Graduations have come and gone. The unofficial start to summer has begun, and with that, another year of high school athletics has wound to a conclusion with the end of the spring sports season.

The spring sports capped another great year in the Cherokee County area.

The Cedar Bluff Tiger boys and girls track and field teams put the exclamation point on a banner year at the school. They won their sixth consecutive Class 1A state championship, capping a year in which all Cedar Bluff sports teams (volleyball, football, boys and girls basketball, baseball, softball and track) made deep runs throughout the postseason.

Cedar Bluff wasn’t the only area school to prosper in the spring. The Cherokee Lady Warrior softball team finished as Class 4A state runners-up for the second consecutive year. They were joined in Montgomery with the Piedmont baseball team, which finished as Class 3A runner-up for the first time in school history.

In Huntsville, the Collinsville soccer team made the Class 1A-4A state semifinals before falling to state runner-up Randolph. Sand Rock, Spring Garden and Cedar Bluff all made the North Regional Softball Tournament in the Rocket City. For Cedar Bluff, it was the Lady Tigers’ first time to make the regional tournament in fast pitch.

The Cherokee County girls tennis team earned second place at the state tournament in Mobile, led by individual state champion Mindy McMichen.

Not a bad way to close out the 2011-12 school year, huh? I don’t know about you, but it makes me wonder what the upcoming athletic year has in store.

One thing’s for certain, though. The 2012-13 high school sports season has a lot to live up to.

******

The Class 2A, Area 13 softball coaches have selected their All-Area team. Sand Rock led the team with five selections and two honorable mentions.

Leading the team is eighth-grade pitcher/third baseman McKenna Morgan. Morgan, along with West End’s Morgan Cleveland, was selected All-Area Co-Most Valuable Players.

Sophomore third/first baseman Madison Smith, senior first baseman/pitcher Kristin Ray, junior right fielder Hannah Oliver and junior centerfielder Taylor Rogers join Morgan from Sand Rock.

Senior left fielder Heather Hester and junior second baseman Megan McCullough were selected honorable mention.

Joining Cleveland from West End is Brooke Copeland, Taylor Nichols and Courtney Oliver. Ohatchee had three selections in Madison Tipton, Autumn Isbell and Kelsey Harden. Anna Craven and Kara Perry represent Pleasant Valley.

Rounding out the honorable mentions are West End’s Joni Goss and Haley Fulenwider, Ohatchee’s Shelbie Phillips and Jessica Browning and Pleasant Valley’s Abby Hedgepath.

******

Former Cherokee County High School and Jacksonville State football standout Maurice Dupree is now making an impact in the Professional Indoor Football League.

Dupree plays receiver for the Columbus (Ga.) Lions and leads the league in receptions (76 catches for 921 yards), scoring (176 points) and touchdowns (29).

Dupree and the Lions (5-4) are currently in third place in the league behind Albany, Ga. (8-1) and Richmond, Va. (7-2). Columbus has three games left on its schedule: June 2 against Louisiana, June 9 at Albany and June 16 at Knoxville.