Pulaski County High School (Virginia)

Infobox School
name= Pulaski County High School


imagesize=
streetaddress= 5414 Cougar Trail
city= Dublin
state= Virginia
zipcode= 24084
country= USA
district= Pulaski County Public Schools
superintendent= Dr. Donald E. Stowers
principal= Mr. Rod Reedy
assistant_principals= Dickie McMillan
Peter Anderson
Elaine Woolwine
Mary Rash
fundingtype= Public
schooltype= high school
grades= 9-12
language= English
rival= Blacksburg High School
Christiansburg High School
Salem High School
nickname= Cougars
colors= colorbox|maroon colorbox|gold Maroon and Gold
conference= Virginia High School League
AA Region IV
River Ridge District
established= 1974
enrollment= 1,547
enrollment_as_of= 2006-07
homepage= [http://www.pcva.us/schools/pchs/index.html 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's 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.

in 1993, 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.

Basketball

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 journeyed 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.

Currently, Pulaski County High School has a total of ten athletes playing college sports.

Baseball

In the 2008 season, the Cougars went on to win against Cave Spring in the first round of the River Ridge District playoffs under the leadership of 9 seniors before falling to Blacksburg.

Drama

The school has won 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 most recent state championship piece was an original musical, "The Other Side Of The Story," which is about the villains in famous fairy tales and how they weren't as evil as they seemed. The script was written by Mr. McCoy with some assistance from students, and the music was composed and arranged by Mr. McCoy and Josh O'Dell. The Drama department has also performed in the American High School Theater Festival at Edinburgh, Scotland. This year they have again been nominated to travel there for the third year in a row.

MACC

The school's Math MACC (Mountain Academic Competition Conference) 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. [http://www.nystar.com/chesscenter/hsstory.htm] In 1987, Pulaski County hosted the national championship. The Cougars also captured the Virginia Scholastic State Chess Championship in 1998.

Cross Country

During the 2006-2007 school year, Pulaski County High School produced a girl's cross country team that successfully came in first place in the following meets: Run fer da Hills, Blue Demon Invitational, Tusculum Invitational. They also came in second during the Bristol Cross Invitational and River Ridge District Meet. The second place finish at the River Ridge District Meet allowed them to continue as a team to the Region III meet. Coached by Jamie McCarty, the girl's team advanced to the state meet for the first time in PCHS history!