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THURSDAY. APRIL 22. 2004 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 1C
The Ultimate
Price
By Rick Frye
It was a battle out there today.
We went to war. He played like the
true warrior he is. He showed
immense courage in making it
count.
All of the
above
euphemisms that
are used to
describe playing
football are out of
place in light of
what happened
last week.
Pat Tillman
used to play safety for the Arizona
Cardinals in the National Football
League. Last Thursday, Tillman
paid the ultimate price when he
was killed in fighting near the
Afghanistan-Pakistan border as a
member of the US Army. In trying
to keep the United States the land
of the free, Tillman became another
tragedy of the war on terror and
became a bigger hero than he ever
was on the football field.
A hard hitting undersized line
backer coming out of Arizona
State, where he was named the
Pac-10 Conference defensive play
er of the year following his senior
season, Tillman was the 226th
player taken in the draft the follow
ing year.
Not only was he an outstanding
player, he graduated with honors in
3 1/2 years with a 3.86 GPA. He
quickly moved into the starting
line-up for the Cardinals, and in his
third season he set the team record
for tackles.
To show you the type of person
Tillman was, he turned down an
offer from the St. Louis Rams
when he was a free agent following
that breakout year that would have
paid him $9 million for five years,
because he felt like he owed it to
the Cardinals to stay with them. He
took $3.6 for three years and was
happy to stay put.
By all accounts, Tillman was
always a stand-up guy who did the
right thing. When his high school
teams in San Jose needed someone
to make a big play or be a leader,
Tillman and his younger brother
Kevin, a star in his own right who
accepted an athletic scholarship to
Arizona State to follow his brother,
were there to fill the role.
Many people were surprised by
what Tillman did in the spring of
2002, but not those who knew him
best. On the heels of the 9/11
tragedy, he gave up his big salary
and enlisted in the Army to fight
the war on terror, with his brother
going along with him. They wanted
to join the Rangers, the elite of the
Army who are the first in and the
last out in dangerous situations.
Their missions are mostly secret,
working in difficult situations.
It takes a special person to feel
that much love of country to give
up what he did, but Tillman never
granted any interviews or wanted
to be in the spotlight, because he
didn’t feel that he was any more
special that his brothers and sisters
fighting along with him in defense
of America. We have young men in
Pickens County who have done the
same thing, like David Mosley and
Chris Tucker, who have put their
lives on the line for you and me.
There are probably others that I
don’t know, but I’m thankful for
every one of the men and women
who are American Soldiers.
Continued on 2C
Pickens Special
Olympics set for May 7
By Jill Roland
The Pickens County Special
Olympics has been set for Fri
day, May 7 at Pickens High foot
ball field. Opening ceremonies
will begin around 9:30 a.m.
Anyone interested in helping out
with this memorable event
please contact Jan Brock at Pick
ens High, 253-1800. Come out
and support our Special Olympic
athletes.
Pickens girls win region track
Region 7-AAA Champion PHS Girls Track Team - Chastity Lohman, Noni Rice, Kim McDaris
Whitney Propes, Coach Giardina, Ashley Moore, Whitney Hammontree, Vanessa Stephens, Kenya
Washington, Yolanda Washington, Meagan Stephens (kneeling).
By Rick Frye
It was a thrilling weekend for the
Pickens High girls track team at the
Region 7-AAA meet as they held
off rival Fannin to capture the
crown with a narrow 2-point victo
ry, 82-80. Pickens won in spite of
not having a single winner in the
meet, but their overall depth proved
to be the difference.
Two girls from PHS qualified for
the state meet with second place
finishes. Whitney Propes qualified
in three events, while Noni Rice
made it in two. Propes will compete
in the triple jump, the 100 meter
dash and the 100 meter high hur
dles, while Rice qualified in the
long jump and the 200 meters. Rice
narrowly missed qualifying in the
100, placing third. Tifani Smith also
had a third place finish in the pole
vault, and both relay teams ended
up taking third.
Fourth place finishes saw Kelly
Hales in the shot put, Stephanie
Brown in the pole vault and Chasti
ty Lohman was fourth in both the
1600 and 3200 meter runs. Congrat
ulations to the entire team for their
great effort in bringing home the
hardware!
PHS Baseball
Dragons cruise toward playoff lane
By James N. Golden
Oh yeah, was this fun or what?
The Diamond Dragons posted their
most successful week of the season
at the perfect time to secure a solid
3rd place in their region. Third
place might sound average, but with
the top four places in the 7-AAA
Region advancing to the post-sea-
son, it’s feeling good right now.
With dominant Gainesville and
powerful North Hall in the top
spots, Pickens is the best of the rest
at 8-6 in region play. Let’s see how
they did it.
Monday afternoon saw a feisty
Johnson squad venture to Dragon
Field and the home team was look
ing to even the season series after
the Knights shellacked them earlier.
