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The Madison County Journal
INSIDE THIS WEEK
IB
Raiders rout Jags in finale
Madison County ambushed Cedar Shoals
with seven second-half goals last .
week in a 7-3 win. wrA li
Thursday, April 23, 2009
www.MainstreetnewsSPORTS. com
Ben Munro/ ben@mainstreetnews.com (706) 795-2567
Cortney Boggs shot a 100 Monday
to earn girls’ region low medalist
honors. Ben Munro/staff
Girls’ Golf
MCHS
girls, Boggs
rule region
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
BRINGING
THEIR ‘A’GAME
•Madison County
posted four of the
region’s top six
scores.
Region turned out to be a Lady
Raider-dominated affair as Madison
County golfers earned team and indi
vidual championships Monday.
Madison County won its second
region tide in four years, shooting a 202
at Chateau Elan, and Cortney Boggs
nabbed region low medalist honors,
shooting a 100.
Taylor Morgan rounded out the scor
ing with a 102.
“The girls
did a really
good job of
just managing
the course,”
coach Doug
Kesler said.
“They played
within themselves.”
Though their scores didn’t count,
Megan Kesler shot a 112 and Kelsey
Hochstetier a 113 as Madison County
golfers accounted for four of the top six
rounds at region.
The Lady Raiders move on to the
state tournament at Dalton Country
Club, May. 4.
This is the program's second-ever
trip to the state tournament since start
ing play in 2003. Madison County’s
other appearance came in 2006 when
the Lady Raiders won their first region
tide.
Madison County easily out-shot the
competition Monday, beating second-
place Habersham Central (232) by 30
strokes.
Kesler noted that the Lady Raiders
could have counted their third and
fourth scores and still won by seven
strokes.
The coach said this year’s group is
deserving of its success.
“They're very coachable,” Kesler
said.
Though seniors Megan Kesler and
Morgan will play their final rounds at
state in May, the team returns three
quality golfers next year.
“We got three coming back that can
score,” Kesler said.
Prior to the region tournament,
Madison County shot a 91 April 15 to
down East Jackson, 91-118, at Double
Oaks Golf Club, led by a career-low
round from Morgan.
Morgan shot a 44 and Boggs added a
47 as Madison County won its regular
season finale.
Baseball
‘This is what it’s all about’
Tight region baseball
race enters final stretch
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
If Monday night's Raider win is any
indication, the final stretch of the region
baseball season is headed for a photo fin
ish.
Madison County kept pace in the tight
Region 8-AAAA playoff race with a walk-
off, two-out, game-winning single in the
bottom of the seventh inning from Matthew
Robinson against Rockdale County.
Robinson's heroics lifted the Raiders
8-AAAA Standings
Heritage
14-3
-
Madison Co.
13-3
0.5
Loganville
13-3
0.5
Winder-Barrow
12-4
1.5
Salem
11-6
3.0
Ciarke Central
7-9
6.5
Rockdale Co.
7-10
7.0
Apalachee
6-11
8.0
Hab. Central
5-11
8.5
Cedar Shoals
1-15
12.5
Monroe Area
1-15
12.5
(17-5, 13-3) to a 4-3 victory and kept the
team tied for second place in 8-AAAA
with Loganville at press time Wednesday.
Winder-Barrow (12-4) is one game
— See ‘Baseball’ on page 3B
Matthew Robinson, who supplied a game-winning single Monday
night, applies a tag at second base against Rockdale County. Ben
Munro/staff
High school tennis
Tourney time
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Sam LaZear (left) and Sarah Powers (right) celebrate after clinching a victory at no. 1
doubles against Winder-Barrow at the region tournament. Ben Munro/staff
MCHS tennis players earn Athlete of the Week honors
Madison County High School girls' no. 1 singles
player Molly Smith and boys’ no. 2 doubles team
players Connor Hancock and Josh Dooley were
named Athletes of the Week by the school’s ath
letic department for their performance in the recent
Region 8-AAAA tennis tournament.
Smith went 3-0, downing all her opponents in
straight sets and helping lead the Lady Raiders to
the region finals and a spot in the state tournament.
“Her play in the finals showed how much she
really wanted it,” tennis coach Keith Strickland
said.
Hancock and Dooley went 3-0 in the region tour
nament as well, helping the boys’ team earn its first
state tournament berth in two years.
The two won all their matches in straight sets.
“Their play gave us a chance in both of our semi
final and consolation final matches,” Strickland said.
