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Sports Perry Panthers take second straight Region 4-AA track title Team heads to state all classes meet in Jefferson this weekend Bt ALLINE KENT Jowwal Staff COCHRAN For the second year in a row. Perry High School boy’s track team has run away with the region championship, so to speak. The Panthers scored an unbe lievable 155 total points during the two day region 4-AA Georgia High School Association competi tion held in Cochran at Bleckley County High School. The two teams closest in scor ing to Perry were Bleckley with 76 points and Dodge County with 65 points. Dontarrious Thomas scored first place wins in the Triple Jump. 400 meter dash, the 300 meter hurdles and as a member of the 4 x 100 m relay team. The team also includes Marnezo Taylor. Anthony Lane and Donovan Kendrick. The Panthers entry into the 4 x 400 meter relay also placed first Krystal Brown inks grant with Middle Georgia By ALLINE KENT Hnirn .inuKWAL Staff It seemed like a family reunion more than a schol arship signing. That’s because more than a dozen members of Krystal Brown’s family crowded into the Perry High School media center, along with the coaches and play ers from the entire Panther basketball program to watch Brown commit her basketball skills to Middle Georgia College. Among the family in attendance were her moth er Verna Lester And her grandmother Eldora Lester. Brown’s god parents, Matilda D. White and Coffey uses determination to reach UGA scholarship with 11-1 loss to Stratford By ALLINE KENT Home Joukhal Staff You could hear the con stant sound over the chat ter of the soccer players on the field and the cheers of their fans gathered at the Panther Pit. Over and over again the pounding continued as David Coffey spent his Friday evening in the bat ting cage practicing his hit ting game. It is the kind of determi nation and dedication that have made this young man a success and earned him a baseball scholarship to the University of Georgia. Athough a gifted athlete and a natural talent, it has been hard work the year Musings on a day at the GISA qualifying track meet Covering the Georgia Independent School Association state qualifiers every year is a day-long endeavor, and during the long and drawn out day, there’s time to reflect on other things that are going on. Early in the day on Saturday at Stratford, in the first event of the day, in fact, I ran into Charles Clarke, whose son Buddy is the outstanding dis tance runner at Central Fellowship Christian Academy. As we talked, I was not aware that we knew each other from many years ago. As we watched Buddy set the pace in the 3,200 meter run, I mentioned to Charles that my name was also Clark. He said, “Oh, I know who you are. I played football at Fort Valley High when you were doing play by play over WFPM radio"! Charles told me, in fact, that I once did an interview with him after a game. As best I recall, Charles was a kicker. But then, that was in the late 60s! Chuck and Melanie Byrd soon and included Thomas, Lane Monterris Engram and Jermaine Allen. Panther Michael Robinson placed first in both the 1,600 meter run with a time of 4:49 and the 3,200 meter run with a time of 10:45 while Anthony Lane fin ished first in the 200 meter dash at 22.24. State qualifiers include Robinson, members of both relay teams, Thomas, Lane, Kendrick and Taylor. The 4 x 100 meter relay team finished 2nd last year in AA state competition while the 4 x 400 meter team finished in 3rd in the 1998 finals. Coach Carl Dixon said the team would make a serious run for the state title to be held in Jefferson this weekend. These young men have per formed under pressure all year and to be honest they are ready to run," Dixon said. Spencer Ricks made the two-hour trip down from Atlanta for the 10-minute signing ceremony. Brown’s father, John D. Brown Sr., was also among those gathered and referred to the event as “Mt Everest" for his family. “She is my first child going to college. We are very, very proud of her," he said. Among her other activi ties at Perry High School, Krystal Brown is involved in Future Business Leaders of America. Fellowship of ,JChQSti4n Athletes, Prayer Club and Arrive Alive. 