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THE COMMERCE (GA.) NEWS
WEDNESDAY,
JUNE 3,2009
Swimming
Tiger Sharks Start Season June 10
Approximately 75 kids turned out
this year to sign up for the Commerce
Recreation swim team. The Tiger Sharks
welcomed the largest turnout in team
history with ice cream and cake during
the Memorial Day kickoff. The teams’
first swim meet is coming up next week.
Photo courtesy of Kelly Lacey
School is out and the weather is turn
ing hot, which means it’s time for the
Tiger Sharks to be back in the pool.
The Commerce Tiger Shark recreation
swim team kicked off the 2009 season
on Memorial Day with a light practice
followed by ice cream and cake.
This year the swim team had 75 sign
up to participate under eight-year veter
an coach Nick Moulton. Moulton along
with Pam Minish, the Minnows’ coach,
have the largest turnout in the history
of the team.
The first swim meet of the season will
be next Wednesday, June 10, at Bishop
Park in Athens. The Tiger Sharks will
compete against the Athens Dolphins
and the Winder swim team.
The Shark’s first North Georgia Swim
League competition is June 13 at the
Winder YMCA pool.
The swim team has two divisions, the
Minnows and the Tiger Sharks. The
Minnows group is designed for 5 and 6
year olds while the Tiger Shark group is
for swimmers 7 to 18.
ff.ieERlS'HfA>R.K4S:SHiE-DJiJiHEl
June 10 @ Bishop Park
June 13 Pentathlon @ Winder YMCA
June 18 @ Dacula
June 20 Splash @ Gainesville
June 24 vs. Flowery Branch
June 27 Invitational @ Dacula
July 1 @ Chattahoochee Ctry Club
July 7 vs. Jefferson
July 11 District (location TBD)
July 14 @ Flowery Branch
July 18 Championships @ Gainesville
July 24 State @ Tifton
* in italics are NGSL meets
Commerce Summer Softball
35 Partdpate In Camp
The Commerce Recreation Department recently
held a softball camp in conjunction with Lady Tigers’
coach Pam Canup.
According to Canup, 35 girls ranging from grades
kindergarten to seventh participated in the camp,
which focused on the fundamental skills of the game.
The camp held drills to improve the girls’ skills in
throwing, catching, fielding, running and hitting.
“We spent a lot of time with the older ones on game
situations,’’ Canup said. The extra time with the older
girls included additional drills to prepare them for in
game circumstances like how to take a lead, what to
do on a fly ball, where to make the play with runners
on base and how to hit a change-up.
Several former and current players and coaches
Barry Cook, Cheryl Cook and Corrie Bessinger
assisted with the camp.
Thirty-five girls ranging from kindergarten to sev
enth graders recently participated in a softball camp
hosted by the Commerce Recreation Department, the
girls learned the fundamentals of the game as well as
in-depth training on what to do under game circum
stances. Photo by Justin Poole
Column
Auto Racing
Long Before NBA Finals, Dwight Howard Faced Commerce
guest
columnist
*
BY BEN MUNRO
The Commerce Tigers and
LeBron James share a bond.
They both lost to Dwight
Howard — aka “Superman"
— in the postseason.
Howard — who guided the
Orlando Magic to a stun
ning upset of James and the
Cleveland Cavaliers in the
NBA Eastern Conference
finals — matched up with
the Tigers back on Feb. 20,
2004 in the first round of the
Class A state tournament.
Howard, then a prep star for
Southwest Atlanta Christian
Academy (SACA), scored 18
points in just over two quar
ters in SACA’s 83-38 win
over Commerce.
The 6’ 11" Howard dunked
eight times that night, taking
only one shot outside the
paint.
Southwest Atlanta
Christian, with a deep ros
ter that included another
future NBA player, Jarvis
Crittenton, eventually won
the Class A title.
Howard certainly went
on to bigger and better
Dwight Howard dribbles away from former Commerce Tiger
Casha Daniels on Feb. 20, 2004. Howard scored 18 points that night
against Commerce and is now a star center for Orlando Magic, lead
ing his team to the NBA finals
things following that meeting with
Commerce.
Orlando nabbed him four months
later with the no. 1 pick in the 2004
draft.
Since then, Howard has averaged 17.3
points and 12.5 boards per game in his
against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Photo by Ben Munro
five-year NBA career. He scored 40
points in Orlando’s series-clinching vic
tory over Cleveland Saturday.
The player who once faced Commerce
will meet Kobe Bryant and the Lakers
in the NBA finals. The series starts
Thursday.
Regulars Win Big
At Atlanta Dragway
By Amy Glover
Mark it down as a strong
weekend for regular racers at
Atlanta Dragway. Saturday’s
race exposed some Atlanta
Dragway regulars as seri
ous competition, with many
names reappearing in the
top spots of each category.
In Super Pro competition,
Gainesville’s Brad Howard
got the bye-run into the
finals, pitting his ’02 Miller
Dragster against Stan
Sinack’s ’69 Dart. Sinack,
of Lilburn, left the line first
with a .020 reaction time,
while Howard left early,
turning on the red light and
instantly handing the win to
Sinack. Sinack ran under
his 6.62 dial-in with a 6.56
ET at 103.96 mph. Sinack
also dedicated his victory
to his late mother Betty
Vihinen.
The Pro final featured
Rickey Morris of Ellenwood
up against Chad Brewer of
Canton. Brewer left the start
ing line with a formidable
.003 reaction time, followed
by Morris’ weaker .102 green
light. Morris couldn’t catch
up, and Brewer crossed the
win stripe first with a 7.28
on his 7.27 dial-in, at 91.99
mph. Morris finished with
a 7.02 on his 6.97 dial, at
97.49 mph.
The Sportsman final was
a re-run of the previous
Summit ET race, when J.D.
“Doc" Burford of Greenville,
S.C., met up with buddy
and mentor Mel Abney of
Cumming in the last round.
Abney took the advantage
on the tree, reacting with
a .038 green light against
Burford’s later reaction
time. The pursuit for the
win stripe was neck-and-
neck, but Burford defeated
himself at the end, break
ing out with a 13.15 elapsed
time on a 13.17 dial-in, at
110.33 mph. Abney was the
victor, crossing the line at
103.94 mph, with a 13.07 on
his 13.02 dial-in.
Allen Long of Ballground,
andNick Wagner of Jefferson
were the Sportsman semi
finalists.
The motorcycle final fea
tured old and new bikes,
with Loganville’s Paul
Cavanaugh racing his ’02
Hayabusa against Jay “Bird"
Rhyne of Athens on his
trusty ’81 Kawasaki. Rhyne
left the line first with a .033
reaction, Cavanaugh follow
ing with a .155 green light.
Cavanaugh’s Hayabusa
chased Rhyne to the finish
line, crossing with a 9.65
ET on a 9.60 prediction, at
147.55 mph. Rhyne’s better
Continued on page 2B
COMING UP THIS WEEK:
• June 3 - Commerce Summer Baseball:
@ Carnesville in a doubleheader against Franklin
County starting at 5:00 p.m.
• June 4-6 - Commerce Summer Baseball:
@ Athens for the Greater Athens Diamond Classic
tournament. Times were not announced.
• Commerce Tiger Shark Swim Practice:
@ the American Veterans Memorial Park usually
every weekday except for Fridays, starting at 5:00 p.m.