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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS | ForsythNews.com
FROM 1B
was athletic director of
the vear in Georgia.
FCN: In the time
you've been here. what
has made North Forsyth
distinct and special from
the other high schools?
Turner: “We can talk
about the growth of this
county all we want, but
that community feel in
the north Forsyth and
Coal Mountain communi
ty is real special. That's
what kept me hanging on.
That closeness. You look
back and 17 years later it
was a special run.”
FCN: In specifically
during your time as ath
letic director tenure, how
have you seen North ath
letics change?
Turner: “When 1 took
over | wouldn’t say we
were at a low point. but
we were definitely at an
adjustment point going
into Class SA. at the time
the highest classification.
You had a lot of doubtets
— can we compete at the
5A level? A lot of people
said we needed to be in
3A. we needed to be play
ing the mountain schools.
“And you had to really
working with the coaches
and the kids to change the
FROM 1B
the right direction. That's
the goal - you want the
younger players to grow
and mold together.”
Rud admits she wasn’t
the most vocal player in
her first two years with
the Bears, but she let her
play do the talking.
This past season she led
the team in runs scored
with 41, finished second
in hits with 59 and stole
21 of 24 bases. She also
accumulated 22 RBI as
the team's reliable leadoff
hitter. But. with a regres
sion in batting average
after hitting .359 in her
freshman season she’s
used her free time since
the season ended to focus
on her skills at the plate.
She doesn’t mind the
extra work, either. By
now she's championed
the rigors of being a busy
college athlete. The
gauntlet includes waking
up at 5:30 a.m.. hitting
the weights by 6 a.m.,
taking classes in the
morning through the
afternoon and then bal
ancing practice and
school work.
“Hopefully in time to
as mail from many mid
major level programs. He
said his top two offers
came down to N.C. State
and Kansas State, but that
he preferred the oppottu
nity to play on the defen
sive line--North Carolina
State wanted him to play
offensive line, a position
he only played sparingly
in high school.
Last season as a junior
Huggins led the team in
tackles with 68—some
thing unheard of from an
end. He also registered 11
tackles for a loss and 11
sacks, trailing in the
county only by Harvard
signee Cameron Kline.
Huggins received his
first offer from Bucknell
just three months ago, but
recruitment picked up at a
rapid pace as the spring
turned to summer.
Huggins made his first
official visit to Kansas
State in early June.
FROM 1B
Huggins
third visit to North
Carolina State—the other
power five program that
was officially asking for
his services. Kansas State
is still led by Bill Snyder,
who is entering his 25th
year in Manhattan,
Kansas and has a career
record of 193-101-1. The
Wildcats have 44 wins in
the last five scasons but
were just 6-7 last year.
“I'm pumped. It's an
experience of a lifetime
to play for a historic
coach like Bill Synder.”
Huggins said.
Huggins had 21
Division | offers on the
table. including lvy
League schools in Brown
and Columbia, service
academies in Air Force,
Army and Navy, as well
Forsyth®! 01| SEXTRA ‘l’?
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Raider Nation in the early
years. Really knows the
schools and culture and
community. It was really
good to see Scott to get
that job. He'll do great
things. He's already
building those relation
ships and bonds and mak
ing them stronger with
everyone. He has a heart
for north Forsyth and a
passion for Raider
Nation.”
FCN: In this new posi
tion, what are some of the
short- and long-term
plans you have?
Turner: “Short-term,
we've been looking at
improving our tracks, so
we have some repairs
we're working on now. In
the next few years, our
tuts fields will be coming
up, so we've got to work
on that. We've got a new
high school opening up.
There are a lot of things
going on there.
“Working with our
middle schools, and that's
new to me. I've been so
entrenched in the high
schools. I've worked hard
this late spring is under
standing the middle
schools and the policies
and procedures that we've
got in place here county
wide for that.
“But the big thing is 1
want to keep branding
Forsyth County athletics.
We've done a great job in
mindset, because even
then some coaches would
say, Oh, we can’t com
pete. You start talking to
the coaches and the kids
and believing that you
can, that you can do this.
We've had to work hard
over the last six years to
do that. I feel now that
we're not afraid to play
anybody anymore. We're
in 7A. So be it. Let's play.
“When we first got into
that 5A region with some
of the Gwinnett schools.
One of the big nights was
when Jared Zito was the
head football coach, and
we beat Norcross. That
was a turning point for
the school. Things like
that happened. Coach
Cahill and the baseball
teamn got in the playoffs,
and I think we went to
Lassiter and competed,
put them on the ropes. We
started to realize, hey, we
can play with these teams.
“Now you talk to a
young kid, it doesn’t faze
them to go line up against
a 7A opponent. It's just
part of it now. That’s been
one of our biggest adjust
ments, is turning the ‘we
can't’ into the ‘we can’
compete.”
FCN: You're cettainly
familiar with your
replacement, Scott Tilden.
Turner: “Real excited
to have Scott back home.
He was an integral part of
but more importantly
come together.”
Overall, transitioning to
college life hasn’t been
too difficult for Rud.
“l don't know if my
lifestyle has changed too
much.” Rud said. “I've
always been so active and
on the go, always very
studious. I've always
wanted to work hard
because that shows char
acter more than anything
else really does.
