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THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 2010
POLE VAULTER SOARS TO REGIONAL MEET
Mason Hamrick, a rising ninth grader at Jefferson
High School, won a first-place pole-vaulting medal at
the USA Track and Field Junior Olympics Association
championships at Westlake High School on June 20.
Hamrick’s win advances him to the USA Track and
Field Regional meet in Greensboro, N.C. in July. This
meet will determine Hamrick’s participation in the
national Junior Olympics in Sacramento, Calif, in late
July. This year has been a busy one for Hamrick. Back
in April, he won the state pole-vaulting championship
in the first-ever Georgia Middle School State track
meet at Parkview High School.
ANOTHER TITLE
Jefferson High School alum Gary Glenn, returning
from major hip surgery, won his sixth national lift
ing championship by taking the top spot in the 55
to 59-year-old Master’s Men’s 90 kg with a lift of just
over 300-lbs.
JHS cont’d from IB
“I certainly think we’ve go the talent to run that system again,”
said DuBose, who enters his 35 th season at Jefferson.
The Dragons, who went 25-7 last year, claimed the Region
8-AA title and won 18 consecutive games before losing in the
Final Four, have played 24 summer scrimmage games as they
prepare for the 2010-2011 season.
DuBose has used these summer exhibitions to help him sort out
his possible 10-deep rotation come this winter. The veteran coach
feels the Dragons have the personnel to run the floor but are skilled
enough from the perimeter and in the post to score in half-court
sets, too.
“I think we can score from a lot of places,” DuBose said.
DuBose, who said he's “a big believer in the point guard posi
tion,” points to junior Andre Daniel as the leading candidate to fill
that vacant spot.
Meanwhile, both senior David Watson and junior Austin
Thompson provide good perimeter shooting, while the team looks
for a big year out of Tate Chesser, a senior small forward, DuBose
said.
A big factor inside is senior power forward Hoytes Damons,
who missed a lot of last summer due to injury.
“He’s really progressed this summer,” DuBose said.
DuBose also notes that junior Will Puckett at 6’4” will be a pres
ence on the inside.
Then there’s senior Chris Jackson, who DuBose calls the best
defender.
The summer has also given sophomore transfer Bryant Shirreffs
time to adapt to Jefferson’s system. Shirreffs, who played for
Athens Academy last year, could play up to three different posi
tions for the Dragons depending what kind of lineup DuBose
wants on the floor.
“We do have versatility with this group,” DuBose said.
More than anything, the summer session is especially important
for Jefferson because half of its roster plays football and is still in
helmets and pads when the basketball preseason arrives.
That makes the summer the preseason essentially.
“The summer stuff we do is really important to get them the
work they need for next year,” DuBose said, referring to the 2010-
2011 campaign.
JCCHS continued from IB
coaching for about 30 years.
He’s got a lot of experience.
He came in and pretty much
put us to work, and he knows
what he’s talking about, so I
listen and do it.”
Hawley, who has coached in
four states and won a state title
in Oregon in boys’ hoops, has
brought a skills-first approach
to the Lady Panther job. His
philosophy is that as individual
skills improve across the board,
so will the team.
Count senior guard Emily
Elrod among the believers
as she’s seen her own skills
improve through constant rep
etitions.
“So when the season comes,
our individual skills will defi
nitely get better and as a team,
we’ll get better,” Elrod said.
Senior forward Bree Drew
noted that things are “totally
different” now than in years
past but said that everyone gets
along well with the new coach
and expects a great year.
Drew has also seen the ben
efits of Hawley’s skills-first
approach.
“I’m normally a post, but I
get the ball down the floor now
because I’ve been working on
my dribbling skills,” she said.
Senior post player Sierra
Roncadori also said that things
have been different but enjoy
able under Hawley. Her skill
set has grown as she’s been
challenged to expand her
game, she said.
“I’ve done things I’ve
never thought I would ever
even think about doing in a
game,” Roncadori said. “Like
coach said, I’ve stepped out
of my box. I’ve done things I
wasn’t normally comfortable
doing. It’s helped the team out
a lot and it’s helped me out as
well.”
The Lady Panthers seniors
hope this all adds up to a
memorable swan song come
wintertime.
Jackson County drops
down the Class AA this year,
which puts them in a region
with rivals East Jackson and
Jefferson and adds excitement
to schedule.
“Yeah, it’s going to be great
because a lot of those teams are
rival teams,” Roncadori said.
“So, it’s going to bring a lot of
momentum to the team.”
Isner continued from IB
Bost, 14 at the time, recalled how
hard the 6’9” Isner hit the ball.
