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The Braselton News
Contact the sports department:
Phone: 706-387-5408
Fax: 706-367-9355
kristireed@mindspring.com
IB
Wednesday,
March 26, 2008
Tour de Georgia
THE HOME TEAM
The Jittery Joes cycling team gets in some practice time at Road Atlanta last Wednesday. The team
has been competing in the Tour de Georgia since it began in 2003. photo by Kristi Reed
Tour de Georgia coming to Road Atlanta
BY KRISTI REED
Road Atlanta is making Tour de
Georgia history this year by hosting
the first ever team trial event. The
ten mile race on Road Atlanta’s hilly
2.5 mile, 12 - turn course will be the
fourth stage of this year’s tour, event
organizers announced Wednesday.
The team trial will consists of twen
ty minute heats with two teams riding
in each heat. Each team must race
with all eight team members. The time
of the fifth place finisher from each
team will be counted as the team’s
time.
The team trial will be run coun
terclockwise along the Road Atlanta
course. That means riders will begin
the heat with the steep climb at turn 12
to present a more challenging course
for the event.
Former cyclist and team director
Jeff Corbett with Sports Group 11
said he is very excited about the stage
four event.
“It showcases a unique skill set,’’ he
said. “It really lets the general public
see the teams race as one unit and it
really brings home the impression of
cycling as a team sport. It proves the
point that nobody can win a race like
the Tour de Georgia without a strong
team.’’
The team trial heats will be run in
the reverse order of the stage three fin
ish, meaning the first place team will
go last in stage four.
Micah Rice, general manager of
local favorite Jittery Joe’s profes
sional cycling team, was on hand for
Wednesday’s press conference. Rice
said his team was looking forward to
competing in the event.
“The team trial is going to be a very
exciting aspect of the tour this year,’’
Rice said. “We’re pretty excited about
it. We know we are going against the
best teams in the world.’’
Rice said the Road Atlanta course
would be very difficult for the cycling
teams and require great teamwork.
“It’s not necessarily the team with
the strongest rider that is going to do
well, it’s going to be who has the most
depth and who can keep their five rid
ers together and going strong until the
very end,’’ he said.
Chris Aronhault, Event Director of
the Tour de Georgia, said the team
trial will increase interest in what has
become both a national and interna
tional sporting event. Not only will
this be the first year the tour has held
a team trial event, this will also be the
first year that China’s cycling team
has competed in the race, Aronahult
said. China’s national television net
work will also be covering the tour.
“It’s very exciting for us,’’ Aronhault
said. “This is such a spectator friendly
sport and [Road Atlanta] is such a
spectator friendly venue. I think the
two are just going to make a fantastic
day for the families and the spectators
to come out and enjoy the entire day.’’
The stage four team trial event will
take place Thursday, April 24 at Road
Atlanta in Braselton. The expected
start time is 1 p.m. The event is free
for spectators.
Last year’s Tour de Georgia had
over half a million spectators. Event
organizers hope to have over a million
spectators for this year’s 650 mile,
seven day event.
For more information about the tour,
visit www.tourdegeorgia.com.
Baseball
Hawks win region opener,
ranked #8 in coaches poll
Panthers show signs of improvement, face Cedar Shoals next
- r>, ..-mm ^ ' ----- - J ;
WAITING FOR THE MOMENT
Trevor Booth leads off first base as he prepares to steal second. The Panthers played a close game
against Winder-Barrow on Monday but could not close the four run gap. photo by Justin Poole
BY KRISTI REED
Though the season has been
underway less than a month, Mill
Creek’s baseball team has already
knocked off some of the top teams
in the state. After big wins against
Lassiter, Parkview and Lowndes
County, the Hawks are enjoying
a top ten ranking and some well
earned respect.
Though Mill Creek head coach
Doug Jones is pleased to see his
players recognized for their efforts,
he said the rankings are not that
important to him or his team right
now.
“It’s early. It’s a good thing for
the kids, but they know what the
deal is,’’ he said. “They know the
final rankings are the ones that mat
ter. That being said, they’re fighting
for some respect. You get respect
by winning and beating good ball
clubs. If we can continue to win
more than we lose, then hopefully
we’ll maintain that. We’re just living
in the moment.”
Mill Creek (7-2, 2-0) is perfect in
region play after wins against Duluth
on Friday and North Gwinnett on
Monday.
Jones said it was good to win the
region opener, but his team is going
to take things one game at a time.
“Everybody starts off with a new
slate so to speak. Records really
don’t matter. They start mattering
right now with the region,” he said.
Region play continues Wednesday
as Mill Creek hosts Collins Hill
in Hoschton. The Eagles (5-5) are
ranked third in 7-AAAAA. First
pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Mill
Creek.
On Friday, the Hawks host
Brookwood High School. The
Broncos are the top 5-A team in the
state according to the Georgia High
School Coaches Poll. Jones said it
would be nice to beat Brookwood,
but he is more focused on winning
the upcoming region games.
“It’s going to be a fun game and
that’s why we schedule it,” he said.
“We look forward to it, but I’d much
rather play them later on when it
mattered,” he said.
