Newspaper Page Text
Inside: JHS Basketball camp next week — page 2B
MAY 26,
2010
Phone: (706) 367-5233
Fax: (706) 387-5409
sports@mainstreetnews. com
Section B
WRESTLING
Wrestling club hopes to influence young athletes
By Brandon Reed
IN GENERAL, there’s a
strong tradition for wrestling
excellence in Jackson County.
Jefferson High School’s record
is one of the most success
ful and coveted in the state,
while JCCHS has had a strong
resurgence in recent years.
Now, a group is working
to write more history and to
make the county wrestling
scene as a whole stronger.
Headed up by coach Marty
Robinson and JCCHS sopho
more Tre Horton, a Jackson
County Wrestling Club was
started in the last few months,
introducing kids to Freestyle
Greco Wrestling.
Horton said the idea to start
the club came when he spoke
with Robinson about halfway
through the last high school
wrestling season while both
were working with younger
wrestlers. The two discussed
the idea of starting a free style
program in the county. From
there, they made plans to start
the program, figuring out how
many kids would be needed
and what age groups could
participate.
From there, the program
began to grow. To date they
have seven high school kids
involved, along with one mid
dle schooler and three elemen
tary school students.
This includes two female
wrestlers, a rarity in this area
on the wrestling mat.
The kids practice twice
a week, on Tuesdays and
Thursdays from 6 p.m. to 8
p.m. in the gym at the Gordon
Street Center in Jefferson.
Horton said the goal for the
club is to make their wres
tlers better overall, not just as
EJCHS GIRLS BASKETBALL
Lady Eagles 9 Larimer to leave EJCHS
noticeable if you saw the
girls in person, at practice, on
a daily basis. The improve
ment cannot be disputed.”
Larimer said one of her
long-term goals was to teach
the game and have her play
ers understand why they were
doing what they were doing.
‘‘I could tell that the varsity
girls were really coming to a
better understanding of the
game year after year,” she
said. “One aspect I always
heard about my teams was
that they never gave up no
matter the situation and I
take pride in saying that they
always gave it their all. That
is a tribute to the girls as a
whole.”
“I wish nothing but the
best for these young ladies
as they continue to grow and
mature into women.” Larimer
added. “I hope I had a posi
tive impact in making them
into better individuals as
many coaches did for me.”
Under Larimer’s lead
ership, the Lady Eagles
amassed 22 wins. Last sea
son, the team went 3-11 in
the region and 6-19 overall,
including a key win over
area rival Banks County on
Jan. 26.
She moves to a Walnut
Grove program that, in its
initial year, went 10-4 in
the region and 20-9 overall
under the leadership of coach
Kirk Call.
There has been no word
as of yet from school offi
cials on a replacement to fill
the position left empty by
Larimer’s departure.
EAST JACKSON girls’
basketball coach Amy
Larimer has announced that
she will be leaving EJCHS.
Larimer said she will be
going to Walnut Grove in
Walton County next year,
where she will serve as the
department head for PE and
as a basketball coach. She
will also coach middle school
softball.
Larimer has served as the
head basketball coach for the
Lady Eagles since the school
opened in 2007.
“Over the past three years
I feel that the program has
taken steps towards improve
ment,” Larimer said. “We
always focused very hard
on fundamentals and there
was a continuous improve
ment of young ladies from
their freshmen years up until
present time. I do feel that
this improvement was very
GOING TO WALTON COUNTY
EJCHS Girls Basketball coach Amy Larimer talks to her players during a time out at a
game earlier this year. Larimer has announced that she will be leaving East Jackson
to go to Walnut Grove. Photo by Brandon Reed
GET A GRIP
Jenna Robinson (blue shirt) and Hailey Horton (black shirt) work on a move during a
recent Jackson County Wrestling Club practice session. Photo by Brandon Reed
wrestlers but also as a whole.
