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Inside: Crane places seventh at MIS — page 4B
JUNE 17,
2009
Phone: (706) 367-5233
Fax: (706) 387-5409
sports@mainstreetnews. com
Section B
JHS BASEBALL
OPINION
Jefferson’s Beck drafted by Cleveland Indians
BECK CHOSEN
Chris Beck was tapped by the Cleveland Indians last Thursday in the 35th round of
the MLB draft. Photo by Brandon Reed
By Brandon Reed
THURSDAY WAS a big day for Jefferson High School
graduate Chris Beck.
That was the day the Major Leagues came knocking.
The Cleveland Indians drafted Beck in the 35th round, pick
number 1,055 of the draft.
Beck was the first player from Jefferson to be drafted.
Beck said he didn’t even know about the big news until he
checked his Facebook page.
“Somebody wrote me a message that said congratulations,
and I had no earthly idea what they were talking about,” he said.
“So I checked MLB.com, and saw that I had been taken by the
Indians.”
Beck said the reality of the news didn't sink in for a while.
“I was sitting there with my friends, and said ‘I just got draft
ed to the MLB draft.’ My dad said ‘You’re 18 years old. This
doesn’t happen every day to every other 18 year old." It was a
moment that I'll remember for the rest of my life.”
It’s the latest in what’s been a big year for Beck. In 2009, he
was part of a Dragons team that went 22-5 and picked up the
Region 8-AA title in their first year in that region.
Beck went 8-2 for Jefferson, with 118 strike outs in 61 1/3
innings pitched. He was also a formidable opponent for all
comers at the plate, batting .338, including eight home runs on
the year and 26 RBIs.
“In one of our first conversations I ever had with Chris he said
See Beck on page 2B
PARK AND RECREATION
Swim Dragons open season at Winder
By Brandon Reed
THE JEFFERSON Park
and Rec Sea Dragons Swim
team traveled to Winder
Saturday to take part in a
Pentathlon swim meet at the
Winder YMCA.
The meet was unique in
that only the North Georgia
Swim League’s top swim
mers, 261 kids out of over
1,000, get to compete.
Swimmers must compete
in all four individual stroke
events, and then compete in
the Individual Medley, which
requires the swimmer to swim
one lap of all four strokes.
Jefferson had their first
overall winner in the four-
year history of the program.
Heather Perry took first in
the 9-10-year-old girl age
group.
Ryan Childress placed sec
ond in his age group, win
ning three individual events.
Breen Hanson competed for
the title by finishing a close
fourth, and Lilli Blackstock
and Caroline Mitchell turned
in top ten performances.
Abby Richardson,
McKenna Lee and Lindsey
Kelly also competed in the
9-10 age group, turning in
competitive times.
Other top ten overall finish
es include McKenzie Klinck,
Dylan Childress, Nicholas
Joransen, C.J. Guzman,
Camille Porter, Erica Hughes
and Gabrielle Joransen.
Other swimmers represent
ing the team and setting per
sonal best times were Maggie
Paul, Jacob Musgrove, James
Joransen, Jonathan Joransen
and Timothy Deremer.
The entire Sea Dragons
team will be competing on
Saturday in the North Georgia
Swim League SPLASH Meet.
It will be held at the new
Frances Meadow Aquatic
Center in Gainesville.
TOP-TEN PERFORMANCE
Camille Porter was one of several swimmers to turn in top ten overall finishes during
Saturday’s Pentathlon swim meet at the Winder YMCA. Photo by Jessica Brown
AUTO RACING
Track renovation continues at Gresham Motorsports Park
THERE’S A saying in
auto racing that states some
times you have to slow down
to go fast. For Dan Elliott
and the rest of the Gresham
Motorsports Park renovation
team, the hope is that the
saying rings true.
“Things are going to slow
down now because we’re
into the details of the proj
ect,” Elliott, the General
Manager of the all new
Jefferson motorsports and
community activity center,
stated. “We’ve done quite a
bit, but the changes we’ve
done so far have shown us
that a little work looks like
a lot. We’ve moved a lot of
dirt, which basically makes
it look like we’ve done a lot.
