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Warner Robins to hold
cross country series
Warner Robins High School
will host the Middle Georgia
Cross County Summer Series
Thursday (4.000 meters)
and 21 (5,000 meters on the
course behind Pearl Stephens
Elementary School.
The cost for each race is $5
and registration can be made
the day of.
The venue is open to all.
Call David Erpelding at 328-
3208 for more.
WR Rec sets football
registration dates
The Warner Robins
Recreation Department is
scheduled to begin registration
for its youth football and cheer
leading program July 16 from 8
a.m. until 1 p.m.
Registration will continue
the following week, July 18-22,
Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m. until all of the leagues
are filled. The program is for
boys and girls ages 5 to 12.
Children registering for foot
ball will be required to submit
their weight at the time of reg
istration. Parents need to bring
their children's birth certificates
and participation feet with them
when they register their chil
dren.
For football, the cost per child
is SSO for city, $lO3 for county
and $177 for out of county. For
cheerleading, the cost per child
is $75 for city, SIOO for county
and $l2O for out of county.
For more information, call
929-1916.
Archery championship
to bo held in Conyers
Arrows will be flying July 16
and 17 at Rockdale County
Soccer Complex located
in Conyers, as the Georgia
Games hosts their 15th annual
Archery championship.
Archers have the option
of competing in Compound
or Recurve bow events.
Compound bow will consist
of open, limited, and barebow
events, while Recurve will hold
Olympic and traditional styles.
Anyone interested in com
peting must register by July
3rd. Registration is open to all
Georgia residents. Fees run
sl7 for archers ages 15 and
over, while participants under
15 pay $lO.
For more information on
this year's event, contact the
Georgia Games at (770) 528-
3582 or visit their Web site at
at www.georgiagames.org.
WR Rec registering tor
swimming lessons
Warner Robins Recreation
Department is registering for
American Red Cross swim
ming lessons. For more infor
mation, call 929-1916.
WR Rec to host boys,
girls toornaments
The Warner Robins
Recreation Department will
play host to the senior boys
baseball tournament and
senior girls softball tourna
ment. Both events are sched
uled to run Wednesday-
Friday. The boys will play at
Perkins and the girls will play
at Warner Robins High School
Demonettes’ field.
TUESDAY,
JULY 5, 2005
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HHJ/Don Moncrief
Woody Callaway prepares his National Vintage Racing Association car for raceday.
The Blue Bind of paradise
At work, on the track, Callaway enjoys a bus load of success
By DON MONCRIEF
HHJ Sports Editor
Football was great,
but it just didn’t
hold a candle to rac
ing for Woody Callaway.
Born in 1950, he grew up
SPECIAL
SERIES
The National
Vintage Racing
Association
6 of 8
His earliest recollection of
being associated with racing
is when his parents - his
father worked on base, his
mother was self-employed
and had her own nursery
- used to take him to Palmer
Speedway. He was 5 or 6 at
the time.
He said he also remem
bers liking to listen to racing
on the radio on Sundays.
Nevertheless, an ath
lete all of his young life, it
didn’t appear that would be
a career path until he was
14 and walking home from
middle school football prac
tice.
“I was walking on Shirley
Drive,” said today’s 55-year
old, “When I passed by this
’32 Ford two-door sedan. I
was like, ‘Man, I want to
buy that car. I think they
wanted S2OO for it.”
“I guess you could say
(that day) I traded in my
football helmet for a driver’s
one.”
It wasn’t the first car he
owned - at one point ear
lier he had paid $lO for a
model A Ford he eventu
ally restored - but it was the
first he raced.
That was when he finally
got his license.
W&Xu ' * «»-
in Warner
Robins - still
rem e m -
bers driv
ing his bike
to the Rama
Theater
when it was
down on
front street.
Woody Callaway
Born: July 30, 1950
Place of birth: Macon
Children: Two (one is a crew
member for the Netzero car in
the Nextel Series)
Races won: Well over 100
Most memorable race: The
Georgia 100. “It was a 100-lap
race,” he said, “And unlike these
cars of today, there was no
headrest. The last 15 laps my
head was so tired I couldn’t hold
my head up. I was going down
the straightaway with my neck
like this (crooked to one side). I
couldn't straighten it up.”
Pending that, he said he
spent most of his time vis
iting the local racetracks,
“just watching.”
At age 16 he began doing
some part-time racing at
Warner Robins Dragway.
He also went to work for
the agricultural office for
about a year - spraying for
ants - before being hired by
Blue Bird as an experimen
tal engineer, and with a job
description some of which
could have prepared him for
anything on the racetrack.
“We did ... whenever they
had model changes,” he said.
“Like if they were going to
Sports
make an upgrade on a heat
er. They’d build a prototype
... anything going into pro
duction. We’d get blueprint
and we’d put it in the bus
and test it.
“We did a lot of brake
checking,” he added. “We’d
go over to the airport, they’d
water down the runway and
we’d go speeding down and
lock up the brakes. Test
drive buses. Stuff like that.”
