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DawsonNewscom
Wednesday, May 10, 2023
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Dewendt wins individual Area 4 title
Boys golf team secures third straight State bid
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
The Dawson County varsity
boys and girls golf teams
recently faced their toughest
test of the season, setting out
for the Class 3A Area 4 tourna
ment on Tuesday, May 2, at the
University of Georgia golf
course.
Starting the day for the
Tigers was the boys team, who
took the morning tee times
looking to secure their third
consecutive trip to the Class
state tournament.
The Lady Tigers, led by
junior Samantha Dewendt, took
the afternoon times seeking to
improve on their previous out
ings.
Out of many positive perfor
mances for Dawson County,
Dewendt came out ahead as the
low scorer in the girls tourna
ment, posting a round of 82 to
become the Area’s sole individ
ual qualifier for State.
Her score of 82 was also the
lowest of all individual qualifi
ers from each of the four area
events.
As a team, The Lady Tigers
finished fifth overall, just miss
ing out on a bid to state.
The boys team found their
groove at a challenging UGA
course that proved to yield gen
erally higher scores than last
year’s Area Tournament course
at Apple Mountain.
Just like last season, the
Tigers battled against 13 teams
to earn a third-place team finish
and qualify for state — ending
up just two strokes behind Area
runner-up Hebron Christian
Academy.
The team’s positive chemis
try throughout the season was
reflected in their consistent
results — with the top four
scorers finishing within four
strokes of each other.
See Golf 13B
Photo courtesy of DCHS golf
Samantha Dewendt was the low individual scorer at the
Area 4-3A tournament on Tuesday, May 2, also earning her
All-Area honors.
Track runners going to Albany
Five individuals, two relay teams move on to State Finals
Nine Tigers earn
All-Region honors
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
Dawson County’s varsity
track and field team trav
eled down to Atlanta’s
Lakewood Stadium on
Saturday, May 6, for one of
two Class 3A State
Sectionals, where the best
athletes from four of eight
regions competed for the
remaining qualifying spots
in each event to move on to
the State Finals.
This time around, the
Tigers brought a pair of
region champion relay
teams and several other
individuals and groups who
were aiming to make the
trip to Albany for the final
round of State.
In total, five individuals
and two relay teams made
it through the demanding
— and sometimes unpre
dictable — test of the State
Sectionals.
Of the many highlights
during the day for Dawson
County, the event’s final
race — the 4x400 relay —
proved to be a fine moment
for the team.
The two-time defending
Region 7 champion
Dawson girls team broke
See Track 13B
Photos by Rio White Dawson County News
Jules Phillips (left) starts the second leg of the girls 4x800 relay race after
receiving the baton from Addison Smith.
Aaric Muilenburg
(front) prepares to
receive the baton
from Jaden Horner
in the boys 4x200
relay race.The
team would set a
new school record
in that race.
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
After a 2023 season that saw the Dawson County
varsity baseball team make its second straight trip to
the Class 3A state playoffs, nine Tigers were award
ed with postseason All-Region honors.
While pitching largely fueled the Tigers to suc
cess within Region 7-3A, the team’s offensive out
put also fared well against several teams.
Leading the way in First Team All-Region honors
are Sawyer Bearden and Julian Horner on offense,
while Trey Harvey was named as one of the region’s
four best pitchers.
Bearden and Horner made vast improvements
from their sophomore to junior seasons, both
becoming consistent contributors to a Tigers team
that won four of six region series.
Horner was the home run machine all season,
racking up eight of those while also driving in 32
runs and posting a 1.244 OPS.
Bearden was particularly strong against familiar
foes, hitting for a .406 batting average with 24 hits
against region opponents.
Harvey was the team’s ace on the mound, finish
ing the year with a 5-2 record, 1.98 earned run aver
age and 63 strikeouts.
Four more Tigers were chosen as Second Team
picks, including three sophomore hitters who had
breakout seasons.
Heavy-hitting Davis Glass and solid-swinging
Elijah Odom each flirted with the .400 mark within
region play, while lefty Jacson Rickett had six dou
bles on a .348 batting average.
Pitcher Joshua Priest joined those batters as a
Second Team selection. His frequent use of timely
off-speed pitches led him to have a successful year
See Baseball 13B
Goode named Lady Tigers
head coach for volleyball
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
Dawson County High School named
Audrey Goode as the new head coach of
the varsity volleyball team, as confirmed
by the school on Friday, April 28.
Goode, a 2007 graduate of DCHS,
spent the past four seasons as the volley
ball team’s junior varsity coach — work
ing under longtime varsity team coach
Tanya Porter.
“I’m excited,” Goode said. “Getting to
build those relationships with the girls
across the board is something I’m really
looking forward to.”
Goode enters the head coaching role to
fill the shoes of Porter — who was the
program’s first head coach starting in
2016.
Along with new assistant coach
Courtney Walker, Goode heads up a
Lady Tigers team that will be on the
younger side for the 2023 season after
five seniors graduated from last year’s
team.
Rio White Dawson County News
Audrey Goode was recently chosen
as the DCHS volleyball program's
head coach.
“We definitely lost some big power
houses last year.. .but we are also bring
ing back a lot of good girls,” Goode said.
“We have Meghan Roche coming back
on the outside, Eva Bishop and Maggie
Allen in the middle...we’ve got a good
group.”
See Goode 13B
Player Of The Week!
Samantha
Dewendt
The Player of the Week is
Samantha Dewendt, who
won the Area 4-3A girls’ golf
tournament with a round of
82, qualifying for State.
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