Wildcats, however, had a dry run, losing seven straight until their 21-17 come-from-behind victory in 2011.

In the summer of 2008, due in part to the successes of the Valdosta High School athletic programs, Valdosta was featured on ESPN as a candidate for TitleTown USA.[5] This was a month-long segment on ESPN that started in the spring of 2008 and continued through July. Fans nominated towns and cities across the country based on their championship pedigree. A panel reviewed the nominees and fan voting in May determined the 20th finalist. SportsCenter visited each city in July, and fan voting July 23–27 determined the winner.[6] On July 28, 2008, ESPN named Valdosta as Titletown, United States.

During the 2020 season, the head coach was Rush Propst, formerly at Colquitt County High School in Moultrie, Georgia and Hoover High School in Hoover, Alabama. Propst was put on probation in early 2021 for controversy about paying players for their housing costs.[7] After determining five players were ineligible, the Georgia High School Association fined the Wildcats $7500 and banned the team from playing in the 2021 postseason.[8] The Netflix reality television series Titletown High highlights the team's 2020 season.

The current head coach for the 2021 season is Shelton Felton.[9]

Golf

The boys' golf team at Valdosta High won six consecutive state championships in the 1950s. Valdosta won three state titles in Class A (1954, 1955, 1956), two in Class AA (1957, 1958), and one title in Class AAA (1959).[10] The Valdosta High School golf team won their seventh state championship in 2014 as they claimed the Class AAAAAA title. The golf team has won eight region championships (1959, 1961, 1970, 1977, 1978, 2002, 2003, 2014).[11]

The girls' golf team has also been region champions four times (2000, 2002, 2004, 2005).[11]

Wrestling

Under Coach John Robbins, The Valdosta Wildcats brought home the 2018-2019 Dual and Traditional State Championships, with Freshman Noah Pettigrew winning the 195lb weight class. This is the first time in history the wrestling team has brought home a state championship in either Duals or Traditional.

Official GHSA State Titles

  • Baseball (1) - 1978(3A) [12]
  • Boys' Basketball (1) - 1948(B) [13]
  • Girls' Basketball (2) - 1957(2A), 1961 (3A) [14]
  • Football (22) - 1951(A), 1952(A), 1953(A), 1956(2A), 1957(2A), 1960(3A), 1961(3A), 1962(3A), 1965(3A), 1966(3A), 1968(3A), 1969(3A), 1971(3A), 1978(4A), 1982(4A), 1984(4A), 1986(4A), 1989(4A), 1990(4A), 1992(4A), 1998(4A), 2016(6A) [15]
  • Boys' Golf (6) - 1954(A), 1955(A), 1956(A), 1957(2A), 1958(2A), 1959(3A) [16]
  • Boys' Tennis (1) - 1991(4A; singles format) [17]
  • Girls' Tennis (1) - 1981(4A) [18]
  • Girls' Track (2) - 1980(4A), 1981(4A) [19]
  • Duals Wrestling (1) - 2019(6A)
  • Traditional Wrestling (1) - 2019(6A) [20]

Other GHSA State Titles

  • Literary (6) - 1950(B), 1951(A), 1952(A), 1953(A), 1955(A), 1956(A) [21]

GIAA State Titles

  • Football (2) - 1940(B), 1947(B) [22]

Claimed & Unofficial State Titles

  • Football (1) - 1920 [23]

Notable alumni

References

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