June 15, 2016 THE NORTH GEORGIA NEWS Page 1C SportsSee the Sports Section at nganews.com UCHS athletics 2015-16 year-in-review (part one) By Todd Forrest Bowdon. North Georgia News The guys would make [email protected] history of their own as they won their first State Tourna- ment game in 15 years when Union County High they went on the road to defeat School capped off the 2015-16 a familiar face in Bowdon. school year with one its most The victory was Union County successful athletic campaigns basketball’s first true State across the board with seven Tournament road victory in programs finishing in the top school history. Prior to this past 10 in their respective sport and February, all of Union’s State six different programs claim- wins were either at home or at ing back-to-back Region 8-AA a neutral site. titles. In the second round, the Union County finished Panthers would lose at Class 11th overall in the Directors AA’s No. 1 team Thomasville Cup standings which ranks and the Lady Panthers were schools based on their total edged at Putnam County, who athletic success. The Panthers’ went to reach the Final 4. 11th place finish was behind What’s even more re- six private schools. In the girls markable about the basketball Directors Cup standings, Union season is the amount of fire- County was 10th place behind power that both teams lost to six private schools and the boys graduation. The Lady Panthers were 17th overall behind eight replaced four starters – includ- private schools. ing Region Player of the Year Union did lose points for Brooke Maddox. Meanwhile, not offering as many sports as the guys lost four starters who other programs across the state, had all been contributors since as well as in 8-AA, where some their sophomore seasons. were able gain a headstart on Union County wres- UCHS for that very reason. tling’s Bryan Nelson placed In Region 8-AA alone, River- fifth at State Sectionals in the side, Social Circle, and Rabun 160-pound division to become County were able to accumulate the most successful wrestler points over Union in sports in the program’s short history. such as volleyball, boys and The 2015-16 Director’s Cup standings rank the schools in Class AA based on all sports. Each school is given a score based on reaching, and then advancing at state. A State Champion receives 100 points for that sport - the most you can receive per sport. The overall top 20 rankings are on Joining Nelson at sectionals girls tennis, swimming, and the far left. The boys top 20 are in the middle and the girls top 20 rankings are on the far right. Courtesy / www.gadaonline.com were Logan McClure (132 cheerleading. pounds) and heavyweight Josh Overall champion, Lovett team and softball team were on Gordon Lee in the opener. During the regular sea- out, with less than 15 seconds to Silvers. However, the highlight was able to take advantage of a their way to a runner-up finish After falling to Gordon son, Union defeated Lumpkin play to force overtime with the of the season was defeating pri- boys and girls lacrosse program in Region 8-AA with the soft- Lee on day one, Union was County and Fannin County game tied 48-48. vate school powerhouse Greater – a sport that this newspaper ball team reaching the Elite 8 in eliminated by Seminole County for the second consecutive In the extra session, Man- Atlanta Christian en route to a writer will not live to see played Columbus for the fourth time in the following morning. year, then knocked off Greene cuso and senior Knox Kiernan fourth place team finish at the at UCHS. 10 years. Union County football County for the third straight hooked up for a 3-yard scoring Area Tournament – the first The athletic dominance Following a regular sea- finished with its second con- time. In the season finale, the strike to put Union on top at time Union has placed at Area. began in the fall when Union son that saw Union County secutive 9-win season and just Panthers pulled away at Wash- 55-48. Bowdon would respond Overall, the Panthers County Cross Country swept softball set a new record for missed the State Sweet 16 by ington Wilkes to snatch the No. with a touchdown and a 2-point placed 10-of-14 wrestlers at the 8-AA Championships at regular season wins, Union one point during a 56-55 over- 2 seed from the Tigers for the conversion to steal the win from Area, and all were underclass- Riverside Military Academy County swept Bowdon at home time loss to Bowdon. The Union second year-in-a-row. the Panthers. men. The