1 She is also a member of the yearbook staff. around that landed Coffey the chance to play for the Bulldogs. Coffey knew early, according to his coach, Lee Whatley, that he wanted to play on the college level. Coffey has attended sev eral college baseball camps every summer since his freshman year and even displayed his skills at a few local pro-tryouts for the col lege scouts that typically attend. Several four-year schools were interested in him dur ing his junior year, but the Bulldogs won out. “He liked Georgia and Coach Sapp." said Whatley, “David was excited about the opportunity to play for Phil Clark Home Journal Sports arrived, although it would be more than two hours before their two daughters would perform in their first event. We talked about several things, as we always do at athlet ic events. A Chuck had told me how surprised he was while reading a list of the members of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame that Butler's Norman Carter is not a member. How can this be. I wonder. Carter’s team in the 60s were simply unbeatable, winning sev eral state championships while, also establishing a consecutive games winning streak that may never be broken. Butler's 132-game winning Region 4-AA track results nw htff RjfVftTf ■■■ ■ ■ ™ COCHRAN Here are Perry High results of the Region 4-AA track meet. Pole Vault 6th - Quinton Johnson Shot put 4th - Carlton Brock; Bth - Matt Dennis High Jump 2nd - DSnorrls Harvey Triple Jump lst - Dontarrious Thomas 44'4" 1600 meter run lst Michael Robinson; 3rd Chris Dugger 3200 meter run lst Michael Robinson; 3rd - Chris Dugger 400 meter Dash lst Dontarrious Thomas 47.9 100 meter Dash lst Donovan Kendrick 10.79; 2nd Mamezs Taylor 10.82 110 meter hurdles 2nd Mamezs Taylor 15.2; 3rd Michael Fluellen 15.5 200 meter dash lst Anthony Lane 300 meter hurdles lst - Dontarrious Thomas; 3rd Monterris Engram 4 x 100 meter relay first place 42.9. Mamezs Taylor, Dontarrious Thomas, Anthony Lane, Donovan Kendrick 4 x 400 meter relay first place. Jermaine Allen. Monterris Engram, Anthony Lane, Dontarrious Thomas; Fourth place, Dannorris Harvey, Michael Fluellen, Quinton Crane, Marnezs Taylor Several •of Brown’s teacher attended the sign ing and all praised her tal ent off the basketball court. “I guess I know her better as a person than a basket ball player, “ said Karma Hayes, a business educa tion teacher at Perry. “She wanted to further her edu cation. Basketball is giving her a way to do that." Billy Murry, the head coach of the girls' program at Middle Georgia had only been on the Job two weeks when he was given the opportunity to sign Brown. “1 have been to Perry many times to watch these kids play. I love the way the fans follow the team. They him." Georgia was impressed by Coffey’s statistics which include a. 565 batting aver age, eight home runs this season and 27 RBIs. Thirteen of his hits this year have been doubles with two triples and 16 stolen bases. The Bulldogs also liked the fact that he is a left handed batter and has incredible speed. The young man is expected to see play ing time his freshman year, an impressive fact in itself. Hard work, determina tion and skill aside there is one more important factor in being a successful ath lete; you have to enjoy what you do. ■ Page 6A t—Wed., Mays. 1999 streak was halted, ironically, by the Peny Lady Panthers of Coach Bob Morrow. How Carter can not be in the Hall of Fame wonders me! That’s the same way I feel about Macon County's Carl Peaster. Although Peaster never coached a state championship team, his teams did win 458 games. And more importantly, Peaster sent 23 girls to college on scholarships, even though schol arships weren’t given to girls in basketball until 1975! Jack Lee was there to watch Tate Parker in the long Jump. Jack had a while to wait, too, so we talked about one of his favorite subjects, Auburn foot ball. Jack asked me about Dontarrious Thomas, the out standing athlete the Tigers have signed out of Peny High School. What I could tell Jack about Dontarrious Thomas would bring a sparkle to any War Eagles’ eyes. Thomas is perhaps the best athlete I've seen in this decade. His ability on the football field is have a lot of great talent, their local and we’d like to get them all. “ Murry said. “Perry is just a great bas ketball town," Murry added. “Coach Max Vickers runs a great system here. He has done a great Job of prepar ing Krystal fundamentally. She is also a good student and Middle Georgia strives for the best student-ath letes possible." Murray, who only recent ly took over the girl’s pro gram, has been on staff at Middle Georgia for two years as aJ£ assistant for the boy’s team which has chalked up an impressive 49-13 record According to everyone who knows him, David Coffey has a great time playing baseball. “David just loves the game and it shows”, said Whatley. “He is a student of the game and picks things up. He can read pitchers and knows where to hit the ball.” Coffey seems to be a well grounded young mem, who is completely aware of the challenges that lay ahead of him. “It kind of scares me," he said. “1 am 6'o, 170 pounds and 1 will be going up against a lot bigger guys, guys from LSU, Tennessee. 