Justin Lester got the nod to take the
mound and kept the Johnson batters
in check pretty much all day. He
scattered 11 hits and eight runs to
hold the potent Johnson offense at
bay. Meanwhile, the Dragon offense
was equally as powerful as we
scored five runs right “off the bat”
in the first inning. I guess the guys
were ready to exact some revenge
after the previous March meeting
with the team from Oakwood. And
Johnson must have felt some of that
impetus because they assisted our
guys in that inning with two errors.
Those miscues combined with a
double by all star Alex Williams
and another hit by Josh Green plat
ed the five runs. Lester continued to
labor but the Knights could only
manage a hit here and there and no
extra base hits. And then the boom
was lowered and the home crowd
delighted as the Pickens team sent
16 batters to the plate in the third.
Yes, that’s 16. It was awesome. We
had five singles including Green
and Williams’ second on the day
each. We enjoyed five walks given
to our guys by the Johnson pitchers.
And we ripped two triples in the
inning - one by Mark Patterson who
continues to be the find of the sea
son and another by senior Jason
Johnson who has definitely found
his swing. Jason, or JJ as he is
known, also contributed a double in
that same inning as the Dragons
scored a whopping 10 runs to pretty
much slay the Knights. They man
aged one more run after that, but
when Lester gets a lead he usually
pitches with more of that swagger I
spoke of earlier. Final score — Pick
ens 15,Johnson 8.
Wednesday afternoon had the
Diamond Dragons in Gainesville at
East Hall. This game turned into a
slug fest as the two teams combined
for somewhere around 27 hits and
21 runs. Not exactly a pitcher’s
duel, but it was fun baseball. Jere
my Carver took the hill for PHS and
pitched his usual tough, no glam
Continued on 2C
PHS Golf
Golf Team Finishes Regular Season Play
By Ron Hunter
The Pickens High School boys
and girls golf teams concluded their
regular season play with matches
last week as they ready themselves
for the region championships which
are to be played this week. On
Tuesday, April 20, the boys team
hosted region opponents White
County and Fannin County to Bent
Tree for a three-way match and pre
vailed over both teams with a
respectable team score of 331. Fan
nin County recorded a team score of
338 and White County recorded a
score of 344. Jarod Trammell led
Pickens in scoring and was match
medalist with a score of three over
par 75. Trammell’s round included
two birdies against five bogeys as
he struggled a bit with his iron play.
Zach Dobson played steady golf in
recording a score of 83 that includ
ed an eagle three on the par five
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At Jasper Athletic Club - 706-253-5115
Grades 2 nl1 - 5 th every Wednesday Grades 6 th - 12 th every Wednesday
from 5:15-6:15 from 6:15 - 7:15
Each class is limited to 6 players with a minimum of 2 players
The cost per class is $15.00 or Five classes for $65.00
**New classes will start Wed. May 5 lh and continue until???
Registration at Jasper Athletic Club
The classes will be conducted by Katrina Nix. Led six different teams to league
championships while serving as an assistant and/or head coach at PCMS. Coached
five years of AAU/YBOA and had numerous tournament championship teams. If
you have any questions please call 706-337-4135.
fifth where he holed a shot from off
the green. Stephen Hunter got off to
a great start with birdies on his first
two holes and another on the fifth,
but allowed his game to get away
from him on the back side as he
shot 85 for the day. Greg Pickett
recorded the other counting score
for Pickens with an 88 that would
have been much better except for
one horrendous hole.
On this date the girls team trav
eled to Whitepath Golf Club in Elli-
jay for a match against region oppo
nent Fannin County and recorded a
good team score of 107 that was not
quite good enough as Fannin
recorded a team score of 102. Ash
ley Poole shot 49 to lead the way
for Pickens with Samantha Pinson
shooting 58 to round out the team
total for Pickens.
On Thursday, April 22, the boys
team again hosted a three-way
match at Bent Tree against
Gainesville High School and region
nemesis White County. Pickens
again recorded a respectable team
score of 332 to win both ways
against White’s total of 341 and
Gainesville’s total of 370. Pickens’
number one player, Jarod Trammell,
was once again match medalist with
a score of 78 that included five
birdies on the day against three oth
ers. Stephen Hunter played good,
steady golf as he produced the sec
ond low score in the match with
nine over par 81 that also included a
couple of birdies. White and
Gainesville’s low individual scores
respectively were 83 and 84. Will
Eubanks and Jonathan Heard
recorded the other two counting
scores for Pickens with scores of 86
and 87 respectively. While the boys
team was hosting Gainesville at
Bent Tree, the girls team traveled to
Chattahoochee Golf in Gainesville
for a match against two very strong
teams, Gainesville High School and
Hart County High School. Pickens
played well and recorded one of
their better scores of the season
with a 103 total, but it was not quite
good enough as Gainesville had a
team total of 85 and Hart County
had 86. Ashley Poole, playing in a
threesome with perhaps the two
best girl players in the AAA classi
fication, acquitted herself well with
a score of 45. Samantha Pinson,
while not happy with her play, also
recorded one of her better scores of
the season with 58 to round out the
team total.
