Newspaper Page Text
58th Annual Lyons
Youth Tournament
Is Underway
At Partin Park
May 26,2021
31je Ailuance
Section B
the
SCOUTING
REPORT
Hawks Are
Fun To Watch
I am a fan of the best basketball play
ers in the world, and let’s face it, that’s the
NBA.
From com
ments I’ve heard
at work, I think
that most people
think that these
guys are grossly
overpaid; but hey,
they’re still the
best players in the
world.
If you want
grossly overpaid
folks, look at soccer in Europe, where
Lionel Messi makes $126 million and
Cristiano Ronaldo, $117 million dollars
per year. No, I don’t think any of that
money is deferred.
You don’t get to the NBA until you
get to Lebron James, and Lebron’s not
even touching $100 million per year yet.
I’m also a fan of the long-sufferening
Atlanta Hawks, who are suddenly start
ing to make some noise in the NBA. By
the way, Trae Young, who’s rapidly be
coming my favorite player with the
Hawks, is only making $6 million a sea
son.
Trae averages a little over 25 points
per game in his second year out of Okla
homa.
With young players like Young, Bog
dan Bagdanovic, Clint Capela, Cam Red
dish, and Kevin Huertor, the Hawks fin
ished fifth in the Eastern Conference of
the NBA.
It was Young who scored with 0.9
seconds left on Sunday night in Madison
Square Garden to shock the Knicks in
the playoff opener. While the Hawks fin
ished fifth in the East, the Knicks fin
ished fourth.
The winner of Atlanta’s series gets
the winner of the Philadelphia 76ers and
Washington Wizards series. The 76ers
are the top seed in the Eastern Confer
ence and beat the Wizards in their game
one. All of the series are Best of 7.
Game two in the Hawks-Knicks se
ries will tipoff at 7:30 PM on Wednesday.
The game is being televised by TNT.
Baseball Gods
Didn’t Smile On VHS
Congratulations to the Jeff Davis Yel
low Jackets, who swept Lovett 5-3 and
8-2 on Saturday to take the Class AA
Championship in 2021.
This is the second time in the last 7
years that this type of conundrum has
struck a Vidalia High School athletic
team.
This year’s Indian baseball team de
stroyed Jeff Davis and the rest of Region
2-AA, sweeping every team in the region
and outscoring the Yellow Jackets 18-3 in
their three-game series.
For the record, Vidalia’s 2014 foot
ball team also beat eventual state cham
pion Benedictine while winning their re
gion title that season. The Indians beat
the Cadets 35-28 in Savannah on what
was then BC’s homefield at Savannah
State.
That team also lost a disappointing
game to another private school, Greater
Atlanta Christian, 34-22 in Atlanta.
Benedictine then hammered GAC in the
title game.
While I certainly respect the Jeff Da
vis program, I certainly would have loved
to see Vidalia get a shot at the Yellow
Jackets in Savannah’s Grayson Stadium,
where the AA title series was played.
But that’s just baseball. The Yellow
Jackets claimed their third state title in
four seasons.
By John Conner
VHS Track At State Meet
The Vidalia High School track & field teams competed at the State Meet and botht he boys
and girls had a good showing .
The Vidlaia High School
track & field teams competed
at the GHSA State Champi
onships recently as they
made the journey up I - 75 to
Powder Springs andMcEach-
ern High School. The Indian
teams, who were well repre
sented on both the girls and
boys side, were able to post
some impressive personal re
cords (13) with the girls fin
ishing 6th and the boys 8th.
Vidalia Track Coach
Mandy Godbee said that de
spite some “bumps in the
road” both teams ended on a
positive note, “The boys and
girls developed far more than
anticipated, and ended the
season with 13 Personal best
performances at the State
Meet. There were a few
bumps we hit throughout
the meet, but they fought
through it and almost every
traveling athlete made the
podium. I'm proud of them
and their successful season!”
Three Indians posted
runner - up finishes over the
weekend, including Kyleigh
Johnson (100 High Hur
dles), Myesha Hall (Triple
Jump), and Michael Madi
son (200m dash). And God-
bee said the three have been
a stable force all year long, “I
am especially excited for
Kyleigh, Myesha, and Mi
chael, who all had runner -
up finishes over the week
end. These three have been
our leaders throughout the
season and contributed im
mensely over the weekend.”
