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April 29,
2021
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Griffin earns spot on the Jr. Olympic Travel Team
Overall, 167 athletes from
around the country competed
for 24 Team slots. Sixty-one
athletes representing 20 dif
ferent states competed over
the course of three days in
the Skeet event.
Open shooters were in
vited to compete as well. Six
Olympians and multiple
World Champions took part
alongside these young ath
letes as mentors and competi
tors. Intense winds and chilly
weather added to the chal
lenge, but the competitors
kept their composure battling
through with great scores.
Competitors are given a
couple days to get use to the
fields and then shoot 250
rounds over three days in at
tempt to become one of the
top six shooters for the Final.
The final shootout consists of
50 rounds on the last day and
the selection of the final four
in the Men’s and Women’s
Division to fill out the World
Travel Team.
Jessi Griffin, a Pickens
County High School stu
dent proved what determi
nation, dedication to
practice in perfecting her
skills and a fierce competi
tive spirit can achieve. Jessi
not only earned a place on
the Junior Olympic World
Travel Team she will also be
competing on both the Na
tional and World team.
Jessi Griffin of Jasper posted the second highest score
at the competition to make the national junior team.
Jessi went into the final closest competitor. She
day four targets ahead of her scored a perfect score of 25
in her second to last round,
and 23 in the last round of the
match thus securing her spot
on the 2021 Junior Olympic
World Team 11 targets ahead
of her closest competitor. Her
father, Steve Griffin noted
that “the young lady that took
the 1st place is on the
Olympic team that will be
going to the 2020 games in
Japan.” Jessi held her own
against a formidable com
petitor.
Women s National
Junior Team Results:
•Austen Smith (Keller,
TX) 2020 Olympian 237
•Jessi Griffin (Jasper,
See Griffin on Page 3B
Track team shines
at region
Boys 4 x 400m Champions - Bottom l-r: Juan Sanchez
and Seth White and top l-r: Andrew Williams, Jose
Sanchez.
The Pickens Track and
Field Team competed last
week at the region track
meet. The Dragons and
Nettes performed well
against tough region compe
tition.
Several of the Pickens
runners secured region titles.
Freshman Bekah Wise had a
strong showing, securing re
gion championships in three
separate events. Senior Seth
White also won three titles to
end his region career as a
Dragon. Juan Sanchez had a
strong showing as both an in
dividual and as a member of
multiple relay teams. All of
the runners from Pickens
who qualified will head to
North Oconee High School
on May 8th to compete in the
Sectional Meet.
Region Champions:
•Bekah Wise (freshman)-
800m, 1600m, and 3200m
Region champion;
• Seth White (senior)-
800m, 1600m, 3200m Re
gion champion;
• Juan Sanchez (junior)-
400m Region champion;
• Boys' 4 x 400m Relay
Team- Region Champs (pic-
bottom l-r: Juan Sanchez,
Seth White....top l-r: Andrew
Williams, Jose Sanchez).
Sectional Qualifiers.
Boys 4 x 100m relay
team- Tucker Lowe, Juan
Sanchez, Jose Sanchez,
Bekah Wise (freshman)-
800m, 1600m, and 3200m
region champion.
Devin Hand;
Girls 4 x 800m relay
team- Adriana Vann, Haley
Peed, Mia Antinozzi,
Meadow Palmer;
Boys 800m- Connor
Hedgpeth;
Boys 1600m- Will Hall
and Andrew Williams;
Boys 3200m- Will Hall
and Noah Jones;
Girls 100m- Angelina
Casey;
Girls 100m Hurdles- Han
nah Grizzle.
3200m podium - Noah Jones, 4th place; Seth White, 1st
place; and Will Hall, 3rd place.
PHS baseball closes out season
1 1
Connor Shouse tagging home plate is congratulated by members of the PHS baseball
team following a grand slam, with the Dragons ending the season on a positive note.
The Pickens Baseball
team’s season came to an
end last week in a region se
ries against the Ridgeland
Panthers last week.
In game one of the series,
the Panthers jumped out to
an early lead and never
looked back. In the first in
ning Ridgeland plated their
first runner. In the second in
ning, the Panthers caught fire
and scored six runs to take a
7-0 lead. Both teams plated a
run in the third and fourth in
nings. In the fifth inning,
Ridgeland once again strung
together a big inning.
