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PAGE 12B PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. APRIL 28. 2022
PHS Golf Report
Boys defeat Gilmer & Fannin; Girls defeat Fannin, fall to Gilmer
It was another eventful
week for the Pickens Golf
Programs. On Wednesday,
April 20th both teams com
peted against Gilmer and
Fannin on the Creek Course
in Big Canoe.
The girls’ team soundly
defeated Fannin but lost a
close one to Gilmer. Dani
Zeigler was the low scorer
for the Nettes.
The boys’ team played a
strong round and defeated
both of their opponents. Seth
Cronic and Tillman Rooker
were the low scorers for the
Dragons.
Then on Thursday, April
21 st, the Dragons traveled to
Iron Horse Golf Club in Al
pharetta to face the Denmark
Danes. The Iron Horse
course proved a little difficult
for the Dragons as they
dropped the match to the
Collin Kellogg
Danes. Seth Cronic, Tillman
Rooker, and Matthew Talbot
were the low scorers for the
Dragons.
Matthew Talbot
Both teams have this
week off before the Area
Tournament on May 2nd.
Continued from Sports Page
Girls tennis in uncharted territory
for PHS with trip to Sweet 16
tory and advancement to the second round.
All focus now shifted to our two lines of
doubles that were locked into their own bat
tles. Courtney Crowe and Jaiden Stanfield
had split the first two sets with their oppo
nents. Likewise, Anslee Berrymen and Sofie
Perez had split their first two sets. Both
matches were coming down to a deciding
third set. Our team of Crowe/Stanfield even
tually fell, knotting the team match up at 2-
2. All focus now shifted to the team of
Berrymen/Perez and their opponents. The
games were tied at 4 all in the final set. The
fans/players for each team were gathered
around the court cheering or groaning with
each point. Berrymen/Perez seized control of
the match in the final two games winning 6-
4. They showed great mental toughness and
grit with some good net play and serving to
win the match sending our PHS tennis team
to the Sweet 16.
Since the GHSA expanded the state tour
nament to 32 teams, no Pickens girls’ tennis
team has ever advanced to the second round.
These young ladies and their coaches are to
be commended for their historic accomplish
ment. They will now travel to Cairo, Georgia
for a match on the 27th against the Cairo
Syrapmaids with a chance to advance to the
Elite 8.
This yet another athletic accomplishment
our Pickens County fans can take pride in and
celebrate. Congratulations to these young
ladies. We wish them their very best as they
represent us in Cairo. Go Nettes.
Continued from Sports Page
Track team members on to sectionals;
Runners post strong performances
best time of 12.99.
Junior Hannah Grizzle saved her best per
formances of the season for the region meet
as well, running personal bests and placing
2nd overall in the 100m hurdles and 300m
hurdles. Finally, the PHS girls’ 4 x 200m
relay team (Angelina Casey, Haley Peed, Ko-
rbyn Wells, Eleina Bryant) and the 4 x 800m
relay team (Bekah Wise, Brylee Deering,
Emery Steinhauer, and Mia Antinozzi) both
placed second in their respective races and
will advance.
The boys distance runners brought their
success from last fall’s cross country season
onto the track, and all of them are heading to
the sectional meet. The boys’ 4 x 800m relay
team, consisting of Connor Hedgpeth, Noah
Jones, Will Hall, and Jonathan Koonce, were
impressive and came away with the region
championship. Senior Connor Hedgpeth also
qualified in the 800m, junior Noah Jones
qualified with a second place finish in the
1600m and a third place finish in the 3200m,
and junior Will Hall placed 4th in the 3200m.
In the field events, senior high jumper
Keagan Hulsey competed in a very tough
field against arguably some of the best high
jumpers in the state. But Hulsey was up to
challenge, and he was able to place 4th over
all with a jump of 6’ 0” and secure a spot at
the sectional meet. Also attending the sec
tional meet are sophomore Eli Eubanks and
freshman Diego Rivera as alternates for the 4
x 800m relay team.
The Class 4A Sectional meet at Central
Carroll High School will consist of teams
from Regions 1, 2, 5, and 7. Field events
begin at 10:30 a.m., and running events start
at 2:30 p.m. Go Dragons.
Continued from Sports Page
Racing Across America: GEICO 500
A close up view of the action at Sunday’s race.
involving Briscoe, Buescher,
and Hemric. Wallace was
ahead of the Larson at the
time of the caution and would
win stage one.
Stage 2 officially started on
lap 65 with Larson still hang
ing onto the lead after pit stops
during the stage break. Jones
passes Larson on the outside
to take the lead from him after
the restart. The 2nd caution
flew on lap 82 for Biffle
stalling on the track for losing
power in the engine. The field
pitted again and Byron took
the lead. The race resumed on
lap 86 and BJ Mcleod spins
out after losing a tire that was
not tightened correctly. On the
next restart, Logano goes into
the wall after a classic bump
ing gone wrong situation and
collects multiple drivers like
Stenhouse, Burton and
Suarez. The race resumed
again on lap 98 with Byron
still leading. The 5th caution
flew on lap 106 for Cody
Ware spinning and crashing.
The race went back under
green with 10 laps left in the
stage and Byron would hold
on to win stage 2.
Stage 3 officially started on
lap 126 with Jones back in the
lead after pit stops during the
stage break. Blaney took the
lead and the field would stay
single-file for a little while.
