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Commerce Park and Rec
Dalton Dean brought home two medals for theTigersharks from
the state swim meet in Tifton last weekend, including one in the
50-yard butterfly and one in the 50-yard backstroke.
Tigersharks Net Twenty
Medals From State Meet
The Commerce Tigersharks wrapped up one of their most suc
cessful seasons last weekend, as 10 swimmers brought back 20
medals from the state meet in Tifton.
“Everyone medaled in every event they swam in," said coach Nick
Moulton. “I can’t remember the last time that happened."
A swimmer had to finish with one of the top eight overall times
in the morning preliminaries to qualify for the afternoon finals in
order to earn a medal.
Brandon Liles started the team medal count on Friday by plac
ing seventh in the boys’ 10 & under Short Free and second in the
25-yard Butterfly.
The Tigersharks continued to perform well on Saturday despite a
delay due to stormy weather.
The girls’ 14 & under relay team, comprising Hannah McRee,
Hayden McRee, Tori Smallwood and Taylor Lacey, finished eighth
in the medley relay and sixth in the freestyle relay.
“I was very pleased with the relay team’s finishes," said Commerce
Parks and Recreation aquatic center coordinator Pam Minish.
“Hannah decided to swim up in the older group so we could have
a relay team and I think it worked out great."
Other winners in girls’ competition included Emmie Burley, who
placed fourth in the 12-under 50-yard backstroke; Taylor Lacey, who
finished second in the 14-under 50-yard freestyle and sixth in the
50-yard breaststroke; and Hannah Lacey, who placed fourth in the
12-under 50-yard butterfly and seventh in the individual medley.
For the boys, Quincy Mashburn placed third in the 14-under 100-
yard freestyle and eighth in the 50-yard backstroke; Dawson Knick
finished fourth in the 12-under 50-yard breaststroke; and Dalton
Dean placed fourth in the 12-under 50-yard butterfly and eighth in
the 50-yard backstroke.
Last year, the Tigersharks brought home 12 medals from the state
meet.
EJCHS Baseball
Gandy To Take Over East
Jackson Baseball Program
By Brandon Reed
East Jackson’s new baseball
coach is already moving into his
new job.
Josh Gandy, a former college
and minor league pitcher, has
accepted the position to lead
the East Jackson Eagles base
ball team coming from his high
school alma mater, Ringgold
High School in northwest
Georgia, where he served as
assistant coach and pitching
coach.
Gandy said after applying for
the job and learning more about
the community, East Jackson
was where he wanted to be.
“I went to college at the
University of Georgia, and I love
this area," he said. “After learn
ing more about East Jackson
and the community in general,
and how much support the com
munity has, not just for the ath
letic program but for the school
in general, I would be crazy not
to want to come down here."
Last year, the Ringgold Tigers
went 12-9 overall, and 9-5 in the
state. They made it to the first
round of state playoff action,
where they lost to Sequoyah.
Gandy said he hopes to bring
that taste for success over to
East Jackson.
“If you look at the way the
region is going to be divided up
now, you have Banks, Jefferson
and North Oconee, which
are very good programs, that
we’re going to compete with.
Hopefully, we can compete with
them and get one of those top
four slots in the region and go
to a state playoff game and see
what we can do there."
Gandy said, however, it won’t
be easy.
Continued on Page 3B
CHS Football
Tigers To Hit Practice Field Friday
By Brandon Reed
In less than one month, the
100th year of Commerce Tiger
football will begin.
Fresh off of the Northeast
Georgia Offensive Camp, which
was held at CHS last week, the
Tigers will hit the field for the
first official day of practice on
Friday.
Head football coach Steve
Savage said the camp was one
of the best in its 13-year history,
with around 220 participants.
“We had a good camp," he
said. “It worked out real well for
us. The weather was nice and it
cooperated. We felt like we got
a lot done."
Now the focus turns to hit
ting the field on Friday and
on making year number 100
memorable.
The team’s concentration
right now, Savage said, must be
on themselves, and not on their
opponents.
“We’re going to focus on the
same thing Commerce always
focuses one," he said. “We’re
going to pay a lot of atten
tion to ourselves. We’re going
to make sure we’re teaching
the right fundamentals. That’s
where we’ll start, by teaching
the fundamentals of the game.
