Newspaper Page Text
July 21,2021
®lft Aiuianre
Section B
Loran
Smith
Collin
Morikawa
With the conclusion of the British
championship, the major golfing season
has ended. For years, the final major,
the PGA, was played in August—usu
ally in the burdensome heat, even if the
venue was some-
where
By Loran Smith
north
such as Brook
line or Oak Hill.
Sunday at Roy
al St. Georges in
Sandwich, Eng
land, the weath
er seemed to be
akin to what you
might expect at
Hilton Head in
the spring, but
it was something of a heat wave over
there.
When it is truly hot in July in the
United Kingdom, especially in the
Southern latitudes, it can be uncom
fortable. The hottest thing about Sand
wich and its environs on Sunday was the
Open champion, Collin Morikawa. His
measured, compact swing and confident
mental acuity brought about telling mo
mentum as the final round progressed.
Nothing like a grateful champion.
Search out his background and you
find that modesty keeps extravagance at
arms-length, humility trumps arrogance
and that gratefulness ameliorates and
stares down encroaching ego.
Nobody is perfect. Sports heroes,
like the tides, come and go. There are
no guarantees, but those with the ba
sics, a well-grounded foundation and an
appreciation for core values and an en
grossing work ethic have considerable
advantage over the rest. This is assum
ing that talent is there which is a given
with Morikawa. What would we be
saying about Johnny Manziel and Ryan
Leaf today if they were imbued with the
aforementioned intangibles?
Morikawa’s family has a successful
laundry business in Los Angeles and
they still run the business. They are
not anxious to resort to retirement with
their son’s success.
Collin enrolled at California Berk
ley with an intent to be admitted into
the Haas School of Business, not to sim
ply stay eligible to compete in golf un
til he could make it on the professional
tour. He wanted to challenge himself
academically. He has accomplished that
mission.
During the final round Sunday, it
was interesting to hear the announcers
refer to the Spitfires and World War II.
The German Luftwaffe flew over Royal
St. Georges on frequent bombing runs
to London during the war.
One thinks about the turmoil in
the world today and the fact that the
low Amateur for the championship was
Matthias Schmid, a young German who
plays golf at the University of Louis
ville. If the world got along as well as
the international Open contestants, we
wouldn’t have to worry about Armaged
don.
Over the years, it has always been
interesting to take note of the nationali
ties who gather to compete in the Open
championship. They don’t play much
golf in Russia and nobody from China
has been able to become established. If
a player from either of these two nations
were to qualify, however, both officials
and fans would welcome him generous
ly. Could we organize the Open roster
to replace the United Nations?
When Bill Rogers won the Open
Please see Loran page 2B
VRD Swims At State
The State Champion freestyle relay team of (L fo R): Conley Brown, Aufumn Harris,
Jackson Crawley, and Reece Brown came jusf one second shy of the state record.
The Vidalia Recreation Depart
ment Swim Team had a great showing
at the GRPA B State Swim Meet in
Fort Oglethorpe on July 16 and 17.
Fourteen swimmers competed in the
meet with numerous swimmers mak
ing it to the finals and bringing home
awards.
This year, the team also had sev
eral state champions. Lake Wright
brought home a state championship in
the 13-14 boys 50-yard breaststroke
with a time of 34.26. The 15-18 year
old mixed relay team were state cham
pions, bringing home 1st place in the
200-yard freestyle relay with a time of
1:40.48, just shy of the current state
record of 1:39.44. This team consisted
of Conley Brown, Reece Brown, Jack-
son Crawley, and Autumn Harris. In
the 15-18 men's division, Jackson
Crawley also earned state champion
ship titles in both the 50-yard free
style, with a time of 22.90, and in the
100-yard freestyle with a time of
50.40.
The 7-8 year old relay team con
sisting of Mason Bowman, Ginny Mer
edith, Easton Moore, and Aubree Zorn
earned 2nd place in the 100-yard
mixed freestyle relay with a time of
1:21.57. In the 7-8 boys division, Ma
son Bowman also earned 2nd place in
the 50-yard freestyle with a time of
39.62, 2nd place in the 25-yard free
style with a time of 17.79, and 4th
place in the 25-yard butterfly with a
time of 20.94. With a time of 24.09,
Cason McLendon earned 4th placed
in the 25-yard backstroke. Easton
Moore earned 6th in the 25-yard
breaststroke with a time of 31.64, 4th
place in the 100-yard IM with a time
of 2:03.73, and 8th place in the 25-
yard backstroke with a time of 26.12.
In the 7-8 girls division, Ginny Mere
dith earned 6th place in the 25-yard
backstroke with a time of 23.76. Au
bree Zorn earned 8th place in the 50-
yard freestyle with a time of 44.12, 7th
place in the 25-yard freestyle with a
time of 19.18, and 4th place in the 25-
yard butterfly with a time of 22.80.
