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Perry Panthers win Region 3-AA golf title, head to state
By PHIL CLARK
Times-Journal Sports
The Perry golf team took a big step
toward recapturing the Georgia High School
Association class AA golf championship
April 21 by winning the region 3AA tourna
ment at Cendars Golf Club in Zebulon.
Panther Marina Culley also took low
medalist in the girls competition, and will
Panthers host 3-AA
tennis tournament
April 23 at Rozar Park
By PHIL CLARK
Times-Journal Sports
Luke Smith’s Perry Panthers
boys tennis team will meet
Bleckley County Apr 23 at Rozar
Park in Perry for the 3AA South
championship after Perry defeated
Pike County 5-0 on Apr 16.
Against Pike, all three singles
matches were tight, but number
one Daniel Wright survived by
beating Pike’s Jim Fowler 2-6, 6-
2, 6-3.
In the number two match,
Perry’s Dewayne Heard beat
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FIRST PITCH SPEECH
Ga. Rep. Larry
Walker, D-Perry, was
on hand to say a few
words and help throw
out the first pitch.
advance to the state tournament May 5.
Culley is defending state low medalist.
The Panthers, state champions in 1995,
defeated Pike County and Bleckley County
in the region meet, hosted by Pike County.
Clint Tyson led the Panthers with a 76,
two shots behind boys low medalist Ron
West of Pike. Culley shot a 77, second on
her team, and the girls low medalist. Dallas
Adam Griffeth 6-1, 1-6, 6-2, and
at number three, the Panthers’ Jeff
Wilson beat Austin Eppinger 7-6,
6-4.
The number one doubles team
of Chris Lindsey-Snay Traveti
won over the Pirates’ Brad
Harrison-Randy Mays 6-2, 6-4,
while the number two Panther
team of Seth Green-Brandon
Pfleegor beat Alan Ratliff-
Brandon Birate 6-0, 6-1.
The win improved Perry’s boys
to 10-1 for the year.
HOME RUN TIME
Ochlahatchee Coach Eddie
Wilson (left) congratulates
his son, Lawton Wilson,
after the younger Wilson
hit an opening day home
run. This was Wilson's first
home run, according to his
father.
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TROPHIES AT LAST Members of the Dixie Debs, World Series runner-ups for 1996, collect their trophy as part
of the opening day ceremony at Ochlahatchee. With the trophy are (from left) Colleen McClintic, Kathy Fryer, April
Fendley, Julie Fryer, Jessica Nolen and Dan Stewart.
Page 6A
Wed. April 23, 1997
Malone shot 79, Brandon Spainhour and
Matt Kennedy 82 and Joel Rich 85. The
Panthers qualify for the state meet, which
will be held at Big Canoe near-Jasper.
Coach Johnny Barton expects his team to
be competitive in the state tournament, and
gives his team an excellent chance of win
ning the title.
“At Pike, we could have done better, but
Hornet golfers rebound from upset loss,
pound John Milledge at Little Fishing Creek
By PHIL CLARK
Times-Journal Sports
The Westfield Hornets golf team, a front run
ner in the chase for state honors again this year,
did something they rarely do, they finished third
in a three-way match, losing to Georgia
Independent School Association class AA
power Gatewood, and AAA Southland, the
prime challenger for the state title along with
Westfield.
Gatfewood’s Jay Hudson and Southland’s
Brian Hawver tied for low medalist honors,
each firing a 73 over the Perry Country Club
course.
Westfield’s Robert Harrison was a shot back
at 74. Gatewood won the three-way match with
ciiHr
LIKELY A STRIKE Long-time
sports enthusiast Skeet Chapman
throws out the first, pitch as the sea
son opens at Ochlahatchee Park
April 19.
YOU'RE OUT The umpire ruled
this attempt at coming home was not
: good enough, and the base runner
was tagged out on opening day.
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the conditions we played under could have
been better, too.”
Perry’s 314 team total was five shots bet
ter than the 319s posted by both Pike and
Bleckley.
Culley’s 77 was her best round of the
year, and was nine shots lower than her state
low of 86 a year ago.
a team total of 307. Southland shot 309, the
Hornets 311.
