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PAGE 2B PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. OCTOBER 10. 2013
PHSXC Report
Teams race at Cass-Cartersville,
Great American XC Festival
L-R: Turner Moranos (17th/16:46), Sean Parker (5th/
16:24) and Wyatt Ingram (15th/16:43) all medaled at the
Great American Cross Country; Festival in Cary>, N.C., on Sat
urday to lead the Dragons to an overall 4th place finish out
of 17 teams. Earlier in the week, the PHS boys ’ varsity also
took the win at the Cass-Cartersville Invitational.
Savannah Rice (left) andAlyssa Weaver pose with “Uncle
Sam ” after both medaled at Saturday’s Great American Cross
Country; Festival. Weaver powered to two individual wins at
both Cass-Cartersville and Great American, while Rice was
13th at Great American and 14th at Cass-Cartersville. The
PHS XC teams will host the Sharptop Invitational at Roper
Park this Saturday.
The PHS boys’ and girls’
cross country teams were in ac
tion twice this past week, first at
the Cass-Cartersville Invitational
last Tuesday and then the varsity
teams traveled to Cary, N.C., to
face some multi-state competi
tion at the Great American Cross
Country Festival. Both events
were 5K (3.1 miles) in distance
as are most high school races.
Alyssa Weaver (19:14 ), Bai
ley Stewart (21:49) and Turner
Moranos (16:51) recorded indi
vidual wins at the Cass-
Cartersville Invit. in the varsity
girls, JV girls and varsity boys
races respectively. Moranos was
joined in the top 20 finishers by
teammates Sean Parker (2nd/
16:53), Wyatt Ingram (4th/
17:02), and Tyler Ledford (17th
/18:13) as the PHS boys’ varsity
ran away convincingly with the
team win. The PHS girls placed
3rd overall led by Weaver and
Savannah Rice (14th/ 21:35)
who medaled. Then the PHS JV
boys were led by Riley Shaw
(5th/19:04) and also took home a
3rd place trophy as there were
plenty of medals and trophies
going home on the PHS bus
Tuesday night.
The varsity teams traveled to
Cary on Friday, getting up early
on Saturday to race teams from
all over the Southeastern and
Northeastern U.S. The varsity
boys hit the course first at Cary’s
WakeMed Soccer Complex as
they were matched against teams
of similar ability from Georgia,
Florida, Alabama, Virginia, West
Virginia, Tennessee, Maryland
and North Carolina in the “Red”
Invitational Race that included
121 runners.
The PHS boys ended up with
three medalists as Sean Parker
placed 5th (16:24), Wyatt Ingram
15th (16:43) and Turner Mora
nos 17th (16:46). Rounding out
the top 5 for the Dragons were
Tyler Ledford (45th/ 17:30) and
Gabe Spedale (63rd/ 17:53) as
the PHS Boys placed a very re
spectable 4th out of 17 teams.
Brookwood from Georgia won
the team competition with 46
points while St. Xavier HS (Ky.)
was 2nd (84 points) and Ferragut
HS (Tn.) was 3rd (113 points).
The PHS girls were seeded in
the “Blue” Invitational Race a
little after the boys and they
would line up with teams from
North Carolina, Georgia, Rhode
Island, Virginia, Kentucky and
Pennsylvania in their race that
included 132 runners. Senior
Alyssa Weaver of PHS got out to
another great start and never
looked back as she ran away with
a 35 second win (19:22) over
Sydney Larkin (19:57) of As
sumption HS (Ky.) to medal.
Also medaling was Savannah
Rice who placed 13th overall
(21:28). Rounding out the top
PHS girls varsity were Savannah
Miller (50th/23:12), Amy Mi
randa (53rd/23:15) and Abbie
Sawyer (112th/25:42) as the PHS
girls placed 7th out of 20 teams.