“They've jelled as a team and are playing some
confident tennis.”
Lady Raiders
earn no. 2 seed in
state tournament
Madison County won't
enter the state tournament
as a no. 1 seed, but has
its sights set on prosperity
nonetheless.
The no. 2 seed Lady
Raiders (14-3, 12-1) will
host no. 3 seed Sequoyah
out of Region 7-AAAA
today at 4 p.m. as Madison
County looks to get back
to the Sweet 16.
This is the 12 th -straight
trip to the state tournament
for the program.
“I look for the girls to
be fired up and ready to
win this thing and move
on to the 16s," coach Keith
Strickland said.
Madison County finished
as 8-AAAA runners-up,
losing in the region finals
3-2 to Heritage Friday.
The l^ady Raiders fell in
both doubles matches and
at no. 3 singles as the team
— See “Lady
Raiders’ on 2B
Raider netters
return to state
Though a low seed, the
Madison County boys'
tennis program returns to
familiar territory.
The Raider netters
(10-7, 9-4) ended a two-
year drought in the Class
AAAA state tournament
with a fourth-place finish
in the region tournament.
Madison County, a no.
4 seed, faced no. 1 seed
Hillgrove out of Region
7-AAAA Wednesday in
the first round of the state
tournament, but results
weren't available at press
time.
Madison County earned
the spot by beating Cedar
Shoals 3-2 last Thursday at
the 8-AAAA tournament.
With the match tied 2-2,
Blaise Boleman stepped
up with a 6-2, 6-3 victory
to clinch the Raiders’ spot
— See “Raiders’ on 2B
Boys’ Track
Raider track
team puts its
best to test at
region meet
The Madison
County boys’ track
team will compete in
day two of the Region
8-AAAA track meet
Friday at Monroe Area
High School.
The team started
region competition
Wednesday, but results
weren’t available at
press time.
Prior to the postsea
son, Madison County
edged Elbert County
66-65 to win a three-
team meet in Elbert
County April 16. Hart
County finished third
with 38 points.
Coach Marty Tate
said the victory atoned
for a disappointing
outing at the Jefferson
Relays four days earli
er. Three disqualifica
tions cost the Raiders
a third-place finish in
that event.
"We needed that one
after (last) Saturday,”
he said. "We ran good
(Wednesday).”
The Raiders notched
eight first-place victo
ries in topping Elbert
County.
Those winning
events were Matt Dove
(discus), T.J. McGuire
(high jump), Jamal
Cooper (400 meters,
200 meters), Jazmond
— See “Track’ on 2B
Jamal Cooper com
petes during recent
action. Justin
Poole/MainStreet
Newspapers
Tyler Wilkins (left), 17, and Cody Hall (right),
16, display the belts they won at a recent North
American Grappling Association Tournament.
Submitted photo/Arme Boston
Martial Arts
Colbert teens place in NAGA tournament
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
Cody Hall says he has to watch
out or Tyler Wilkins might just land
a foot to the head.
"He'll kick you in the face if
you’re not careful,” said Hall
chuckling. “That’s an accident.
You're not supposed to. It just hap
pens accidentally.”
Of course, those bruises are part
of homework when you're training
to become a top-notch fighter.
“If you're not careful, you can
get injured,” said Wilkins, 17.
But the two new Colbert resi
dents, formerly from Crawford,
aren’t too worried about injuries.
No, they’re more worried about
winning belts. And both claimed
new waist-ware at the recent North
American Grappling Association's
15-18 year old US Nationals in
Jonesboro March 21-22. Wilkins
finished second in the beginner
130-149 lb. division, while Hall
took second in the novice 150-170
lb. division.
"The tournament we just did was
NAGA — that's Brazillian jujitsu,"
said Hall, 16. “It's almost like
extreme wrestling. Only instead of
getting someone's shoulders to the
mat, it’s see if you can choke them
out or see if you can tweak, bend,
twist, break stuff."
The martial art is a derivative of
early 20th century Kodokan Judo.
It is a combat sport that focuses on
grappling and especially ground
fighting. The art is known for
allowing a smaller, weaker person
to successfully defend himself
against a bigger, stronger assailant
using leverage and proper tech
nique; applying joint-locks and
chokeholds to defeat them.
Hall said he began learning about
martial arts and grappling after
watching the Ultimate Fighting
Championship (UFC) on television.
“I've always been a big UFC fan
and I figured it would be cool to do
what they do instead of just sit
— See ‘Fighting’ on 2B