i orter
WE HAVE IT COVERED IF IT'S PLAYED
1
May 15, 2019
MARY PERSONS BULLDOGS
StateFarm
281 Tilt College Drive Forsyth, GA 31029
478-992-9945
Hours: Monday - Friday, 9 am - 5".30 pm V
By Richard Dumas
forsyfh@mymcr.net
Persons who would
like to attend the third
annual enshrinement
ceremony of the For-
syth-Monroe County
Sports Hall of Fame
on Saturday, June 22
can buy tickets at a
handful of Forsyth
locations.
Tickets, which cost
$35 per person, are
on sale at the Re-
porter office, United
Bank, Persons Bank,
the Forsyth Welcome
Center, the Forsyth-
Monroe County
Chamber of Com-
merce office and Hay;
good, Lynch, Harris,
Melton & Watson law
firm.
Eight inductees,
Tra Battle, Lloyd
Bohannon, Richard
Chambliss Sr Harold
Clarke, Geraldine
Ham, Edgar Hatcher,
Bobby Melton and
, Jimmy Watts, will be
i!"enshrined into the
Hall of Fame at the
banquet, which will
be held at 6:30 p.m.
on Saturday, June 22
at the Monroe County
Convention Center.
As part of the an-
nual banquet, team
members, coaches,
cheerleaders and
managers of the Mon-
roe Academy 1973
and 1974 SEALS state
championship foot-
ball teams, coached
by 2019 enshrinee
Hatcher, will also be
recognized.
In addition, the For-
syth-Monroe County
Sports Hall of Fame
committee is request-
ing individual or busi-
ness sponsors for the
Hall of Fame banquet.
Sponsorship forms
are available online at
fmcsportshalloffame.
corn or in paper form
at the Monroe County
Reporter office, Hay-
good, Lynch, Harris,
Melton & Watson law
firm or the Forsyth
Welcome Center.
Sponsorship pack-
ages include: Gold
Sponsor Level ($1,000
donation) -- 8 tickets
to the banquet, a full
page ad in the ban-
quet program and sig-
nage at the banquet;
Silver Sponsor Level
($500 donation) -- 4
tickets to the banquet,
a half-page ad in the
banquet program, sig-
nage at the banquet;
Bronze Sponsor Level
($250 donation) -- 2
tickets to the banquet,
a quarter-page ad in
the banquet program
and signage at the
banquet;: Patron ($100
donation)-- name
listed in the banquet
program.
champion Wachtel leads MP to highest state finish since 2004
By Richard Dumas
forsyfh@mymcr.net
The Mary Persons boys track
squad recorded what is believed
to be its highest state finish in 15
years when the Bulldogs placed
fourth at the AAAA state track
meet in Albany on Saturday.
The Bulldogs amassed 37.5
points to achieve the program's
highest team finish since nning
the AAA state championship in
2004 when current MP head coach
Kip Burdette was a team member.
St. Plus X was the boys meet cham-
pion for the second straight year
with 81 points. Chapel Hill placed
second with 72 points, followed by
third-place Sandy Creek with 49
points.
MP sophomore Justin Wach-
tel captured the MP boys' first
individual state championship
since 2013 by taking first place in
the 3,200-meter race on Thursday
evening. Wachtel posted a winning
time of 9 minutes, 24 seconds,
which was seven seconds faster
than Marist's LeifAnderson, who
posted a second-place time of 9
minutes, 31 seconds. Anderson
edged Wachtel by three-quarters
of a second to take the top spot in
the cross country finals in Novem-
ber 2018, but Wachtel flipped the
script on Thursday.
Wachtel also finished in third
place in the 1,600 meters with a
time of 4 minutes, 20 seconds, edg-
ing fourth-place Anderson by 15
hundredths of a second. Oconee
County's Wesley John took first
place in the 1,600 with a time of
4 minutes, 18 seconds, besting
second-place Karthik Kochu-
parambil of Denmark by just over
a half-second.
Burdette said he thinks the
precocious Wachtel's early varsity
success is only a pre-cursor to what
he could accomplish in the future.
"Justin is a phenomenal talent.
I think that is evident" Burdette
said. "He is probably one of the
hardest workers and fiercest com-
petitors I have ever been around.
We felt like Justin was prepared
to sit at the top of the podium. He
and (assistant) Coach Steve Herr
do an outstanding job of preparing
physically and mentally to race, so
to us it was no surprise. Justin is
a team-first guy, and really takes
pride in team victories. He is such
a student of the sport and is always
The Mary Persons boys track team placed fourth in AAAA with 37.5 points at the state meet in Albany last
weekend. Members of the Dogs' 2019 squad include from left to right: 3,2OO-meter state champion Justin Wach-
tel, head coach Kip Burdette, William Stewart, Rico Harden, Desmond Williams, Quen Wilson and Wyatt Currie.
(Photo/Kip Burdette)
looking for ways to gain a competi- Jaylen Slade took the top spot with achieve a third-place finish by tak-
tive edge. I really think Justin is a blazing time of 10.66 seconds, ing the bronze medal position in
capable of doing great things and followed by Cross Creeks JaTravi- the high jump. Williams' leap of 6
could potentially chase down some. ous Stewart in second place with feet, 2 inches finished behind only
records and milestones in the next a time of 10.90 seconds. Wilson champion Sultan Simms of Wood-
couple of years" posted the fourth-fastest qualifying ward Academy, who posted a jump
Senior sprinter Quen Wilson time with an 11.03 in a 100-meter of 6 feet, 6 inches, and second-
also recorded a third-place finish preliminary heat. place Silas Griffin of Northwest
in the 100-meter finals with a time Senior jumper Desmond Wil-
of 11.10 seconds. Chapel Hill's liams became the third Bulldog to See MP TRACK Page 3B
By Richard Dumas
forsyfh@mymcr.net
MP junior Trippe Moore set new school single-season records for wins, ERA and strikeouts en route
to being named Region 2-AAAA Player of the Year last week. (Photo/Will Davis)
Mary Persons baseball swept the Region
2-AAAA postseason awards as MP had the re-
gion's Player of the Year and Coach of the Year.
Junior Georgia Tech commit Trippe Moore
was named the Region 2-AAAA Player of the
Year after a sterling junior season in which he
broke every major program single-season pitch-
ing record.
Moore set a new school record with 10 wins,
breaking the previous mark of 7 while going
10-1 with a program record 1.01 earned run
average (ERA). Moore also set a new single-
season school mark for strikeouts with 98 in
76 innings pitched. At the plate, Moore batted
.407 while hitting a team-high 7 home runs and
finishing second on the squad with 33 runs-
batted-in (RBIs). The five-tool talent also set
a new single-season school record for outfield
assists with 10 while playing centerfield and tied
the program single-season stolen base record
with 18.
Moore is the first Bulldog to be named region
Player of the Year since Joey Wilson received the
honor in back-to-back campaigns in 2010 and
2011.
Meanwhile, MP head coach Clae Mathis
claimed Region 2-AAAA Coach of the Year
See MP BASEBALL Page 3B
