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PAGE 2B — THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 19. 2009
Comer 5K Reindeer
Run/Walk is Dec. 5
The Madison County
Recreation Department has
planned the 16th annual Comer
Reindeer RunAValk for Saturday,
Dec. 5, at 10 a.m. in conjunc
tion with the annual Comer
Christmas Parade.
The event is a combination
5K run-walk, with the option of
a 1.7-mile “run, walk or crawl”
shortcut, according to organiz
ers.
The entry fee is $15 for par
ticipants with registrations post
marked by Friday, Nov. 13, and
$20 after that.
T-shirts are long sleeved and
are guaranteed in the requested
size to all pre-registered partici
pants.
There is also a $10 no-shirt
option for registration.
All races begin at 10 a.m.
Divisions include (male and
female) 10-and-under, 11-14,
15-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34,
35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54,
55-59, 60-64,65-69 and 70-and-
over.
Those competing in the 5K
race are eligible for the follow
ing awards: first-place overall
finisher, the top masters (40-and-
over) and first- and second-place
division winners for both male
and female divisions.
Those interested in the Comer
Reindeer RunAValk can contact
the Madison County Recreation
Department at 706-795-6270.
Madison Co. Journal Pigskin Picker
Kentucky at UGA
North Carolina at Boston College
UConn at Notre Dame
LSU at Ole Miss
California at Stanford
Oregon at Arizona
Oklahoma at Texas Tech
Atlanta at NY Giants
Miami at Carolina (Thurs.)
San Diego at Denver
Zach
UGA
Oregon
Mitcham
Boston College
Oklahoma
Records
Notre Dame
NY
Last week, overall
Ole Miss
Carolina
5-5, 75-35
Stanford
Denver
Ben
UGA
Oregon
Monro
North Carolina
Oklahoma
IVIUI II Vs
Records
Notre Dame
NY
Last week, overall
LSU
Carolina
64,74-36
Stanford
Denver
Allen
UGA
Oregon
McCannon
North Carolina
Oklahoma
Records
Notre Dame
NY
Last week, overall
LSU
Carolina
64,72-38
Stanford
San Diego
Ricky
UGA
Oregon
North Carolina
Oklahoma
McElroy
Notre Dame
NY
Records
LSU
Carolina
Last week, overall
64,71-39
Stanford
San Diego
Mitch
UGA
Oregon
McGhee
North Carolina
Oklahoma
Records
Notre Dame
NY
Last week, overall
LSU
Carolina
64,69-41
Stanford
Denver
Doug
UGA
Oregon
Kesler
Boston College
Oklahoma
Records
Notre Dame
NY
Last week, overall
Ole Miss
Carolina
7-3,6644
Stanford
Denver
Margie
UGA
Oregon
Richards
North Carolina
Oklahoma
Records
UConn
NY
Last week, overall
LSU
Miami
64,60-50
California
Denver
Kendrick Butler was Madison County’s lead rusher this year
with 428 yards. Ben Munro/staff
REGION 8-AAAA
Standings
Region
Overall
Apalachee
10-0
10-0
Clarke Central
8-2
8-2
Rockdale Co.
7-3
7-3
Loganville
6-4
6-4
Salem
6-4
6-4
Madison Co.
5-5
5-5
Hab. Central
4-6
4-6
Heritage
4-6
4-6
Cedar Shoals
3-7
3-7
Winder-Barrow
2-8
2-8
Monroe Area
0-10
0-10
OFFENSIVE
SEASON STATS
Rushing
att
yds
TD
Butler
52
428
7
Maxwell
87
283
2
Cooper
74
259
1
Owens
128
174
9
Dean
16
34
1
McCrary
3
19
0
Samples
2
6
0
Turner
3
2
0
Cheek
1
-14
0
Passing
c-att
yds
TD
Owens
63-138 855
6
Maxwell
5-6
168
2
Turner
2-3
100
1
Jordan
1-1
58
1
Cheek
0-1
0
0
Punting
att
yds
avg.
Maxwell
19
608
32.0
Cheek
9
280
31.0
Samples
6
194
32.0
Kicking
extra pts.