Sometimes I’ll miss my
family a little bit, but it's
great down here. The
great thing about college
is everyone around you is
either pushing you to get
better, or someone who
might need you to help
them. It's a really healthy
environment to be in.”
Even through the sweat
and late hours, Rud still
made sure to keep up
with her high school’s
historic softball season
Last year the Lady - ar
Eagles went 22-5 and
16-1 in region play.
advancing to the GHSA
Softball Championships
in Columbus.
“l was following the
whole thing on Twitter.”
Rud said. “l know it’s
been a while since we
went that far, so it was
exciting to see how much
the program has grown.
get to bed at a decent
hour,” Rud said. “It's
basically like having a
full-time job. You have to
be working hard at some
thing almost every hout
of every day, on the field
and off of it. I think over
the last two years my
skills with managing my
time, my work has
increased.”
But there's a reason
Rud is also anxious for
the upcoming fall and
next yeat's spring season.
The Bears struggled in
2016, winning just 4 of
18 conference games in
the Southern Conference
for an overall record of
24-34,
Things changed in the
postseason, when the bot
tom-seed Bears won their
first three SoCon tournha
ment games to advance to
the semifinals. With only
two seniors departing,
Rud hopes the team can
carry that momentum into
next season.
“| think we did so well
in the tournament because
nobody expected us to,”
Rud said. “It was kind of
like, hey we can prove
these people wrong. We
can show them that we
are a great team. Onee we
¥ot on a roll and won the
--e+* aame we realized we
could actually compete,
With Huggins leading
the charge, West finished
7-4 last season—falling
in the first round of the
playoffs to Peachtree
Ridge. The newly-minted
Kansas State commit will
lace it up for the first time
in his senior season on
Aug. 19 at Woodstock.
Huggins told the
Forsyth County News last
week that he planned on
making his commitment
before the season so he
could sign early. He will
finish high school in
December and plans to
enroll early at Kansas
State.
“The environment up
there is second to none.”
Huggins said. “The city
of Manhattan is some
thing else. the tradition
around there is awesome.
Everyone who lives there
is a die hard Kansas State
fan and I can’t wait to be
a part of that”
want to see your kids
involved in that. You want
to see your school system
involved in as many
things as you can, wheth
erit’s in the Director’s
Cup - Lambert just won
the Director’s Cup again
- or the Positive Athlete
Georgia Awards — Sam
Hicks from West Forsyth
just won that. You want to
keep driving and pushing
your athletic programs in
every aspect. not only on
the court or field but out
there publicly in a posi
tive spotlight.
“We want to be first
class. We want to be top
of our game. South
Forsyth is going to be
playing the Corky Kell
Classic. That's big. That's
big for our school system,
50 we want to get out
there and push South
Forsyth and get our name
out there.
FCN: You've worked a
lot with the GHSA. The
GHSA had an interesting
athletic year with several
controversies, even one
locally with West Forsyth
cross country runner John
Green getting disqualified
from the state meet. What
did you think about the
year the GHSA had?
Turner: “There are
some things. Executive
Committee-wise, we've
got to stay on top of our
game, because the over-
the last year and a half
doing that, and I want to
take that to a higher level.
Look at the state champi
onships and state runner
ups that came through
Forsyth County this year.
Every school at least has
a GHSA state runner-up
trophy. We really need to
market ourselves as a pre
mier county in the state at
the highest classification
playing each other. Part of
my job is to get out and
sell our athletics state
wide. and working with
athletic directors support
ing them with whatever
they need.
“Were opening some
new gyms this year. And
then we talk about the
Forsyth Five together.
What a great way to mar
ket and sell yourself with
everybody competing
together. and you've got
an opportunity to have
multiple schools in every
sport in the playoffs.”
FCN: What do you
hope are the tangible ben
efits of “selling” Forsyth
County athletics state
wide?
Turner: “You want to
be a perennial contending
school system athletically.
Gwinnett seems to have
that model and have their
programs out there.
“Last week, | attended
the Positive Athlete
Georgia Awards. You
foundation at the colle
giate level, much like she
did at the high school
level with South.
“Hopefully 1 can make
All of the freshmen | was
with my senior year were
doing big things.”
As far as her career
goes, Rud wants to set a
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FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 2016
sight committee is there
now to look over us.
We've got to make sure
that we're doing every
thing one step ahead of
the state legislature.
We've got to work togeth
er, Board of Trustees,
Executive Committee,
GHSA officials, to make
sure we're doing the right
things for kids and athlet
-ICB.
“We did some things
this school yeat. We
addressed the John Green
situation. There's now
clarity in the rules on
what logos and what
things can be put on uni
forms. We've also
addressed the basketball
state championship sites.
1 think that’s one of the
greatest things ever. Even
back to my high school
years, everybody was
always like, why can’t we
play at Georgia or
Georgia Tech? That's a
good thing. We're close to
working some deals to
have baseball at some
championship host sites.
“We have a lot of posi
tive things on the horizon.
We're still looking at
transfer rules. That’s
never going away. We're
still looking at reclassifi
cation for the future. It's
an ever-evolving door of
issues. But we've got to
address them. We've got
to hit them head on. We
can’t let them hit us.”
an impact as that team
leader and grow into a
complete playet,” Rud
said. “But, 1 mean I'd
love to win more too.”