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 State Meet: Gary Takes
Third, Perry Claims Fifth
Commerce's representatives claimed two
medals in the Class A state track and field meet Friday in Jefferson.
Junior Casey Gary took third in state with a put of 49 feet,
three inches. Sophomore Adam Perry was fifth in pole vault, clearing
13 feet.
Gary's third place medal goes with the second place finish he
had in 1999.
Brandon Blasingame of Crawford County took first with a distance
of 51-9 3/4. Second place went to Marquis Elmore of Charlton
County with a mark of 49-10 3/4.
The top five Class A pole vaulters all cleared 13-0. Friday morning.
Though three finished with 13-0 as their best mark, Perry took
fifth place on misses.
Landmark Christian's Eric Quint took first at 13-6. Lovett's
Michael Woodall also cleared 13-6 for second.
Former Jefferson track coach Jack Keen said he did not remember
five Class A pole vaulters clearing 13 feet at the same meet.
But it almost didn't happen.
With the field already narrowed to five, Perry missed his first
attempt at 12-6, while his competiors cleared the height.
Commerce coach Jason Oliver asked Perry if he wanted to pass
to 13 to keep pace with the others.
"If you miss at 13, you'll still be fifth," Oliver
told him.
Perry accepted the advice and passed to the higher height.
But since he had missed his first attempt at 12-6, he would have
only two attempts at 13-0.
On his second try, Perry cleared his personal best and reaching
a goal he had set for the season.
The Class A state mark is 14 1-1/2, set in 1989.
Banks County's Chris Ivey finished out of the top six in the
high jump, but cleared 6-2. The top six competitors were all
stopped after clearing 6-4.
Commerce finished the first day ninth in the team competition
with eight points.
Landmark Christian won its fifth straight team title with 93
points. Lovett was second with 40 points. Twiggs County rounded
out the top three with 35 points.
 Ivey competes in state
track meet
Banks County's Chris Ivey finished out
of the top six in the high jump, but cleared 6-2. The top six
competitors were all stopped after clearing 6-4.
Ivey finished as the runner-up in Region 8-A to earn a state
berth.
Rabun County's Matt Cannon claimed the region title and finished
fourth.
George Williams of Wilcox County took first.
AREA COMPETITORS
Commerce's representatives claimed two medals in the Class A
state track and field meet Friday in Jefferson.
Junior Casey Gary took third in state with a put of 49 feet,
three inches. Sophomore Adam Perry was fifth in pole vault, clearing
13 feet. Gary's third place medal goes with the second place
finish he had in 1999.
Brandon Blasingame of Crawford County took first with a distance
of 51-9 3/4. Second place went to Marquis Elmore of Charlton
County with a mark of 49-10 3/4.
The top five Class A pole vaulters all cleared 13-0. Friday morning.
Though three finished with 13-0 as their best mark, Perry took
fifth place on misses.
Landmark Christian's Eric Quint took first at 13-6. Lovett's
Michael Woodall also cleared 13-6 for second.
Former Jefferson track coach Jack Keen said he did not remember
five Class A pole vaulters clearing 13 feet at the same meet.
But it almost didn't happen.
With the field already narrowed to five, Perry missed his first
attempt at 12-6, while his competiors cleared the height.
Commerce coach Jason Oliver asked Perry if he wanted to pass
to 13 to keep pace with the others.
But since he had missed his first attempt at 12-6, he would have
only two attempts at 13-0.
On his second try, Perry cleared his personal best and reaching
a goal he had set for the season.
The Class A state mark is 14 1-1/2, set in 1989.
Jefferson's 4x400 relay team reached the finals on Saturday,
taking eighth place in the event.
  Seven records fall in
Georgia Olympics
BY TIM THOMAS
Some like it hot.
The Landmark Christian War Eagles overcame a searing sun by making
some heat of their own during last week's 29th Georgia Olympics.
Landmark blazed through the field to win their fifth consecutive
state boy's class A track championship.
Landmark finished with 93 team points, 53 better than second-place
Lovett. The Eagles won three of six field events, and two of
nine running events in the meet.
Classes AAA and AAAA featured close team competition.
Marietta was the top dog in AAAA, winning by only five points
over Mays. Stephenson finished six points off the lead.
The top four teams in AAA were separated by less than 10 points,
with Mt. Zion coming out the winner. Stone Mountain, Northwest
Whitfield and Shaw followed, the three of them only 2.5 points
apart.
Crim took the class AA title, edging out Elbert County.
Seven state records fell during the meet, including one that
had stood since 1973.
