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Pickens Golf teams place in top 10 at state
AT RIGHT - The Nettes wrapped up the 2021
golf season with a 10th place finish at the state tour
nament.
The ladies shot a 666 at the prestigious UGA Golf
course.
Heather Vincent led the Nettes with a score of 194
over the two-day tournament. Lauren Quarles scored
a 224, Brooke Quarles scored a 252, and Emery
Bryant rounded out the scoring with a 261. Macy
Watford also helped the Nettes as manager.
BELOW RIGHT - The Dragons capped an un
defeated match season with an 8th place finish. The
boys also competed at the UGA Golf course.
Landon VanSant led the Dragons with a two-day
score of 155. Landon ended up 11th overall in the
state. The rest of the Dragons scored as follows: Seth
Cronic 160, Matthew Campbell 161, Eddie Lindbert
168, David Gossett 201, and Jackson Moss 202. It
was a great season for the Pickens Golf teams.
Lessons learned
from a
skateboard
Professional skateboarder Grey son
Beal offered tips last week at a Nelson
park.
By Larry Cavender
Progress Contributor
Ahlberg Academy Rector John
Ahlberg is a firm believer that knowl
edge is also gained from outside the
confines of a classroom's four walls.
That is one reason why his students
walk the short distance from the Nelson
campus of the private Christian school
to nearby Edmondson Field several
times a week.
Students are accustomed to their
many excursions to the park, but on
Wednesday, May 19th, they were
treated to a unique learning experience
by way of skateboarding professional,
Greyson Beal. Beal, a former student of
the school, showed off his own skate
boarding skills in addition to giving the
students individualized instruction.
Beal, a native of Kennesaw, Ga. who
now lives in Long Beach, California,
became interested in the sport at a
young age and wanted to pursue a ca
reer in skateboard competition. How
ever, his mother insisted on his getting
a high school diploma before he began
that career. Determined, the young Beal
attended summer school classes to ac
celerate the process and graduated in
2016 at just 16 as salutatorian of the
class.
Ellen Ahlberg, who co-founded the
school with her husband, John, remem
bered Beal as an outstanding student
and also "a nice guy who cared about
kids and who was also very humble."
Beal's humility is proven by his re
sponse to the question asked on May
19th, "So you're a professional?" to
which he replied, "I guess you could say
that."
In the five years since his high
school graduation, Beal has competed
all across the northern hemisphere,
from Tampa, Fla. in the southeast, to
California on the west coast and as far
north as Canada. He hopes to compete
on the European Circuit soon. His suc
cess in competition is evident from his
See Skateboard on Page 2B
2018-19 PHS Hall of Fame
nominees inducted
Tom Judkins Award presented
On Friday night, May 14th, the
Pickens High School Athletics De
partment honored the 2018-19 Hall
of Fame Class. Due to COVID re
strictions and school closings, PHS
was unable to recognize these hon-
orees last year.
In 2012, Pickens High School
created the Athletics Hall of Fame
to honor those athletes, coaches
and teams who excelled on the
field of play. Prior to the Dragons’
spring football game, the Hall of
Fame class was inducted at a ban
quet which featured several guest
speakers.
PHS Principal Chris Wallace
welcomed honorees, their families
and special guests and offered con
gratulations on their achievements.
Chris Williams, PHS athletic di
rector, presided over the ceremony
and began by recognizing Tyler
Craig. Tyler is a 2013 graduate of
PHS and was a standout track and
field athlete. In 2011, he placed
second at state in pole vault and the
following season, secured the
bronze medal at the state track and
field meet. In 2013, with a jump of
15’ 7”, he became the 4-A State
Champion in pole vault. In addi
tion, from 2011-2013, he was the
three-time region champion in pole
vault and currently holds the PHS
pole vault record of 16’5”. In 2012,
he placed second in pole vault at
the National Junior Olympic Track
Tyler Craig receives his Hall of
Fame plaque from PHS Athletic
Director Chris Williams. Craig, a
2013 PHS graduate, was a state
pole vault champion for PHS. See
more photos from the evening on
Page 2B.
and Field Championships. Sharing
several stories about Tyler was his
long-time coach Robbie Robert
son.
The next inductee was Coach
Steve Sewell who, for 18 seasons,
served as head football coach for
the Dragons, amassing a record 87
wins and four state playoff appear
ances. In addition, he served for 13
years on the Georgia High School
Association Executive Committee
and in 2011 was asked to serve as
the head coach for the GACA
North/South All Star Classic foot
ball game. He also served for 15
years as the school’s athletic direc
tor. Many knew him as the head
football coach and many more
knew him as the principal at Pick
ens High School. From 1991-2001,
he served the students at this
school as their leader and their
principal, impacting every student
in the halls. George Weaver, Jr.
See Hall of Fame on Page 2B
Rec. season wraps up
Photo/ Dave McKissick
The Pickens Parks and Recreation baseball, softball and t-ball sea
sons are reaching an end with championship games last week. See
more pictures from one day of the action on Page 16A and 1st Place
team pictures on 3B.
Sports
Fanatic
By
Tommy
Gartrell
Columnist
The Big
Stage
The Hawks (41 -31) an
nounced their presence as
one of the better teams in
the NBA on Sunday with a
victory over the Knicks
(41-31) in New York City.
On the biggest national
stage, Atlanta defeated the
heavy favorite 107-105 in
legendary Madison Square
Garden.
Point guard Trae Young
hit the winning basket
with a second remaining
which capped a dominat
ing performance by the
still relatively unknown
phenom. His 32 points, 10
assists and seven rebounds
including 9 for 9 from the
charity stripe puts him in
elite company for the first
playoff game of his career.
Only Young, LeBron
James, Chris Paul and
Derrick Rose posted 30
points and 10 assists in
their playoff debut.
Atlanta fans know that
he is capable of such pro
duction but the national
media just took notice. In
fact, every well known an
alyst picked the Knicks to
win this series with little
difficulty.
How would the rest of
America know much
about this Hawks team
though?
They have only been
televised nationally a
handful of times over the
past three years. As for
New York being heavily
favored, it is the logical
and sentimental choice ac
tually because Gotham is a
huge market and their
team defeated the Hawks
in all three regular season
matchups.
Remember though! At
lanta blew large leads late
in two of those games, and
besides, numerous injuries
prevented this team from
fielding its best squad for
months.
The Hawks are healthy
now though!
General Manager
Travis Schlenk has drafted
well and added several
solid free agents to this
roster since joining the
franchise in May of 2017,
and under current head
coach Nate McMillan this
team went 27-11 follow
ing the firing of Lloyd
Pierce at the beginning of
March.
It is a much more tal
ented and competitive
group than the national
press realized. That point
was made very clear with
the road win on Sunday
which gives Atlanta a clear
advantage in this best of
seven game series against
New York.
What better stage to not
only announce but declare
your ability than against
the fabled Knicks? Can the
Hawks pull it off?
I sincerely believe so!
We shall see as the series
continues on Wednesday
night in NYC, Friday
night and Sunday after
noon in Atlanta.