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Midweek Edition-December 30-31,2020
2B | FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS | ForsythNews.com
PERSPECTIVE
Finally! The
Great DentonVs
Fearless Forecast
for 2021
Fear not, DENTON
friends! t
Finally forget
ting fetid 2020,
your fearless fore
caster flies face
forward, feverish
ly flabbergasting fools,
and fingering flustered
foils’ foibles.
Fast-forward to 2021,
as the Great Dentoni, in
fine fettle, faces fate, for
mulates fabrications,
foretells fun, fazes farci
cal facts, and finds fault.
Your foremost 2021
forecast fiasco follows:
January: Kirby
Smart’s Dawgs usher in
the new year by tuning
up for their 2021 season
opener. JT Daniels runs
the new-age offense to
perfection, and Georgia
rolls to an easy win over
undefeated Cincinnati.
Their next opponent,
Clemson, cruises to a
35-20 playoff win over
Ohio State. “I can think
of 10 teams in the coun
try that are better than
them,” observes coach
Dabo Swinney. One of
them, Alabama, makes a
mockery of the large
point spread in edging
Notre Dame, 52-17. “I
told you!” says Texas
A&M coach Jimbo
Fisher. The champion
ship game is more offen
sive than those incessant
ads for senatorial candi
dates. Alabama has the
ball last, and Mac Jones
finds DeVonta Smith on
a skinny post for the
winning score. When
asked if he is proud of
his quarterback, the
smug Nick Saban replies,
“I’m proud of all my
players.”
February: Super Bowl
LV visits Raymond
James Stadium in Tampa.
Undaunted by the crowd
limited to NFL honchos
and their pals, the
Browns and Packers put
on a spirited, retro-per
formance for the millions
watching from afar. In
their first championship
matchup since the days
of Vince Lombardi and
Blanton Collier, the
Browns recall days of
yore with their punish
ing, ball-control offense
featuring the relentless
Nick Chubb. Cleveland
pulls off an epic upset to
win its first title in 56
years.
March: The Madness
occurs before the tourna-
ment begins, as
Kentucky, North
Carolina, and Duke all
fail to make the field.
Even more stunning,
both Tech and Georgia
earn bids. In the end,
Gonzaga finally rewards
Mark Few for never leav
ing, and the Zags cut
down the nets for the
first time as national
champions. In the wom
en’s tournament,
Stanford rewards all-time
winningest coach Tara
VanDerveer with her
third natty. They run up
the score on Kim
Mulkey’s Baylor Bears
in the final.
April: What’s this? A
tradition like no other?
What are they doing
playing the Masters in
April? And what’s the
deal with all those bright
shrubs and so many
spectators, er, patrons
that you can’t see the
course? None of it mat
ters, as Dustin Johnson
decides he’d like to be
champion for a full term.
He effortlessly matches
his 20-under-par total
from last November.
May: The viral pan-
Ik ASHWAY
S Columnist
, demic fades further
into the past as half
of the free world, all
donning chapeaux,
descends upon Churchill
Downs for the Derby’s
return to the first
Saturday in May.
Essential Quality’s win is
the only diversion away
from the Braves. The
starting rotation evokes
memories of the Big
Three. Mike Soroka
returns to his pre-injury
form, but Max Fried
refuses to relinquish his
ace status. Ian Anderson
shows last year’s brief
success was no fluke.
Charlie Morton makes
fans wonder why the
Braves ever traded him
in the first place. Drew
Smyly quietly matches
the others with career-
best numbers. And the
offense? Please. No need
to ask.
June: The US Open
golf championship
returns to Torrey Pines in
La Jolla, scene of the epic
2008 shootout between
Tiger Woods and Rocco
Mediate. Phil Mickelson
hangs around for three
days but fails (again) to
win the Open. Woods
hangs around for most of
Sunday. But Brooks
Koepka, finally playing
on two good knees again,
recaptures his champion
ship form.
July: The NBA play
offs finally conclude, and
LeBron James leads the
Lakers to another title. “I
can’t argue,” says James
when asked if he is the
GOAT. When asked the
same question, Bill
Russell replies, “He has
how many rings?” fol
lowed by his famous
cackle.
August: New Auburn
coach Bryan Harsin cre
ates quite a stir at SEC
Media Days. He immedi
ately learns never to
begin a sentence with the
words, “When we were at
Boise State...”
September: The col
lege football season
begins on time with a
packed house as Georgia
meets Clemson in
Charlotte. Georgia has
the ball last, and JT
Daniels hits George
Pickens on a skinny post
for the winning score. “I
don’t think there are four
teams in the country bet
ter than Georgia,”
Swinney says with a
sigh.
