Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 8B
THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2017
Cross country
Commerce runners compete at Hebron
By Charles Phelps
The Commerce High
School cross country teams
put together strong show
ings at Hebron Christian
Academy last week.
The girls’ team finished
fifth of 12 teams. They
bested teams from South
Forsyth, Lanier, Mountain
View and Grayson.
Kate Massey finished
sixth overall with a time
of 23:11.67. Brittany Webb
finished 11th overall with
a time of 24:07.33. Keila
Osorio, Hailey Horton and
Della McClung rounded out
the top-five finishers.
The boys’ team finished
seventh out of 14 teams.
They finished ahead of
Grayson, Lanier, Mountain
View and South Gwinnett,
among others.
Jose Manuel Verde fin
ished 10th overall with a
time of 19:34.91. Chase
Bridges clocked a time of
21:39.67 and JJ Morris
finished in 21:47.17. John
Bradley and Oscar Diaz fin
ished in the top five.
Commerce’s next meet
is next Tuesday at Tallulah
Falls.
Volleyball
24-win Dragon team faces
long trip in first round of state
UP FOR THE BLOCK
Jefferson coach Brittani Lawrence said freshman
Jo Jo Smith is “owning the net” this year with the
number of blocks she’s had. Photo by Ben Munro
By Ben Munro
Jefferson volleyball coach
Brittani Lawrence doesn’t
know a whole lot about Her-
itage-Catoosa — her team’s
first round opponent at state
— but does know it's a long
way off.
The Dragons (24-16),
the No. 3 seed out of Area
8-AAAA, face a lengthy trek
to the Northwest comer of
the state to take on the sec
ond-seeded Generals in the
first round of the state tour
nament.
“I do know that it's two
hours and 30 minutes away,”
Lawrence said. “So it will
definitely be a long travel to
get there, so hopefully when
we get there, we can get off
the bus physically and men
tally and go out and play
against them.”
Jefferson is no stranger to
state playoff matches on the
road. It advanced to the Elite
Eight last year playing exclu
sively on the road.
“They should be equipped
to travel,” Lawrence said of
her players.
Heritage-Catoosa is a
28-win team that fell to a 39-3
Northwest Whitfield team in
the Area 6-AAAA finals.
“I’ve heard great things
about them from fellow
coaches just through the
grapevine,” Lawrence said.
“They’re going to run a strong
defense and offense on us. So
hopefully we can be stronger
right back.”
The Dragons earned a No.
3 seed at last week’s area tour
ney, beating Stephens County
in the opening round, losing
to North Oconee in the semifi
nals and then defeating Madi
son County in the consolation
finals to wrap-up third place.
“I do wish we could have
taken a set a set away from
North Oconee when we were
playing best three-out-of-five
in the area tournament, but it
is what it is,” Lawrence said.
“There’s nothing we can go
back and do about it now,
except look forward and fig
ure out what we did right and
what we did wrong.”
Heading into the state tour
nament, Lawrence said her
entire roster is playing well.
Savanna Davis’ kills are “top
of the roof,” the coach said,
while Brianna Gaba’s serving,
especially her aces, “are really
holding us strong right now.”
Lawrence added that Lauryn
Lockett’s placement “really
gets us kills on the book”
while Jo Jo Smith, a freshman
who has moved to a new posi
tion, is “owning the net” with
her block totals.
“I’m ready to go,” Law
rence said. “I hope these girls
are ready to go and ready
to fight and ready to repre
sent Jefferson the way that we
should be representing.”
Cheerleading
Eagle cheerleaders win Buford meet
The East Jackson com
petitive cheerleading team
nabbed a first-place finish
on Saturday at Buford, tal
lying 58.67 points with no
deductions.
The Eagles finished 12
points ahead of second-place
Hart County. Jackson Coun
ty placed third and East Hall
finished fourth.
“We improved a lot from
our last competition, and we
are really proud of the team,”
coach Bralee Griffin said.
“They are working hard this
week and next to prepare
for our next competition at
Loganville High School.”
East Jackson will compete
at Loganville on Oct. 21.
NINE-WIN SEASON
The West Jackson Middle School volleyball team won nine matches and
finished second in the Winder Area Tournament. Submitted photo
Volleyball
West Jackson Middle School
caps successful volleyball season
The West Jackson Mid
dle School volleyball team
recently closed out a nine-
win season which includ
ed a runner-up finish in
the Winder Area Tourna
ment.
The team opened with
a three-set victory over
Russell Middle School
and then downed Hebron
Christian in the semifinals
after losing in three sets
to the Lions earlier in the
season. West Jackson fell
to Buford in the finals.
With its second-place
finish at Winder, West
Jackson advanced to the
North Georgia Champion
ships last week, where it
was eliminated by even
tual tournament runner-up
Oconee County.
This successful year
coincided with the mid
dle school program being
incorporated with the high
school program this year.
The WJMS squad prac
ticed all season alongside
the high school team.
“This was the best sea
son in the history of the
West Jackson Middle
program.” Jackson Coun
ty Comprehensive High
School coach Ron Fowler
said. “We look forward to
seeing these girls continue
to progress in the years to
come.”
Cross country
Hildebrand sets new mark at
Mountain Invitational last week
By Ben Munro
Jefferson senior Derek Hil
debrand established a new
personal-best time as his high
school career winds down.