The Vidalia teams, who
both won Region Titles this
year, look to be strong again
in 2022 as the girls return 7
and the boys 8 members of
the team who qualified for
the State Meet.
VHS Girls
Myesha Hall earned 4
medals; triple jump - 2nd,
long jump - 6th, 4x100m -
7th (PR), 4x400m - 5th
(PR). Kyleigh Johnson
earned 4 medals; 100m hur
dles - 2nd (PR in prelims),
300m hurdles - 4th (PR in
Prelims), 4x100m - 7th (PR),
4x400m - 5th (PR). Sarah
Owen broke 3 school records
and earned 4 medals; 1,600m
- 5:28 - 7th place, 3,200m -
12:04 - 6th place, 800m -
2:24 - 6th place, 4x400m -
5th (PR). Jasmine Smith;
Discus - 6th, Shot Put - 8th.
Ladies 4x100m - (PR),
Samara Troupe, Kyleigh
Johnson, Moriah Wardlaw,
and Myesha Hall. Ladies
4x400m - (PR), Moriah
Wardlaw, Kaitlyn Allen,
Sarah Owen, and Myesha
Hall.
VHS Boys
Michael Madison wins 3
medals, 200m - 2nd (PR in
Prelims), 100m - 4th (PR in
Prelims), 4x100m - 5th.
Kaylan Johnson, Long Jump
- 8th, Triple Jump - 8th.
Matt Hill, Long Jump - 5th
(PR). Brandon Beasley,
Long Jump - 8th, (Johnson
and Besley tied for 8th)
4x100m - 5th (PR), Mi
chael Madison, Sinclair Wil
liams, Jordan Powell, and
Tyran Jacobs.
BPC Weightlifters Win Gold
Tayon Vereen competes iduring the USA Nationals competition.
Summer Daraio-Rivera took first place in her division for Brewton-Parker.
By Evan Riekhof
BPC Marketing
The Brewton-Parker College (BPC)
Olympic Weightlifting team recently
brought home the gold at the USA
Weightlifting 2021 University Nationals
and Open (March 4-8 in West Valley,
Utah) for both males and females.
Tayon Vereen, a Junior Accounting
major from Savannah, placed first for the
men. The female winner was Summer
Daraio-Rivera, a Senior Biology major
from Port Orange, Florida.
Olympic weightlifting includes two
events - the snatch and the clean and
jerk. The combined total of the two de
termines the winner.
Olympic Weightlifting Coach Vance
Newgard shared his pride for the team,
“In only our third year as an Olympic
weightlifting program, we already have
more than half the team reaching the
podium at national events and students
making international teams to compete
for Team USA.”
Both Vereen and Daraio-Rivera won
first place for their divisions. Ni'Eryka
Goodwin took second place. Antionette
Farmer and Donald Palmer both took
3rd place.
Vereen recently shared the roller
coaster of emotions of the competition,
“Going into the competition I was wor
ried because I had COVID-19 during
winter break. It took almost three weeks
for me to recover, which meant I was not
able to work out. Since I started lifting, I
have never been away from the gym that
long; especially leading up to such a big
competition. However, I kept calm and
trusted in the training I had accom
plished before I got sick. Given every
thing that I had gone through, winning
the Gold medal was a big confidence
booster for the remainder of the year.”
Daraio-Rivera also shared her
thoughts on the victory, “Leading up to
this performance I was dealing with lots
of hardships in my life and was strug
gling to get through the semester. When
I'm feeling anxious, I find comfort in
Colossians 3:15. I poured all of my at
tention into this performance and told
myself, if I can't directly believe in my
self, then I will strengthen my faith in
God. I felt protected and strong. I did
not allow my anxious thoughts to dis
tract me and I lifted like I have been ev
ery day. I became the 2021 University
National Female Champion and won my
first ever Gold medal in a national
event!”
Over the summer Coach Newgard
plans to recruit future talent to expand
the program and secure a top collegiate
program and use the program as a feeder
system for athletes to compete interna
tionally and ultimately at the Olympic
Games.
If you are interested in learning
about the BPC Olympic Weightlifting
team or other athletic programs, check
out GoBaronsGo.com.