Complete results from the Great
American Cross Country Festi
val can be found at
http://nc.milesplit.eom/meets/l 3
8524-great-american-cross-
country-festival#.UlIcylP
The PHS varsity and JV
teams will race next at the Sharp-
top Invitational which they will
host Saturday at Roper Park. The
Sharptop Invitational and PHS
XC have been graciously spon
sored by Steve Moranos Allstate,
Communications Consulting
Group, PS Paper, Jasper Coun
seling Associates, The Last
Catch, ETC, Comprehensive
Healthcare of N. GA, the Led
ford Family and the Jacobs Fam
ily. Saturday’s race schedule is as
follows: MS boys - 8 a.m.; MS
girls - 8:30; varsity boys - 9:15;
varsity girls - 9:45; JV boys -
10:30; and JV girls - 11. Specta
tor admission is $3 for adults, $1
for students and children. In ad
dition to the varsity and JV teams
from PHS, teams from JMS and
PCMS will also be competing.
Softball ’Nettes finish season
Kayla Howard powered the
’Nettes at the plate and on the
rubber last Saturday, willing
Pickens to a 5-3 victory over
Southeast Whitfield.
Kayla put herself in scoring
position with two extra-base hits
for Pickens. She singled in the
first inning and doubled in the
third and fifth innings.
Kayla handled Southeast
Whitfield’s lineup with ease,
racking up nine strikeouts and
only allowed two earned runs on
eight hits and no walks over
seven innings.
The bottom of the first saw
the ’Nettes take an early lead, 2-
0. Brooke Wilson doubled to
start things off before Kayla sin
gled, scoring Brooke. The
’Nettes pushed more runs across
when Howard scored on an RBI
triple by Paula Picket.
It didn’t take long for South
east to respond as they scored
one run of their own in the third.
Southeast Whitfield tied the
game in the fourth on a steal of
home.
The game’s last lead went to
the ’Nettes thanks to a fifth in
ning rally that saw two runs cross
the plate on a groundout by
Angel Dement and a steal of
home by Kayla.
In the second game of the day,
Stephanie Riddle did all she
could to give Lady ’Nettes a
boost, but it wasn’t enough to get
past NW Whitfield as they would
lose 2-0 in seven innings at Dal
ton.
Stephanie had a hot bat for
Pickens, going 2-3. She singled
in the second and fifth innings.
Kari Henke was a workhorse
on the rubber for Pickens. Kari
allowed one earned run, five hits
and one walk while striking out
two over six innings of work.
The game was never in doubt
after the first, as NW Whitfield
scored one run on an error. NW
Whitfield put up one more run in
the bottom of the fourth when #5
stole home.
The ’Nettes would finish up
their season with a loss to Cass
Monday evening. Pickens would
have three names to the 7-AAAA
All-Region team for the season -
Kayla Howard and Brooke Wil
son - First Team; Angel Dement
- Honorable Mention.
American Legion Golf-A-Thon slated for Oct. 14
The Jasper American Le
gion Post 149 will sponsor the
5th Annual Golf-A-Thon Oct.
14 with a 9 a.m. tee time at the
Bent Tree Golf Club. Pro
ceeds from the event will go
to provide assistance to local
U.S. military service men and
women and their families.
Last year’s proceeds were
used to support local veterans
and their families in need,
Toys for Tots, our local Boy
Scout Troup 288, Wounded
Warriors Program, the Good
Samaritan Health and Well
ness fund and several other
worthwhile community pro
grams.
The 18-hole event will in
clude 40 golfers who will so
licit pledges for each hole
they complete. Each golfer is
requested to obtain a mini
mum of three pledges (typi
cally $2 per hole).
There will be goodie bags
for the players, beverages on
the course, closest-to-the-pin
prizes, hot dogs and hamburg
ers and prize drawings.
“We had a great time last
year raising money for this
worthy cause,” said Walter
White, Golf-A-Thon chairper
son. “I expect this year’s
event to be even better and
more fun.”