October: After 26
years of wandering
through its wilderness,
the Braves finally enter
baseball’s promised
land, winning the World
Series in a four-game
sweep of the team from
Cleveland. “These guys
are just something else,”
says manager Brian
Snitker before getting
choked up.
November: The
Atlanta Falcons finally
right the ship under new
coach Gus Malzahn, reel
ing off four straight wins
after losing their first
seven.
December: Georgia
finally gets past Alabama
in the SEC Championship
game, clinching the top
seed in the CFP. They’re
followed by Clemson,
Ohio State, and, yes,
Alabama.
FROM 1B
Ashley
second at the Alexander/Asics Invitational against some
stiff competition.
And following a convincing victory at the region
meet, Denmark expected to finish the season as one of
the top teams at the Class 7A state championships at
Carrollton High School.
“Heading into it, I was definitely hyped up for it, and
as a team we were hyped up for it, so we obviously had
some big goals heading into it,” Ashley said. “Just one of
those days were it doesn’t happen.”
Ashley, the Forsyth County News Runner of the Year,
finished sixth individually (16:36) and helped the Danes
to a fourth-place finish at the meet.
In what can hardly be called a disappointing season,
Ashley knows there’s plenty of room left to improve. In
fact, it’s that dissatisfaction that Ashley uses to continu
ally push himself.
“To be at the kind of level of running you want to be
at, you have to be really internally driven. You have to be
self-motivated,” Ashley said. “So, in team sports like
basketball and soccer, you can work your tail off every
day and your team would suck. That’s when I was like,
‘I don’t know if this is the right thing. I’m working my
tail off and we’re going 0-10 in basketball. I can go into
running, work my tail off and see results.’”
Ashley did play basketball and soccer until eighth
grade, when his friends coaxed him into running track.
Ashley’s relay team set a middle school record that year,
then he placed at the state meet during his freshman
track season.
“I’m definitely glad I made the switch,” Ashley said.
“I was actually talking to my parents about this. I find
running more fulfilling, and I enjoy pouring into it
more.”
FROM 1B
Yonas
Carmel began running in sixth grade, but it wasn’t
until she ran with Great Strides in eighth grade that she
realized her potential.
Great Strides is a youth running program that is part
of Gotta Run Kids, a local running club in Cumming
and Johns Creek.
“That’s when the coach actually told me that I had a
lot of potential,” she said. “I recognized it in middle
school, but once I got on Great Strides, things just
changed — the dynamic of how I was racing, how I
was doing in practices. It really was an eye-opener that
I could be pretty good.”
South has produced seven of the past eight Forsyth
County News Runners of the Year, including some elite
company in Madelynne Cadeau, Kaylee DuPont and
Savannah Carnahan.
But Carmel was not intimidated when she entered
South’s program, and she quickly realized she could
compete — and beat — some of the top runners in the
area.
“When I first came in the expectations weren’t really
that high, just because we didn’t know how I was
going to do and how I was going to fit in,” Carmel said.
“I surprised everybody, mostly myself I’d have to say,
because during the practices I’d definitely be up there
running with the top girls. I knew that I could do it, but
it didn’t really show until the meets. The practices
when I first came in, that was a big thing.”
Mitchell Martin For the Forsyth County
News
Denmark junior Ethan Ashley,
left, is the 2020 Forsyth County
News Boys Runner of the Year
and South Forsyth sophomore
Carmel Yonas is the 2020
Forsyth County News Girls
Runner of theYear.
2020 ALL-COUNTY
CROSS COUNTRY TEAM
Boys team
Runner
School
Year
Nate Verska
South Forsyth
Jr.
Tyler Doty
West Forsyth
Sr.
Tavian Anderson
Denmark
Jr.
Chinmay Dongari
Denmark
Sr.
Trent Bell
West Forsyth
Jr.
Xavier Anderson
Denmark
Jr.
Cooper Bocko
Lambert
Sr.
Colin Chapman
Lambert
Sr.
Hayden Hare
Denmark
Sr.
Ben Bergey
South Forsyth
So.
Girls team
Runner
School
Year
Morgan Grace Sheffield
Denmark
Fr.
IsabelYonas
South Forsyth
Fr.
Charlotte Lawson
Lambert
Sr.
Jessica Perriello
Denmark
Jr.
Brooke Simon
West Forsyth
Sr.
Amanda Feeney
Lambert
So.
Rachel Murray
West Forsyth
Sr.
Emma O'Connor
South Forsyth
Sr.
Isabelle Gaharan
Lambert
So.