Game time is set for 7 p.m. in
Hoschton.
RAIDERS NO MATCH
The third time was the charm
for Mill Creek and Alpharetta after
rain forced the cancellation of two
See BASEBALLon page 2B
BY JUSTIN POOLE
The Jackson County Diamond
Panthers are improving their per
formances on the field as the season
reaches the midway point. JCCHS
could stand to win the next game
against Cedar Shoals, Wednesday,
March 26. Currently Jackson County
Comprehensive is 3-9 overall and
2-8 in region play.
EASTSIDE
The Panthers slaughtered the
Eastside Eagles 21-7 in the game
on March 21. This is the team’s first
win in seven games, and only the
third win for the season.
“I was very
proud of the Coming up:
way our guys WHAT:JCCHS@
swung the C edar Shoals
bat,” said WH EN: Mar. 26 @
coach Tommy 5:3 op. m .
Fountain. “We
did an excel
lent job of taking advantage of their
mistakes. We also got some big key
hits with guys in scoring position.”
Jackson County took a lead and
kept pushing the runs forcing the
game to be called after five innings.
“For the first time all season, we
seemed to have a better approach
at the plate,” Fountain said. “Their
pitchers struggled, working in the
zone and it put us in a good posi
tion. That’s happened at different
times this year, but this was the first
time my guys took advantage and sat
on something they liked when they
were ahead in the count.”
Going into the fifth, the Panthers
were dominating Eastside 21-4.
Eastside managed to score three
runs in the top of the fifth making
the final score Jackson County 21 to
Eastside 7.
WINDER-BARROW
Monday’s game against the
Winder-Barrow Bulldogs had the
Panthers fighting to close a lead,
and the weather as temperatures
dropped. The team was visibly hin
dered by the strong winds and the
cold, as the game stretched on and
after an attempted comeback late in
the game Jackson County had the
game slip through their hands as the
Bulldogs held on to win 11-7.
While both teams put runners on
See JCCHS on page 2B
Tennis
Hawks continue to net wins
BY KRISTI REED
With just a week and a half
remaining until the region tourna
ment, both Mill Creek tennis teams
are playing well and hoping for a
strong finish in region 7-AAAAA.
Mill Creek head coach Tim
Schroer said the Lady Hawks
(14-1,8-0) will most likely be the
number one seed going into the
region tournament while the boys
(10-5, 6-2) will most likely enter as
the number three seed.
“That’s good - That’s exceeded
our goals just a touch,” Schroer
said.
First, the Hawks must face a tough
Westminster team. The Wildcats are
currently ranked number two in the
state in AAA.
Schroer said Westminster will be
a good test for the Hawks.
“We’ll see what we’re made of,”
he said.
Matches begin at 4 p.m. on
Wednesday at Westminster Atlanta.
DEVILS GO DOWN
Both Mill Creek teams were
in fine form as they traveled to
Norcross last Thursday to take on
the Blue Devils. The Lady Hawks
won 4-1 and the boys picked up a
3-2 victory.
The Lady Hawks improved to 13 -1
as Bailey Dodge, Stacy Mottesheard
and Michelle Yau swept the sin
gles matches. Kristy Yau and Nela
MICHELLE YAU
Handac added another win in the
No. 1 doubles slot.
On the boys’ side, Jordan Arenas
won the No. 1 singles match. The
Hawks won both doubles matches.
Taylor Lacy and T.J. Mullins com
bined to win the No. 1 doubles
while the team of Lee Mike Turner
and Blair Kievit won the No. 2
doubles match.
“Norcross was a big win for us
- especially for the boys’ side,”
Schroer said. “The boys, winning
that match, put them in a position to
probably finish three in the region.
The girls, they did what they needed
to do to take care of business and
keep some separation between us
and some other teams.”
SeeTENNIS on page 3B
Ice Hockey
Mill Creek Ice Hawks advance to playoff semifinals
THE RACE IS ON
BY KRISTI REED
They say the third time is the
charm, but the fourth time proved
luckier for the Ice Hawks on Tuesday
night. After three regular season
losses to Grayson, Mill Creek final
ly did what it had been trying to do
all season - beat the Rams.
With the win, Mill Creek
advanced to the semifinals sched
uled for Wednesday night at Town
Center. The Ice Hawks will face
Kennesaw Mountain. Mill Creek
beat Kennesaw Mountain twice dur
ing the regular season and tied them
once. The winner of the match will
advance to Thursday’s title game
which is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. at
the Duluth Ice Forum.
SWEET VICTORY
After three unsuccessful attempts
to topple the top ranked Rams,
Mill Creek general manager Rick
Cubbage said his team was very
excited about the 4-2 victory.
“We were raising the roof,” he
said. “It was a very exciting game.
The boys were ecstatic.”
Greg LaChance scored Mill
Creek’s first goal with an assist
from Dayton Seadorf and George
Bryant. Before the first period
ended, Matthew Bradshaw scored
another goal for the Ice Hawks with
an assist from Sean Lautzenhsier.
Mill Creek’s Caleb Rainey races towards the action during a previous game against Walton.
photo by Kristi Reed
See HOCKEY on page 2B