future is bright for back in October with individual in the first round of State before County football senior class Hosting Bowdon in the Union County sports Union County Wrestling Coach Region champs Emma Garrison traveling to Lamar County and graduated as the winningest opening round of state, Union would move indoors during Michael Smith-Foot. This up- and Lance Underwood leading taking two-of-two to advance class in the history of the pro- rallied from a 20-6 deficit to the winter months and the coming year, the Panthers will the way. to Columbus for the first time gram while senior quarterback tie the game at 27-27 early in Lady Panthers basketball team hit the mat with just one senior Both teams would fin- since 2010. Joseph Mancuso rewrote the the second half. The two teams would overcome an 0-3 start to on the roster, Zach Payton at ish in the Top 10 at the State Unfortunately, the injury Union County record books – would exchange scores for the finish at 17-10, place second 220 pounds. Championships in Carrollton, bug bit hard in the Elite 8 as setting school records in regular remainder of the game with in Region 8-AA, and earn the To be continued in next two weeks later. Union was matched up with season, postseason, and career Mancuso hitting sophomore re- program’s first trip to the Sweet week’s edition of the North Meanwhile, the football the defending State Champion offensive numbers. ceiver Cole Wright from 9 yards 16 since 2009 with a win over Georgia News. NASCAR 2016 Football and cheerleading By Gerald Hodges/the Racing Reporter registration ends June 24 Logano Powers to Michigan Win Sign-ups at the Union County Recreation De- Brooklyn, MI - Joey Logano shame.” body had been on the race track partment are coming to an end on June 24th. got a jump on the rest of the field Kyle Busch lost an engine with this package before. Ev- during the race’s last restart on lap in his car and was the first driver erybody is struggling to find out 192 and went on to score his first out of the race (40th). where the sensitive adjustments Football registration fee: $100 Sprint Cup win of the season, lead- Tony Stewart’s sixth-place are. The car has not been as loose ing 138 laps of the 200-lap race. finish was his best of the season. as we expected. We thought that Cheerleading registration fee: $105 Logano, the polesitter, along Top-10 leaders after 15 the problem would be flying out with all the other drivers had to of 36: 1. Harvick-526, 2. Kurt from underneath of you, loose on fight a new aerodynamics package, Busch-496, 3. Keselowski-480, exit and entry. The entry has been Please note that our website is currently down so NASCAR had instituted just for 4. Edwards-472, 5. Logano-455, a little bit of a problem, but the exit come by our office to register! (310 Wellborn St.) this race. The restarts were espe- 6. Elliott-453, 7. Johnson-441, 8. and center has not been a bigger cially difficult, with cars bunched Truex-433, 9. Kyle Busch-417, 10. problem than normal. up and sliding as they entered the Kenseth-409. “The cars have gone from **For more information call the Recreation office at turns. SUAREZ GETS FIRST 3,000 pounds of downforce in 2014 Logano was among the XFINITY CAREER WIN to 2,700 last season, then 2,000 for 706-439-6074 first to learn the handling of the Daniel Suárez won Satur- the 2016 season before yet another NASCAR-mandated smaller day’s Xfinity race at Michigan Joey Logano reduction to 1,500 for MIS. spoilers and splitters, along with International Speedway in Brook- 3. T. Dillon-416, 4. E. Jones-397, “It’s a big turn and it’s also Apply now for other items that had been changed. lyn, Michigan, to become the first 5. Allgaier-388, 6. B. Jones-388, disappointing to me that they de- Run Above the Clouds Scholarship All drivers had more slipping and Mexican-born driver to capture a 7. Gaughan-386, 8. Poole-373, 9. cided to pick one of the races that To Woody Gap 2016 sliding, which made for harder to NASCAR national series victory. Wallace-340, 10. Reed-301. I consider to be pivotal to my year handle driving conditions. With the victory, Suárez becomes BYRON GETS TEXAS and not make such a jump ball out graduates and those who are “I’ll remember that one only the fifth Latino driver to win TRUCK RACE of it. I wish they had left the rules currently in the ongoing schol- for sure,” Logano said in victory a NASCAR national series race, William Byron won Friday the same and give us a practice ses- arship process with The Run lane.