Blocking, tackling, securing the
ball."
One thing that stood out
about last year’s team was that,
compared to Commerce foot
ball teams in the past, it was
pretty small. Savage said that
situation hasn’t changed much
this year.
“We’re not as small as we were
CHS football coach Steve Savage said about 220 players came
to Commerce last week to take part in the Northeast Georgia
Offensive Camp. Now attention turns towards Tiger football, which
starts August 29. Photo by Brandon Reed
last year, we’re still small," he
said. “All our kids have grown
and they’ve gotten a little big
ger, but we’re still not a big
football team."
The Tigers went 6-5 overall
last year, and 3-2 in the region,
with losses in their last three
games to end the year.
Savage said that there’s noth
ing that the team will focus on
over the next month as a result
of how the 2007 season went.
“No, (they are) totally differ
ent football teams," he said.
“We’ll focus on the fundamen
tals of the game, getting accli
mated to the heat, and trying to
learn the game and figure out
what personnel goes where."
Savage says right now, he and
his team are ready to get the
run-up to the first game under
way.
“We just want to get started,"
he said. “Sometimes the hardest
thing to do is get started, and
once you do, things start to roll
from there. We’ll get started,
and worry about Commerce
and ourselves right now. We’ll
just try to get better everyday."
The season will begin in
Commerce on August 29, with
a historic season opening game
against the Jefferson Dragons.
In 62 meetings, Commerce
has been victorious 41 times,
with 22 of those coming at
home.
The Commerce faithful would
love to see that number pushed
to 23 in the first season opening
pairing of the two rivals — espe
cially after the Dragons broke
a 12-game drought with a con
vincing 42-7 win at Memorial
Stadium.
But right now the Tigers aren’t
thinking about the season open
er. They have other things to
take care of over the course of
the next 30 days.
“We’re not going to worry
about that first game for a while
yet," Savage said.
EJCHS Football
Eagles Prepare For Important Season
You can expect moments like this, seen during Spring practice
in May, when the East Jackson Eagles hit the field for their first
official practice on Friday. Photo by Brandon Reed
By Brandon Reed
Football practice officially
gets under way in Georgia on
Friday.
For the East Jackson Eagles,
it’s the beginning of another
chapter in the school’s history,
as they prepare to enter their
first season of region play.
Head football coach Frank
Caputo said he and his team are
ready to get things started.
“I feel like we’ve had a really
good summer session," he said.
“I think the kids have responded
well. Our numbers were down
just a little bit, which was a
little disappointing, but I’m sure
they’ll get back up once we get
back in school. With such a
young team, I think transporta
tion becomes a problem. But I
think the kids are really as anx
ious to get started and ready to
go as we are."
Around 120 kids attended
spring football practice back in
May, with about 82 kids return
ing from the previous year.
Just as with the spring ses
sions, the focus for the Eagles
has been making sure the team
remembers the basics when it
hits the field.
“We’ve been stressing the basic
fundamentals all summer long,"
Caputo said. “Things like taking
the correct angles, throwing the
ball in certain little windows,
things of that nature.
“I think we have to continue on
our fundamentals, our blocking,
how we’re going to tackle, and
how we run. I think that’s what
we’re going to continue doing."
The Eagles wrapped up their
2007 season with a 5-5 record,
and will look to their returning
players with the loss of nine
seniors.
But, Caputo said, there are
other changes within the team
that increase expectations.
“We’re going to make some
adjustments to last year, but
we were physically small and
physically weak last year," he
said. “We have gotten a lot big
ger and a lot stronger, and even
a lot faster this year. With that
being said, our expectation for
this year is a little bit higher than
what we had last year."
Caputo added that the move
up into region play this year
means nothing can be taken for
granted.
“We didn’t always play last
year with the kind of intensity
that we needed to, because I
think some of the kids took
for granted that it didn’t count
for anything. Now, everything
counts. We’re in a region, and
you cannot afford to falter on
any Friday night. One loss can
knock you out of the playoffs if
you’re not careful.
“We have to make sure our
guys are mentally prepared
each week, and ready to accept
the challenge of playing in this
region."
The Eagles will play their first
game of the 2008 season on
Aug. 29, when they travel to
West Hall to face the Spartans.
Their first region contest and
first home game will take place
against Fannin County.
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