East Hamilton softball coach Norma Nelson jokes with an umpire during the championship final softball game of the East Hamilton Softball Tournament against Ooltewah at the Summit of Softball complex on Saturday, April 29, 2017, in Chattanooga, Tenn.According to a story this week in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, GHSA executive director Robin Hines said the state's high school sports ruling body is considering moving the football championships out of Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
While Hines said a vote on the matter is not imminent, he said the price of playing the games in the three-year-old stadium (about $600,000 last year) was not cost-efficient for schools. The Georgia Dome, where the finals were played from 2008 to 2015, was about half the cost of Mercedes-Benz for the eight-game, two-day event.
Alternative neutral sites with at least a 20,000-seat capacity could be Georgia State Stadium, the former Turner Field, Georgia Tech's Bobby Dodd Stadium, Georgia's Sanford Stadium and Georgia Southern's Paulson Stadium.
Hines also said the GHSA is not considering moving the finals back to school sites.
Nelson honored
East Hamilton softball coach Norma Nelson has been awarded the local umpire association's Terry Cordell Sportsmanship Award. The Lady Hurricanes' veteran coach was honored prior to Tuesday night's 11-1 home win over Central.
"It means a lot to me because I believe in doing things the right way and teaching kids to do things the right way," Nelson said. "I want umpires and the opponents to respect us for the way we play and the way we approach the game in a positive way.
"I tell our players every year that I'm OK with them cheering for teammates and us when we do something good, but don't ever cheer against other teams. I appreciate this because it's nice to be recognized when you're trying to do things the right way."
GHSA playoffs continue
Numerous northwest Georgia baseball and soccer teams will be in action over the next two days as the GHSA postseason hits the second round.
In baseball, Ringgold (27-7) opens a Sweet 16 Class AAA best-of-three series with Hart County (16-15) at Bill Womack Field Wednesday in a 4:30 doubleheader. Also in AAA, Calhoun (25-5) plays at Pace Academy (19-6) on Thursday.
Also Thursday, Chattooga (19-11) visits Social Circle (15-12) and Dade County (14-8) travels to Bremen (25-5) in Class AA. In Class A public, defending state champion and No. 2 overall seed Gordon Lee (24-4) hosts No. 18 Jenkins County (11-11) and No. 11 Trion (15-9) travels to No. 6 Clinch County (21-6).
In girls' second-round soccer action Wednesday, Heritage hosts Oconee County in Class AAAA and Calhoun hosts Lovett in AAA. Gordon Central travels to Union County in Class AA, while Trion visits Georgia Military College in Class A public.
On the boys' side Thursday, top-ranked Dalton hosts Apalachee in Class AAAAA and Southeast Whitfield welcomes Cartersville in a Class AAAA match. Coahulla Creek hosts Lovett and Calhoun visits Westminster in Class AAA, with Gordon Central hosting Union County in Class AA. In Class A public, Morris Innovative plays at ACE Charter and Trion goes to Georgia Military College.
Area runners shining
Three Chattanooga-area boys' track stars are ranked first in the state in multiple categories as postseason action begins.
Red Bank's Cole Bullock holds the fastest times in the 800-, 1600- and 3200-meter races. The future Ole Miss cross country and track runner's 1600 time of 4:10.13 is just 2.93 seconds off the top time in the country this year.
Looking for a three-peat this season in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles, Arts & Sciences junior Brevin Sims leads the state in each of those events. Sims' 13.68 finish in the 110 event is just a half-second off the fastest prep time nationally.
Cleveland senior and Tennessee State football signee David Dorsey is part of the fastest 4x100 relay team in the state along with Zylon Cooper, Kees Tjaarda and Eric Parker. To go with their 42.14-second finish, Dorsey also leads the state in the long jump at 22 feet, 11 inches.
All-stars rescheduled
Because of scheduling conflicts with some of the participating players, the annual Tennessee-Georgia all-star basketball games have been moved to Tuesday, May 21, at Notre Dame High School.
The girls' game tips off at 6 p.m., followed by the boys' at 8. Admission is $10, with kids 7-under getting in free.
Bowden picks Centre
Marion County defensive end Ermiyas Bowden, a 6-foot-2, 225-pound former all-state player, recently committed to continue his football career at Centre College.
Warriors teammate Reese Barton (6-6, 195) was invited to be a preferred walk-on at Jacksonville State, and all-state athlete Isaiah Sampson plans to walk on at Tennessee.
Cougars add Dickson
Dalton High's 6-foot-9 Jagar Dickson has committed to join Cleveland State's region-champion men's basketball team.
"Jagar brings size with an ability to shoot the ball from the outside," Cougars coach Lee Cigliano said. "With more work, he has the chance to be a quality forward at the next level. He is going to give us quality depth at the forward position next year."
Davis to Lady Cougars
Walker Valley's Abbey Davis signed last week to continue her softball career at Cleveland State.
"She is a tremendous athlete who has excelled at multiple sports," Lady Cougars coach Katie Willingham said. "Playing at Cleveland State is a family tradition for Abbey, and she's continuing that legacy. I am looking forward to seeing the great competitive fire and drive that Abbey will bring to the program."