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10A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, July 25,2018
Marcus (left) and
Markell Webb pose
for a picture after a
Jackrabbit Running
Club practice at
Mountain View
High School in
Lawrenceville.
Photo by David Almeda For the Dawson County News
Forsyth third-grader
blazing path as runner
By David Almeda
DCN Regional Staff
It wasn’t on the swel
tering 90 degree heat or
the hundreds of bystand
ers in the stands at the
USATF Junior Olympics
regional qualifier meet in
Rome. It wasn’t on the
collection of talent from
Florida, South Carolina
and Georgia that sur
rounded him. On the
starting block of the 800
meter race that he found
himself in, Marcus’ laser-
focus was on the starting
gun.
When Marcus heard
that, he jetted out of the
opening leg and made the
first turn of the two-lap
race. Then he suddenly
felt one of his socks touch
the asphalt. One of his
shoes had been kicked off
by the runner behind him,
and the race wasn’t even
close to being halfway
over.
But his focus didn’t
waver for long. With his
stride now uneven, the
athleticism and strength
that he had worked to
build over the past year
began to take over. He
completed the last 650
meters of the run as if
nothing happened, riding
a new personal best of
2:41.64 to a fourth-place
finish and beating the rest
of the field by two sec
onds. Marcus had just
qualified for the USATF
Junior Olympics, which
will take place from July
23-29 in Greensboro,
North Carolina.
Marcus, an eight-year
old third-grader at
Mashburn Elementary,
has already produced
times that could challenge
some high schoolers. He
added another qualifica
tion with a second-place
finish in the 1,500 meter
run at that same meet, in
5:30.18, and another as a
part of a 4x400 meter
relay team that is on the
cusp of setting a national
record.
Markell Webb, Marcus’
father, was watching it all
from the stands.
“That, to me, was the
‘awe’ moment that I’ve
had - just to see him per
severe through the adver
sity and still finishing the
drill,” Markell Webb said.
Running track is a fam
ily tradition for Marcus,
who moved to Forsyth
County last year from
Tennessee. His father ran
track during his high
school days in Kentucky
and was an all-state selec
tion during his junior
year, and his grandfather
was a state record holder
in Tennessee.
“Marcus, his namesake,
he’s named after my
father,” Markell Webb
said. “Maybe it skipped a
generation - he has a lit
tle more talent than I had.
I’d say it’s kind of a sport
that got passed down.”
Despite the family ties,
track was not Marcus’
first sport. Football has
that title, as he plays for
the North Atlanta Giants
out of St. Francis High
School in Alpharetta.
Markell was looking for
something to keep his son
active during the offsea
son, and track fit the bill
nicely.
“I figured eventually I
wanted (Marcus) to run,”
he said. “Obviously he
was young. A lot of clubs
don’t accept kids until
they turn around seven.
‘It was like, ‘Let’s try it
out and see if you like
it.’”
Marcus Webb was
signed up for Jackrabbit
Track Club, where head
coach Andre Al-Ghani
saw his potential immedi
ately.
“From the beginning, it
was exciting,” Al-Ghani
said. “Once we saw him
run and his work ethic,
we knew very early on he
was going to go deep
when we got to the quali
fying rounds for the
Junior Olympics.”
Coach Andre’s workout
regimen is mostly the
same for older and
younger athletes,
although the younger age
group sometimes gets a
lighter workload if
they’re not physically or
mentally ready. Stamina
was an early focus for
Marcus Webb.
“The biggest thing
(was) building up his
endurance first,”
Al-Ghani said. “Once we
got some endurance along
with his conditioning, it
was then at the same time
making sure he had the
strength. We’re at that
phase now because he’s
on the 4x400 relay team.
What we’re doing is mak
ing sure he gets his speed
work in as well. He’s
already in shape, he’s
strong, he understands his
races, he knows how to
run them. Now we’re in
the process of just getting
him faster.”
Markell Webb has also
started to focus on nutri
tion and diet in his son’s
development. But as is
the case with any elemen
tary school student, com
promises are sometimes
necessary.
“He loves McDonald’s
like any other 8-year-
old,” Markell Webb said.
“We definitely treat him.
For us, it’s a healthy life
style. I think one thing
about sports, and track in
particular, is that it kind
of instills discipline in a
kid, where they under
stand the importance of
what they put in their
bodies and how that can
really impact their health.
I would say that in a lot
of ways, he’s just really
getting a leap on a lot of
other kids his age, as it
relates to understanding
healthy choices.
“It’s definitely not the
world I lived in as an
8-year-old. A lot of these
kids have a very focused
regimen. He’s kind of fol
lowing in that path as
well.”
Marcus Webb isn’t the
boastful type and mostly
keeps to himself. And
while his father doesn’t
try to keep Marcus 4
national success a secret,
he also doesn’t feel the
need to.
“I think it’s registered,”
Markell said. “When
Coach Andre first met
him, he said, ‘Hey, you’re
going to go to the Junior
Olympics.’ He was kind
of like, ‘Well, coach says
that I can do it. I’ll work
hard and I’ll maybe I’ll
get there.’”
While the prospect of
performing in front of
college recruiters is still a
long ways off, Al-Ghani
says that pressure, partic
ularly from parents, can
still be an issue for some
young athletes. He
doesn’t see that issue
with the Webbs, though.
“What happens once
you take a student-athlete
and they start performing
and running for the par
ent, rather than the pro
gram on the coach and
themselves, you start to
go in a different direc
tion,” Al-Ghani said.
The Webbs haven’t
decided exactly what
Marcus 4 future holds,
whether it will be focused
on football, track, or a
mix of the two. For now,
though, Marcus will keep
working for a place atop
the medal stand at the
Junior Olympics.
“I’m going to let him
do whatever he chooses,”
Markell Webb said. “It’s
whatever he’s passionate
about and just letting him
continue to go down that
path, versus setting a path
for him.”
PRESS RELEASE ANNOUNCING
A PROPOSED PROPERTY TAX INCREASE
The Dawson County Board of Commissioners today announces its
intention to leave the current millage rate of 8.138 unchanged, which
would increase the 2018 property taxes it will levy this year by 10.08
percent over the rollback millage rate.
All concerned citizens are invited to the public hearings on this
matter to be held in the Commissioners Meeting Room at the Dawson
County Courthouse/Administration Building located at 25 Justice
Way, Dawsonville, Georgia at the following times:
Hearing 1: August 2, 2018 at 6:00 p.m.
Hearing 2: August 9, 2018 at 4:00 p.m.
Hearing 3: August 16, 2018 at 6:00 p.m.
Each year, the Board of Tax Assessors is required to review the
assessed value for property tax purposes of taxable property in the
County. When the trend of prices on properties that have recently sold
in the County indicate there has been an increase in the fair market
value of any specific property, the Board of Tax Assessors is required
by law to re-determine the value of such property and adjust the
assessment. This is called a reassessment.
When the total digest of taxable property is prepared, Georgia law
requires that a rollback millage rate must be computed that will
produce the same total revenue on the current year’s digest that
last year’s millage rate would have produced had no reassessments
occurred.
The FY 2019 budget tentatively adopted by the Dawson County Board
of Commissioners requires a millage rate higher than the rollback
millage rate to be able to maintain and continue to provide much
needed services to the citizens of the County. Therefore, before the
Dawson County Board of Commissioners may finalize the tentative
budget and set a final millage rate, Georgia law requires three public
hearings to be held to allow the public an opportunity to express their
opinions on the increase.
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