About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (June 19, 2024)
SPORTS DawsonNewscom Wednesday, June 19,2024 facebook.com/dawsonnews twitter.com/dawsonnews Elliott atop standings after first Iowa Cup race By Rio White riowhite@dawsonnews.com NASCAR’s latest foray into race tracks new to the top-tier Cup Series resulted in an entertaining race in the Hawkeye State, with drivers taking on the 0.875-mile Iowa Speedway in the city of Newton last Sunday. The track, which opened in 2006 and became a mainstay of the Truck and Xfinity Series circuits, finally got the chance to shine on NASCAR’s biggest stage for the Iowa Corn 350. It was midwestem man Ryan Blaney who ulti mately conquered this race, leading 201 of 350 laps to secure his 11th career Cup Series victory. He also added to his pre vious success at Iowa Speedway, which includ ed wins in the lower two series. The native Ohioan reportedly had over 80 friends and family mem bers in attendance to wit ness a satisfying win after having multiple close calls earlier this season. Meanwhile, Dawsonville’s Chase Elliott continued his con sistent run of form, fin ishing in third position to earn his seventh top-5 result of the season. Elliott’s sustained suc cess places him at the front of two important categories as the schedule nears the halfway point. He leads the series with an average finish of 9.1 and is now atop the regu lar season standings with 591 points. “It was a much better race than I was anticipat ing,” Elliott said to NBC after the race. “Wasn’t sure what to expect with the tire. I thought throughout the day that the lanes changed a lot. We were able to move around.” Sunday’s race began with some uncertainty due to a partial repave. But despite initial fears that the fast part of the See Cup 13B Certified Collision Center 706-216-0992 We’ve Gone Green! M-F: 8:00 - 5:00 “We will be here when you need us. ” 130 Industrial Park Rd, Dawsonville Hamby steps down as the Lady Tigers’ head soccer coach By Rio White riowhite@dawsonnews.com Chess Hamby recently stepped down from his posi tion as head coach of Dawson County High School’s varsity girls soccer program after seven seasons at the helm. He led the team to four state playoff appearances during his tenure — including a trip to the Class 3A Final Four this past season. Coming off a historic season that included the pro gram’s first trip to the state semifinals, Hamby credits his players not only for what they accomplished but how they went about it. “I’m super proud of them,” he said. “All of them played unselfishly and knew that the big picture was making that run in the playoffs. Any time you coach or participate in a team sport, that’s got to be the main focus.” While Hamby leaves the team in a strong position heading into next season, he also hopes that he instilled values into players that will last well beyond high school. “The ultimate goal is [for them] to be good human beings,” Hamby said. “I get to see those kids take things they learned on the field and take them into life. I like to be able to see them grow into the people they’re meant to be.” Those values trace back to the beginning of his time as head coach, which occurred amid tragic circum stances after the death of beloved head coach Jed Lacey in 2017. But Hamby, along with assistant coaches, players, and the community, helped pull the program together and continue Lacey’s legacy. “With the situation that happened, there was no goal of wins or losses or championships — it was really just to hold the program together,” Hamby said. “If I can do anything close to what coach Lacey did, that’s a huge honor. He taught me so much about life and coaching.” A football coach by trade, Hamby served as an assistant on the varsity football team before and dur ing his time as an assistant soccer coach under Lacey. This fall, he plans to return to football at the middle school level. See Coach 13B Rio White Dawson County News Chess Hamby leaves the Lady Tigers in a strong position after coaching the team for seven seasons. Player Of The Week! Maddie Siuta Championship-caliber kids Photos submitted to DCN The Dawson County 14U (top) and 8U (bottom) Parks and Rec baseball team won their District 7 tournaments last week. Two Dawson baseball teams win district, headed to state By Rio White riowhite@dawsonnews.com A pair of Dawson County Parks and Recreation baseball team will be headed to their respective state tourna ments after winning their District Tournaments. The 14U team, which had an undefeated regular season and won their Mountain League champi onship on June 7, blazed through the District 7 tour ney last week. Dawson County, the host team, opened with a 17-2 win over Habersham County on Wednesday, June 12, following that up with a 13-7 win against Madison County on Thursday. That second win sent them to Friday’s champi onship game, where they faced Madison once again after they beat Jackson County. Dawson put on another offensive show in the tide game, winning 18-6 to punch their ticket to next week’s state event in Effingham County. Meanwhile, the Dawson County 8U team con quered a larger, seven- team group in District 7. Playing in Habersham County, Dawson lost their opening game before win ning out the rest of the tournament. After a 27-7 loss to East Jackson begin the week, Dawson beat Jefferson 16-1 to set them up for a rematch with East Jackson. Dawson got revenge with an 11-7 win, following that up with a 17-6 over West Jackson. But there was still work to be done, as the Tigers had to win the hard way on the bottom half of the bracket. Dawson beat a previously undefeated Gainesville team 18-4 Friday night but needed to beat them a second time to eliminate them. The Tigers found a way to follow up that big win with one final victory in the championship game, winning 10-7 late Friday night to earn a spot in the state tournament. Lady Tigers basketball hosts summer camp By Rio White riowhite@dawsonnews.com The Dawson County High School Lady Tigers basketball team hosted its annual sum mer fundamentals camp at Rock Creek Park last week. Up-and-coming bas ketball players aged seven to 15 had the chance to learn the basics of shooting, pass ing and much more from many of the DCHS var sity players who helped the coaching staff run the camp. “I was most impressed with the improvement of the group,” head coach Will Anglin said. “A lot of these kids have been coming to us for several years and it was encour aging to see the growth of each individual. It’s obvious they are putting in work outside of camp.” See Camp 13B The Player of the Week is Maddie Siuta, who helped the Lady Tigers basketball team conduct a summer camp. Rio White Dawson County News DCHS Lady Tigers basketball wrapped up its summer camp last week. Dawsonville’s Premier Collision Center