“We want them to have a
higher quality of character
than the people around them,”
Horton said. “Wrestling is
not just a sport, it’s something
that you build your character
with. It takes dedication and
heart. Unless you have both
of those, you have to develop
it.
“It’s really hard to describe,
and you really don’t know
what it feels like to win a
wrestling match, to know all
the hard work you put into it
and to actually win your first
one.”
Freestyle Greco wrestling
differs from high school wres
tling. It’s the style that you
see on the Olympics, Horton
said.
“In essence, it’s pretty much
the same thing. But your
goals are different.”
The scoring is different
between the two, Horton said.
“Scoring changes from scor
ing for a take down to back
exposure and how much you
See Wrestling on page 2B
AUTO RACING
FAST MOVER
David Brand (left) bested Matt Ward (right) for the win
Saturday in the 6.50 Index finals at Atlanta Dragway.
Photo by Wanda Glover
Brand leads Dragway
winners in Commerce
By Amy Glover
AFTER A long break, local racers were eager to get back on
track at the Atlanta Dragway, as “Saturday Insanity” took over
the facility Saturday.
David Brand of Covington returned to the 6.50 Index finals to
defend his points standings against Matt Ward of Fair Play, S.C.
Brand’s ’67 Camaro left the starting line first with a .031 green
light. Ward followed with a .052 reaction in his '69 Camaro.
Brand’s light did all the work - Ward couldn’t catch him at the
top end - finishing with a 6.55 elapsed time at 106.34 mph.
Brand claimed the win in a 6.56 second run at 104.93 mph, with
a .01 margin of victory.
“This is my home track. It’s been good to me,” Brand said
after the win.
The 7.50 final was an all-Mustang showdown, with returning
finalists Shane Williams of Knoxville, Tenn. in a ’99 Mustang
and Ricky Page of Monroe in an ’80 Mustang. Page won the
tree with a .028 light against Williams’ .030 reaction. Williams
chased Page hard to the finish, passing for the win in 7.54
seconds at 85.11 mph. Page finished in 7.55 seconds at 90.42,
lending Williams a .01 margin of victory.
Canton’s Chad Brewer came back to the Open Comp finals in
a borrowed ’67 Camaro for more, after finishing second in the
last Saturday Insanity event.
Brewer, dialed at 7.26, staged against Marietta’s Russell
Haskins in an ’88 Mustang, who dialed in at 7.26. Brewer treed
Haskins with a .030 light against a .037 reaction, and sealed the
deal with a 7.29 second run at 90.90 mph, a better package than
See Dragway on page 2B
JHS TRACK AND FIELD
GOOD JOB
Jefferson’s Tyler Porter is congratulated after his record
breaking performance at last week’s state meet.
Photo by Brandon Reed
Five Dragons nominated
for All-Area team honors
FIVE MEMBERS of the
Jefferson boys track and field
team have been nominated for
the all-area team.
Tyler Porter, Josh Kies,
Derrick Perkins, Sky Porter
and Noah McCarthy, are all
nominees.
Tyler Porter, a senior, is a
three-time state champion in
the pole vault, and set a new
All-Classification record at the
state track meet recently with
a vault at 16’. 7.25”. That
record was broken a few hours
later. Porter will continue his
education and vaulting career
at the University of Tennessee
next year.
Kies, also a senior, was the
2010 state champion in shot
and discus, and is the school
record holder in the shot.
Kies will move on to Lindsay-
Wilson College next year.
Sky Porter, who is a senior
as well, was the region runner-
up in pole vault. He plans
to continue his education and
tennis career at North Georgia
College.
Derrick Perkins, a junior at
JHS, qualified for three state
events, recording a fourth in
the 110-meter hurdles, sixth
in the 300-meter hurdles. He
was the region champ in the
110-meter hurdles, and region
runner-up in the 300-meter
hurdles and triple jump.
Noah McCarthy, also a
junior, just missed qualifying
for state in the high jump,
4x100 and 4x400. He had a
solid season while setting sev
eral personal records.