The Hornets wasted little time in rebounding.
The following day, April 6, The Hornets
downed John Milledge Academy 294-316 at
Little Fishing Creek course in Milledgeville, the
site of this year’s state matches.
Wes Coody’s 70 took low medalist honors,
but five Westfield players shot 76 or less.
Besides Coody’s 70, Matt Moore shot 73, T.J.
Gibson 75, Andy Conrad ar.d Robert Harrison
765.
The region lAAA tournament will be held
April 28 at Riverside in Macon.
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Houston rimes-Journal
Phil
Clark
Times-Journal
Sports
Smiths Panthers
seek the crown
Perry tennis coach Luke Smith
called a few days ago, excited that
his Perry boys tennis team was
about to play for the region tennis
title. He wondered if a boys tennis
team in the past had advanced that
far. I can’t produce records to ver
ify, one way or the other, but I did
have an interesting time going
through some old Georgia High
School Association scores for the
past 15 years, in all sports. I did
find, too, that Perry has had some
winners along the way that most
of us either aren’t aware of, or
have forgotten them.
The only tennis player I could
find who had made it through the
region and into the state matches
was Roger Adderlog, who was
beaten in the first round of the
state matches in 1983 by
Washington County’s Roger
Moore.
That same .year, Charles
Wesekal finished fourth in the
state in wrestling in the 245-pound
class. There have been other
wrestlers to bring back honors. In
1986, Thomas Brown was fourth
in state in the 126-pound class. In
1992 Woody Green won state in
the 135-pound class and Jarvis
Stripling finished fourth in the
220-pound class in 1995.
The girls’ tennis team made it
to the semi-finals before losing to
Cartersville in 1991, and the base
ball, track and golf teams have
brought home honors, too. In
track, the 1983 team had a state
champion in Thomas Ragin, who
won the discus throw. Gary Felder
was third in the state in the 330
intermediate hurdles. In 1988,
Shon Davis captured fourth place
in the state meet in both the 110
meter hurdles and the high jump.
Tony Brown finished fourth in the
long jump that same year.
It was the 1990 track team that
almost took a team title finish
ing second to Fitzgerald in the
state meet. The 1989 team had set
the stage as James Lawson took
second in the 100-meter dash,
Forest Johnson was second in the
400-meters and the 1600-meter
relay team was third. The team
finished third in state.
In 1990, Ralph Thomas took
second in the 100 meters, Johnson
took first in the 400 meters and
first in the 200 meters, before
accepting a track scholarship to
Georgia. The 400-meter relay
team , the 1600-meter relay team
and Jarvis Felder in the high jump
were also high finishers.
Fitzgerald had 61 team points,
Perry 56.
The baseball team lost to
Fitzgerald in the area playoffs that
year, but came back in 1991 to win
the state championship for Bob
Jones. Two members of that state
championship team, brothers Ken
and Jason Sikes, are now playing
professional baseball. Ken is a
pitcher in the Dodgers minor
league system, while Jason is in
the Phillies organization, and he’s
also a pitcher.
The track honors didn’t stop
with that 1990 team. The next
year, Ralph Thomas took second
in the 100-meters and Jarvis
Felder was second in the high
jump, a feat he repeated in 1992, a
year in which Alex Lane was
fourth in the 300-meter intermedi
ate hurdles and the 1600-meter
relay team was second.
How about a little golf? Jason
Arthur was individual low medal
ist in 1992 with a 71, although his
team didn’t place. In 1995, Perry
won it all with a win on their home
course, Houston Lake Country
Club. Stan Gann was low medalist
with a 67, Marina Culley was third
among girl competitors. The 1995
championship team was com
posed of Gann, Clint Tyson, Clint
Payne and Andy Willard. Culley
was also a member of the team.
Culley came back in 1996 and
bring home yet another honor. The
junior was low medalist among
girls, and will try to defend in this,
her senior year.
Well, Luke, I didn’t answer
your question, did I? I don’t know
if a Perry boys tennis team has
played for the region champi
onship. But yours certainly will,
April 23 at Rozar Park in Perry as
they meet Bleckley County for the
title. We ought to have a lot of fans
show ud for the event.
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