Headed into the bottom of
the fifth inning, 14-2. Pick
ens was able to plate a run in
the bottom half of the inning,
but it was not enough to ex
tend the game past the fifth
inning.
Offensively, James Tilley
took one deep in the third in
ning and Jarod Whitmore
went 2 for 3 at the plate. De
fensively, the Dragons gave
up 14 runs on 15 hits in the
contest.
For the second and third
games of the series, the
Dragons traveled to
Rossville. The Panthers
picked up where they left off
by scoring two runs in the
bottom of the first inning.
Ridgeland added one run in
the bottom of the fourth and
two more runs in the bottom
of the fifth. Pickens headed
into the final frame trailing
5-0. The Dragons put up two
runs to fight back, but were
stopped short of the come
back. James Tilley had seven
strikeouts in the contest. No
Dragons were able to pro
duce multiple hits in the
game.
In the final contest of the
season, the Dragons went out
on a positive note. After trail
ing 7 to 1 headed into the
sixth inning, the Dragons ex
ploded for seven runs to take
the lead.
Senior Seth Densmore
pitched the final two innings
to secure the win on the
mound for the Dragons.
Connor Shouse took one
deep to help in the come
back. Densmore and Tyler
Payne both had multiple hit
performances. The Dragons
finish the season with a 14-
16 record and a 6th place fin
ish in region play. Pickens
will have to replace the lead
ership of the four graduating
seniors but have a lot of
young talent coming back
for the 2022 season.
Dragons soccer falls
to Druid Hills
PHS 2021 Boys Playoff Team. “I am so proud of this group of young men and their
success this year. The team camaraderie, sportsmanship, and respect they have for one
another, the sport itself, and their coaches is beyond remarkable. I look forward to
watching them continue their journey next year,” said Coach Haughwout.
By Melissa Lowrie
The second playoff appearance in Pickens’
Soccer history ended in a 2-0 loss, Friday,
April 23 in Atlanta. The match was tied 0-0
at halftime, and in spite of the team’s best ef
forts, the Druid Hills Red Devils came out on
top, with two goals in the second half.
Consistently guarded by at least three de
fenders, Pickens’ lead scorer Juan Sanchez
was stifled by the Devils’ defense. The Drag
ons battled to the end, a heroic finale to cap a
stellar sea-son. Sanchez had 44 goals in the
regular season, smashing his previous school
record of 36 goals in 2019, his freshman year.
Coach Gibson said, “I’m proud of the suc-
See Soccer on Page 3B
Sports
Fanatic
By
Tommy
Gartrell
Columnist
Draft Day
The annual NFL Draft
begins on Thursday
evening and continues
through Saturday. With
a draft class deep in
quarterbacks, the drama
builds over their desti
nations and potential
last minute trades for
draft position.
Closer to home, the
Falcons currently hold a
total of nine draft picks
including the fourth
overall selection on
Thursday night. Ques
tions abound concern
ing their first round
choice and potential
trades down in the draft
order for additional
picks.
Let’s face it. Atlanta
is mediocre at best and
it’s defense has proven
putrid for some time.
Obviously, additional
draft picks give the
franchise a better
chance to improve per
sonnel at a lower cost
than free agency. Addi
tionally, the Birds have
no salary cap space for
pricey or, for that mat
ter, even bargain base
ment free agent
signings, therefore the
draft is the only way to
improve their lot at this
point.
The team needs up
grades on offensive line
again as always for a
decade and if you name
any of the 11 defensive
positions, this team
could use help there too.
With a new head
coach and general man
ager, the Falcons must
make some improve
ments or at least a
splash pick to get fans’
attention. Many ana
lysts and fans speculate
that a replacement in
waiting for 36-year-old
quarterback Matt Ryan
is in order, especially
Georgia native Justin
Fields from Ohio State
University or perhaps
freakishly talented tight
end Kyle Pitts from the
University of Florida.
Either of those names
would excite fans. With
Julio Jones aging and
continual injuries ham
pering his play, we can
see a spot for another
top tier receiver. On the
other hand, is anything
other than a quarterback
worth the fourth pick?
With Ryan’s restruc
tured deal, he is under
contract for three more
seasons through 2023,
so does drafting a quar
terback even make
sense at this point.
The most practical
and prudent move with
so many positions of
need would be trading
the fourth pick for addi
tional picks. That option
hinges on another
team’s desire to trade
though.
This draft day prom
ises to be interesting for
Atlanta and worth track
ing.