Newspaper Page Text
Section
April 6,
2023
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thi: law
OFFICE OF
NICOLE L.
McArthur
CRIMINAL DEFENSE • DUI
ACCIDENTS’INJURY
Diamond Dragons Update, 6B
706-253-9000
Jessi Griffin qualifies for Women’s Jr. National
Skeet Shooting Team
Sports
Fanatic
Pickens County resident Jessie Griffin is making a bang
in the world of skeet shooting.
Jessie Griffin, third from right, along with others who
qualified for the Women and Men’s Jr. National Skeet
Shooting teams.
By Eli Galligan
Intern Reporter
From Texas to Michigan,
Jessi Griffin continues to
rank highly among national
junior skeet shooters. She re
cently qualified for the
Women's Junior National
Team and will compete in the
World Cup and World Cham
pionships, which will be held
in South Korea and Germany,
respectively.
Beginning in August
2021, Jessi Griffin competed
alongside a wide range of
skilled shooters in Hillsdale,
Mich. Placing second, she
took her competition to Ker-
rville, Texas, where she stood
amongst other talented skeet
shooters also hoping to qual
ify for the Junior Olympics.
After making her way
through the finals, she im
pressively earned the number
one spot on the Women’s Jr.
National Team.
Griffin is formally spon
sored by, and trains at the
Pickens County Sportsman's
Club. She is incredibly grate
ful for the help and support
that they continue to provide
her.
"They’re really helpful.
They give us targets so we
don't have to worry about
spending money because it
does add up," Griffin ex
plained. Beginning her days
early, she gracefully manages
to juggle classwork, training
and a job at Buffalo Luke’s.
Her motivation, work-ethic
and discipline enable her to
sharpen her shooting skills
while pursuing her interest in
marine biology.
Although Griffin makes it
look easy from the outside,
internally she struggles with
the intense pressures of being
a nationally-ranked athlete.
She credits music and vari
ous calming techniques
which keep her focus on the
gold.
"I would say taking deep
breaths helps me to stay calm
and not psyche myself out,"
she said.
Even with a head and
heart in the game, Griffin
also looks forward to spend
ing time with her teammates
and getting to experience the
fascinating cultures of South
Korea and Germany.
"I’m really excited to
travel with all of my team
mates and shoot with a bunch
of people from all over the
world,” Griffin said.
She began her inspiring
journey over a decade ago
when she started shooting
with the forage shotgun team.
From there, she practiced
with the Shotgun Clay Target
Program (SCTP) in Etowah
Valley for a couple of years.
Then she discovered and
began to specialize in inter
national skeet shooting.
"I want to say I've been in
ternational for around five
years. It’s hard to keep track,"
she commented.
With many positive and
fun experiences in her shoot
ing career, Griffin says that
it’s hard to choose a favorite.
"One of my favorites is
the first time I won the Junior
Olympic Championships in
Michigan. That was a big
thing for me because I had
been struggling with keeping
my mental state in the game,"
she admits.
When Griffin isn’t train
ing, doing schoolwork, or
working at Buffalo Luke’s,
she enjoys painting, having
get-togethers with her church
friends, and caring for her
cat.
"Her name is Tiger, and
she’s just a big baby," she hu
morously added.
Overall, Griffin encour
ages newcomers and those
interested in shooting to pick
up a gun and give it a try.
"I could not hit anything
when I first started. But, the
shooting community is so
welcoming, and I would sug
gest anybody who wants to
get into shooting to go with it
full-force and have fun with
it," she said.
Although nerve wracking,
who better to take that advice
from than Jessi Griffin?
By
Tommy
Gartrell
Columnist
“Realistic
Expectations”
The Braves took two of
three games from Washing
ton in our nation’s capital
over the weekend. Winning
the season opening series
over a weak Nats team
should be expected. We
know that Atlanta has tal
ent and should be a divi
sion winner and certainly a
playoff contender, but the
April schedule looks chal
lenging.
How will this latest edi
tion of the Braves fare
through the first month of
the 2023 campaign?
Fans expect them to
lead the National League
East, but they have some
quality teams on the slate
in April. Realistically, if the
team is over .500 at all on
May 2, it was a successful
PHS
The Pickens golf teams
continue to be very busy this
spring. On Tuesday the boys’
team traveled to the Iron
Horse Golf Club to compete
against the Denmark Danes.