The boys team finished the regu
lar season with a match record of
sixteen wins against only one loss
as the veteran team is getting ready
to defend its Region 7-AAA cham
pionship on Wednesday, April 28 at
Bent Tree. The young girls team,
which is made up of four sopho
mores, finished the regular with a
match record of five wins against
twelve losses and will also be look
ing for a berth in the State AAA
Tournament.
PHS Track
Regular season wraps up for track
Whitney Propes shown competing in the triple jump. Propes
qualified for state in the triple jump, high hurdles, and 100 meter
dash.
Noni Rice leaps through the air in the long jump. She qualified
for state in the 200 meter dash as well.
By Rick Frye
The PHS track teams brought
the regular season to a conclusion
last Tuesday with a home meet
against White, Fannin and Chesta-
tee. In extremely close girls compe
tition, it was Fannin with 74 points.
White with 73.5, Pickens with 68
and Chestatee with 33.5.
Winners for Pickens were Noni
Rice in the long jump at 16’ 2” and
200 meters in 27.77, and Whitney
Propes in the 100 at 12.85.
Second place finishers were
Kelly Hales in the shot put with a
toss of 28’ 8”, Megan Stephens in
the 400 in 1.08, Tifani Smith in the
pole vault at 7’ 6” and Propes in the
100 high hurdles at 17.15, and the
triple jump at 34’ 1”. The 4x100
relay team was also second.
Thirds went to Smith in the high
jump, Rice in the 100, Jessica Jar-
rett in the 300 meter hurdles and the
4x400 relay.
The boys won with 97 points,
edging White which had 93. Ches
tatee had 41 and Fannin brought up
the rear with 16. Bo Qualls was a
double victor with a toss of 40’ 6”
in the shot put and a heave of 117’
6” in the discus. Kevin Hussey took
the triple jump with a leap of 41 ’ 9”
and Chris Wallace captured the 110
high hurdles with a time of 17.59.
Second place finishers saw John
Reynolds in the long jump at 18’ 3”
and the 400 meter dash in 55.3,
Wallace in the triple jump with a
leap of 38’ 6” and the 300 hurdles
in 45.11, Hussey in the 100 meters
in 11.24, Dustin Herndon in the 200
in 24.56, Charlie Chong in the 800
meters in 2:27, Jacob Gise in the
1600 meters in 5:21 and the 4x400
relay.
The boys region will take place
this weekend, with Pickens hoping
for several strong finishes. Fook for
results in next week’s issue.
PHS Tennis
Tennis ends with
second round losses
By Rick Frye
Pickens High’s tennis teams
wrapped up the season last week,
first with their final regular season
match against Cherokee on Mon
day. The boys got shut out by a 0-5
score, while the girls were victori
ous by a 4-1 count.
The girls had Nicole McArthur
win at #1 singles, Mallory Rich at
#2 and the doubles teams of Jenni
Weaver and Linsey Franklin and
Dakota Childers and Gensi Gise
both won as well. Jessica DeFoach
at #3 singles suffered the lone
defeat.
For the boys team it was Jon
Witmer at #1, Will Waller at #2,
Will England at #3, Cory Watson
and Brad Baird at #1 doubles, and
Justin Burgess and Christopher
Golden at #2 all being defeated by
their opponents from Cherokee.
Region took place on Wednes
day, with the girls taking on White
and the boys going up against
Gilmer. Resounding victories by
both squads as the boys won 4-0
and were ahead in the other when
the match was stopped, while the
girls won 3-0 and were ahead in
both of the other contests when they
were stopped. McArthur was ahead
with a 6-2 win in the first set when
hers was halted, Rich won 6-1, 6-0,
DeLoach had won the first set 6-3
when hers ended, the doubles team
of Weaver and Franklin won 6-0, 6-
0 and Childers and Gise won 6-1,6-
1.
The boys thrashed Gilmer
behind Andy Golden at #1 with a 6-
4, 6-1 win, Witmer had won the
first set 6-2 when his match was
stopped, Waller won 6-4, 6-2 at #3,
Watson and Baird won at #1 dou
bles, 6-4, 6-2 and Burgess and
Christopher Golden won 6-4, 6-3.
Round 2 saw both teams take on
Gainesville. It was not pretty for the
boys as they got thumped, with Wit
mer losing 0-6, 1-6, Waller fell 0-6,
0-6, Tim West lost 0-6, 0-6, #1 dou
bles Baird and Watson lost 1-6, 1-6
and the #2 team of Burgess and
Hett lost 2-6, 1-6.
The girls lost as well, with
McArthur falling 1-6, 1-6, Rich lost
4-6, 3-6 and DeLoach was defeated
1-6, 1-6. The #1 doubles team of
Weaver and Franklin completed
their second straight undefeated
season, winning 6-4, 6-4, while the
#2 team of Childers and Gise were
tied 4-6, 6-1 when their match was
stopped.
SOCCER
Pick-Up Games
at Pickens County
Rec. Dept. Saturday at 4:00 PM
Adults/Youth
More info, call Jerry Greer 706-692-9239
