This time of year is rife with options for prep sports fans. With the 2012 volleyball season over, fans can turn their attentions to what else is going on in the world of high school athletics.

With the football postseason looming large, several area teams are gearing up for Saturday’s state cross country meets. And, lest we forget, basketball is just around the corner.

 Cross Country

Lakeside-DeKalb’s vaunted stable of runners will look to make a lot of noise at the state meets, to be held at Carrollton.

The Vikings recently claimed the Region 6-AAAAA boys’ championship. Davis Stockwell was tops on the boys’ side — his time of 16 minutes, 56 seconds led five Vikings runners en route to capturing individual and securing top team honors.

Lakeside’s Jenn Cora outpaced all others on the girls’ side with a time of 19 minutes, 14 second — including archrival Dunwoody’s Alex Cameron. Still, Cameron and the Lady Wildcats edged out Lakeside for team honors.

“We have a cross country tradition [of winning] here at Lakeside,” said Vikings coach Rick Barbe. “All these other races are just speed workouts, practices to get us ready for the state championships.”

The Tucker Lady Tigers also earned a trip to the state meet, finishing fourth at the Region 6-AAAAA meet behind top 10 finishes from twins Niama and Nuba Jackson.

Over in Region 6-AAAA, Marist swept both the boys and girls titles.

Stone Mountain, Chamblee and Redan each punched their tickets to the state meet on the boys’ side as well.

The Redan and Chamblee girls’ teams also qualified for the Class 5-A state tilt in Carrollton.

Volleyball

All three of the DeKalb area squads in contention fell short in their respective bids for GHSA state championships.

St. Pius X lost in the Class 3-A championship game to top seeded Blessed Trinity over the weekend.

Meanwhile, Lakeside fell to No. 1 seed and state finalist Whitewater in Class 5-A play. Marist fell to eventual state runner-up Columbus in 4-A action.

 Basketball

The DeKalb Neighbor boys’ and girls’ high school basketball 2012-13 season team-by-team previews are coming soon.

An article of interest: The Chamblee Lady Bulldogs (pictured) and how they plan to build on last season’s deep playoff run.