Archive - Jun 2011 - Sports Article
June 20th
Friends and family packed the West Point High School gymnasium Friday afternoon as over 300 cheerleaders performed various dance routines and cheers at the West Point Junior Cheerleaders summer day camp.
In all roughly 320 girls from grades K-3 to 6 worked one-on-one with several of the junior varsity and varsity cheerleaders throughout the week all in preparation to perform in front of a large crowd.
It was obvious how hard they worked judging by the enormous round of
applause.
June 16th
Over a dozen West Point High School football players got in a few extra reps this week when they attended the second annual NFL High School Player Developmental Camp held at Itawamba Community College in Fulton.
The Green Wave, mostly freshmen and sophomores, got a chance to showcase their skills in front of area coaches and players over the four-day camp hosted by the ICC football staff. But it wasn’t all just about football.
June 15th
Despite some changes in coaching personnel, Hebron Christian School’s athletic department is keeping busy this summer.
New Athletic Director, and assistant girl’s basketball coach Gary Vaughan says he’s excited about the new season and the promise the team has shown under new head coach and headmaster William Cotton.
“We just came back from a camp at Washington School, (Greenville), and we were able to win the tournament on the last day of the camp,” he said. “We’re very proud of that. The girls have come a long way.”
Vaughan is excited about 6’2 senior Tori Nichols.
June 13th
West Point High School was in summer baseball action last Saturday as the number one team split a two game set, falling 9-0 to Hernando before topping Heritage Academy 8-4.
“We didn’t play that well in the first game, just real flat” coach Blake Hutchison said. He said offensively, although the boys were shut out, they did hit the ball hard.
Twice the Green Wave had the bases loaded but failed to make the most of situation.
“We hit a a lot of balls hard,”Hutchison said. “If we could have gotten a few to drop it might have changed the outcome of the game."
Wilkes Bryan admits he was pretty nervous about playing in last week’s Mississippi State Amateur golf championship at Old Waverly.
“The last time I played was 17 years ago when my friend Clay Homan won it,” Bryan said. That was Homan’s first championship.
Bryan shot a +32 in the championships and finished 59 in the 62 man field but it was his performance on Friday that turned heads.
After shooting an 84 on the first day, Bryan was sitting at +13 after the first nine holes with just one birdie and a pair of bogeys.
June 12th
Randall Weems closed out the final day of the 96th Mississippi State Amateur Championship Sunday the same way he started.
The West Point native shot a +5, 77 at Old Waverly Golf Club to finish +20 in the four-day event and 30th overall.
Thursday, Weems shot a 77 and his +9, 76 on Friday was enough to make the cut.
Another native, Wilkes Bryan shot an 84 to close out the tournament. He shot a hole-in-one on number 12 on day two. Ryan Ratcliff also aced the 190 yard, number 17.
June 10th
West Point High School’s baseball program continued their summer league Thursday night at the high school with both teams in action.
Team one swung the bats well in what assistant coach Blake Hutchison called the best they’ve played all summer after sweeping Columbus 6-4 and 10-2.
“We didn’t hit the ball particular well in game one,” Hutchison said. “But we had solid pitching and good defense.”
David McElwain is pretty good at tennis. The West Point native is slowing becoming one of the rising junior tennis players in the state.
Currently ranked fifth in the state by tennisrecruiting.com, the 15-year has had plenty of success this year, including his recent win at the Starkville Junior Open in May defeating Austin Paulding, 6-3, 7-6.
Right now he has least ten tournament victories under his belt. The Starkville tournament fielded about a dozen, but McElwain says the bigger tournaments can host as many as 30.
Greenville native Billy Brozovich takes a breather during round two of the 96th Mississippi State Amateur Golf Championship Friday at Old Waverly Golf Course. The Ole Miss Rebel carded a 68 in round one, and is currently -2 on the day and -6 for the championship.
In case you didn't notice , the West Point Parks and Recreation Department have started a transformation for all city parks in a new effort to bring more energy, and athletes back to the local parks and it started with the tennis courts.
Local leaders and tennis enthusiasts couldn't decide on whether to expand the courts or not.
Parks director James Crowley says it was a project he wanted to take on when he took the job about five years ago.