FG
Webster
28-30
1-4
Wilson
1-1
0-0
Receiving
rec
yds
TD
McCrary
21
423
3
Cooper
17
232
2
Butler
7
188
2
Turner
10
132
1
McKeever
5
95
1
Burton
1
58
1
Dean
2
28
0
McGuire
1
14
0
Maxwell
7
6
0
Girls
cont’d from IB
Boy;
cont’d from IB
Dan Lampe, whose team starts
play Friday against Southwest
Atlanta Christian Academy. “It
just might take us a little while
to jell together."
Freeman, who topped 2,000
points in her high school career
and now plays at Appalachian
State, is gone, but the remain
ing parts from last year's 24-6,
region championship team
possesses plenty of firepower,
Lampe said.
Right now, Madison County
is nine deep, Lampe said, and
as the season progresses, the
team could go 10-11 players
deep as the Lady Raiders shoot
for their fifth straight trip to the
state tournament.
The depth starts in the back-
court. Madison County figures
to be loaded at guard with sea
soned veterans Lauren Smith,
Shantydra Arnold and Juvonna
Fleming all returning for their
senior seasons, as are younger
players Sam LaZear and Molly
Glaze.
"We're at least five deep
in the 1-2-3 positions,” said
Lampe, who's guided Madison
County to a Final Four and
Sweet 16 in his two seasons as
head coach.
Madison County will look to
its backcourt for both scoring
and defense especially. The
plan is to rotate fresh bodies in
and out of games and suffocate
opponents with pressure.
Conversely, Madison
County, with 1,425 students, is
the smallest school in Region
8-AAAA and second smallest
in Class AAAA, two students
larger than Tucker (1,423).
These designations aren’t
yet final.
"In the past. I’ve had it easy,
because I didn’t have to worry
about subs at all,” Lampe
joked.
Now, he looks to sub con
tinuously.
"If we can play with inten
sity the entire game, we should
be able to wear some people
down,” Lampe said.
In front court, Courtney
Freeman’s sister, Kayla, returns
as the biggest scoring threat
down low, but she’s joined by
a host of “bigs” — Elizabeth
Whieldon, Nekeia Brown and
Kiedreuna “KeKe” Chappell
— which strengthen Madison
County’s overall presence at
the post.
"What I thought was going
to be our week point, might
be on par with our guards,"
Lampe said.
And Lampe is excited about
what this team could do offen
sively.
Whereas Courtney Freeman
was Madison County's main
source for points over the last
four years, the points should
be disbursed more evenly now
in the post-Courtney era.
And with more options on
the perimeter, Madison County
might even be more dangerous
on the offense, despite the loss
of Freeman.
"I think we’re actually better
offensively than we were last
year,” Lampe said.
Schools officials wishing to
appeal their school’s enroll
ment count may do so by Nov.
24.
The GHSA reclassification
committee will meet December
2 to place schools in regions.
The reclassification committee
If that's the case, Madison
County, which is 72-18 since
2006, can look forward to con
tinued success in the region.
The Lady Raiders have won
two of the last three region
titles and have played for the
8-AAAA crown three years
in a row.
But other region schools
have the same aspirations.
Subregion rival and region
runner-up Clarke Central
didn’t lose any of its key play
ers, so the Lady Gladiators
will be tough as always. Cedar
Shoals, one of the few region
teams to beat Madison County
last year, has many of its play
ers back but has a new coach,
its fourth in four years.
Meanwhile, on the other side
of the region, Salem - which
didn’t lose a single game
against a region foe until being
ousted in the region tourna
ment — loses a major scorer
but returns a host of great ath
letes.
Some are predicting the
Courtney-less Lady Raiders as
the third or fourth best team in
8-AAAA and not necessarily
region title contenders.
But that’s a role that Lampe
and his deep team gladly
embrace.
"I like being in the position
where nobody is expecting
you to win the region,” Lampe
said.
will also meet on Dec. 16 to
hear appeals from any schools
seeking lateral transfers from
the region to which it was
assigned.
Madison County has played
in Region 8-AAAA since
2002.
tournament drought.
Madison County’s inside game
rests in the capable hands of four-
year starter Patrick McCrary, who's
nearing 1,000 career points and is
the ultimate team player, accord
ing to Crouse. McCrary, who just
completed his first and only year of
football, was an all-region basket
ball selection last year.