“I could barely even touch it,” said
Bost, who’s now the state’s third-ranked
player in the 16-and-under class.
Besides getting to share the court
with Isner, Bost was able to meet the
man who would eventually go on to
make history at Wimbledon.
“He was a really good guy, and he
was very good at tennis,” Bost said.
Buffington served as Isner’s ball boy
three years ago when Isner lost a close
match to Virginia’s Somdev Devvarman
— a two time Division I champ — in
the NCAA finals.
Buffington, then 14, and his fellow
ball boys were able to meet and get
autographs from the Bulldog star who
would turn pro that summer.
“All the ball boys got a couple auto
graphs from him,” said Buffington,
who’s now ranked no. 33 in the state in
the 18-and-under division. “So it was
pretty cool. He was a pretty nice guy.”
Bost and Buffington have since kept
an eye on Isner, who captivated the
sports world Thursday with his 70-68
fifth- set victory over Mahut in what
was easily the longest match in tennis
history.
HELPING OUT ISNER
Blair Buffington is pictured with John
Isner during the 2007 NCAA tennis
championships in Athens. Buffington
served as Isner’s ball boy.
Buffington lists Isner as one of his
favorite pros.
“I’ve been watching him a bunch just
because he was the guy from UGA, and
we all had a little bit of contact with and
had a little bit of a connection ... It’s
pretty cool to see that a hometown guy
like that is up in the tennis ranks right
now,” he said.
And both Jefferson players had an eye
on the tum-of-events at Wimbledon.
Buffington said he was supposed to
play tennis but instead found himself
glued to the television during the match,
thinking back to when he served as
Isner’s ball boy.
“The main thing I noticed is how much
he’s improved since then,” Buffington
said. “He’s obviously mentally tough for
going that distance. Seventy to 68 in the
fifth set, you can’t just do that based on
physical strength. That’s mainly mental
strength by that point.”
Meanwhile, Bost recalled his tennis
court time with Isner and the signifi
cance it now holds.
“Yeah, I remembered and thought that
it was pretty cool that I got that opportu
nity to play against him,” Bost said.
Like Buffington, Bost was in awe of
what Isner accomplished.
“I thought it was pretty incredible,” he
said. “I don’t think that will ever happen
again. It was so long and just being on
the court all day is just ridiculous.”
JCPR continued from IB
As healthy lifestyles continue to be
promoted, the need for adult leagues
has increased in Jackson County.
In fact, the both JCRP adult soft-
ball league and basketball league
have been big hits recently.
Meanwhile, demand for non-sports
options has increased, with family
gathering venues and nature-related
parks becoming more popular.
“This decade, it’s really accelerated; it’s
really hit our area,” Sanders said. “And
it’s going to continue to be that way.”
To that end, JCPR opened Sells Mill
Park back in 2002 and performed renova
tions of Hurricane Shoals Park (which
originally opened in 1976) a few years
ago. Both are considered “passive” parks.
“Hurricane Shoals is a jewel,” Sanders
said. “It has been used so heavily over
the last two or three years. Really, we’ve
seen a big increase in that park, and Sells
Mill Park, really being used more.”
As JCPR nears the 20-year mark,
use of its facilities are up across
Smith now expects to move back to the
infield in college, more than likely at sec
ond base where she feels very comfortable.
“That was actually my primary position
before I got switched to catcher,” Smith
the board — especially in a bad
economy because of the inexpensive
form of entertainment it provides.
Though funding has grown tighter
since the economic downturn started,
JCPR hasn’t turned away any kids
or adults, nor has it had to cut pro
grams so far during the recession.
And that’s the important thing to
Sanders. To him, the major function of a
parks and recreation program is to enhance
the quality of life for a community.
NEW ADDITION
Hoschton Park is the
fourth park added
to the Jackson
County Parks
and Recreation
Department over the
last eight years. The
department now has
six parks.
Photo by Ben Munro
That’s what he says he sees here.
“When I go out to a baseball, soft-
ball game or football game and see
all the parents having a great time and
enjoying their kids growing up, when
I go here and see our adults playing
softball and they’re having a great
time, that’s what’s rewarding about it,”
Sanders said. “It’s not about glory. It’s
about watching those folks that you
serve having a good time. And you
want them all to have a good time.”
Smith continued from IB
said. Smith has already scrimmaged against “I’ll be playing travel ball,” Smith said. “I
Emmanuel as a member of her travel ball haven’t stopped playing since I started.”
team. Northwest Connection, and will
maintain a busy travel ball schedule with
Northwest to prepare for college ball.
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