To register for the event,
get pledge sheets, more infor
mation or to donate for this
worthy cause, contact Bill
Harvey at billharvey@wind-
stream.net or Walter White at
piuser@tds.net
Racing Views
NASCAR stands pat while short tracks change
By Jumper Cable Man
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Se
ries is beginning to look like a
race between Matt Kenseth and
Jimmie “Crabgrass” Johnson.
“Crabgrass” lurked around the
top of the list until most of the
other “Chasers” had made
enough mistakes to eliminate
themselves and then, just like
crabgrass, comes back to take
over and win.
But this time the team behind
Kenseth is as good as the team
behind “Crabgrass” and they
want that championship. Time
will tell if Joe Gibbs Racing
wants it more than Hendrick Mo-
torsports. There is just as much
competitive spirit in the teams as
there is in the drivers. Kenseth
may be feeling the pressure at
this point. And there is still the
question of how reliable is the
equipment, on both sides. Engine
issues for both the Toyota and
Chevrolet were a problem earlier
in the year. Will they pop up
again?
Many of us rant that we wish
that NASCAR would leave the
points alone and not do “The
Chase” rewind. But does it really
matter? As it stands now with
“The Chase” Kenseth is leading,
“Crabgrass” is 2nd and Kevin
Harvick is 3rd. If the points had
not been scrambled and started
over the current order would be
“Crabgrass,” Harvick and
Kenseth. It looks like that no
matter how you slice it the top
drivers and teams will rise to the
top of the heap.
With six races to go anything
can, and will, happen. Look for
these three drivers to stay near
the top and for some of the oth
ers to make big runs at the cham
pionship. I still think Kyle
“Rowdy” Busch, Greg Biffle and
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. can still make
a run at the championship. And
don’t count out Joey “Sliced
Bread” Logano. He seems to be
out to prove that Roger Penske
made a wise move by hiring him
when others thought that he did
n’t have what it took to be a win
ner.
Several interesting stories
came out this past week concern
ing short track racing in our area.
First, the biggest news is that
Green Valley Speedway in Glen
coe (Gadsden), Al., is closing
after 54 years of operation. The
track has offered both oval dirt
track racing and drag racing over
the years. The drag racing oper
ation has been closed for a num
ber of years but the dirt track has
been racing with off and on suc
cess for all of those 54 years.
The present owner of Green
Valley Speedway, Dennis
Harker, purchased the track
about seven years ago and spent
a large sum of money to improve
the facilities. He added new
buildings, grandstands, equip
ment and new racing surfaces.
He introduced the local racers to
Raceceiver (one-way) radios and
transponders for communicating
with drivers and scoring the
races. His changes in these areas
were met with resistance and de
fiance.
Over the years Dennis has of
fered big shows and big pay days
for the winners of those shows.
The payoffs were made even
when the crowds didn’t show up.
With a lot of determination Den
nis continued to offer both the
fans and racers all of the best
short track racing had to offer.
Each year as he put money into
the track in improvements he
also had to put money into the
track to pay for the shows.
People like Dennis Harker
and his family don’t come along
often enough in short track rac
ing and it is a shame that we
couldn't do more to keep this
quality person in the sport. The
sport is loosing a great race track
but even more than that the short
track racing community is loos
ing a great supporter of short
track racing.
Another change coming in
short track racing will happen at
Waycross Motor Speedway in
2014 when a new operator leases
the track for 15 months. The new
operator has hired a promoter
and is in the process of hiring a
flagman and technical people to
operate the track. If it is a prof
itable venture the operator plans
to buy the property at the end of
the 15 month lease.
Several tracks that we know
of are for sale. Lanier National
Speedway in Gainesville is the
only asphalt track available that
we know of. For dirt tracks, Gor
don Park Speedway in Grove-
town (Augusta) was for sale
earlier. They have re-opened the
track but with the same promot
ers so I would assume the track
is still available for purchase.
