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Friday,
June 21,2013
Tribune & Georgian
Sports
Competition circuit
Terry Lacoss: Kingfish action heats up with
summer tournaments.
see 2B
B Section
Camden boys
cagers take
charge at FSU
Wildcats pile up
wins at team camp
Andy Diffenderfer
sports@tribune-georgian.com
After his program’s strong performance in a
Florida State University team camp last week,
Camden County High boys basketball head coach
Ty Randolph hopes the big payoff will be several
months from now once the Wildcats resume the
Region 1-AAAAAA wars.
Between them, Camden’s
varsity and junior varsity en
tries crammed 18 games —
structured with eight-minute
quarters just like normal high
school contests — into three
days in Tallahassee, Fla., and
won all but three.
Building self-belief and ca
maraderie are “what these
camps are about,” said Ran
dolph, who took 2 3 players to
the camp at the Atlantic Coast Conference school.
“These kinds of camps test you to the extreme.”
The experience of playing in a big-time college
atmosphere and having their stamina tested with a
continuous flow of games was an eye-opener for
the Wildcats, and can only help in the maturation
See BASKETS, page 3B
Randolph
Grapplers go the extra mile
CCHS camp brings wrestlers from several states
Andy Diffenderfer
sports@tribune-georgian.com
Wrestlers at the Southern
Hospitality Technique and
Competition Camp this
week learned the difference
between a state title and sec
ond place could come in the
sweat and the repetitions put
in over the summer.
The clinics, which began
Sunday and were scheduled
to end Thursday, brought
about 125 wrestlers from
Georgia, Florida, North
Carolina and South Carolina
to Camden County High
School for hours of daily in
tensive instruction from a
first-rate list of mat techni
cians.
“This is probably the
strongest field of clinicians
we’ve ever had,” Wildcats
head wrestling coach Jess
Wilder said. “The kids are
getting a lot out of it.”
The camp, which was sep
arated into teaching groups,
offered wrestlers of all skills
the chances to learn high-
level techniques while ce
menting individual
foundations in the basics.
Michael Irving, an clinician at the Southern Hospitality Camp at Camden County High,
S66 MAT page 3B demonstrates technique with Joe Smolenski from Socastee High in South Carolina.
Andy Diffenderfer | Tribune & Georgian
Athletes with the Alpha Omega Blazers track team (above) ran in district qualifying
two weeks ago, and club members will be in south Atlanta to compete in a national
qualifying meet for the Junior Olympics this weekend. On the front row, are Kregg
Richardson Jr., Deonte Cole, Keith Giddens, Jeleere Nixon, Klarke Richardson and
Kamille Thomas. In the back are Kennedy Richardson, Ciara Mobley, Chandler Nichols,
Jalen King, Detravius Whitfield Jr., Jayla Stokes and Jaden Koger. Not pictured are
coaches Hamp Brown, Dee Coleman and Kitt Brown, and athletes Chala Carey, Shawn
Smith, Amare Wilson, Dominique Hiatt and Shaniya Smiley. At right, Koger is with a
plaque he received for his performance in last year’s Junior Olympics.
Koger keeps focus on qualifying
Andy Diffenderfer
sports@tribune-georgian.com
Only 13, Jaden Koger is al
ready a veteran of the Junior
Olympics, and hopes his next
trip comes next month.
This year’s games will be in
Ypsilanti, Mich., at Eastern
Michigan University, but be
fore then for him and his
Alpha Omega Blazer track
teammates comes a national
qualifier this weekend just
south of Atlanta. Koger, who
will compete in the 100-meter
hurdles, the 200-meter hur
dles and the 4-by-100 relay,
isn’t losing focus about what’s
at stake.
“I’m just trying to qualify
for the Junior Olympics,” he
said. “I’m not trying to do
anything spectacular.”
Recently, Koger, a Kings-
land resident, received a
plaque commemorating his
winning I8-6V2 effort in the
Junior Olympics long jump in
Texas, a measurement that is
his best-ever. He was also sec
ond in the 80-meter hurdles.
Koger has been with the
Alpha Omega program —
now called the Alpha Omega
Blazers with the inclusion
of Glynn athletes — for four
years, and enjoys the pro
gram’s friendly atmosphere.
He originally thought track
would be a short-term activity
— it “was something I wanted
to try,” he said — but it has
turned into something much
greater and helps in other
sports like football. Koger said
the long jump — which he
started about two years ago
along with the hurdles — is
his best and favorite event.
A rising eighth-grader at St.
Marys Middle, Koger wants
to run track in high school
and college, and is looking be
yond that, perhaps “the actual
Olympics.” For inspiration,
he looks to former Camden
County High student-athlete
Cameron Hall, who is making
a name for himself as a
sprinter and hurdler up the
coast with Savannah State.
“I think my track career will
go far,” Koger said.
Players invited to come out for Camden Soccer
The Camden Soccer Club is ac
cepting registration forms for the
2013 fall season.
Go to www.camdensoccer.org to
print the registration form. Forms
must be received by mail only by July
8. Please email questions to your-
camdensoccer@gmail.com.
Players must be 3 years old by Aug.
1 to play.
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