Grimsley is a 4-A school with a strong athletic program, including sports teams in football, basketball, baseball, tennis, swimming & diving, golf, wrestling, cross country, track & field (both winter and spring), soccer, softball, volleyball, field hockey, and lacrosse. GHS has won more athletic team state championships than any other high school in North Carolina—the first being in football in 1907—as well as many individual state championships. Grimsley has won the NCHSAA 4-A Wachovia Cup (for the most outstanding 4-A athletic program in North Carolina) five times: 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1990. Grimsley has also been undefeated in men's swimming in dual meets for over a quarter century.