Hildebrand ran a 16:31 to
finish 11 th in the race and set
what is thought to be a new
school record.
Dragon coach Brady Sigler
said, from what he could find,
the old record was 16:33 set by
Addison Cochran, who gradu
ated last school year.
“Derek has been the leader
of our boys team along with
Justice Ogbe," Sigler said. “I
wish we could have run on
some fast courses like Wing
Foot, where Addison set
the record. I think he could
approach sub-16:00 on these
courses. While many of our
top runners left for fall break
or chose to not train with the
team, he came to everything
and it paid off for him.”
Jefferson was shorthanded
at the Mountain Invitational
as the race coincided with the
school’s fall break.
The Jefferson boys placed
14 th overall at the meet with
376 points. Rounding out
the scoring behind Hildeb
rand were Justice Ogbe (57 th ,
17:39), Riley Thornton (59 th ,
17:40), Brett Brush (118 th ,
18:31) and Carter Bass (131 st ,
18:43).
Jefferson did not enter a team
in the varsity girls race. The
Dragon cross country teams
have just one meet remaining,
the Oct. 14 Sharptop Invita
tional in Jasper, before the Oct.
25 Region 8-AAAA meet at
North Oconee.
Cross country
Hendley leads Panther runners
Jackson County’s Rus
sell Hendley ran a 17:03
on Thursday at the Moun
tain Invitational in Helen
to pace the Panther cross
country team.
Hendley placed 28th
overall, finishing ahead of
Dawson Miller, who ran
a sub-18 minute time of
17:18 to place 36th.
Rounding out the scoring
for Jackson County were
Cody Ellis (135th, 18:46),
Eli Griffeth (148th, 18:59)
and Armando Gonzales
(174th, 19:32). The Pan
thers finished 20th overall
in the boys' standings.
On the girls’ side, Kayla
Sheppard ran a 21:35 to
finish 38th and lead Jack-
son County to a 16th-place
team finish. Jaycie Ponce
finished just one second
behind Sheppard, taking
39th with a time of 21:36.
Rounding out the top five
were Hayden Ponce (89th,
23:30), Madeleine Mier-
zejewksi (92nd, 23:37)
and Hazel Allen (110th,
23:56).
Dragons
• •• continued from Page IB
Bostwick said Thursday’s
game was like no other Jeffer
son contest this year.
“What’s crazy about that
game is we haven’t had a
shootout with anybody all
year,” she said. “We haven’t
had one where we were going
to go back and forth and back
and forth. So, we got put in a
situation we haven’t been in
all year. And the girls respond
ed as they should. It was a
team effort.”
Senior Savannah Dooley
said the high-scoring nature of
the game added to the inten
sity.
“It kept us more focused
and the game was more
intense and upbeat,” she said.
“It was just more fun to play.”
Bostwick said her squad
never gave up, even when the
Dragons fell behind on two
occasions, trailing 3-0 early
and then 7-3.
“I don’t think they ever
lost focus,” said Bostwick.
“They were chipping away as
we worked through it. I just
think their concentration and
their focus is what kept us
in the game... (Sam) Vinson
came in and threw and got
some outs when she needed
to. (Emily) Perrin came in
and closed it. The offense was
spectacular. They did an awe
some job.”
Jefferson gave up one run
in the first inning, followed
by two Red Raiders runs
in the third, fourth and fifth
innings.
Meanwhile, the Dragons
stranded several base runners
early in the game, leaving the
bases loaded in the first, and
a runner stranded on third in
the second.
Jefferson finally lit up the
scoreboard in the third inning,
rallying for three runs. Cesy-
rea Cox ripped a double to
drive home Giorgia Russell.
Caroline Brownlee drove
home Dawson Horn on an
infield single. And Cameron
Watson bunted home a run to
knot the score at three.
The Red Raiders rallied
to go ahead 7-3, but Jeffer
son answered with a five-
run fifth. Vinson opened the
inning with a double. Soon
after, Brownlee drove home
a run with a double to deep
center. With two outs, Dooley
ripped a two-run double. Rus
sell followed with a two-run
single to give the Dragons the
lead for good.
Dooley then gunned down
a runner in the top of the sixth
at the plate to maintain the
8-7 Jefferson lead. And the
home squad added an insur
ance run in the bottom of the
sixth on a fielder’s choice by
Watson.
With the win, Jefferson
improved its record to 6-3
in games decided by one run
or less.
“It’s more of a fight and
competition and it brings us
close together as a team,”
Dooley said of the team’s
penchant for winning close
games. “It just keeps us up
and moving through the sea
son.”
By virtue of their region
title, the Dragons will take a
No. 1 seed into this week’s
state tournament. Jefferson
opens play today (Wednes
day) at home against Region
7-AAAA No. 4 seed White
County in a doubleheader
starting at 5 p.m. Game 3 is
Thursday at 5:30 p.m. if need
ed.
“We pretty confident,”
Dooley said. “We’ve got a
great team behind us, great
pitchers in front of us, great
catchers, great hitters, so I
couldn’t be more confident
and more excited to experi
ence this. There’s not a better
team to experience this with
than the one we have.”
Of course, the Dragons
advanced to the Elite Eight
a year ago, so the team is no
stranger to the pressure of a
state tournament.
“The experience was pretty
intense last year, so we know
what’s coming and what to
look forward to,” Dooley said.
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