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( FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Thursday. February 26, 2004
Local Sports
Basketball
• South Forsyth War Eagles vs.
Columbia at the Dalton Trade
Center. Friday. February 27, 5:30
p.m.
Mountain High
Running Camp
gearing up
The Mountain High Running
Camp will take place Julv 12-17
and July 19-24. at Tallulah Falls.
The staff is composed of elite
Kenyan and international distance
runners and internationally experi
enced coaches. Runners experi
ence awesome trail runs that range
up to 6.000 feet in altitude in both
North Carolina and Georgia.
Includes tie-dye T-shirt, water
bottle and Clif Bars and Clif
Shots. Contact Scott Simmons at
simmons@mmotstateu.edu: (800)
777-0750; or visit www.mountain
highrunning.com
Fast-pitch team
needs 12-U players
The Georgia Storm 12-U A-level
fast-pitch travel team is looking for a
few key players for the upcoming 2004
season. If you arc serious and w ill
ing to work hard, call (770) 205-
9437.
Hoops camp
seeks applicants
Applications are now being
evaluated for the Ten Star All-Star
Summer Basketball Camp. The
camp is by invitation only. Boys
and girls ages 10-19 are eligible to
apply. A camp will take place this
summer in Atlanta. Call (704)373-
0873 for more information.
Travel teams
hosts trvouts
•The 10-and-under Central
Titans select travel baseball team
currently has two openings on its
roster. If you are interested in
playing competitive baseball,
call (770) 235-9585 for a tryout
or visit www.eteamz.com/ cen
traltitans.
• A local 10-and-under “AA"
travel baseball team looking for
committed players and parents.
Call (678)641-5898 or (770)
540-6696.
• Team Thunder 13-and-under
travel baseball team is looking
for players for its upcoming try
outs. Contact head coach Gene
Sams at (404) 391-8932.
• The Georgia Buzz's 12-U
and 13-U travel baseball teams
will soon be hosting tryouts for
the spring 2004 season at
Dwight Terry Park in Canton.
Call (770) 578-1996 for infor
mation.
Soccer club
hosts signups
Atlanta Soccer Academy.
Forsyth County's new soccer
club, is hosting its spring 2004
registration for U-6 and up.
Walk-up registration will take
place at the Forsyth County
Public Library's Sharon Forks
Branch at 2820 Old Atlanta Rd.
in Cumming on Saturday. March
6 (10 am -1 p.m.).
They will also host a Spring
Break Camp on April 5-9 from
10 a.m.-l p.m. (U9-UI I), and
from 1:3O-3:3O p.m. (UI2 & up).
The cost is $95.
Call (770) 557- 0430 or visit
atlsoccer.com for more informa
tion.
Correction
North Forsyth wrestler Matt
Nelson was incorrectly identified
in the Wednesday, Feb. 25, edition
of the Forsyth County News,
o Nelson finished as Class AAAA
state runner-up at 189 pounds.
Sports EXTRA
South soccer sweeps Invitational
From staff reports
The South Forsyth Soccer War
Eagles took both the boys’ and
girls’ titles at the Falcon Invita
tional Tournament in Friday night's
finals played at Dacula High
School.
The Girls opened the evening
with a 4-0 domination of host
Dacula to win their half of the
Falcon Invitational, while, in the
nightcap, the War Eagle boys pre
vailed over Gainesville High
School after overtime and penalty
kicks.
While South had the better of
play against the Red Elephants, it
took 28 minutes to get on the
scoreboard.
Senior Tyler Breisch dribbled
past two Gainesville attackers and
found junior Greg Bova all alone
on the right wing. Bova drew' the
Gainesville keeper and a defender
to him. before cutting a pass to jun
ior Kyle Swisher who fired into an
open net.
South's lead held through the
Kenseth wins photo finish
By Gerald Hodges
For the Forsyth County News
ROCKINGHAM. N C. Matt
Kenseth, who won only one race
last season on his way to the
NASCAR Winston Cup champi
onship. won the Subway 400 for the
second time in three years this past
Sunday. His margin of victory was
just 1/100th of a second over rookie
Kasey Kahne. which made it one of
the closest finishes in NASCAR his
tory.