Expanding his efforts on
the track, he began off-road
racing in Florida - dune bug
gies - around 1971.
He did that, he said, until
1974 and gave it up “because
it didn’t pay” - literally.
“They’d charge $l5O to
enter,” he said, “and have
over 100 entries, but only
pay five places back. The
day I finished sixth (his
best) I said, ‘l’m through
with this.’”
Stock car racing, he said,
was coming back at that
time, so he said he prepared
a ’64 Chevelle and went rac
ing around here.
He finished “second or
third” in his first attempt
and then won the week after
that.
From that point on, he
said he’s always had two
cars (and a partner) ready
for racing at any one time,
and he was winning so much
money he said he wasn’t
even cashing his Blue Bird
paychecks.
“Somebody called me at
the office one day and said,
‘ls something happening to
your paycheck?’” he said.
“I was out running Friday,
Saturday and Sunday, win
ning S3OO or S4OO dollars
in a car that really didn’t
hardly have nothing in it
(monetarily).”
See CALLAWAY, page 13A
Soles competes in
Women's Classic
From staff reports
Lori Soles of Perry
finished 12th in Flight
3 at the Georgia Top 60
Women’s Classic, which
was held at The Club at
Savannah Harbor this
past week. She shot a 104
the first day and 100 the
second for a two-day total
of 204.
Jean Reynolds of
Newnan fired a final
round 71 to finish first
overall, winning by one
stroke. Her steady play
in the final round yielded
one birdie and 17 pars.
Roswell’s Margaret
Shirley carded an even
par 72, giving her a 141
for the tournament, to fin
ish in second place. Sarah
Donald of Athens, who
was paired with Reynolds
and Shirley in the final
round, shot a one-over 73
to put her at an even 144
for the tournament and
place her in third posi
tion.
Reynolds, who won the
Georgia Top 60 Women’s
Classic in 2003, became
the fourth person to col
lect multiple victories in
the tournament’s histo
ry. Janet Olp of Marietta
captured wins in 1989
and 1990, Alpharetta’s
Eleanor Walker won the
event in 1991 and 1992,
and Lee Kaney claimed
three titles (1993, 1994,
1997).
Whitney Frykman of
Armstrong's story
worth another read
lam going to climb
up on a soapbox
that has supported
my weight several times
in the past. But since this
particular audience has
not heard this rant yet, it
is new to you.
If I am preaching to the
choir, move on to the next
page.
The Tour de France got
under way on Saturday
with America's Lance
Armstrong going for his
seventh win in a row.
A lot of people, when
they read that sentence,
will automatically think:
bicycle race - not inter
ested.
But it is more than a
bicycle race. It is a 2,000
mile torture trek that
is arguably the tough
est sporting event on the
planet.
And Lance Armstrong
OUQ
fanatic: vn 9 u.'
pz —
l %klEl£
- .. mm —
Leighton Kersey
Age: 62
Serious business:
Retired.
Favorite team: "The only
team I have an interest in
is the Georgia Heat 14-
under (black) softball trav-
12A
Acworth placed fourth
overall at three-over 147
(72-75).
Alina Lee of Evans,
the youngest player in
the field at 14 years old,
posted a final-round 76 to
finish fifth overall at 148.
Hartwell's Anna Rogers
improved her opening
round 76 with a 73 to put
her at 149 for the tour
nament and secure sixth
position. Garrett Phillips
of Augusta, who fin
ished as runner-up at the
Greater Atlanta Women’s
Amateur Championship
in May, finished in sev
enth place with a 150
(73-77). Kristen Bragg
of Evans, a teammate of
Phillips at Augusta State
University, finished in
eighth place overall after
a final-round 79.
Christina Wentworth of
Macon, winner of the first
flight, finished in ninth
place with a 156. In 10th
place, also playing out of
the first flight, was Leigh
Hunter of Jasper.
Other flight winners
included Susan Svensson
of Smyrna in flight two
(159) and Rochelle Weaver
of Resaca in flight three
(172).
Originally known as
the Women’s Top 40
Competition, this event
was established in 1989 to
showcase the top female
amateurs in Georgia.
See SOLES, page 14A
>■ V-v
Timothy Graham
HHJ Staff Writer
ttfrdham@evansnewspapers.ccwn
is more than a bicycle
racer. He is the greatest
athlete in the history of
sport. And second place
has yet to reach the start
ing gate.
Most of you have heard
Armstrong’s story.
If so, then read it again.
Armstrong started out
See GRAHAM, page 13A
HH.J Joe Sersey
el team."
Favorite sport: Softball.
"That's what my grandkids
play."
Favorite player: Kelsey
Gilliam. "She's a pitcher.
The team she's on won 31
games in a row."
What’s wrong with sports
today?
"Parents are not getting
their children involved
young enough."
What’s right with sports
today?
"The biggest thing is that
children learn to compete.
It teaches them responsi
bility and helps them face
what’s coming in life.
If you were King of
sports, what changes
would you make?
"I would make players and
coaches follow the rules."