Eventually, they started to get
double-file at the front of the
field with Blaney and Jones
battling for the lead. Everyone
came in for their last pit stops
of the day and Hamlin would
cycle out to the lead. Larson,
however, would pass him with
18 to go. With around 5 to go,
Jones would clear Larson for
the lead and coming off turn 4
on the final lap, Larson tried
to make a move on Jones to
pass him for the win, but it
didn’t work because he was
not clear of Kurt Busch and
that put Kurt in the wall. Not
only that, but it also got Jones
loose when he tried to block
Larson and that let the door
open for Ross Chastain to pass
both of them to win the 2022
GEICO 500 at Talladega.
Overall, this was another
very solid and exciting Tal
ladega race because there was
a lot of side-by-side racing
throughout the main pack,
several different leaders, no
one dominating the race, and
an exciting finish with a sur
prise winner (Chastain only
led the final lap, that’s why
him winning was a surprise).
It wasn’t the best Talladega
race ever, but it was definitely
very good.
Next week, we head up to the
northeast to the very first
state, Delaware, at the Dover
Motor Speedway ( aka The
Monster Mile). Dover hasn’t
been exactly a thrilling track
over the years, but with this
new NextGen car, there’s a
chance it could be a really
good race.
Next Week - DuraMAX Dry-
dene 400 at Dover
Technical Advisor — Scott Ko-
rowotny
Dragons’ stellar soccer
season ends in Savannah
Photo/Janie Carlan
The PHS starting 11 for the second round of the GHSA state soccer tournament are,
top row from left: Co-captain Jose Sanchez, Will Finney, Sidney Shorter, Charlie Gibbons,
Tucker Ledford, Juan Sanchez and Co-captain Jack Lowrie. Bottom row from left: Ethan
Carlan, Gus Gibson, Jack Flatt and Francisco Santos.
By Melissa Lowrie
For the first time in pro
gram history, the boys’ var
sity soccer team advanced to
the Sweet 16 in the GHSA
state tournament. After the
Dragons beat their first round
opponent by 10 goals, they
were sent to Savannah to
play the Cadets of Benedic
tine Military School on April
21.
Benedictine came to the
game as the one seed in 4A,
region 3. The Dragons were
the three seed in region 7.
They finished behind South
east Whitfield, the 2021 state
champions, and Northwest
Whitfield, in what is ar
guably the toughest region in
the classification.
The Dragons high-pow
ered offense, led by Pickens’
all time leading scorer Juan
Sanchez, was stifled by a de
fense that had at least two
players marking him at all
times. In spite of the pressing
defensive play, Sanchez
scored one goal. His brother,
Jose Sanchez, scored on a
curling free kick from 30
yards. The two goals weren’t
enough, however, as the
Cadets came up with three
goals, ending Pickens’ play
off run with a 3-2 loss.
A statement from coaches
Jimmy Gibson and Charlotte
Haughwout: “Pickens Drag
ons’ soccer history was made
with this diverse group of
young men, most whom have
been playing together for
over 12 years. As we walk
away from the 2022 season,
each one of these young men
proved—every time they
stepped on the pitch—that
this season was going to be
special. The team’s dynamic
bond and dedication to mak
ing their community, school,
teammates and themselves
proud was the driving force
behind their success.
A clear pathway for
Dragon soccer has been laid
by the examples of greatness
displayed in the team’s work
ethic, heart and passion.
Graduating captains Jack
Lowrie and Jose Sanchez’s
‘lead by example’ roles have
set a high precedence for up
coming team captains.
This team will always be
remembered as having one of
the most amazing seasons,
and will be greatly missed,
however, we are excited
about the up-and-coming tal
ent that will continue to build
the future success of Dragon
soccer.”
The statistics on Max-
Preps for Pickens’ soccer go
back to 2013. The team had
losing records until 2019
when they went 14-6-1. The
shortened 2020 season record
was 9-2-1, and 2021 was 12-
5. The Dragons finished the
2022 season at 12-3-2. Four
times this year the GHSA
mercy ride was enacted be
cause the Dragons were up
by 10 goals—a school
record.
With the upcoming
change in classification, the
Dragons will compete in 3A
in the 2023 season.
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR GRAND
PRIZE WINNERS!
La Mona Albertson
&
Jim Looney
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR DOOR PRIZE WINNERS
Brenda Adams
Ryan Disharoon
Vaughn & Rhonda Kelley
Gordon Blackwell
Jeff Downing
Margaret Kown
Phil Blackwell
Andrea Gartrell
Jason Lawrence
Sandra & Pat Broder
Stacy Gilleland
Mary McFarland
Tony Bryant
Trena Godfrey
Becky Meyer
Kelly Cline
Jimmy Green
Christina Mitchell
Brent Cole
Damon Howell
Tammy Morris
Gary Copeland
Max Kearns
Ashleigh & Steve Olsen
Sarah & Paul Crowe
Ryan Keeter
Jeff Panter
Becky Dabbs
David Kelley
Peige Payne
Karrie Poole
Cheyenne Steptoe
George Weaver Jr.
Stephanie Ray
Kevin & Lisa Stone
Adam Wharton
Jeff Renner
Will Tate
Terrell Wigington
Larry Richards
Jordan Thompson
Tabra Word
Kathy Rochester
Cody & Selena Thompson
Mitch & Pam Yeargin
Boyd Search
James & Flondell Thompson
H & H Insurance
Tony & Sharon Setser
Donna & Alberto Torres
Renasant Chicks
David Simmons
Jody Weaver & Chris Baumann
Godfrey/Keller Grandkids