First part of 2017 featured milestones, region titles
It was a wild ride on the local sports scene in 2017 from thrilling games and performances to milestone accomplishments to region, area and state titles to coaching changes and so much more.
Today the Calhoun Times begins its series which looks back on the exciting year that it was with the Stories of the Year. Today’s recap will cover the stories for the first third of the year from January through April, and the rest will run in the next two editions.
So without further ado, here are the stories of note from the first third of 2017 (in chronological order):
Johns’ breaks Calhoun girls scoring record (Jan. 14)
The Calhoun Lady Jackets got a solid non-region road win on Saturday and a school record fell in the process.
Calhoun senior Jana Johns scored a gamehigh 23 points, which moved her past former Lady Jackets standout Taylor Palmer atop the all-time scoring list in Calhoun High girls basketball history, as she led her team to a 63-55 victory at Cartersville. Johns already holds the single-season scoring record after breaking that mark last year.
Calhoun Swimming wins NWGA Title (Jan. 16)
The Calhoun Aquatic Center hosted some of the best swimmers and teams from throughout northwest Georgia on Friday and Saturday, and at the end of the competition, it was Calhoun High that stood out from the rest.
The CAC hosted the second ever Northwest Georgia Swim and Dive Championships, which included more than 20 teams and more than 521 swimmers. The Calhoun boys team further cemented their dominance this season with a first-place finish with 421 points to easily defeat second-place Rome (285) and third-place Blessed Trinity (269). The Jackets remained undefeated with the victory.
Calhoun also took first in the combined team scores with 685 points to finish ahead of Rome (618) and Blessed Trinity (563). The Lady Jackets had 264 points to place fourth in the girls team standings. Rome (333), Blessed Trinity (294) and Jefferson (276) finished ahead of them.
Calhoun’s Rierson joins 1,000-point club (Jan. 18)
Calhoun senior Chapin Rierson is now part of a club that only nine other players in Calhoun boys basketball history can claim membership in.
Rierson surpassed 1,000 points for his career on Tuesday with a 3-pointer in the second quarter of Calhoun’s 62-51 victory over rival Sonoraville. He is only the 10th player in Calhoun history to score 1,000 points for his career.
“It’s a big accomplishment,” said Calhoun boys head coach Vince Layson of Rierson’s milestone. “He’s only the 10th player ever at Calhoun to do that, and there have been a lot of good basketball players here over the years. I was happy to be a part of it with him, and I know his teammates are too.”
Walraven, Wilson make Sonoraville history (Jan. 21)
Sometimes the pursuit of an individual milestone or record can take some attention away from a great team win, but on Friday at Sonoraville a couple of those efforts only served to enhance one.
On a special night for both senior Brad Wilson and junior Wil Walraven, the pair led the way to a convincing 74-56 non-region home victory over Southeast Whitfield while also making a little Phoenix history individually.
Walraven reached the 1,000-point mark with his 22nd point of the night in the fourth quarter, and Wilson broke the single-season school record for 3-pointers with his third from beyond the arc in the second quarter. Walraven finished with a game-high 23 points, and Wilson scored 22, including seven total 3s, to help Sonoraville run away with the win in front of a packed house.
“Brad is such an impressive, unbelievable kid, and when he gets going, you won’t find one much better shooting,” said Sonoraville coach Brent Mashburn. “He got off to a bit of a slow start tonight, and we really did as a team, but he got going in that second quarter and made a few from out there. When he does that, it really energizes us. He has that effect on us to make the guys feel more comfortable when they see him making shots like that.
“(For Wil) it’s a really great accomplishment. I think that he would give a lot of credit to those guys around him, but he’s a special player no doubt. To get to (1,000) points as a high school player and to do it with six games left in your junior season is incredible. We’ve asked a lot of him from Day 1, and he’s stepped up for his and only continues to keep getting better.”
First state title highlights Calhoun State trip (Feb. 6)
The Calhoun swimming and diving team took a large group of competitors to the GHSA State Swim and Dive Championships this past weekend, and several of them made their presence felt.
Calhoun was led by a program-first on Saturday night in the final boys event. The relay team of Caleb Black (Sr.), Cal Parker (Jr.), Bo Dyar (Jr.) and John Carroll (Soph.) finished first in the 4x100 meter relay to earn Calhoun’s first individual swimming state championship.
That top finish was a big part of the Calhoun boys placing fourth overall in the team standings behind state champion St. Pius, Westminster and Chamblee.
Black was also the first Calhoun swimmer to earn a spot on the podium in an individual event as he finished third in both the 200 meter freestyle and 500 meter freestyle. Black was also a part of the 200 medley relay team along with Parker, Dyar and Joe Kauffman (Sr.) who finished fourth.
Black, Parker and Dyar all earned spots in the finals of their individual events. Carroll earned a spot in the finals in two individual events, and Cody Workman (Sr.) qualified for the finals in one. Carroll and Kauffman were also a part of the boys’ 200 freestyle relay along with Spencer Brown (Sr.) and Josh Tolson (Fr.) who qualified for the finals.