Editor’s Note: The Lake Oconee News is doing a three-part series called ‘State of the Program’ that will recap each area school’s year in sports. The series will include interviews and thoughts from the athletic directors at Lake Oconee Academy, Greene County High School and Morgan County High School. In this week’s edition, LON will start with Lake Oconee Academy.
Lake Oconee Academy had a lot of athletic success during the 2021-22 school year.
According to Titans’ athletic director Chris Ingle, LOA teams won seven region championships, four state championships and added two state runner-up finishes as well.
There were also eight student-athletes that signed letters of intent to play sports at the next level. Additionally, seven other students at Lake Oconee Academy earned Region Player of the Year or State Player of the Year honors. Finally, several coaches were named Coach of the Year in their respective sports.
Ingle credited seniors of the class of 2022 for all of its leadership throughout the school year.
“They’ve all been involved in LOA athletics since they were little kids here,” Ingle said. “It’s neat to see. Last year (in 2020-21), I think we had some kids that were pre-K and were all the way through graduation, but a lot of this group (this past senior class) started and finished. So, you get to literally see them progress through a long period of time, which is pretty rewarding to see.”
Ingle started at LOA in 2014 when there were roughly 30 students enrolled in the high school. During that time, the athletic program was at its inception.
“It was tough to try and put teams together back then,” Ingle said. “Even two or three years in, it was hard. I remember one season in soccer, we had 11 players, and if someone got hurt, we played with ten. So, to go from that just a few years ago to all of these championships and achievements, it’s incredible. To be honest, it has happened a lot faster than I thought it would.”
Over the years, Lake Oconee Academy has added more sports for its athletes to compete in. Most recently, the school started a football program, which is in its second year. Before that, it was tennis, which had already had success.
According to Ingle, the school will continue to grow until it reaches its limit.
“Our current eighth-grade class has 88 students in it,” Ingle said. “All of the classes below that have the same amount of students. So, we have four more years until we’re fully grown into what the size our charter says we will be.”
Ingle stated that LOA won’t add another sport for this upcoming year but could in the future.
“We don’t want to start something that isn’t 100 percent fully supported, doesn’t have a commitment from the players or that would take away from another sport that is already established,” he said. “It will be at least a couple of years, but I can see us adding track and wrestling at some point. It may be in that four-year timeframe when we’re fully developed as a school.”
Despite success in some of its most popular sports, Lake Oconee Academy has gone through some major coaching changes in the past few months. Most notably, head football coach Drew Anthony has moved on to another position at Putnam County High School. Also, girls’ basketball head coach Ed Wilson has returned to Frederica Academy after winning a state title in his first year. He also coached a state championship-winning team in girls’ golf.
Other head coaching departures include girls’ soccer coach Jacob Baxley, boys’ basketball coach Ricard Patton and baseball coach Jeremy Donaldson.
Ingle said he wants the ‘longevity’ of a coach when he hires them at LOA, but at the same time, he understands that sometimes other opportunities come about.
“We’re are extremely excited about this coaching staff that we’ve got coming up this year,” Ingle added. “Nothing against the people that are leaving. Most had a real deep personal reason for it. We’re thankful for what they did for us, but we are now moving on to the next group (coming in). I’m very excited about this group. … I think it will be the best overall staff that we’ve ever had. Sometimes change is good and sometimes so is new energy.”
Ingle used Wilson as a prime example of a person that helped raise the bar for LOA sports. “He was incredible
“He was incredible here,” he said. “But he had an opportunity back to return to Frederica [Academy], which is where he was previously and had a lot of success for a long time. … We were just coming off of Kevin Furtado, who built the program, and we were very worried after he left. Wilson then came in and won a state championship, elevating the program and setting a new standard.”
The new hires so far include Patrick Stewart (football), Savannah Soles (girls basketball), and Josiah Rechenbach (boys basketball). Both Stewart and Soles coach their respective teams last season and were hired from within. The search for the new girls’ golf and soccer head coaches is underway.
Overall, Ingle believes that the future of LOA sports is in great hands.
“Other than people learning the ropes in the community and being at a new school, having to learn the faces of the students, this new group is excited,” Ingle said. “They are extremely positive and I am looking forward to it. We as coaches never make predictions, but we have all set our goals and they are very high. So, overall, I truly believe that will have better results this upcoming year.”