Now we’re getting into the
hard part - getting our data
sources, plumbing, electri
cal, air conditioning, build
ings. We’re working hard
on getting all the details in
place. It’s kind of like build
ing a house. You get the roof
on and it seems like you’ve
accomplished quite a lot. In
reality, we’re not even half
way done. If we’re going to
be finished on time, we have
to keep rolling even though
the details are going to slow
things down a bit.”
Since the renovation of the
old Peach State Speedway
started in March, the famed
race track has had a total
overhaul. When completed,
GMP will be a fresh facil
ity featuring a new racing
surface, fencing, lighting
and retaining walls for the
half-mile oval. Additional
scheduled improvements
will also include a new alu
minum grandstand - now to
be located on what used to
be the back straight of the
Peach State track - and a low
ered infield pit area for bet
ter sight lines and fan view
ing. Other improvements
scheduled are a quarter-mile
Legends track on infield of
the half-mile oval, new rest
rooms and concession areas
and trackside parking.
Many of the projects, like
the track and infield excava
tions along with the main
grandstand construction, are
well under way. Meanwhile,
the plumbing and electrical
services have been roughed
into the Infield Command
Center area.
“We’ve had a lot of chang
es,” said Elliott. “The lighting
looks great. Unfortunately,
there’s nothing to flip on yet
because we haven’t connect
ed the dots. The grandstand
is impressive, but we have to
finish it and get the control
tower constructed. It’s like
everything else. We have a
lot going on but nothing is
completed yet. The finish
work on all the buildings
is what is going to slow
us down. That’s the process
we’re in now - getting all the
details done on the inside.
That is going to take time.”
Assuming all stays on
point, Gresham Motorsports
Park will be completed in
time for testing in the fall
in anticipation of the track’s
first racing event - the 26th-
Annual World Crown 300
November 13-15. For more
information about Gresham
Motorsports Park, log on
to www.greshammotor-
sportspark.com.
MAKING THE GRADE
Work continued last week to prepare the track at Gresham Motorsports Park for a
new coat of asphalt. Workers also prepared the infield, as well as pouring concrete
at the base of the new grandstands. Photo by Ben Finley
Defining a
sports event
W ITH the myriad
sporting events
and recreation
activities going on this sum
mer, someone recently asked
me how the
newspa
per choos
es what
events to
cover each
week in the
paper.
Basically,
it boils
down to
three crite
ria: which event has the most
local connection to readers,
are there photos of the event
or participants, and how
recent was the event.
The hard thing to explain
is why one item runs and
another is held until a later
issue. The answer to that
quandary is which will better
fit the space available on the
page. Your local sports edi
tor would love to have every
submission placed in each
week’s paper, but the space
is finite and is usually a first
come, first serve basis.
On that note what is defin
able as a sport to be included
inside the sports section is
sometimes debatable.
Strictly defining the term
according to the Merriam-
Webster sitting on my desk,
it means, “a source of diver
sion or a physical activity
engaged in for pleasure.” That
is a very broad limit to define
something by, since there are
hundreds of activities that
can fit the description.
In fact, a quick Internet
search for sports reveals that
competitive video gaming
is considered an alternative
sport.
I wonder how many local
schools would consider
awarding a varsity letter in
Nintendo baseball or a schol
arship based on competitive
Tetris building?
While there were studies
done some years back on the
improvement shown between
hand-eye coordination due to
video games, I can’t imag
ine the board of education
springing for an X-Box lab at
the high school, despite how
many students would sign up
for that elective.
I don’t think there is much
argument that the stick and
ball games, wrestling, track
or swimming are clearly rec
ognized as sports, but there
are differences of opinions
on other activities.
Cheerleading for example,
meets the dictionary defini
tion of a sport, but is left out
sometimes because it is seen
as more of a component of
the sidelines not as its own
event. Yet, the cheerleaders
hold practices, risk injury and
show up for games. There are
also competitions and schol
arships awarded for perfor
mances. The argument for
including cheerleading fully
under the sports headline is
similar to another sideline
group. So, what about the
band?
According to a study
released by the American
College of Sports Medicine
in May, marching bands show
similar physical requirements
to those demanded by the
See Sports on page 2B
ftet
justin
poole