"It was a blast, r
but it was a little L
stressful.” said I
Kense t h . I
"Everybody on I
the team did an I
awesome job. 1 I
think we needed
every bit of
power we had
there at the end. I
knew it was going
to be close and I
didn't want to spin the tires."
Kenseth who led the most laps
was in the pits during lap 351. when
Robby Gordon crashed after coming
out of turn two. bringing out a cau
tion. Kenseth had already made the
stop under green.
When green flag racing resumed
with 30 laps remaining. NASCAR
allowed Kenseth to remain in the
front, saying, "when the yellow
came out. the 17 car had not been
lapped by the leaders, and all cars
were frozen in position."
Jamie McMurray would have
been the new leader, but NASCAR
said no. McMurray's crew chief,
Donnie Wingo protested the deci
sion. but his protest was disallowed.
Kenseth continued to lead, but
with less than eight laps to go.
McMurray and Kahne had closed in
on Kenseth’s No. 17 De Walt Ford.
rx ; 4 zn
a« *7A ift/S
Photo/Submitted
Vickery Creek's champion cheerleaders
The Vickery Creek Middle School cheerleaders recently won the Cheersport National
Championship. Pictured are Lauren Tyler, back row from left, Kendra Gunby, Lindsey Hughes,
Morgan DeGraaf, Jessica Mangum, Jade Silvers, Carson Wells and Shelby Wood; second row:
Katie O’Neal, Miranda Hinson, Magham Webber, Constance Swift, Nicole Shirley, Christie
Wilson and Taylor Bellamy; back row; Kelsey Hensley, Brittany Burkett and Amanda Voyles.
first half. But, with 19 minutes left
in the game, Gainesville nearly
equalized, junior goalkeeper Richie
Larkin saving a long Gainesville
shot.
Minutes later, senior Nathan
Renaud found junior Kyle Voight at
the penalty spot with a long throw
in. Voight’s shot beat the keeper
but rebounded off the crossbar.
Gainesville drew even with 12
minutes left as South's defense
stopped when a deep ball appeared
headed out of bounds. But a
Gainesville attacker saved the ball,
passing to a teammate who scored
into an open net to tie the game I
1.
With five minutes left. South
dodged a bullet as a Gainesville
attacker went down in South's
penalty area with no one near him.
But the Red Elephants couldn't
convert on the chance, spooning a
shot over the crossbar to end regu
lation at 1 -1.
After an overtime period failed
to separate the opponents, the game
With two laps to go. McMurray
slipped and had to hack off the
throttle. This allowed Kahne to
move his No. 9 Dodge right on the
bumper of Kenseth.
As the two cars exited turn four.
Kahne had a run on the inside of
Kenseth. but at the finish line, he
was less than a foot short of getting
his first win.
"We came close." said Kahne. "I
knew 1 was a little better than him
in the open, but when 1 got right up
behind him it was hard to get a good
run.”
McMurray came into the race
after winning Saturday’s Busch
race.
"It was just out of control the
last few laps." said McMurray.
“Typically you try to conserve your
tires at the first part of a run and
save them for the end. We were just
sliding out of control, but we had a
good time."
Sterling Marlin and Dale
Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top
five.
Polesitter Ryan Newman fin
ished sixth, while Rusty Wallace.
Kurt Busch. Ward Burton, and Jeff
Gordon were the remaining top-10
finishers.
Last year's winner Dale Jarrett
lost an engine in his No. 88 UPS
Ford and was finished after 210
laps.
Raising the ante in
Busch and Trucks
Several Nextel Cup drivers have
left NASCAR's major series to run
in either the Busch or Craftsman
Trucks. Most drivers are forced out
by lack of sponsorship or in other
cases; it was a decision by the team
owner to replace them w ith some
one else.
Returning to one of NASCAR's
—•*. ■ al
Kenseth
j / i x J
Photo/Submitted
The Lady War Eagles, like their male counterparts, won the Falcon
Invitational Tournament at Dacula High School last weekend.
went into penalties.