1 like challenges, this will be my biggest one yet." Houston Urn Journal qualify in half dozen GISA state track events track team, the Westfield onrtadn nevertheless qualified in half a dozen events for the Georgia Independent fi t School Association Altmny. Senior Connie Thompson was the lone qualifier fear Leigh Ann ;Johnson’s girls team. She will compete in the dis cus May 7 during the field events. Thompson's throw of 81 feet seven inches was third best hi the regions 1 and 2 qual ifier at Stratford Academy tenso. Also May 7, Larry Bennett’s Hornets will have both Tate Parker and Gary Virden tn the the qualifi er with a leap of 20 feet, six inches, more than a foot greater than his region lAAA winning jump just five days earli er. Virden's jump was 18 feet, five inches, placing him third in the qualifier. Both athletes also qualified in the triple jump, with Virden’s 39- 10 putting him in second place. Parker qualified fourth with a Jump of 39- 01 . In both events, they will be facing the top jumper in the GISA, Brentwood's Daniel Heldreth. May 8 in the track events, Westfield’s 4 by •• i ■ Hornet baseball team closes By PHIL CLARK Home Joukkal Staff — The Westfield Hornets baseball season ended last week just the way it started with a loss to the Stratford Eagles at Stratford. The Eagles scored 10 runs in the first two innings, then James Poe’s fifth inning single drove in Robbie Sovie with the win ning run in an 11-1 Stratford victory ended by the 10-run rule. The Hornets managed just one run on five hits, scoring their only run in their half of the fifth inning, averting a shutout when Ron Marshall singled to open the inning and finally awesome. He was recruited as a defensive back, but Thomas could also play wide receiver, a position Jack says the Tigers are woefully weak at. Auburn will be proud of Dontarrious Thomas, on and off the field, as well as in the classroom. Westfield coach Ronnie Jones was there, and we had a little time to chat. We were both amused by the story out of Albany concerning Ray Knight's altercation with another parent at a youth softball game. Reports say that Knight and one Jimmy C. Smith got into an argument after Knight had urged a player to hustle down the first base line. Smith, according to reports, told Knight, in no uncer tain terms, to mind his own busi ness. But then Smith might ‘have gone too far. He apparently told Knight “you couldn't play with the big boys, and you couldn’t manage with the big boys, so now you want to come down here and coach a girls softball team." Wrong. Ray Knight could play with the big boys, and he has a Events are daily May 7-8 at Hugh Mils Stadium in Albany. 100 relay team will try to take home first place against some really out standing teams, includ tag Tattnall, Brentwood. First Presbyterian and Southland. Tattnall and Brentwood ran almost identical times in win ning the two qualifying races, and the state event figures to be one of the best races of the day. Jared Shell had to wait until the end of the day to find out he’d qualified in the 100-meter run. At the finish of the race, it appeared that Shell finished out of the top four, but a review by officials at the end of the slate of races determined that several runners had gotten out of their lanes some 40 yards before the finish, forcing Sheil from second back to sixth. He was credited with a third place finish after the ruling was made. Westfield's other quali fier is Will Sexton in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles. Sexton finished second behind Stratford’s Ty Watson. Events begin about 10 a.m. each day. Fans are reminded of a new ruling that prohibits individual coolers into Hugh Mills Stadium. Only soft drink coolers belonging to com peting teams can be car , ried insfcfo thi^ear. came around to score with out the benefit of another hit. The Hornets produced three .300 hitters among their full time players. Jared Shell finished at .364 to lead the team officially. Will Sexton finished at .429, but had only 14 offi cial at-bats. Trevor Jones hit .308 and Jacob Walker finished at an even .300. Gary Virden was almost in the .300 group, ending his Hornet career by hitting .289. Freshman catcher Chance Jones, one of the most consistent players on See BASEBALL, page 7A World Series Most Valuable Player Award to prove it. Whether he could manage or not, 1 can’t say. He didn’t have much to work with in Cincinnati. Certainly if Davey Johnson couldn’t win his last year in Cincinnati, Knight should not have been expected to. By the way, both Knight and Smith were charged with disor derly conduct after they report edly confronted each other phys ically after the game. Down on the infield I spotted Ben Cravey. The longtime Vidalia High School coach has been in the GISA his retirement from public schools several years ago. Cravey is at Pinewood i Belleville, Just outside of Claxton. Cravey is a throwback to the old style of football coaches who didn’t necessarily think that designer clothes and shoes made a good coach. And I’d like to say a little bit about courage. Westfield’s Katie Byrd, running in the 100 meter race, lost her footing about 60 See CLARK. Page 7A