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The Madison County Journal IB Thursday, April 2, 2009 www.MainstreetnewsSPORTS.com Ben Munro/ ben@mainstreetnews.com (706) 795-2567 Basketball Freeman named all-state by GSWA FREEMAN Madison County High School girls’ basketball standout Courtney Freeman has been named to the Georgia Spotts Writers Association's" all-state team. The senior, who’s already signed with Appalachian State, led Madison County to a 24-6 record and a spot in the Class AAAA Sweet 16 this past winter. Freeman finished her MCHS career as the program’s second-leading scorer behind Sheila Collins (1978-1981). Sports Notes Tennis team members tabbed Athletes of the Week’ The Madison County High School athletic department named three tennis players as its “Athletes of the Week.’’ The no. 1 doubles duo of Sarah Powers and Sam LaZear was honored after earn ing straight-set victo ries in matches against North Oconee, March 23, and Clarke Central, March 24. Powers’ and LaZear’s play has helped the Lady Raiders start 7-2 overall and 5-0 in the subregion. “Sarah is a seasoned doubles player with the experience,” MCHS tennis coach Keith Strickland said. "Sam, an all-around athlete coming to us late after basketball, has proven that she is an impor tant part of our lineup. Together the girls are a rock-solid doubles team that we know we can count on every match.” Powers and LaZear are 7-0 as a doubles team thus far, going 14-1 in sets against their opponents. On the boys’ side, Blaise Boleman earned the accolade by going 3-1 overall and 3-0 in subregion play after returning to the Raider lineup follow ing a broken wrist. His come-from-behind win against Clarke Central clinched Madison County’s victory over the Gladiators. Boleman’s victories have helped the boys’ team to a 5-4 mark overall and a 4-1 record in the subregion. Boys’ Track Madison Co. boys’ track team continues winning ways The Madison County boys' track team continues to outpace its com petition, winning four of five events so far this spring. The Raiders garnered their most recent victory Tuesday, beating Hart County 87^-5 in Danielsville. Madison County won 12 events and finished second in eight others as the Raiders remained perfect in home meets. The only meet the team hasn’t won this spring is the Loch Johnson Invitational at Cedar Shoals where the Raiders finished second to the ON THE FAST TRACK •The Madison County boys’ track team has won four of five events this spring and is undefeated at home. host Jaguars. Finishing first in Tuesday's meet were Matt Dove (discus), Jamal Cooper (long jump, 200 meters), Kendrick Butler (triple jump, 300- meter intermediate high hurdles), T.J. McGuire (high jump, 110-meter highhurdles), Corey Brakhage (1,600 meters), A1 Allen (100 meters), Mauro Ortiz (800 meters) and the 4 x 100 (Terry Cobbs, Cooper, Butler and Allen) and 4 x 400 (McGuire, Cooper, Cobbs and Butler) teams. Prior to the Hart County win, Madison County won a four-team meet last Tuesday on the strength of 10 first-place finishes. Butler (triple jump, 300-meter intermediate hurdles), McGuire (high jump, 110-meter high hurdles), Allen (100 meters), Jamal Cooper (200 and 400 meters) and Jazmond Taylor (800 meters) all won individ ual events as Madison County beat North Oconee, Athens Academy and Commerce. The 4 x 100 team (Cobbs, Cooper, Butler and Allen) and the 4 x 400 team (Allen, Cooper, Cobbs and Butler) also tacked on victories to help the Raiders to their third lop sided win of the year. The Raiders added second-place finishes from Butler (long jump), Dove (discus), Terry Cobbs (100 meters), Allen (200 meters), Brakhage (800 meters), Donavan Carey (110-meter high hurdles), McGuire (300-meter intermediate hurdles) and Taylor (1,600 meters). High school baseball Raiders remain red-hot Dustin Roberts pitched three innings Monday night against Clarke Central to earn a win. Madison County is off to a 8-0 start in region play. Ben Munro/staff MCHS runs record to 8-0 in region action By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews.com O ther than rain, little is stopping the Madison County baseball team. The first-place Raiders (12-2, 8-0) have won 10 straight games and continue to score runs at will. “We’ve had a lot of things go our way, which you need if you want to be a champi onship team,” coach Charlie Griffeth said. "But I think we've created a lot of our breaks.” Madison County routed Apalachee 8-0 Tuesday in a remake of a Friday rain-out to remain unbeaten in region play. The team downed Clarke Central 8-4 a day earlier. The Raiders (as of press time Wednesday) held a one game edge over second- place Heritage (7-1) in the 8-AAAA standings. Griffeth said his region leading team is an opportu nistic one. Madison County has scored 73 runs in its last seven games, but that stat is not a product of sheer hitting alone. Griffeth said his team has capitalized on other team’s errors in that stretch, too, in putting runs on the board. “We’ve taken advantage of mistakes,” Griffeth said. “You've got to take advan tage of every opportunity you get." In whipping Apalachee Tuesday, the Raiders again scored plenty of runs, — See ‘Baseball’ on 2B S-AAAA Standings Madison Co. 8-0 Heritage 7-1 Loganville 6-2 Winder-Barrow 6-2 Salem 5-4 Clarke Central 4-4 Hab. Central 3-5 Apalachee 3-6 Rockdale Co. 2-6 Monroe Area 1-7 Cedar Shoals 0-8 Madison County High School tennis player Molly Smith com petes at no. 1 singles dur ing recent competition. A number of sport ing events, including tennis, were washed out due to recent rain. Ben Munro/staff Spring Sports Rain sidelines spring teams Nine events halted due to weather Local sports teams have been forced to schedule around the much-needed precipitation soaking the area lately. The Madison County High School baseball, tennis, soccer, golf and track teams all had weath er-related cancellations on Thursday, Friday or Saturday. A total of nine events were either called- off or rescheduled in that span. With rain moving into the area on Wednesday, the tennis team's Thursday (March 26) subregion match at Habersham Central was washed out and rescheduled for April 14 at 4 p.m. Both the baseball and soccer teams had Friday contests wiped out due to weather, as well. The diamond Raiders were slated to play Apalachee, while the soccer teams were set to face Winder- Barrow. The soccer matches were shifted to the end of the regular season on April 13. The baseball game was played Tuesday. Both the boys' and girls’ golf team's match with Elbert County Thursday (March 26) were can- — See ‘Rain’ on 2B