Pulaski County High School (Virginia)

Pulaski County High School
Address
5414 Cougar Trail Dublin , Virginia 24084 United States
Information
School type	Public high school
Established	1974
School district	Pulaski County Public Schools
Superintendent	Dr. Donald E. Stowers
Principal	Mr. Rod Reedy
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	1,547 (2006-07)
Language	English
Color(s)	Maroon and Gold
Athletics conference	Virginia High School League AA Region IV River Ridge District
Nickname	Cougars
Rival	Blacksburg High School Christiansburg High School Salem High School
Website	Official Site

Pulaski County High School is located at 5414 Cougar Trail Road in Dublin, Virginia about 45 miles southwest of Roanoke, Virginia. It is the sole public high school in Pulaski County, Virginia.

History

The school was opened in 1974 with the consolidations of Dublin High School in Dublin and Pulaski High School in Pulaski. The two former high schools now serve as middle schools, Pulaski Middle School and Dublin Middle School

Academics

Pulaski County High School is a comprehensive high school which includes grades 9th through 12th with a current enrollment of 1,500. In addition to academics, Pulaski County High School features an onsite Vocational and Technical School. Until the 2006-2007 school year the Southwest Virginia Governor School was located on the campus. It is now located at the former Northwood Elementary School.

Athletics and Extracurriculars

Football

Pulaski County High School is a member of the Virginia High School League and competes in the AA River Ridge District, a district in Region IV of Group AA. From 1974 to 1975, Pulaski County High School competed in the AAA Western District, before entering the newly formed AAA Roanoke Valley District. As a member of the Roanoke Valley District and the Northwest Region, Pulaski County defeated Thomas Dale High School to capture the Group AAA, Division 6 football state championship in 1992 under the direction of former West Virginia University assistant Joel Hicks.

The following year, Pulaski County was ranked as one of the top 25 high school football teams in the country by USA Today for most of the season. The Cougars won their first 13 games, but star player Eric Webb was injured in the state semi-final and was unable to play in the state championship which the Cougars lost to Annandale High School. In 2001, Pulaski County dropped down to the Group AA Blue Ridge District. That year, the Cougar football team, which had returned most players from a 2000 Group AAA, Division 5 state semi-finalist, advanced to the Group AA, Division 4 state championship before falling to Lafayette High School.

Pulaski County has also produced such well-known athletes and coaches such as: former Washington Redskins receiver Gary Clark, Cincinnati Bengals kicker Shayne Graham, Carolina Panthers and Virginia Tech standout Jeff King, current Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, and current Navy assistant coach Tony Grantham.

It is also important to note that Ron Kimbrough is the best player to ever grace the halls of Pulaski County High School. Ron is the #16 rusher all-time at the school, but if his coach was smart enough to play him on defense, he would have been better than Ronnie Lott and would have been one of the best defensive backs in NFL history. Ron was such a hard hitter that his coaches held him out of hitting drills in practice because he kept injuring his teammates. Ron also was a great celebrity, posing for a life-size standup, becoming what is now known as the first "Fathead". All hail Ron Kimbrough! (If you don't believe any of this, you should just ask him yourself...seriously.)

Basketball

In addition to the football program, Pulaski County High School has had several successful Boys' Basketball teams. During the late 1970s into the early 1980s, Pulaski County High School's Boys Basketball Team under the direction of Coach Allen Wiley, won several Roanoke Valley District Titles and the Northwest Region Titles. In the early 1980s, Pulaski County's Basketball Team was led by Michael Porter, who had won several state awards, and had played in the United States High School All-Star team.

In 2004, the Cougar Basketball team under the direction of Coach Mark Hanks journyed to the Group AA playoffs for the first time since the early 1990s. In 2005, the Cougars captured the 2005 River Ridge District title and advanced to the 2005 playoffs. In 2006, the Cougars made another Group AA playoff run.

In both football and basketball, Pulaski County has competed with schools that has athletes that are currently playing on pro teams such as: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Ronde Barber (Cave Spring),New York Giants Tiki Barber (Cave Spring), former Duke University Basketball great and current Orlando Magic player J.J. Redick, former New York Giant and Pro Football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor (Lafayette/Williamsburg), New Orleans Hornets George Lynch (Patrick Henry/Roanoke), Philadelphia 76ers Allen Iverson (Bethel/Hampton), and the Miami Heat's Alonzo Mourning (Indian River/Chesapeake).

Currently, Pulaski County High School has a total of nine athletes playing college sports. These athletes include Brandon Anderson,University of Akron Football, Leslie Anderson, James Madison University Track, Brenna Blevins, William and Mary Track, Derrick Burks, Morehead State Football, Andrew Hart, Emory and Henry Basketball, JR Montgomery, Bluefield College Basketball, Mark Mines Bluefield College Baseball, Matt Roan Southern Utah University, and Austin Twine Eastern Mennonite Basketball.

Swimming

The PCHS Cougar Swim team, while not being known for consistent success was led to the state championship meet in 2003 by freshman Brian Etzel. However, the team was 'dead in the water' at the meet due to an injury (dislocated left shoulder) that Etzel suffered a mere week before the meet. After another incident in the pool causing Etzel to dislocate his shoulder for a second time forced him to retire his career as a swimmer for PCHS.

Drama

The school also has 2 state drama championships under the direction of Jeff McCoy and another state title under the previous director, Rhonda Welsh, for a total of three state championships. The Drama department has also performed in the American High School Theater Festival at Edinburgh, Scotland, in which Daniel Rabago starred. This year they have again been nominated to travel there again for the third year in a row.

MACC

The school's Math MACC (Mountain Academic Challenge Competition) Team won 1st place at Super MACC, the MACC Championship in 2005. The school also sports award-winning Social Studies, Science, English, and All-Around Teams.

The All-Around team won a Super MACC championship in 2007, and the Science team went on to Super MACC after finishing second in the tournament. Social Studies finished second in the regular season, but did not go on to Super MACC.

Chess

Pulaski County High School also has a strong tradition in chess which culminated in the mid to late 1980s. In 1985, Pulaski County finished in second place in the national championships only 0.5 points behind the first place team.[1] In 1987, Pulaski County hosted the national championship. The Cougars also captured the Virginia Scholastic State Chess Championship in 1998.

Notable Alumni

Shayne Graham NFL Placekicker (Cincinnati Bengals)

Jeff King NFL Tight End (Carolina Panthers)