VALDOSTA — After Title IX was passed in 1972, it didn’t take long for Lowndes High School’s girls sports teams to start winning.

Lowndes has embraced girls sports, and the results have spoken for themselves. The school’s girls athletic teams have won a plethora of region championships, have had a large number of state-ranked teams in the last 40 years and have sent a lot of female athletes to the next level.

“Our girls have been consistently strong since we implemented (these sports),” said former Lowndes coach and assistant athletic director Terry Wilkes, a Lowndes graduate who coached at the school from 1977-2007. “They’ve been great. Girls basketball is still a big winner, girls softball is a big winner, girls track and field was a big winner all those years, girls tennis this year (got to) the semifinals. (They’ve been) pretty stout.”

Soon after Title IX passed, Lowndes became a high school girls basketball powerhouse.

The Lowndes girls basketball team won its first game of the 1976-77 season. Then it won the next one. And the next. And the next. And the Vikettes kept winning for a long time.

The Vikettes reeled off 124 consecutive victories from 1976-80. They won four consecutive state championships. They won four consecutive national championships. For four years, they were the preeminent high school girls basketball team in the country.

That girls basketball program was led by a brilliant head coach, Charles Cooper, a man who would win over 1,000 games in a coaching career that spanned close to 50 years. Cooper went 274-37 as the Vikettes’ head coach, an .881 winning percentage, before moving on to the college level, where he had more success.

“Coach Cooper had some great teams when he coached here,” Wilkes said. “(The winning streak and the state and national championships) was quite a feat. That was a pretty good run.”

The tradition of success that Cooper started in the 1970s has continued today. Lowndes’ basketball teams are perennially strong. The school’s new gymnasium is filled with banners recognizing the Vikettes’ region, state and national titles. Under current head coach Shan Garner, the Vikettes have won at least 21 games each of the last seven years.

Cooper’s teams were the first female teams at Lowndes to have success after Title IX was passed. But they weren’t the last.

For over 20 years, Lowndes has had a tremendous girls track program. Head coach Hiram Johnson built the Vikettes into a region powerhouse, one that won 19 Region 1 championships in a span of 21 years. Lowndes finished second in the state in 2001.

In 1998, Lowndes began playing fast-pitch softball, and almost immediately developed into one of the top programs in the state. Every year, the top eight teams in the state are invited to the Elite Eight in Columbus. Lowndes has made it to Columbus nine times since 1999 (1999-2002, 2005-08 and 2010). In 2002, the Vikettes finished second in the state, and handed eventual state champion Fayette County one of its only two losses. Lowndes has also won nine Region 1 championships since 1998. The Vikettes will enter the 2012 season as two-time defending region champions.

Lowndes began playing soccer in the mid-1990s, and has also had plenty of success in that sport. The Vikettes have won several region championships since the turn of the millennium, including four straight from 2001-04. In 2012, they had arguably their best season ever, going 15-1-2 and making it to the second round of the state playoffs.

Lowndes also just had its most successful season in girls tennis. The Vikettes won the region title. Then they made it all the way to the state semifinals, with a team that had just one senior. They will try to repeat that feat in 2013.

Lowndes’ competition cheerleading squad also won back-to-back Region 1-AAAAA championships in 2010 and 2011.

The Vikettes also compete in swimming, golf, cross country and gymnastics, giving girls at Lowndes High School ten different sports to compete in.

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The girls athletic programs at the other local high schools have also had some success since Title IX was passed.

Like Lowndes, Valdosta High offers softball, soccer, track, cross country, swimming, golf, tennis and competitive cheerleading for girls to compete in.

In 2011, Valdosta’s girls tennis team won the Region 1 title, made it to the state semifinals and finished the season ranked third in the state. The Lady Wildcats won their first 22 matches that season. They also made it to the quarterfinals in 2009.

Valdosta’s track team won the region title in 2012.

At the private school level, Valwood girls compete in softball, basketball, soccer, cross country, track and tennis.

One of Valwood’s most successful sports programs has been its girls tennis team, which won three consecutive state championships between 2001-03. The Lady Valiants have also had some success over the years in basketball and track.

“We’ve had success in tennis, and in track this year,” Valwood athletic director Brett Martin said. “In basketball, we’ve had some success, won some region championships in the past.”

Georgia Christian’s girls compete in softball, basketball and soccer. The school’s basketball programs have long been a source of pride for Georgia Christian, and the Lady Generals have done their part to make it that. They have won several region championships, and have had several deep runs in the state playoffs.

“Overall, our girls have been pretty competitive,” Georgia Christian athletic director Kent Copeland said.

Open Bible’s girls basketball team has won four state championships in the past decade. The most recent came in 2010. Open Bible also won three consecutive state championships from 2005-07.

Open Bible’s girls softball team won a state championship in 2010. The cheerleading squad also won a state title recently.



Coming Tuesday: How Title IX altered the landscape for women's sports in general.