SPORTS
DawsonNewscom
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
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Muldoon finishes DCHS career
Multi-sport athlete to compete for Georgia State in the fall
By Bob Christian
bchristian@dawsonnews.com
Last week, DCHS senior Frankie
Muldoon walked the stage of the
UNG Convocation Center to
receive her diploma and officially
put an end to her athletic career as
a Dawson County Tiger.
Muldoon spent her youth chasing
two older brothers everywhere they
went, doing everything they did
and, by the time she approached
high school, she was playing a
wide variety of sports according to
her mother, Michelle Muldoon.
“She was playing soccer, running
cross-country, talking about track-
and-field and she was thinking
about trying out for the football
team,” Michelle Muldoon said.
“We had to give something up as
we got closer to high school.”
Despite her desire to follow in
the footsteps of her brother Max,
who was a kicker for the Tigers
from 2010-2013, Muldoon’s love
for running won out. She commit
ted to playing soccer and running
cross-country, two sports she had
blossomed in during the eighth
grade.
“I actually got into cross-country
to help with soccer,” Muldoon said.
“Soccer is a lot of endurance, and I
already knew I didn’t have a lot of
speed.”
As a freshman midfield defender
for the Lady Tigers, Muldoon
helped lead Dawson County into
See Muldoon 12B
Photos courtesy of Wendy McGinnis
Senior Frankie Muldoon sets the pace at the 2018
Wingfoot Classic.
Lady Tigers golf squad clubs
way into top-10 golf finish
Photos courtesy of Dawson Golf
Sophomore Will Howard puts in time at the Cateechee Golf Course driving range
May 20 in preparation for the 2019 GHSA State Tournament.
By Bob Christian
bchristian@dawsonnews.com
The DCHS golf program
topped off what was supposed
to be a rebuilding year with a
two-day visit to the GHSA
State Golf Championship on
May 20 and 21 where the
Lady Tigers captured a top-10
finish and sophomore Will
Howard, the lone representa
tive of the boys’ varsity team,
finished 34th overall.
Unlike any other sport in
Dawson County, golf does not
count regular season perfor
mance toward end season
goals; if you win every tourna
ment in a season it does not
grant you a preferred position
in the year-end tournament nor
does it accord any weight to
the state finals.
“As far as teams’ standings,
there are no standings for
golf,” Head Coach Michael
Parker said. “The only thing
that matters is the Area
Tournaments.”
Although the standings
don’t matter, the Lady Tigers
advanced to the state playoffs
after sweeping the season in
regional competition and qual
ifying for the postseason with
a combined round of 316 in
the 3-AAA tournament April
23 to capture the final slot.
A relatively young team, the
Lady Tigers feature two golf
ers, sophomores Mariah
Benson and Maddi Anglin that
only began swinging clubs this
season, while junior Cosette
Huthwaite and sophomore
Kenzie Smith provided some
experience to anchor the team
through the year.
The tournament took place
at Cateechee Golf Club in
Hartwell. Spread across 250
acres, the par-72, 18-hole
course features water hazards
on five holes and elevation
changes designed to make the
short holes play longer.
As she has done all season,
Smith led the team after day
one of the tournament with the
low round of 89. The team
was in good position for a
strike into the top ten sitting
outside the bubble in eleventh
place, four strokes behind.
Warmer, windier conditions
made for a tougher course on
day two and scores rose across
the board. Despite the condi
tions the Lady Tigers cut eight
strokes from day one and
fought their way into the tenth-
place spot with a combined,
two-day total of 654, led again
by Smith’s low round of 92.
“With two of our four never
having played golf until
March, I don’t think anyone
expected us to qualify for
state, much less come in with
a 10th place finish,” Parker
said. “That’s a true testament
to the hard work our girls put
in this season. All credit goes
to them.”
Sophomore Will Howard
was the only member of the
boys’ varsity team to qualify
for the state tournament in
April after the Tigers ended
their season with a heartbreak
ing sixth place finish (the min
imum necessary to qualify for
a state berth) but without the
required points.
After some time on the driv
ing range the morning of the
tournament, Howard settled
down to the course and fired a
day-one 84 to move himself
into the middle of the pack
heading into day two. Gustier
conditions made the second
round a different animal and
Howard fought hard to hold
his position with a final round
of 89 to finish 34th overall.
“He’s only been playing for
15 months, so to see the way
he’s grown as a player over the
last year has been impressive.
Individual region champ, 5th
in Area, and 34th in state,”
Parker said. “That’s a strong
list of accomplishments and a
credit to the hard work that
he’s put into the game of golf.”
The greatest
moment in
sports... ever
By Bob Christian
bchristian@dawsonnews.com
For over a month I have been wrestling with
the phrase, “the greatest moment in sports.”
If you will recall, those words were thrown
around with great glee by pundits near and far
to describe Tiger Woods winning the Masters
in April, and many pages were filled with
glowing descriptions of how his accomplish
ment exceeded all the accomplishments that
had come before. Not only Woods’ accom
plishments, but apparently everybody else’s as
well.
That’s the part the I have been wrestling with
since then because that is what it means when
we say it was the greatest moment. Nothing
before it was as good, and nothing afterward
will reach the standard set this day. It’s a pretty
hefty weight to put on a moment, especially a
moment as fleeting as winning a golf tourna
ment.
Personally, I was thrilled to see the man win.
It was a great moment. I, along with a nation of
golf fans and sports enthusiasts, was thrilled to
see Tiger roar and throw is fists up in victory
once again. He is the best golfer I have seen
play the game, and I suspect he will remain at
the top of the list during my lifetime.
His winning marked the end of an amazing
personal journey and created a comeback story
to rival the ages, but it is only one of the great
moments that happened that week, and it is
See Moment 14B
Water safety on Lake Lanier
emphasized amid start to
summer recreation season
By Bob Christian
bchristian@dawsonnews.com
According to the calendar, summer will
not officially start until June 21 but, in real
ity, Memorial Day weekend has always
marked the beginning of the season, and
Lake Lanier’s Natural Resource Manager
Nick Baggett estimates that “thousands and
thousands” of people will visit the area
parks, marinas, beaches and docks.
“It’s going to be good weather, it’s going
to be dry weather, and it’s going to be
extremely hot,” Baggett said. “People are
attracted to water and we anticipate most
See Safety 12B
Players of the Week!
Riley Herndon
Rising senior wide receiver Riley Herndon returned to the
footballfield on May 17for the annual Spring Game versus
Pickens County, and was a key piece of the 16-10 victory.
Averaging just under 8 yards per reception, Herndon’s precise
route running and strong hands allowed Dawson County to
march down the field almost at will in the second half, and on
back-to-back scoring drives he converted third and long to
keep the drives alive, giving the Tigers the edge they needed to
hang on for the win.
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PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kenzie Smith
Dawson County sophomore Kenzie
Smith, in her second straight AAA
State Golf Tournament, fired a two-
day total of 181 to lead the Lady Tigers
to a tenth-place overall finish on May
20-21 at Cateechee Golf Course in
Hartwell. Smith entered the second
day of the tournament as one of the top
ten individual golfers in the field and
finished the tournament in eleventh place
after shaving an incredible 35 strokes
from her performance last year.
Sponsored by:
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Dawsonville, GA 30534 • Bus: 678-456-4785
