Sports – Page 21 – Green and Gold

Fantasy Football Update: 2016

Published on January 27, 2016 in Features/Sports by Grayson Blount

Russell Wilson Credit: Peter Yang

Fantasy football has wrecked us all again this season. As the season has finally winded down, the majority of boys are murmuring how they do not want to play again because of the emotional turmoil that it caused in the recent months.

Wesleyan has several leagues that run within it. The seniors have a large league that has been in tact since 8th grade. This year’s winner, Clint Prettyman, said, “This was my first time winning the league. I have made the playoffs many times but have never been able to capitalize. I won the championship this year as the last team into the playoffs as the 4th seed.”

When asked about his team, Clint commented that his team struggled at times during the season. He said, “Some key contributors to my team this year was the QB duo between Carson Palmer and Russell Wilson and Amari Cooper.” He also managed to pick up Devonta Freeman and Doug Martin as free agents. Congratulations to Clint Prettyman as the winner of the senior league.

Now to look at the other side of the spectrum. The loser of the senior league, Drew Aspinwall, was pretty upset about his season. Aspinwall said, “It’s a game of inches.” Aspinwall managed to drop Todd Gurley before his spree of good play. Aspinwall also commented, “There is a slim difference from first to last.”

The junior class also had a good league this past year which ended with a winner of Ryan Weed. There were leagues throughout all grades at Wesleyan, across the Metro Atlanta area, and even around the world. Fantasy football is a huge activity that captures the male’s attention around the country and hold their focus for 17 weeks a year.

Fantasy football is a curse in the modern day. Money, time and effort all get poured into a single team in which you may be disappointed in for a year. The game does have upsides though. Quality time with friends and family, and constant updates on the NFL, which make good conversation starters. Fantasy football is now over, for now, but next year it will surely make yet another strong return.

Salyers Sets Sights on Olympic Trials

Published on January 27, 2016 in Features/Sports by Grayson Blount

There is a Wesleyan Alumni that has made a big progression in his athletic career. Nick Salyers, class of 2012, has made an Olympic Trial cut in the pool and will compete at the Olympic Trials in June. The trials are held a month before the Olympics in Omaha, Nebraska. The top swimmers from around the country come and compete at the fastest and most competitive meet of the year. It is difficult to gain a cut for the trials, as they require not only speed, but endurance and grit.

When asked about his training regiment, Salyers said, “Currently, my main focus is on having my best year in the pool for the Bulldogs. So my schedule and training is not unlike my previous years at Georgia. We have however thrown in a few more long course (50 meter pool) meets into our typical schedule, like our dual meet against Florida which is normally short course (25 yard pool), in order to prepare for Olympic Trials. Also during the fall semester and over the breaks we did a lot more long course training in preparation for the Trials this summer.” Salyers had a good year for the Bulldogs, being one of the top contributors to the team.

In addition,he said, “I swim from 5:30-7am then have weights from 7:45-9 and then swim again in the afternoon from 2:45-5pm every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And then we have drylands from 2:15-3pm and then swim from 3:15-5pm every Tuesday and Thursday. We swim once for approximately 2 hours every Saturday and have Sunday off. The NCAA limits us to 20 hours of training per week. And we hit 20 hours exactly every week.” Swimmers all around can attest to the fact that it is a harsh and exhausting training schedule.

Finally, I asked Salyers about his coaching staff and how they have helped him in his progression towards the trials. He said, “Our coaches at Georgia are world class, but then we also have strength and conditioning coaches, trainers, nutritionists, and access to everything we need to succeed in the pool, classroom and life beyond sports.” Coaches are so important towards a strong training program, and Salyers is the first of many to say that the coaches are top notch at UGA.

When asked about how balancing studies and time in the pool worked out, Salyers said, “It can be difficult at times. You really do have to sacrifice a lot at times in order to maintain the kind of schedule that I keep. But I thrive in that sort of challenge. It has been very rewarding to take on the challenge of swimming at UGA. Swimming has opened up many doors for me and taught me a lot about myself and a lot about hard work.”

Salyers is still looking to shave time of his 100 meter Backstroke, which is the event that he will be swimming in Omaha this June. His training will continue until then, as he looks to attempt to make the Olympic team as a senior in college.

Varsity Girls’ Basketball Team Said to be One of Wesleyan’s Best

Published on December 7, 2015 in Sports by Caroline Hodges

Senior Cairo Booker fights for a layup in a game during the 2014-2015 season. Photo credit: Brian Morgan
Junior Jameson Kavel dribbles down the court during the 2014-2015 season.

The Wesleyan Girls Basketball team is renowned for being a powerhouse, and this season should be no different. There is only one returning senior, Cairo Booker, who plays the point and two-guard position. She has committed to play at Wofford College, and she is a leader on the team. Natalie Armstrong returns as Wesleyan’s center who, Coach Jan Azar said, “had a really great second half of the season last year, played really well in the state championship, and had a great summer.” Mikayla Coombs is returning from an ACL injury that took her out of the game all of last year. Amaya Register returns at point guard, and Jameson Kavell returns at shooting guard. Azar says that Kavell shot the ball well this past summer and is Wesleyan’s “three point threat.” There are other returning faces, and some girls coming up from junior varsity who have worked fiercely to get a chance to play for the varsity team this year.

