After torrential rains postponed the state golf championships last week in Columbus, they’ll final hit the course today with the boys playing at the Maple Ridge Golf Course and the girls at the Country Club of Columbus.

For the boys, Lumpkin County and Johnson will both be representing Region 7-AAA. The Knights shot a 299 to win the region championship two weeks ago at Achasta in Dahlonega, while the Indians carded a 306, which was good enough for second.

Lumpkin County junior Aaron George won the individual region title.

The Maple Ridge Golf Course is a par-72, 6,600 yard course. State heavyweights Columbus, St. Pius X and Spalding will also be teeing it up and looking for the state’s top prize.

The Lady Red Elephants, ranked seventh in Class AAA, will be tackling the 6,000 yard layout and par-71 course at Columbus’ country club course.

Meanwhile, the Red Elephants boys soccer team is making things interesting in their pursuit of a Class AAA state title. With a 2-1 victory over Perry last Friday, Gainesville (17-0) is in the state semifinals for the first time since 2003. The Red Elephants need two more wins to capture its first state title since a Class A/AA championship in 1998.

Next on the table for Gainesville is a trip to face No. 7-ranked Southeast Whitfield (17-4) on Tuesday in Dalton for a spot in the championship match. On the other side of the bracket, St. Pius X (17-0-1), the defending state champion and ranked in the top 10 nationally, will face Woodward Academy (17-3) for a spot in the state title game. 

This week also marks the state championships for boys track and field at the Georgia Olympics at Memorial Stadium on Thursday-Saturday in Jefferson.

Many local athletes are looking to repeat state titles from last season, while others are looking to capture their first spot atop the podium.

In the pole vault, Jefferson’s Tyler Porter in Class AA and Gainesville’s Paul Malquist in Class AAA are both looking to repeat their state titles from 2009. In the discus, North Hall’s Peyton Wilhoite is a legitimate contender to win it all after already throwing 188 feet this season. He finished third at state last year at 159 feet, 11 inches.

Jefferson’s Josh Kles also has a chance to placing in the shot put and discus after winning Region 8-AA championships in both events. He finished fifth in the discus last season (145-3).

Buford’s C.J. Moore placed last season in the 100 meter and Riverside’s Yeong-Seo Oh finished in the top five in the 300 hurdles. Moore placed eighth in the 100 last season and Seo-Oh finished fourth in the 300 hurdles.

North Hall’s Ty McCormack is also going to be in the mix to win the 1,600 and 3,200 run. His goal is to break 9 minutes in the two-mile race.

The high school baseball playoffs move on to Round 2 this Wednesday for another best-of-three series. In Class AA, Buford and Jefferson have both survived the first round.

The Wolves (20-7) face the Pike County starting Wednesday in Zebulon. The Dragons (24-3) will play host to Blessed Trinity at Horace J. Jackson Field.

In Class AAA, Gainesville (26-2) will face Dunwoody in the second round Wednesday at Ivey-Watson Field. Game 3, if necessary is Thursday.