The team of Seth Cronic,
Noah Thrasher, Tyler Eber-
hardt, and Kris Rosales put
Sophomore Mariah Clayton.
Clayton and her teammates
Dani Zeigler and Emery
Bryant shot a combined 163,
beating Creekview’s score of
164.
Golf
up a strong fight, but ended a
few strokes higher than the
Denmark team.
On Wednesday, the ladies
of Creekview High School
came up to Bent Tree to chal
lenge the Pickens Nettes.
Makena Dubois of
Creekview was the low
scorer of the match with a
round of 43. Even though
Dubois led the field, the
Nettes fought hard and won
the match. The team of Dani
Zeigler, Emery Bryant, and
Mariah Clayton shot a com
bined 163 beating
Creekview’s score of 164.
On a separate note, sev
eral members of the Pickens
Golf Team were honored this
week at the Amicalola EMC
Youth Awards Banquet.
Matthew Talbot, Jansen
Abner, and Mitchell Rice
each received a $1,000 schol
arship toward higher educa
tion. The PHS golf teams
continue to leave their mark
on and off of the golf course.
Seth Cronic, left, and Noah Thrasher.
Jansen Abner, Matthew Talbert and Mitchell Rice
getting honored.
Boys tennis team heads to state tourney
Dragon tennis was in action at the Re
gion tournament last week hosted by
Lumpkin County. Unfortunately, the girls
lost in the first round against Lumpkin,
bringing their season to an end. Sophomore
Isabella Lowe won her individual match in
the contest before the team fell overall.
The boys’ team knocked off West Hall
in the first round of region tournament play
to secure a berth in the state tournament.
Wins by Joseph Saltino, Will Leathers,
Joshua Lanford and Kelton Keith led to the
4-1 victory.
Holton Kaul won in straight sets against
the Tigers.
On Wednesday, boys were back in ac
tion against Dawson County to determine
whether they would become the 3rd or 4th
seed for state. The Dragons lost some very
close matches, resulting in a fourth place
finish. Holton Kaul won in straight sets
against the Tigers. The boys team will play
on the road in the first round of state play
offs in two weeks with the opponent still to
be determined at the time of print.
Tennis team pictured during last
week’s region meet.
Joseph Saltino
month.
Atlanta opened this
week in St. Louis against
the defending NL Central
Champions. The month
holds seven games with the
NL West favorite San
Diego, a series versus the
defending World Series
champion Astros, and a
three games set with the di
vision rival Mets.
Sprinkle in series with
weaker yet not horrible
teams like Cincinnati,
Kansas City and Miami
which will not necessarily
be cupcakes.
The possibility of At
lanta being under .500
through April is very real,
yet we expect these Braves
to take command of the di
vision lead early.
Do not be shocked if
they do not dominate early
though.
Racing Across America
Race Recap - Toyota Owners 400
By Scott Korowotny
We’re back to the East coast this week
and back to short track racing in Rich
mond VA on Richmond Raceway,
which is also the start of a three-race
East Coast short-track swing from
Richmond, to Martinsville, to Bristol
Dirt Track.
The green flag flew at 3:47 p.m. with
Ryan Blaney leading from the pole.
The first caution happened on lap nine
as Kurt Busch got down on power,
caused by no fuel pressure to the en
gine. He eventually did return to the
race later after repairs, but was at least
100 laps down. The restart happened on
lap 16, and things were relatively un
eventful until the end of stage 1 on lap
70 which Blaney won.
Stage 2 started when the green flag
flew on lap 81. Then Blaney pitted
from lead on lap 129, highlighting the
differing pit strategies employed for the
rest of the race. Bell leads at that point,
but Truex took the lead from him at lap
212. Truex went on to win stage 2 on
lap 230.
The final stage started when the
green flag flew on lap 241. A crash hap
pened on lap 246 when Cody Ware
went into the him two wall after contact
with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. The restart
occurred on lap 253, but just four laps
later on lap 257 Austin Cindric spins
and goes into the wall after Ty Dillon
contact. Restart again on lap 264,
Byron leads with Truex 2nd. Unexpect
edly on lap 311, Byron and a number
Continued on Page 5B
The 3rd Annual CARES Spring Golf Classic
presented by Trinity Custom Homes
Thursday May 4 in Bent Tree!! Register and/or sponsor at www.caresforpickens.com.