About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (April 27, 2022)
Wednesday, April 27,2022 dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3B Elliott sneaks into 7th after frantic Talladega finish Photo courtesy of Sean Gardner/Getty Images Chase Elliott drives during qualifying for Sunday's GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Despite starting 28th, Elliott quickly placed himself in the top 10. By Rio White riowhite@dawsonnews.com At the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, April 24, another last- lap crash altered the final results and placed Chase Elliott into a top-10 finish for the sev enth time this season. The bulk of the race was very different for Elliott compared to the previous week’s Bristol race, where he gradually worked his way up the leaderboard. Despite starting in 28th posi tion, Elliott quickly established himself as a contender at the race he won three years ago. By lap 25, Elliott was firmly in the top 10 and would contin ue to move up. After briefly running in the top five, Elliott would finish Stage One in sixth position and stay around there for the next 30 laps or so. Just before lap 90, Elliott made a move that would push him into second position. Despite two cautions in the next several laps, Elliott would maintain his track position until the end of Stage Two at lap 120. It was after the second stage caution that Elliott fell back in the field and needed to work his way back up. After maintaining a top-10 position for the next 30 laps or so, he would fall back as far as 15th until making a roaring comeback in the final 20 laps. At lap 170, Elliott took the high line and burst into the top- 10 once more, improving six positions in the next five laps alone. As other drivers attempted to make moves and shuffle the lead pack of drivers, Elliott stayed out of trouble but need ed help to maintain his posi tion. After getting as far up as fourth position at lap 176, he was back in ninth by lap 178. The frantic final 10 laps gave little room for error for drivers, who all experienced significant position changes in the space of a few laps. Elliott had a tough time find ing an angle in those closing laps, with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson attempting a last-minute maneuver to take the lead. In the end, Elliott managed to escape the final lap chaos, which took the lead away from then-leader Erik Jones and affected the positions of Larson and fellow teammate William Byron, who led the most laps during the race. Elliott would finish in sev enth position after having been around tenth for the final two laps. Ross Chastain won the race while Larson finished fourth and teammate Alex Bowman finished ninth. Byron finished in 15th position. With the two strong stage positions and another top-10 final result, Elliott extended his lead atop the NASCAR Cup Standings with 368 points. He is now 21 points ahead of Ryan Blaney and 34 points ahead of Byron. Elliott will continue his search for a first victory of the season next Sunday at Dover Motor Speedway. FROM 1B Track record-holders are both currently running at Division 1 schools on the track teams. It will be fun to see how these times hold up at the state series over the next several weeks.” Both 4x200-meter relay teams broke school records, with the girls team record ing 1:50.06 and the boys at 1:33.68. In total, four individuals and five relay teams qualified for the sectionals. Individually, Smith finished as region runner-up in both the 400 and 800-meter events, LeCave finished third in her 800- meter run, Emily Kurtz was third at the 400- meter event and Bailey Dameron qualified with a fourth-place finish at the boys 100- meter sprint. For the relay teams, the record-breaking 4x200 teams had their finals on Thursday. The boys team of Garrett Fillingame, Jaden Homer, Will Kurtz and Smith finished sec ond, while the girls team of Vita Govorkova, Katie Gloeckner, Lauren Kurtz and Emily Kurtz finished third. The girls 4x800 team also ran on Thursday, with the team of Jules Phillips, Elizabeth Knight, Gloeckner and LeCave finishing second in that race. On Friday, both 4x400 teams won their races in dramatic fashion on the final leg. The girls team began with Lauren Kurtz, who established the team in a top-four posi tion. LeCave maintained that positioning before Gloeckner began to close the gap with the top two racers. On the final lap, Emily Kurtz made a charge in the last 200 meters and launched herself into first place to give DCHS their first top finish of the region tournament. The boys followed up on that perfor mance with a win of their own, with Dameron starting up the race. Freshman Aaric Muilenburg kept up with the break neck pace in the second leg before handing off to Will Kurtz. After back-and-forth position changes during the first three legs, Smith made an emphatic late charge to give the Tigers a second victory of the day. “The [relay] teams have really worked to sharpen their hand-offs which in itself can make the difference between winning and losing,” Haynes said. “Relays are something that our team has always taken great pride in and have proven over the years.” The state sectionals will be held on Saturday, May 7, hosted by Greater Atlanta Christian. In addition to all who qualified, several DCHS athletes are alternates for that event. FROM 1B Boys Friday refused to take any thing lightly in his match at No. 2 singles, winning the first set. He sprinted and leaped his way across the court, bound ing forward when in an offen sive position and tracking back with urgency when his defensive skills were needed. When his opponent would attempt to drop a shot just over the net, Friday would make a mad dash to send it back over. When he faced a lob shot, he would twist and turn to try and guide the ball across the court. After falling behind in the second set, his night was near ing its end as the other match es finished in the Spartans’ favor. Likely sensing this situation, Friday embarked on a back- and-forth deuce-ad battle with his opponent that seemed to last an eternity. Well after the other matches ended, Friday continued as if he was playing match point with every shot. Eventually, Friday won the mid-set game and his match was called off due to the score, ending his night along with his teammates. For seniors Friday, Lane Perry, Connor Scroggins and Ben Swafford, Tuesday’s matches would