Pedro Holiday of Pepperell shaved .04 seconds off the 17-year-old
record of 10.60 held by Johnson County's William Scott to win
the class AA 100-meter dash.
In the class AAAA 100, Douglass High's Ahmad Carroll set a new
record of 10.49, becoming only the second person in the state
to beat the 10.5 mark and tying Southwest Dekalb's Clint Crenshaw
(1998) for the state record.
Friday's field events were highlighted by some top-notch competition
in the long jump. Senior Terrance Huey of Marietta broke the
AAAA long jump record he set in 1999 with a mark of 24'6-1/4".
Jackson County's Tim Birdette was overcome by some powerful competition
in AAA, including Shaw's Lee Thomas, who set a new all-classification
mark with a remarkable leap of 24 feet, 9-1/4 inches. Carrollton's
Reggie Brown held the old mark, just 1/4 inch shorter.
Thomas also upset triple-jump favorite Reuben Houston of Starr's
Mill. Defending state champion Houston jumped 48 feet even on
his final attempt, but Thomas eclipsed that mark by 1-3/4 inches
to win.
Tyler Biggins of Washington County tied the 11-year-old class
AA discus record with an amazing throw of 175 feet, two inches.
Jefferson's Blake Gooch reached a personal best height of 11
feet in the pole vault, good for a sixth-place tie. David Boring
and Hunter Garner each had personal-best splits in the Dragons'
1600-meter qualifying run. Steve Green represented Jefferson
in the triple jump competition.
For the Panthers, Birdette fell just short of his personal best
in the long jump, but Chris Kubiak picked up the pace in the
300-meter intermediate hurdles with a new personal best time
of 42.29 seconds. Chuck Kubiak also participated in the discus
throw.
Sanders named coach
of the year
Ricky Sanders, Pendergrass resident and
North Georgia College and State University's Lady Saints softball
coach, was named Coach of the Year by the 2000 Georgia-Alabama-Carolina
Conference (GACC), and was also named National Fastpitch Coach
Association's East Region Coach of the Year.
Sanders, now in his fourth season as the NGCSU's Lady Saints'
head coach, led the Lady Saints to a 40-16 record in the 2000
season. The Lady Saints were champions of the GACC, as well as
placing second in the NAIA Southeast Region Tournament.
Sanders has also served as NGCSU's director of recreational sports
since 1994. He served two seasons as the assistant coach for
slow-pitch softball, until named NGCSU's first head coach for
fastpitch softball. His coaching and playing experience includes
a year of college baseball, as well as playing and coaching softball
at various levels.
Sanders currently serves as the softball chairman for the conference.
 Lumberjacks, Pirates
pick up last at-bat wins
Both the Armor Plumbing and Well Lumberjacks
and the Bread Basket Pirates had to resort to some late-game
heroics over the weekend as both picked up wins in their last
at-bat during their Saturday contests.
LUMBERJACKS 9, METS 8
Down to his last strike with two outs in the bottom of the seventh
inning, Sam Touge proved to be the hero of the day for the Armour
Plumbing and Well Lumberjacks as he ripped a game-winning single
to right center field to lift his squad to a 9-8 win over the
Modern Body Mets.
Pitchers Chaz Perry and Brad Osborne dueled an 8-8 stalemate
as each worked six innings with Perry recording a stellar 15-strikeout
performance.
Jake Alford picked up the win as he came on in the top of the
seventh and shut down the Mets, striking out two and surrendering
a single hit.
For the Lumberjacks, Jesse Compton turned out a memorable day
as he hit for the cycle, getting a single, double, triple and
home run to lead his team offensively.
Also getting in on the offensive action were Alford, who picked
up three singles and Perry, who singled and tripled.
Leading the way for the Mets from the plate were Josh Hix, who
singled and ripped two doubles, Brad Osborne, who singled and
doubled, and Matt Hix, who picked up two singles.
PRIRATES 6, PHILLIES 5
The Bread Basket Pirates' Clay Wilson ripped a game-winning RBI
double in the bottom of the sixth inning to push his squad to
a 6-5 win over the Strick Non-Woven Phillies.
Also helping out in the Pirates' win were Garrett Hochsteler,
who homered and singled, Keith Kincaid who singled and doubled,
and Kyler Dennis, who tripled.
Kincaid worked a complete game from the mound for the Pirates,
striking out nine batters while allowing five runs in six innings
of work.
Phillies' starter Josh Strickland worked three shut-out innings,
striking out eight batters and surrendering two hits before being
relieved by Adam Wiley.
Offensively, the Phillies were led by Andrew Brannon and Zane
Cress, who each ripped two singles. Also getting hits were Wiley,
who doubled, and Strickland, who singled.
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