Gainesville matched South as
junior Jordan Cushman. Swisher,
senior Nelson Alvarez, junior
Linus Warendh. and Breisch scored
on consecutive kicks.
lesser series is like going home or
returning to their roots, because
most of them raced in one of those
series on their way up.
Cup racing has the biggest
rewards, the most television expo
sure. the biggest financial rewards,
but also, it has the most pressure.
The money or prestige in the two
lesser series is not what it is in Cup
racing, but neither are the amount of
headaches and time spent away
from home. Since the Busch series
races on Saturday, that means the
drivers can be home with their fami
ly on Sunday.
Randy LaJoie. the two-time
Busch champ tried Cup racing for
two seasons, then went back to
Busch racing.
"1 didn't have a bit of fun during
that time." said LaJoie in referring
to his Cup experience.
A crew member on one Cup
team told me that he didn't worry
about his wife, because within about
six months she would get fed up
with his long schedule and leave
him. and he would just find another
one. ‘
But no matter how you view
these former Cup drivers, they bring
additional experience and name
recognition with them.
Johnny Benson, the 1994 Busch
champion lost his Cup ride after the
2003 season and is back in Busch.
David Green, the 1995 Busch
leader who has had an on-again. off
again romance with the Cup series
will apparently remain with his
Busch ride. Greg Biffle, who now
drives the No. 16 Ford for Roush
Racing in Nextel Cup. will be doing
double duty, as he tries to run both
the Cup and Busch series.
Johnny Sauter and Kasey Kahne
are two other drivers that will be
running both series.
But the Gainesville Red
Elephants fired their sixth penalty
over the goal only to watch South’s
Ricardo Torres convert what
proved to be the tournament-win
ning score.
Smoltz takes
first turn on
the mound
By Bill Zack
Morns News Service
LAKE BUENA VISTA. Fla.-
Before he dashed out for a golf
match with Chipper Jones,
Mark Deßosa, and Adam
Laßoche. John Smoltz took his first
turn on the mound Tuesday morning
and opened manager Bobby Cox's
eyes.
"He was outstanding," Cox said.
"Honestly, he could have pitched in a
game easily. You couldn't have asked
for anything better."
Smoltz reported no pain in his
right elbow, which underwent a
fourth surgery last October, throwing
for about 10 minutes in the bullpen at
almost maximum velocity.
"1 felt like the ball was coming
out real good and that's what I'm
looking for." he said. "I'm a little
rusty from a standpoint of hitting tar
gets. but that will improve with repe
tition."
Cox is being cautious with
Smoltz, whose surgery involved
removing scar tissue and repairing a
nerve in his elbow. Cox plans to fol
low a timetable devised by doctors
and trainers and limit the closer's
innings this spring.
"We’ll just have to keep the reins
on him a little bit so he doesn't do
too much." he said.
Smoltz was pleased with the
velocity and movement of his pitch
es. but his delivery
needed some work.
"I've got to get used to a consis
tent release point and taking the ball
out of my glove," he said. "It seems
elementary, but it’s not."
Smoltz said he never doubted his
elbow’ would pass the first test with
flying colors.
“There hasn't been a bad day in
this recovery." he said. “It's kind of
unnerving. It's been a great recov
ery." ...
Paul Byrd followed Smoltz and
took his second turn on a mound. The
right-hander, who had elbow liga
ment replacement surgery last July 1.
is throwing so well the Braves have
moved up his possible return to May.
"He's way ahead of what I
thought I'd see down here," Cox
said.
Byrd threw about 60 pitches after
warming up and his continued
progress has the team envisioning a
rehab assignment with a minor
league team in April.
“I'm amazed at his progress,"
Cox said....
Most position players had already
reported to camp ahead of Tuesday’s
mandatory date, leaving only Julio
Franco and Rafael Furcal to check in
with the team. Franco arrived early
and was in the batting cages by 8
a m. and though Furcal wasn't spot
ted in the clubhouse, Cox expects
him for this morning’s workout.
“Seeing so many guys come in
early tells me they’re excited about
the coming year.” Cox said.