Wall-to-wall winners

Columbia County's high school athletes stayed very busy last week, and even when their prep competitions were complete, there still was work to do.

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Of course, lifting trophies is more like a labor of love.

Pick a sport, any sport, and it's likely that a Columbia County squad claimed a championship.

The Greenbrier Lady Wolfpack defended their Region 3-AAAA track-and-field crown with a clutch performance in the region finals Monday at the Brierpatch.

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In golf, Augusta Preparatory Day School took some young guns to the Class AAA state golf tournament Monday in Albany, where the Cavaliers crushed their opponents en route to a Georgia Independent Schools Association title.

Evans High School's golfers surged to the top in the Region 7-AAAAA tournament Tuesday in Atlanta. The Knights won the team and individual titles, while a Lady Knight junior added another medalist honor.

The Augusta Christian School baseball team took a positive first step toward a state championship. The squad opened the GISA state playoffs Tuesday, and the Lions put on a fireworks show for the home crowd. AC swept the doubleheader against Arlington Christian with a pair of 15-0 blowouts.

Augusta Christian's boys tennis team finished 2003 with a bang. The Lions dominated the GISA Class AAA state tournament Wednesday at Newman Tennis Center, where AC easily defended its state title.

The Augusta Prep Lady Cavaliers almost added another team tennis title Wednesday, but dropped a heartbreaker in the finals against Stratford Academy.

Don't forget public-school tennis - Lakeside High School certainly won't.

The Panthers and Lady Panthers swept to titles at the Region 3-AAAA tournament, and those Tuesday triumphs were nothing new - Lakeside's teams have combined to earn 29 region championship trophies since the school opened in 1988.

Lakeside's squads have had a shot at 30 region titles, but nobody's perfect.

Then again, as last week proved, Columbia County's athletes can come pretty close.