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SPORTS
Bill Murphy Sports Editor | 770-718-3415 | sports@gainesvilletimes.com
Unties
gainesvilletimes.com
Friday, November 30, 2018
SEC
CHAMPIONSHIP
JOHN BAZEMORE I The Associated Press
Georgia wide receiver Jeremiah
Holloman (9) makes a catch for a
touchdown as Georgia Tech defensive
back Malik Rivera (36) defends during
the first half of the game Nov. 24 in
Athens.
Battle on
the outside
Wide receivers will
KAYAK
OLYMPIC ASPIRATIONS
likely be big factor
As No. 4 Georgia prepares to take on
No. 1 Alabama Saturday in a rematch
of last year’s national championship
game, much of the talk surrounding
the contest is centered around quar
terbacks Jake Fromm and Tua Tago-
vailoa squaring off in the second round
of last year’s overtime epic. Quarter
back play will certainly be a major fac
tor on Saturday, but equally important
will be the players on the receiving end
of Fromm and Tagovailoa’s passes.
The Crimson Tide’s group of Jerry
Jeudy, Henry
Ruggs III and
Jaylen Waddle
have each
accounted for at
least 37 catches,
675 yards and six
touchdowns —
Jeudy leading the
way with 56 grabs NATHAN BERG
for 1,079 yards nberg@
and 11 scores. gainesvilletimes.com
Alabama’s
explosive receiving
options have been instrumental in mak
ing the team the nation’s fourth best in
terms of total offense.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Ala
bama’s wideouts,” Georgia head coach
Kirby Smart said. “I think they’re tre
mendous. I think they’re probably the
best unit we’ve faced. They’re talented,
and they can get vertical. ”
And while Georgia’s receiving
corps has not been quite as heralded a
group, the unit has gotten the job done
throughout the year.
The Bulldogs leading
trio — Mecole Hard
man, Riley Ridley
and Jeremiah Hol
loman — have each
accounted for at least
five scores. Terry
Godwin, who was the
top returning option
coming into the year,
chipped in three
touchdowns on limited playing time
due to an early-season injury.
Diving even deeper down the roster,
Tyler Simmons has hauled in a pair
of scores on only eight receptions and
Demetris Robertson added a long rush
ing touchdown on an end around.
“We’ve got a good wide receiver
corps,” Smart said. “We’ve got a deep
wide receiver corps across the board.
A lot of guys have stepped up, and Jake
■ Please see BERG, 3B
Godwin
Georgia
vs. Alabama
When: 4 p.m. Saturday
Where: Mercedes Benz Stadium,
Atlanta
TV: CBS
Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times
Shaye Hatchette, a 22-year-old from Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, was selected on the NBC Sports show “Scouting Camp: Next Olympic
Hopeful” to train in the sprint kayak. She has moved to Gainesville to train with the Lanier Canoe & Kayak Club at the Lake Lanier
Olympic Park.
Reality show winner has moved to Gainesville in
hopes of making 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo
Oklahoma native Shaye Hatchette, 22, was selected on the NBC
Sports show “Scouting Camp: Next Olympic Hopeful” and now
lives in Gainesville as she pursues the dream of making the 2020
Summer Games in Tokyo.
BY BILL MURPHY
bmurphy@gainesvilletimes.com
Shaye Hatchette moved to
Gainesville in September with
one suitcase, two backpacks
and dreams of qualifying for
the next Summer Olympics.
Fresh off being selected
from a field of 90 hopefuls who
appeared on a two-part real
ity show “Scouting Camp: The
Next Olympic Hopeful”, which
aired Nov. 24-25 on NBC Sports,
the vivacious 22-year-old from
Fort Gibson, Oklahoma dove
head first into training at the
Lake Lanier Olympic Park as
a sprint kayak hopeful for the
2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.
The kicker to the whole
story? Hatchette has no back
ground in paddling.
Her closest experience on
the water was rowing at the
University of Central Okla
homa, where she graduated
with a bachelor’s degree in
2018.
However, it’s been a life
long dream to make it to the
Olympics.
“As a kid, I loved
watching the Olympics and
how it was a way of bringing
people together,” said Hatch
ette, who as a child idolized
Team USA gold medal gym
nasts Shawn Johnson, Shannon
Miller and Aly Raisman.
However, her path to the
Olympics is going to be in a
boat not on the balance beam.
And she’s willing to do what
ever it takes to make that
happen.
