Newspaper Page Text
ft FAYETTE COUNTY
OPORTS
Wednesday, July 12,2023
Brad Hort
Fayette County News B1
Adam Sheikali
Christie Lynne Ethridge Diez
Rutledge Wood
Photos Courtesy of Fayette County Schools
McIntosh to Celebrate 2023 HOF Induction Sept. 8-9
The Chiefs are ready to
honor another McIntosh
High School Sports/Dis
tinguished Alumni Hall of
Fame class, with cere
monies planned on Sept.
8-9.
The McIntosh High
Sports/Distinguished
Alumni Hall of Fame Class
of 2023 includes Brad Hort
(Class of 2013, cross coun
try, track and field); Adam
Sheikali (Class of 2014,
soccer); Distinguished
Alumna Christie Lynne
Ethridge Diez (Class of
2008); and Distinguished
Alumnus Rutledge Wood
(Class of 1998).
The 1998 AAAA Girls’
Cross Country State Cham
pion MHS team will also
be honored.
Hall of fame weekend is
scheduled for Friday and
Saturday, Sept. 8-9, and
the public is welcome to at
tend. More details and in
formation about tickets
will be provided later.
Brad Hort was a two-
time individual cross coun
try state champion, a
finalist at the Footlocker
USA National Cross-Coun
try Championships, and
the top runner on the 2012
state cross country cham
pionship team, along with
a state runner-up in the
1,600-meter run. He went
on to compete at the Uni
versity of Georgia and the
University of North Flor
ida.
Adam Sheikali was the
2014 Georgia Gatorade
Player of the Year, the
United Soccer Coaches Na
tional Scholar Athlete of
the Year, and an All-Amer
ican. He was a key piece of
the 2014 and 2013 state
champions as a team cap
tain. He was a four-year
varsity letter winner at
Boston University, and he
is now in medical school.
Christie Lynne
Ethridge Diez was a
member of the state cham
pion Chiefettes dance team
for four years. She is an
Emmy-nominated j ournal-
ist and an anchor at nAlive
weekend mornings. Her
stories have won numer
ous Associated Press
awards, and she was hon
ored as a 2020-2021 Rosa-
lynn Carter Mental Health
Journalism Fellow.
Rutledge Wood was
both his junior and senior
class president at McIn
tosh. He is a television host
and auto racing and car en
thusiast. He was host of
Top Gear US, Lost in
Transmission, and many
NASCAR events. He is also
an NBC Sports reporter for
the Kentucky Derby since
2016 and for the Rio and
PyeongChang Olympics.
Wood is currently host
ing Floor is Lava and
American Barbeque Show
down on Netflix and a new
car makeover competition
show, “Hot Wheels: Ulti
mate Challenge,” for NBC.
For more information
on the McIntosh High
Sports/Distinguished
Alumni Hall of Fame, in
cluding how to become a
sponsor, go to mcintosh-
halloffame.wixsite.com/ch
iefs.
Ian Kirkland-Cochran
Continues National Play
Prepares for Tennis Tournament in Spain
Leah Banks
Investigative Reporter
leah@fayette-news.net
With stellar stars at every corner,
Fayette County continually displays a
wealth of support for its many high-
achieving athletes. One athlete setting
the stage at the national tennis circuit is
Jan Kirkland-Cochran, who is preparing
for a national tournament this October
in Spain.
Kirkland-Cochran and her team will
travel to Spain to compete on the na
tional circuit from Oct. 7-14. The team
tournament will be held Oct. 1-11, and
the individual world event is Oct. 8-14.
Kirkland-Cochran will compete in the
doubles match and team tournament.
“I will be representing the United
States in the World Cup and it will be
held in Spain,” Kirkland-Cochran said.
“It’s kind of like the senior tennis tour,
and the top players in each country will
represent their country and play in Spain
for the world championship.”
Kirkland-Cochran is known as a
“doubles expert” as she steps into play
with her teammate on the national scale.
“They have a doubles person, most of
the time, on each team. So, they’ll have
six singles players and two doubles
players,” Kirkland-Cochran said. “The
team competition consists of two singles
points and a doubles point.”
The Fayetteville native did not begin
as a stellar tennis star, with a sports
background in basketball and softball
early, and began playing tennis as a
hobby.
“I actually took up tennis after I grad
uated high school and started working,”
Kirkland-Cochran said. “I was a flight at
tendant for Delta Airlines for 33 years
and once I started flying, I started get
ting the itch to get some activity going
because I had to give up the basketball
and softball because I never knew when
I was going to be around.”
Jan Kirkland-Cochran
Once she took up tennis at age 26,
Kirkland-Cochran fell in love with it in
stantly, but she was not playing compet
itively. She was playing locally to learn
the fundamentals of the sport in an effort
to improve and progress to the national
level.
She considers the early years of play
ing tennis as “playing catch-up” to the
methods and tactics that can be used on
the court.
“I actually won my first gold ball,
which is a very prestigious thing in sen
ior tennis, when I was 50 years old,”
Kirkland-Cochran said.
Senior tennis begins for competitors
at age 35, and for Kirkland-Cochran, she
recognizes that the tournament keeps
players from vying against younger ath
letes.
Kirkland-Cochran is preparing for
two tournaments in the United States
before heading to Spain for the world
tournament - one in California and the
second in Vancouver, Wash.
Brigitte Greer/Fayette News
Racers wait patiently to begin the course with rucksacks on their backs.
‘Rucking’ For a Cause
Camp Southern Ground Hosts
Inaugural ‘Ruck & BBQ Bash’
Brigitte Greer
Staff Writer
bgreer@fayette-news.net
Camp Southern
Ground hosted its inaugu
ral Ruck & BBQ Bash on
Saturday, July 8.
Veterans, along with
their families and friends,
were invited to bring their
own rucksack or weighted
vest to complete the 5K
Ruck Course at Camp
Southern Ground. Partici
pants were given the op
portunity to complete
three different challenges
along the course.
Camp Southern
Ground CEO Mike Dobbs
said it took one full year
for the plan to come to
fruition.
“This event is to create
awareness, primarily,”
Dobbs explained, “[and
for] the alumni in the com
munity to come together,
to understand the re
sources that are available
here, and to also raise
some money along the way
and build community
within our local com
munity.”
Proceeds from the
event benefitted various
programs the camp offers
at the facility.
A barbecue lunch, bev
erages, and popsicles were
waiting at the finish line
for participants and their
supporters, while U.S. Ma
rine Corps veteran and
country music artist J.B.
Brown provided live music
for attendees.
A rucksack, similar to a
backpack, is commonly re
ferred to as a bag carried
on the back, generally for
specialist activities like
camping and hiking, ac
cording to online sources.
FAYETTE COUNTY NEWS
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