be their last for the Tigers. Their impact on the team throughout the past season was important to their success. “All of the seniors played a huge role in our success,” head coach Logan Allen said. “The guys all get along and support each other, which is always great to see as a coach. Tennis is a fun sport and the team genuinely has fun every day at practice, which is part of why we are able to have success.” Returning next season will be the No. 1 singles line player Chase Cofield, Grant Ledbetter, Connor Woody and Bailey Swafford. Rio White Dawson County News Kayleigh Moon returns a shot against her Westminster opponent. She finished the season with a 12-4 overall record at No. 1 singles. FROM 1B Girls “I think we had a strong season this year,” Ledbetter said. “We did a lot of work in the off-season, keeping the players’ games fresh and ready to go strong in the sea son.” That preparation the team had before the season paid off, with all three singles players improving each week and a variety of players vying for a spot in the two main doubles teams. By the time the region tour nament rolled around, the team had shown that they could compete with many teams in the region. While junior Kayleigh Moon would lead the team and finish the season at No. 1 singles with a 12-4 record, fellow singles players Marlee Gaddis and Blake Smith proved that they too could become forces in the region. All three helped the Lady Tigers push through the first round of the region tourna ment without a loss to secure a place in the state tourna ment. Smith, along with fellow senior doubles players Kelci Folsom, Sadie Pruitt and Mackenzie Stover, all helped in that effort. It was through the help of those seniors that the team came together as a whole as the season progressed. Regardless of who played or not on a particular night, the team had a strong bond that eventually earned them the trip to Westminster. “The seniors were excited to have a strong team this sea son,” Ledbetter said. “They were motivated at practice because they wanted their last season to be a good one.” Returning next season for singles will be Moon and Gaddis, with someone new stepping up to take on the No. 3 singles spot. In dou bles, Amber Horton, Avery Beaty and Wendy Castro will return. FROM 1B Bagley his skills only increased. “I was going to do every thing I could to get that time back,” Bagley said. “That’s really what made me want to keep going.” His decision to keep going paid off by becoming strong enough of a hurdler to com pete at the collegiate level, committing to Truett McConnell University earlier this school year. This season, Bagley showed that he has the skills necessary to compete at the college level. He has twice run the 300-meter hurdles event under 45 seconds at meets and will be looking to consistently beat that at Truett McConnell. Considering his and the entire team’s resiliency this year after two pandemic- affected seasons, he did not want to allow his ailment to stop him from competing at his best during the postsea son. “Right now I am feeling pretty good and very rested. [The injury] hasn’t been both ering me much anymore,” Bagley said. “I’m feeling ready to go out and compete. Whatever God wills is what will happen.” While Bagley will be con tinuing his hurdling career at Truett McConnell, he also has an intended major of educa tion with a focus in science and social studies. He also intends to minor in exercise science so he can coach track and field at a school some time in the future. Outside of track and field, Bagley enjoys drawing, paint ing and playing the guitar. He also possesses a colorfully decorated water bottle with stickers that represent some of the influences in his life. These included two stickers from Young Life camps he has attended as well as one for the Shaky Knees music festival. Bagley participated in the 300-meter hurdles event at the Region 7-AAA Track Championships hosted by Cherokee Bluff. He clocked in with a time of 49.14 sec onds in the preliminary round. FROM 1B Cars Photo courtesy Helen Holloway for DCN DCHS band director Nicholas Gattis stands with William Holloway, a Dawson County Middle School band member whose family owns the vehicle that won the People's Choice Award at the DCHS band car show. After perusing through the colorful rows, people were able to vote for their favorite vehicle. The winner of the People’s Choice Award was a 1977 Volkswagen Westfalia Camper van, owned by Helen Holloway. Her orange van included a lively inte rior with a tartan bench seat and multi-colored rug. Two other awards were given out for Director’s Choice and Sponsor’s Choice, as well as plaques for other top-rat ed vehicles. Many cars stood out, including a black Ford Fairlane 500 with a mock food tray attached to the driver’s side window, complete with classic 1950s drive-in food fare. Also present were clas sic pickup trucks with colors including pastel blue and yellow. Two of the more unusual finds included a 1970s International Harvester Scout and a 1990s imported Toyota Hilux SUV with a right-sided steering wheel. The collective effort by Gattis, band members, parents and volunteers helped bring together an event that included much more than just the cars. Several booths were open as part of a raffle, with items including a homemade DCHS band quilt. Volunteers also helped set up food, which included freshly-cooked barbecue, hamburgers and hot dogs. In addition to helping direct traffic, band mem bers also presided over a face-painting booth and a bouncy house to entertain children. Toward the end of the show, the band came together and recited a few pieces commonly played during the march ing band season. “A lot of our events are all hands on deck and the students and parents con sistently go above and beyond to make our events a success,” Gattis said. “The fact that on a Saturday we had students and parents helping out from 7 a.m set up to 3 p.m clean up is a real tes tament to the work ethic here.” At the awards ceremo ny, Gattis thanked all who attended as well as the event’s main sponsor, Daikin. While the marching band season will not begin until the summer band camps, the sym phonic band has one last event before the end of the school year. The spring concert will be on Thursday, May 12, at 6:30 p.m. and will have both the high school sym phonic band and the junior high school band combine forces for a final concert of the year.