“Patrick McCrary has been
a starter in our program for four
years,” Crouse said. "And it’s a tes
timony to what kind of kid he is. He
works so hard."
Madison County, however, faces
an overhaul of its backcourt person
nel this winter with the graduation
of Chad Griffeth, Seth Fleming,
Reterrium Davis, Jeremy Smith and
Ben Morris.
But what the Red Raider guards
lack this year in experience, they
make up for with athleticism.
Newcomer Stan Maxwell, a
transfer from Franklin County, “did
an excellent job" at point guard over
the summer, Crouse said, while T.J.
McGuire and Kendrick Butler both
proved dependable in the backcourt
in the offseason.
Meanwhile, Bradley Raines, the
team’s second-leading scorer, will
up the season Friday at Cedar
Shoals. But the best measure of
the team’s early-season grit will
come Dec. 4-5 at the Panther
Invitational, a tournament that will
include 28 teams and some of top
competition in the state.
"There will be some of the
toughest teams in north Georgia,"
said Raider coach Richie Houston.
"We’ll find out a lot about where
we stand there.”
Houston said he has 49 guys
out for wrestling this year. The
team conducted mandatory body-
fat hydration tests Saturday, which
are now required to make sure
play more on the wing this year
after serving as more of post player
last year. Also in the fold at guard
are Trey Burton, Josh Crouse and
Dominique Parrish.
‘We don't have has much experi
ence at that position, but we’ve got
a lot of guys that can play it and are
very athletic,” Crouse said.
With the depth Madison County
enjoys this year, Crouse hesitates
to name a starting five. But the
following rotation should get the
bulk of the minutes, at least early
on: McCrary, Maxwell, McGuire,
Burton, Raines, Presly McKeever,
Butler, Terrell McCrary, Parrish and
Josh Crouse.
“The way we’re playing right
now, there's eight, nine, 10 guys
who should get a fair number of
minutes, especially if we get into
shape," Crouse said.
Rounding out the roster are
seniors Marquis Thomas, Matthew
“Raybo" Robinson and Jamal
Cooper.
“We’ve probably have more
depth this year that we have had in
while,” Crouse said.
The problem right now? Shaking
off the mst given the number of
football players on the basketball
wrestlers are placed in appropriate
weight divisions — the goal being
to keep wrestlers from rapidly los
ing pounds to make weight before
meets.
Houston said he was waiting
for those test results before setting
his lineup.
But three wrestlers who will
surely find their way back into the
starting spots are 2008 state quali
fiers Cody Phillips, Isaac Ruiz and
Tyler Adams, last year’s region
champion in the 215-lb. division.
Otherietuming wrestlers include
Colton Phillips, Caleb McCain,
Kyle Bates, Tanner Johnson and
roster. Much of the team was still
suited up in helmets and pads just
two weeks ago.
In fact, Madison County had just
four full practices prior to Saturday’s
Red and Gray scrimmage.
That leaves Crouse cau
tiously excited about Friday's
opener against Southwest Atlanta
Christian.
"We can’t wait until Friday, but I
need a few more days to get ready,”
Crouse said.
Still this is a group that’s proved
it can play well together, given time.
Crouse noted that Madison County
went 31-5 in exhibition games over
the summer.
He’s hoping that play will resur
face this winter when the games
count.
"I’m really pleased on what
we built on during the summer,"
Crouse said.
Though some of the players may
be a bit rusty, the team’s resolve
is clear: It doesn’t want to be on
the outside looking in again come
February.
"I’ve had a lot of seniors talking
to me about it, and saying, ‘hey, we
want to make sure we take care of
business this year,"’ Crouse said.
Kyle Gordon.
While the team includes only
one senior, the squad is heavy on
junior talent and Houston says the
team has some experienced wres
tlers despite its relative youth.
The Raiders have been prac
ticing from 4 to 6:45 p.m. after
school. Houston said the team
has been working primarily on
techniques in early practices, with
about 20 to 30 minutes devot
ed to conditioning each session.
Practices will eventually include
more conditioning as younger
wrestlers become more familiar
with techniques.
Regi
on
cont’d from IB
Wrestling... cont’d from IB
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