The relay team consisting of Mag
gie Bowers, Jack Godbee, Autumn
Moore, and Spencer Mosley earned
2nd place in both the 13-14 mixed
200-yard medley relay, with a time of
2:10.60, and in the 13-14 mixed 200-
yard freestyle relay with a time of
1:54.09. In the 13-14 boys division,
Jack Godbee also earned 5th place in
Please see Swim page 2B
Jackson Crawley came home with three
gold medals from the State Champion
ships last week.
Canada Futures Back To BPC
Brewton-Parker head softball coach
Madison Herrin has announced that
the softball program will continue to
partner with Canada Futures Softball
Tour for the 2021-22 season.
Brewton-Parker is excited to wel
come the Futures back to Mount Ver
non in October.
The Canada Futures is an organiza
tion that was created to support tal
ented high school girls that are inter
ested in pursuing an athletic career in
college. The team travels throughout
the country touring colleges and uni
versities to get a glimpse of the student-
athlete experience in the United States.
The Canada Futures program is set
to resume after not being able to travel
due to COVID restrictions last season.
The program is excited for the opportu
nity to resume touring and showcasing
the talent from Canada.
The organization is led byjoni Frei,
who was a Hall of Fame student-athlete
at Georgia College. She continues to be
an impactful leader and is known
around the world for her contributions
to the softball world.
The Canada Futures last visited
Mount Vernon in 2019. Several athletes
from the program have been recruited
by Brewton-Parker and have played for
the Barons. Assistant coach Sadie Rus-
teika competed with the Futures for
two seasons and had expressed her grat
itude for the impact the program made
in her life. “This program has helped
me so much towards becoming a col
lege athlete,” Rusteika said. “I am so
grateful for the experiences from my
time with the Futures. The experiences
go beyond just athletics and have
greatly impacted many aspects of my
life.”
Brewton-Parker has a long-time
connection with the Futures program
as Coach Herrin’s wife Lindsay previ
ously played for Brewton-Parker. Coach
Herrin expressed his excitement for the
program to return to BPC. “I am ex
cited about the opportunity for the
Canada Futures to return to Brewton-
Parker,” Herrin mentioned. “The con
nection that we have with the Futures is
fantastic. I appreciate the work ethic
and passion for the game that the ath
letes possess.”
PAYH Bike Ride Underway
Paul Anderson Youth Home, a fully
accredited and licensed home offering a
second chance to young men in crisis, be
gins its 60th anniversary celebration this
year with its 16th Annual Bike Ride. Over
the course of five days, July 19-23, five
residents of the home will travel a total of
more than 300 miles by bicycle on routes
through and around Paul Anderson’s
hometown of Toccoa, GA, 90 miles north
east of Atlanta.
The event is part fundraiser, and each
rider can be sponsored by donors at payh-
bikeride.com. They will be riding in the
rural northeast of the state, passing into
South Carolina, and traveling around Tal
lulah Gorge State Park, the Chattahoochie-
Oconee National Forest, and small Geor
gia towns Wiley, Lula and Lakemont.
The event also recalls and commemo
rates a foundational moment in the history
of Paul Anderson Youth Home. At its
founding in 1961, the former Olympic
gold-medal winner Anderson hopped on a
bicycle and rode from Vidalia, Georgia,
1,200 miles to Omaha, Nebraska. He did
this for the same reasons the five boys do it
today, to raise funds and raise awareness of
the mission to give troubled young men a
second chance through Christ. Now 60
years later, the Paul Anderson Youth Home
celebrates more than 1,400 lives changed
through a process of recovery, restoration,
and redemption.
YOUTH HOME
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"It is only fitting that we hold this
year's ride in Paul’s hometown of Toccoa,
Ga., as we continue to commemorate that
original ride," said Glenda Anderson, co
founder of PAYH. "Our prayer is that this
will be a transformative experience for
each of the five young men. This ride is
their chance to demonstrate how far
they’ve come physically, mentally, and
spiritually - and to prove to themselves
that with hard work, they can do anything."
Since the riders are students of PAYH,
each young man’s struggle to overcome
emotional problems, bad decisions, and
spiritual challenges is symbolized in the
physical fortitude to travel such distances.
Anderson, a world-class athlete, stressed
physical fitness as one component of hon
oring God. The endurance needed to
achieve these distances, in turn, honors his
lessons of how exercising the body is as
important as exercising the mind, filling it
with positivity and prayer.
The bike ride is being held three
months before the 60th anniversary cele
bration of Paul Anderson Youth Home,
planned for Saturday, October 23,2021, at
the campus in Vidalia. Festivities will in
clude speakers, music, entertainment, food
and honored guests. The event will also
raise funds for scholarships and the home’s
general fund.
To learn more about Paul Anderson
Youth Home and family resources,
visit payh.org.