By Nick Nunn
Staff Writer

Last Saturday, the Swim Dogs were back at the Ramsey Center to participate in the Clarke-Oconee Invitational. Competing against 33 schools from around Ga., Mary Claire Cardwell earned first in the 100-yard backstroke, and Zach Fossum placed 11th in the 100-yard butterfly. The results of the meet with Eastside in Covington from Tuesday, which was their last meet of the year, will be in next week’s edition.

Printed in the January 24, 2013 edition.

By Nick Nunn
Staff Writer

Last week, the MCHS basketball programs took on two region opponents, the Jackson County Panthers and the Franklin County Lions. The boys and girls varsity beat Jackson County 68-18 and 59-53, respectively, but the girls lost to Franklin 27-44, while the varsity boys stood victorious, beating Franklin 67-53.

The girls team created a 14-point lead in the first quarter while keeping Jackson County to only three points.
However, the Panthers fell into a groove in the second quarter and began to catch up with the Dogs, and, by the end of the third quarter, Morgan County’s lead had almost been eliminated.

Beginning the last quarter 38-35, Morgan County was able to hold on to their advantage until the end of the game, winning 59-53.
Alexis Brown made 17 points for the Lady Dogs against the Panthers. Tyra Smith had an unusually productive game with 12 points.

“The girls picked up a big region win last night and put us in position to apply some pressure to the other teams in the region,” said Coach Joshua Reeves.

“We were also playing at a very high pace with lots of pressure on defense.  We knew Jackson would make a run and when they did, we weathered the storm and finished the game the way we wanted to.”

No one could have predicted the boys varsity team’s eventual 50-point lead over the Panthers from the first quarter.
Although the Panthers showcased a slow, deliberate style, their defense was mostly solid during the first eight minutes; Morgan County was only ahead 13-7 before the second quarter.

After eight minutes, however, Jackson County fell apart. They only scored one point in the second quarter and two points in the third quarter.

By Nick Nunn
Staff Writer

The Morgan County High School swim team competed against the Jefferson City Dragons at the Morgan County Aquatic Center last Saturday. The Swim Dogs outscored the Dragons 1,049 to 456 in the meet.
“Overall the team had an excellent meet,” said Coach Steve DeLaigle about the team’s second home meet of the year.
Mary Claire Cardwell and Zach Fossum were the top scorers for the team on Saturday. Cardwell took first place in the 100-yard butterfly and the 100-yard backstroke races. Fossum scored more points for the team by winning the men’s 100-yard butterfly and the 50-yard freestyle.
The Dogs’ JV team also did well against the Dragons; Lilly Courchaine placed seventh overall, and Zach Seymour tied for second overall.
The next concern for the Swim Dogs is making times to qualify for the state competitions, which take place in a few weeks.
“The team has two more shots at State,” said DeLaigle. “We have three men who are just a couple of hundreds of seconds off qualifying time in the 50-yard free. The men's 200 free relay is also very close to a qualifying time.”
Members of the team have to produce a qualifying time in the next two meets, which will be the last of the year for the team before the State Finals. The first will be this Saturday at the Clarke-Oconee Invitational at the Ramsey Center in Athens, and the last will be on Jan. 22 at Johnson City Park against Eastside of Covington.
The State Finals will take place Feb. 9 at Georgia Tech after preliminaries which will take place the day before.

Printed in the January 17, 2013, edition.