Black high schools get into Georgia's record books
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Posted 2:17PM on Tuesday, October 8, 2002
ATLANTA - Excluded from record books for decades, the feats of athletes and coaches at Georgia's black high schools now will be recognized in the state's official tally.<br>
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The Georgia High School Association's executive committee voted unanimously Monday to list the 1947-1970 state champions from the Georgia Interscholastic Association.<br>
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The GIA was the governing body for black schools, which by law were not allowed to compete against white schools until 1967.<br>
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Some individual accomplishments also will be recorded, including Milton Byard's 50-touchdown season in 1950 for Risley High in Brunswick, and Washington High coach L.C. Baker's 70-game winning streak.<br>
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"It's only appropriate," said Stan Lomax, 79, a former coach who won GIA football and basketball titles at Risley. "The GIA performances belong in the record of sport in the state of Georgia. It's not the fault of the coaches and players in the GIA that they had to perform separately."<br>
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The records of the black and white schools will not be combined, but listed separately.<br>
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"We didn't feel it was important to blend records," said GHSA executive director Ralph Swearngin. "The GIA was an important part of the high school athletic history in Georgia."<br>
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The move to publish records from black schools came after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in May that the GHSA's lists of state champions did not include schools that played in the GIA.<br>
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"It's about time," said Russell Ellington, athletics director at Morris Brown College who won five GIA titles and the first integrated state basketball title in 1967. "I don't blame anybody. I don't think the push was directed with the right resources. Whistling by yourself, it's not going to happen."<br>
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The Georgia Athletic Coaches Association will consider in December whether the Georgia Hall of Fame will recognize exceptional coaches from the GIA, said Ray Broadaway, the association's executive secretary.<br>
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