The Wolves were honored to be invited to play in the Nike Tournament held in Phoenix on December 17th. The top high school teams in the nation are invited to this tournament, and Wesleyan will be playing in the highest division. The Lady Wolves have played in this tournament two other times and Azar said, “It is the best competition that we’ve ever seen.” This tournament will help the girls’ basketball team get experience while playing against the strongest teams in the nation.

Azar says that the two biggest competitors in their region will be Greater Atlanta Christian School and Holy Innocents’. Wesleyan faced Holy Innocents in the State Championship, and GACS will be better this year than last. Wesleyan plays Holy Innocents at home on Tuesday, Feb. 2nd and plays GAC at home on Tuesday, Jan. 26th. Azar said, “This is going to be a fun group of girls to watch… This is one of the best teams I think we’ve ever had here.”

Boys’ Basketball Team Ready for a Successful Season

Published on December 7, 2015 in Sports by Caroline Hodges

The boys’ basketball team has players with a wide range of experience. According to Coach Ryan Hodges, the key players this season are Jason Morrison, Banks Ramsey, Christian McLean, Cedric Lynch, Grant Frerking, Jack Greer, Jalen Hodges, Jordan Argilagos, Harrison Cook and Sean McDonough.

Senior Jason Morrison during a 2014-15 basketball game.

Argilagos played as a sophomore, but took off for his junior year in order to focus on football. When asked about when he decided to come back and play basketball for his senior season, Argilagos said, “I found myself bored just working out all the time during the winter; I actually really enjoy basketball, so I wanted to play again.” Now that Argilagos can go to college for football, he can spend time on the court and be a stellar multi-sport athlete.

Senior Jack Greer during the 2014-15 season.

There are many big games to look out for this season. When asked about them, Coach Hodges said, “All region games are big for us. The GAC, Pace, and Holy Innocents games should be fun to watch.” Those teams will be some of the biggest competition that Wesleyan faces this season along with Lovett and Hapeville. The boys’ basketball team is also playing in a Christmas Tournament in Asheville, NC.

This team has an interesting dynamic with many experienced seniors like Greer, J. Hodges, Morrison, and Lynch and a few fresh faces like seniors Tucker Cannon and Argilagos. The Wolves had a great summer where the seniors showed their leadership. The seniors’ leadership, Coach Hodges said, “helps tremendously with the team’s chemistry.”

The Wolves are expected to have a great season with much support from Wesleyan students, families and faculty. When asked about how the Wolves plan on being successful this season, Coach Hodges said, “We look forward to playing an exciting brand of basketball this season by applying more pressure defense and traps while running out on the fast break to create easy scoring opportunities for us.”

Wesleyan Football Goes Toe to Toe with Model

Published on December 7, 2015 in Sports by Will Harper

Wesleyan advances to the second round of the playoffs after improving their record to nine and two with a 45-27 win over Model. The number two seed Blue Devils had home field advantage in Rome. The Wolves came back firing on all cylinders after a close loss in the region championship.

Wesleyan was very productive on offense all night, but got off to a rocky start defensively in the first half. “The offense has really hit full stride in the last two games,” said senior Tucker Cannon. Cannon scored the first touchdown of the night with a 60-yard reception from sophomore Banks Ramsey. He later scored twice more and went for over 200 yards.

Wesleyan was able to make a stop after the touchdown, but the following drive, Model corner Brendan Thomas jumped a screen pass and ran the interception back 70 yards for a touchdown. The extra point was no good.

The second quarter began and Wesleyan responded with a successful drive ending in a 10-yard touchdown run by senior Josh Garrard. Though the Wolves’ offense continued to move the ball, Model responded again. Chris Dublin showed impressive speed, breaking away for a touchdown run of over 60 yards. The Wolves scored twice more in the first half with a 10-yard run by senior Jordan Argilagos and a 45-yard field goal by senior Jordan Weaver. Argilagos had a big game with two touchdowns and over 200 total rushing yards.

Model scored once more with two minutes left in the half on a short run by Kyler Eldridge but the two point conversion pass was intercepted by Cannon. Wesleyan quickly drove down to Model’s 20-yard-line, but with some miscommunication allowed to clock to run out before they had a chance to try and score at the end of the half. The score entering the second half was 24-19.

Wesleyan made some adjustments defensively and only let up one touchdown in the second half. Continued success on offense led to three more touchdowns. Cannon scored two more times, and Argilagos broke a 35 yard run for six. These two playmakers helped the Wolves maintain a balanced attack along with Ramsey who threw with great accuracy all night. Model scored the last touchdown with a ten-yard run by Eldridge.

Next week, Wesleyan will play Jefferson County in Louisville, GA. All four teams from region 6AA moved on to the second round. In regards to the challenge ahead, Cannon said, “Jefferson County has a lot of athletic ability and speed, but if Banks keeps throwing the ball the way he is right now, no defense can stop us.”

Sports - page 21

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