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The Madison County Journal INSIDE THIS WEEK National tourney awaits Cody Phillips has been selected to compete in a national tournament for sophomore wrestlers 2B IB Thursday, March 26, 2009 www.MainstreetnewsSPORTS.com Ben Munro/ ben@mainstreetnews.com (706) 795-2567 Jeannie Bowen competes at no. 2 doubles during a recent Madison County win on the ten nis courts. The Lady Raiders are off to a 5-0 start in subregion play. Ben Munro/ staff Girls’ Tennis Perfect at halfway point MCHS girls’ tennis team 5-0 in subregion play Five down, five to go. The Madison County girls’ tennis team (7-2) completed a perfect 5-0 run through the first half of the subregion schedule with a 5-0 drubbing of Clarke Central Tuesday. “I’m very proud of our kids in the way that they have played the first round through the subregion opponents,” coach Keith Strickland said. Aiming for a no. 1 seed in the April 16-17 region tournament, Madison County looks to protect that perfect record during the second half of the subregion slate. “We’ve just got to maintain our inten sity and bring it back as we meet all five teams for the second time after spring break,” Strickland said. Madison County won ail five matches — See ‘Girls tennis’ on 3B Sports Notes MCHS tennis standouts earn Athlete of the Week honors Madison County High School girls’ singles player Jeannie Bowen and the boys' doubles tandem of Jake Scarborough and Chris Dove have been named Athletes of the Week by the school's athletic department. Bowen started 7-0 on the year, winnng each match by straight sets and outscoring her opponents by a com bined 86-20. Bowen’s region wins have helped the Madison County girls to get off to a 5-0 start in 8-AAAA play. “Jeannie is one of the many go-to positions that we know we can count on week in and week out,” Madison County tennis coach Keith Strickland said. On the boys’ side. Dove and Scarborough also started 7-0. Their victories in action against Winder- Barrow, Cedar Shoals and Clarke Central have helped the Raiders start 5-4 and 4-1 in the subregion. "They have played some emotion- packed and energized matches in tennis every match this season,” Strickland said. Golf Five Lady Raiders shoot below 50 By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews.com Seth Fleming rounds third Friday afternoon during Madison County’s 15-5 win over Franklin County. The Raiders had outscored their past four foes 57-8. Ben Munro/staff Offense aplenty The Madison County girls' golf team enjoyed a historic round Monday. For the first time ever, the Lady Raiders have five players shoot below 50 as they beat North Oconee 92-108 Monday. Coach Doug Kesler said that’s reflective of the depth the team enjoys throughout the lineup. — See Girls’ golf on 2B Raiders score 57 runs in four games By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews.com T he Madison County offense has found its own stimulus package. The Raider baseball team (9-2,5-0) has assailed its opponents with 57 runs in the last four games as the Raiders remained tied for first in 8-AAAA with Winder-Barrow. Raider coach Charlie Griffeth is taking the offensive explosion with guarded enthusiasm. OFFENSIVE OUTBURST March 17: Madison Co. 12, Loganville 2 March 18: Madison Co. 17, Monroe Area 1 March 20: Madison Co. 15, Franklin Co. 5 March 23: Madison Co. 13, Hab. Central 0 “You take 'em when you can ... You don’t want to get too comfortable,’’ he said. The hit parade started with a 12-2 rout of defending state champion Loganville March 17. Madison County then blasted seven homeruns in a — See “Baseball’ golf on 3B Boys’ Track Three MCHS records fall at Cedar meet Raider boys take second at Loch Johnson Invitational Host Cedar Shoals didn’t fall in Saturday’s Loch Johnson Invitational, but some Madison County school records did. Highlighting the Raiders’ second-place finish in the meet were the Raider relay teams and Jamal Cooper, all winning events in record setting fashion. Cooper sped to a school-best 21.8 time and first-place finish in the 200 meters and then lent his speed to the relay team efforts. The 4 x 100 squad — Terry Cobb, Cooper, Kendrick Butler and A1 Allen — clocked a 41.8 to set a new school mark. Then, the 4 X 400 team — Cedric Bush, Cooper, Cobb and Butler — followed suit by winning that event with a school-best 3:26. The Madison County boys’ track team fell just shy of unseating Cedar Shoals in the final tally, finishing with 109 team points, six behind the champion Jaguars (115). “It was a great meet,” Madison County coach Marty Tate said. “We did not jump as good as I had wished, but the kids worked their tails off the rest of the meet.’’ Madison County added two second-place fin ishes in its biggest meet thus far this year with Derrell Dukes taking runner-up honors in the pole vault and T.J. McGuire in the high jump. Third-place finishers were Jeffery Hicks (pole vault), Jazmond Taylor (1,600 meters, 800 meters), Kendrick Buder (300-meter intermedi ate hurdles) and Corey Brakhage (third). Other top finishers included Butler (long jump, fourth; triple jump, fifth). Cooper (long jump, fifth), Brakhage (1,600 meters, fourth), McGuire (110-meter high hurdles, fourth; 300- meter intermediate high hurdles, fourth). Mauro Ortiz (800 meters, fourth), Cobb (200 meters, fifth) and Dalton Owenby (3,200 meters, fourth). Prior to the Loch Johnson meet, Madison County coasted to its second easy home vic tory in as many events last Tuesday, tallying 82 points in winning three-team meet. Elbert County was a distant second with 49 points. Hart County finished with 37. Madison County won by 71.5 points one week earlier in its season-opener. “We have had three good meets,” Tate said. “It's time the kids push themselves to be great.” Madison County enjoyed seven first-place finishes and eight second-place showings in routing the competition last Tuesday. McGuire (high jump, 110-meter high hur dles), Butler (long jump, 300-meter interme diate hurdles), Dukes (pole vault) and Jamal Cooper (200 meters) all won their respective events. Madison County’s 4 x 400 relay (Bush, Cooper, Cobb and Butler) also placed first. Finishing second were Matt Dove (discus), Cooper (long jump), Butler (triple jump), Hicks (pole vault), Taylor (800 meters), McGuire (300-meter intermediate hurdles) and Owensby (3,200 meters). The 4 x 100 team comprising Claude Johnson, Cooper, Butler and Cobb fin ished second in that event. Santino Swain (discus), Johnson (shot put), Donavan Carey (110-meter high hurdles), Cobb (200 meters) and Ortiz (3,200 meters) added third-place finishes. SCHOOL RECORDS FALL •Jamal Cooper, 200 meters, 21.8 seconds •4 x 100 team: Terry Cobb, Jamal Cooper, Kendrick Butler, A1 Allen, 41.8 seconds •4 x 400 team: Cedric Bush, Jamal Cooper, Terry Cobb, Kendrick Butler, 3:26 Detrick Yamasato (right) trails a North Oconee player during recent action. Ben Munro/staff Boys’ Soccer Raiders equal win total from last year With four games remaining, the Raider soccer team has already matched its win total from last season. The Raiders (6-6) downed Jefferson 4-0 Tuesday for their sixth victory of the season. “We played fairly well, dominated possession and kept the ball in their end much of the game.” coach Trevor Mangan said. Madison County has now shut out its past two opponents as it strives to get over the .500 mark. The Raiders are scheduled to resume play Friday at Winder-Barrow. Though the offense sputtered at times dur ing the first half against Jefferson, Ben Ortman buried a full volley off of a comer kick to put Madison County ahead 1-0 at halftime. Kyle Carr scored his first career goal in the sec ond half, off a header on a comer kick, and Ortman — See soccer on 2B Rifle MCHS deploying sharpshooters to Ft. Benning Rifle Raiders earn trip to state match The Madison County rifle team earned a come- from-behind 1,128-1,101 victory over Lumpkin County March 18 to qualify for the state match April 4 in Ft. Benning. The Raiders trailed by five points after the first round in the prone position the host, but gained an 11-point lead in the standing position and held on to win by 27 points. Senior Casey Brown led Madison County with a 289. followed by Wade Threlkeld (287), Nathan Coker (281) and J.S. Fielding (271). Brown and Alexis John of Lumpkin County both shot perfect scores in the prone position (hit ting 10 of 10 “bulls”). The 12 winning teams in the state tournament and the two highest scoring losing teams advance to the state finals. Also, any individual who shot a 290 or better at some point in the season is invited to state. Raider rifle team members Casey Brown and Nathan Coker shoot from the kneeling posi tion. Submitted photo