MOULTRIE — Although Colquitt County 14-and-under and 12-and-under baseball teams won Georgia Recreation and Parks Association state championships on the same day in July, 2007 was not a year for strong team performances.

Colquitt County High won state championships in golf and gymnastics in 2006, but neither team was able to repeat.

But there were a number of outstanding performances by individual Colquitt countians and, as usual, divers led the way.

And no one had a better 2007 than Colquitt County and Moss Farms diver Ryan Helms.

In February, he won his third straight state high school championship, smashing the previous record with a 615.00. He will attempt to make it four in a row next month.

At the Junior National Diving Championships last summer, Helms finished second on both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards, earning a spot on the Junior Pan Am Championships team and a chance to represent the U.S. in the international competition in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

And he capped the year when he signed a letter of intent in November to dive at the University of Tennessee.

Two of his Moss Farms teammates also signed with SEC schools. Anna Aguero will dive at Auburn and Owen Blank will head to the University of Georgia.

A number of other divers had excellent performances in 2007, including freshman Kelsey Goodman, who won the state high school championship and, like Helms, set a new record in the process, scoring a 534.35.

Here are some of the other newsworthy performances of 2007:

In January, Colquitt County softball player Morgan Jones signed with Darton College. Several days later, Packers golfer Aaron Elrod also signed with Darton.

The Colquitt County High football team lost its defensive coordinator Bill Ragans and its offensive coordinator Jim Sauls.

In February, four Colquitt County football players agreed to continue their careers at the college level: B.J. Baker, at Charleston Southern; Duke Banks and Derek Illian at West Georgia; Orion Ponder at Florida A&M and Vance Cuff at Georgia.

Colquitt County wrestlers Antonio Sutton, Ricky Grier, Trey Brooks and Jocorey Dillard qualified for the state meet.

The new Ike Aultman Field at Packer Park was dedicated and the Colquitt County baseball team cooperated with a 7-4 victory over Crisp County.