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2B I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, May 16,2018
Track teams place at state competition
Photo by Colin Ochs Dawson County News
Sophomore Jenna Lecours took sixth place in the 3200-
meter run with a time of 12:32 at the GHSATrack and Field
Championship this past weekend in Albany.
From staff reports
The Dawson County High
School boys’ track team
placed 12th and the girls’
team placed 17th at the
Georgia High School
Association Track and Field
Championships this past
weekend in Albany.
For the boys, junior Carlos
Keller was named state run
ner-up in the boys’ high jump
(6’4”); junior Cooper Freeman
placed third in pole vault with
a school record of 12’6”;
junior Cody Wood took sev
enth place in the 3200-meter
run with a time of 10:04 and
senior Chris Shelp took eighth
place with 4:35 in the 1600-
meter run.
On the girls’ team, sopho
more Jenna Lecours took sixth
place in the 3200-meter run
with a time of 12:32; junior
Anna Lowe took seventh in the
girls’ shot put with 34’3.25”;
and junior Frankie Muldoon
took eight place in both the
1600-meter run (5:36) and the
800-meter run with a school
record time of 2:27.
Finalists for the state com
petition were Carlos Keller for
the high jump, Cooper
Freeman and Bri Ray for the
pole vault, Frankie Muldoon,
Jenna Lecours and Chris
Shelp for the 1600-meter run,
Jenna Lecours and Cody
Wood for the 3200-meter run,
Frankie Muldoon and Chris
Shelp for the 800-meter run,
Anna Lowe for the shot put
and Micaela McClendon,
Jenna Lecours, Frankie
Muldoon and Avery Young for
the girls 4x400-meter relay
team, with Kaselynn Martin
and Marley Hamby as relay
alternates.
FROM 1B
Brown
There is just something magical
about high school football that has
always stayed with me throughout
the years.
While most people are waiting
for college ball to start back up, I
count down the days when I can
watch young student athletes play
their hearts out.
And they do it simply because
they love the game.
Most high school players won’t
get scholarships. They won’t play
at the collegiate level, and certain
ly not professionally. So why
play? It’s simple: they love the
game. Their hearts are completely
in it. They play with passion and
fire that doesn’t compare to the
atmosphere I’ve seen when I’ve
stood on the sidelines of the
Georgia Bulldogs and the Atlanta
Falcons.
I think what I love most about
high school athletics is that at
some point we will all know
someone in our lives that was a
high school athlete and their eyes
brighten into a smile when they
talk about the glory days.
My dad was one of them. He
was a football superstar in the hot,
humid marsh of South Carolina in
the 1980s. A proud Stag of
Berkeley High School, he beams
with pride when he tells me the
story of his state championship in
1981.
There was my dad, number 62
on the line. He had to buy con
verse tennis shoes to play on the
AstroTurf, and 37 years later my
mom and I can attest that he still
has those shoes. In 2016 the 1981
Championship team was inducted
to Berkeley High’s hall of fame,
giving my dad another chance to
reminisce with his friends and
teammates - many of whom he
hadn’t seen in many years.
High school football brings
communities together and breeds
precious memories that will last a
lifetime.
Maybe that’s the magic of high
school football. It’s a time capsule
to some of our greatest memories.
Every time I step on the field
and I hear the sounds of the band,
the cheerleaders, the crowd.. .I’m
transported to some of my happi
est moments watching my friends
fight for their first win and cele
brating our school’s victory as a
community.
All of us were out there because
we loved the game, and that game
will always remind us of some of
our best moments whether we are
currently in high school or many
years from it.
The love of that game will
always stay with us, wherever we
go-
Jessica Brown is the education
and features reporter for the
Dawson County News. Her col
umns will appear periodically.
FROM 1B
Grady
“He has always been a
part of Dawson athletics.
Everyone in the area, the
region, around the state,
know and respect the job
that he has done here,”
Pruett said. “He won ath
letic director several
times. It makes the school
look good when someone
is that well respected.”
When Turner was ready
for a new challenge after
12 years of basketball,
then Principal Rick Brown
told him he could spend
less time and set his own
schedule as athletic direc
tor.
“He lied. Rick Brown
lied,” Turner said laugh
ing. “He graciously hired
me and I’ve been doing it
ever since.”
It is clear Turner doesn’t
regret a single moment of
his time with the kids or
fellow teachers and coach
es of Dawsonville.
“I can’t think of a better
job than to be around kids
every day,” Turner said.