Boyds Speedway in Ringgold
will contesting the final points
race of the 2013 season on Fri
day night as they race a full rac
ing program. More Friday night
dirt track racing action finds 441
Speedway in Dublin offering a
practice session for the following
night’s Georgia State Race fea
ture event. The practice offers a
free cookout with a pit pass.
Then on Saturday night 441
Speedway hosts the American
Dirt Crate Series featuring a
$2500 to win race along with
bonuses in the supporting
classes. North Georgia Speed
way in Chatsworth will offer The
Big One Crate Showdown with a
60-lap Crate Late Model feature
paying $5000 to win and $300 to
start. Supporting classes will also
be racing and they offer a prac
tice on Friday night. Saturday
night will find Golden Isles
Speedway in Brunswick offering
a full racing program and a Boot
Sears Memorial Race as the fea
ture event. Another memorial
race this weekend will be at the
Albany Motor Speedway in Al
bany with the running of the
Larry Bailey Memorial Race.
This event will have increased
purses and double points in all
classes. This will also be the
final points race of the season for
Albany Motor Speedway.
For asphalt racing fans the
weekend is without a venue.
Send us your comments,
questions, answers or corrections
to RO. Box 1.522, Woodstock,
Ga. 30188-1522, or to our e-mail
at Jcableman@aol.com
The future is bright for Mountain City
Soccer’s talented U12 group
Mountain City Soccer Club’s U12 boys, Team Breakers and Blaze: (Front l-r): Peyton
Johnson, Luis Mendez, Anthony Klimbal, Caleb Bryant, Jacob McCormick, Parker Flem
ming, Pete Bryant Jr., Oliver Shaw, Will Finney, Riley Goodman, Landon VanSant, James
Carlan. (Back): Coach David Finney, Will Cox, Joseph Adams, Anthony Arrendale, Tucker
Martinez, Michael Rumsey, Victor Lane, Carter Lindsey, Seth Green, Bennett Ulm, Parker
Fuqua and Coach Bias Chavez. Not pictured: Dalton Brunner, Cameron Williams and Alex
Bell.
By David Finney
Mt. City Soccer
Mountain City Soccer Club
has 25 boys competing on two
teams for our U12 division this
season. The boys are divided up
into two teams, the Blaze
coached by Bias Chavez and the
Breakers coached by David
Finney. Many of these boys have
been in the Mountain City Soccer
system for five seasons now and
their play on the field shows.
There are also new ones that
have mixed into each team that
have either transferred in from
other soccer clubs or it’s their
first time playing soccer.
We have moved up a few tal
ented U10 aged boys to fill out
the rosters. The teams compete
with Cherokee Impact teams and
play in tournaments against At
lanta area teams on almost every
weekend from September
through November.
At the U12 age group, we
concentrate heavily on control
ling the ball using a teaching
technique called Coerver Coach
ing. The Coerver method teaches
the individual player skills and
confidence with the ball so when
they are in the game situation,
they can control the ball and not
have the ball control them. These
skills allow each player to have
confidence on the field so when
they are with the team, each
member has the ability to receive
a pass, make a pass, dribble or
take a shot on goal. We also work
on moving the ball around
quickly to open teammates -
every player on the field is con
stantly moving around putting
themselves in position to support
their teammate with the ball
whether that is going forward,
dropping back or moving later
ally. With the ball constantly
moving with tight, quick passes
from player to player, the defense
does not have time to catch up
which keeps us in control of the
ball.
MCSC is very excited about
the U12 group this season and
look forward to the progression
through the program. The ones
that started with our U10 team a
few seasons ago will be the first
group to go through the complete
MCSC system once they make it
to the U19 age level. It will be
exciting to see their progression
up to that point, but for now we
enjoy the journey they are on and
keep at the grindstone of teach
ing control soccer. There are
many special players at this age
group so the future of soccer is
bright for MCSC.
For more information on our
U12 program or any of the other
teams with Moimtain City Soccer
Club, please visit our website at
www.MountainCitySoccer.org.
or Facebook search “Mountain
City Soccer.”
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