So, if it meant moving 800
miles east to a town where she
only knew her training coach,
Morgan House, so be it.
“This entire experience is a
dream come true,” said Hatch
ette, who plans to remain in
Gainesville until 2020 and train
with the Lanier Canoe & Kayak
Club.
From the jump, Hatchette
knew she made the right deci
sion moving to Georgia. The
new friends she’s met have
made the transition much
easier.
“I love the sunrises and sun
sets you have in Georgia,” said
Hatchette. “All the colors in the
sky are just beautiful. ”
A three-sport athlete in col
lege, Hatchette compiled a
last-minute video in May for
the show, after seeing an ad
on Facebook the final day for
applicants to send in a five-min
ute clip highlighting their quali
fications. She never expected
to make the cut, despite having
a wide-ranging athletic back
ground in swimming, track and
field, soccer and gymnastics.
But she did.
And in the final week of
July, she took part in train
ing and conditioning at the US
Olympic Training Center in
Colorado Springs, Colorado.
There, she was hand picked by
■ Please see SHAYE, 4B
JULIO CORTEZ I Associated Press
Atlanta United midfielder Miguel Almiron, left, and New
York Red Bulls midfielder Tyler Adams go up for the
ball during the first half of tine second leg of the MLS
soccer Eastern Conference championship on Thursday
in Harrison, New Jersey.
Atlanta Uniteds success
has fans ready for a title
Usually, cheering for an Atlanta
sports team is equivalent to willingly
consuming E. coli-laced romaine let
tuce as you watch the acclaimed film,
Titanic. You know the inevitable is
coming — that ship is going to sink,
Leo is going to die and that BLT you
just consumed had already bought you
a trip to the emergency room.
Metaphorically speaking, the ship
on the screen is your favorite Atlanta
franchise and that spoiled sandwich is
the winning season you thought would
bring satisfaction, but instead leaves
you bedridden, dehydrated and sick.
Harsh? Maybe. But it’s true, I’m
afraid.
For decades that has been the real
ity of Atlanta fandom, the epitome
of mediocrity. With every fresh
SARAH WOODALL
swoodall@gainesvilletimes.com
season comes a reason for opti
mism, but always seems to end in
disappointment.
It can be argued that the Atlanta
Braves have been the exception, but
14-straight division titles and only one
World Series can be considered as
■ Please see WOODALL, 2B
LAKE LANIER FISHING REPORT
Aim for deep ditches for best chance at biggest bass
BY ERIC ALDRICH
For The Times
Lake Lanier is holding steady
and the water level is at 1,070.32
or .68 below the normal full pool of
1,071. Lake surface temperatures
have dropped significantly with
the colder weather and are from
the mid to low 50’s.
The main lake and lower lake
creeks are clear in some areas and
stained to very stained in other
locations from rain and lake turn
over. The upper lake and rivers
remain stained to muddy from lake
turn over and recent rain inflow.
The Chattahoochee below Buford
Dam is very stained, but it clears
slightly after water generation.
Check generation schedules
before heading out to the river
below Buford Dam at 770-945-1466.
Note: I am now offering instruc
tional trips for bass fishing. We
will cover electronics, techniques,
knots and anything else an angler
wishes to explore. I have added
the second console to my Nitro
Z8 that’s equipped with a 250 HP
Mercury and those awesome Low-
rance Electronics. Email me at
esaldrich@yahoo.com or PM me
on Facebook for very competitive
pricing and available dates.
Bass fishing rates from fair to
tough for the bank beaters, but is
excellent for the deeper ditch bite.
My Lowrance Carbon 12 and 16
units are essential tools for target
ing deeper bass.
I have received some interesting
looks from people when gassing up
the Nitro on these colder morn
ings. They may think I am crazy
but the bite has been very good.
Charge your batteries, bundle up
in layers and make sure to have an
assortment of spoons, SPRO Deep
Divers, jigs and drop shot rigs.
The shallow bite has waned sig
nificantly, except for early in the
day. Hit the shallow guts of the
ditches with moving lures at dawn
and follow the bass out deeper as
the sun rises. We have been con
centrating on the ditches all week
and have been having great results.
Start out very early around shal
low rock close to the ditches. Bass
go through an early feeding period
as they trap baitfish against the
bank. Grind a SPRO Little John
DD or Fat Papa 70 around rocky
areas. Stay a cast away from the
shore. While these plugs will run
from 12 feet to as deep as 20 feet,
most of our early bites have come
■ Please see LANIER, 2B