“He’s been a good
friend personally and pro
fessionally,” Hamby said.
“I’m going to miss getting
under his skin. I call him
just to get under his skin.
He will say ‘what do you
want?’ I will say,
“Nothing. Just getting
under your skin.’
“I told him I’m going to
miss seeing him around.
He said, ‘What do you
mean? I’m not dying.’”
“If someone asked me
to name my best friends,
Grady would be at the top
of the short list,” Sweat
said. “Other than my real
blood brothers, he is as
close to family as you can
get.”
Try to pin him down on
his greatest achievements
or prouder moments as
AD or as a coach or teach
er and the stories always
turn to the accomplish
ments of his students.
Turner’s wife Vicki,
who retired last spring
from full-time teaching,
once asked why he puts so
much time in at the job.
Turner said he just wanted
to do for these kids what
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he hoped others would
have done for his own.
He relayed the story of
running into a former stu
dent who had found suc
cess in the business world.
She told Turner that his
encouragement during a
PE class to always perse
vere and fight through
things had meant more
than he would know. She
thanked him. Turner told
the student she could call
him Grady instead of
Coach Turner, but she shot
back that he would always
be Coach Turner to her.
“I realize it’s the ulti
mate respect. That’s spe
cial,” he said.
“I have disciplined and
gotten onto kids,” Turner
said. “But I hope they
would say that everything
he did was to make the
kids of Dawson County
better. Everything I have
done was for the kids’
sake.”
“Grady is one that as
long as I know he was in
the building, I felt com
fortable and secure. He
has helped people (faculty
and students) in many,
many ways,” Sweat said.
To know Grady Turner
is to know he cares for
kids, but he’s probably
done more than many peo
ple realize.
While working on his
undergraduate degree at
the University of Georgia
he hosted his own radio
show and played defen
sive end for the Bulldogs.
When his grades suf
fered as a freshman while
keeping up the rigors of a
college football career, he
traded football to be a part
of Bill Elliott’s original
1976 pit crew. He would
stay with Elliott for seven
years and even wind up in
Kenny Rogers’ movie
“Six Pack” changing a
rear tire.
Between traveling the
NASCAR circuit and
building homes in Atlanta,
Turner’s early professional
life was somewhat erratic
and his soon-to-be bride
wanted something more
steady. That was about the
time he was offered his
first teaching position. He
doesn’t express any regret
over making that change.
“Working here is not a
job, it never has been.
Working here in Dawson
Schools has been a life
goal, a life achievement.
It’s my life,” he said.
Grady and Vicki Turner
were married on April 2,
1988 and honeymooned in
Aruba. They agreed then
that they would return for
their 20th wedding anni
versary, but that trip took a
back burner to career, to
life.
Though it was put off a
couple of times, this year
the pair will take a cruise
to Aruba to commemorate
30 years of marriage along
with retirement.
Turner will invest time
in his Dahlonega radio
station as well as the Gold
Creek golf community
when he returns.
“I’m ready for a change,
but come the end of July,
the fall, August, I’m going
to be a little bit sad,” he
said.
Amy French Dawson County News
Dawson County High School Athletic Director
Grady Turner sits at his desk in the In School
Suspension room just a few days before his
retirement.
Pets of the Week!
Buddy
Yeti
Vi off Adoption Fee
Normal Prices:
Dogs: $75
Cats: $50
DOB: 2/14/2013
WEIGHT: 72.30 LBS
Grass {A.K.A Buddy) is a tail and handsome Lab mix.
He does excellent on a leash. Buddy is a gentleman
as well as a scholar. He is eager to learn and really
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run! Although he seems fine around other animals,
a meet and greet is recommended. You can just tell
this is a great dog! Come by the shelter and take
him fora walk!
DOB: 8/27/2016
Yeti is a very interesting girl. She does
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are times where she wants to be loved
on. It will take Yeti some time before
she is completely comfortable, but
once she is, she will be the perfect
cuddle friend.
Form ziadZ ation Dawson County Humane Society
706-265-9160 | 633 Martin Road, Dawsonville
adjacent to the Rock Creek Sports Complex
Visit our RESALE SHOP & BOUTIQUE benefits the
Wed. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. | 54 S. Lumpkin Campground Rd. Flumane Society
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706-216-0992
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706-216-2362
2390 Thompson Road
Suite 100 Dawsonville
Dawsonville
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Hospital
706-265-8381
Thank you from Young Life to our
Golf Tournament sponsors!
U
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8th Annual Young Life Dawson County
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