Grady's 2002-2003 Fall Sport Schedules are on the web at

http://tk-jk.net/gradyproject/fallsports2002.htm

If you are interested in providing scores, and even better, game reports on Grady's Real News, please let me know.

-- Terry Kearns (gradyproject@aol.com), July 30, 2002

Answers

Athletic Boosters News

Varsity Football - The Grey Knights are off to a 5-2 (2-1 region 5AA) start. On a drizzly Homecoming night, the team rallied from a 14-0 halftime deficit to defeat Decatur 21-14, dazzling the large crowd in attendance. The last home game is November 8, Senior Knight, the team will take on Union Grove, possibly the region title on the line. State playoffs begin on Nov. 22.

Cross Country - Both the Boys' and Girls' squads won 1st Place at the City Championship in Grant Park, the Boys also brought home 1st Place from the Athens Academy Invitational. As this goes to press, the squads are competing at the Region Meet at Northgate HS.

Girls Softball - The Lady Knights showed a lot of potential under Coach Diane Black, with the help of Fred Koehl. The young team is on track to be competitive as the players continue to develop and mature.

Girls' Volleyball - Paul Nicholson's coaching and a more experienced team resulted in a turn-around season for the team. The girls finished with a 14-5 record, exiting the Region 5AA tournament with an early loss.

Athlete of the Week - Winners for the year so far are:

--Nena Fortney - Girls' Softball --Andrew Moore - Varsity Football --Krystal Brandyburg - Girls' Volleyball --Yosef Bekele - Cross Country --Stephanie Dingle - Varsity Cheerleading

Winners receive a gift bag containing t-shirt, $5 Woody's gift certificate, $5 Jersey Mike's certificate, school supplies from Staples, and more.

Homecoming Events - Grady students and supporters didn't let a little rain dampen their celebration. The day began with the Car Decorating Contest, followed by Pep Rally, victory over rival Decatur, and the finale, the Homecoming Dance. A cooperative effort of the PTSA and Booster Club, students were treated to music, lights, free food, glowing necklaces, and blinking earrings. (Was that Mr. Foreman sporting flashing earrings?) Thanks to volunteer parents Sue Hannah, Diana Padron, Alice Baxter, Alicia Oden, Pam Gordon, Francine Moore, and teachers and staff, who decorated, gave out food and gifts, and made sure the kids had a great time.

Senior Knight - Nov. 8 vs. Union Grove, 8PM. Honors senior for all Fall teams and Band. Volunteers needed to help assemble gift bags, inflate balloons, and assemble participants. Call Sarah Chaffin. 404.377.5487, boyzmom5487@msn.com.

Winter Sports - Try-outs are underway for boys' and girls' basketball teams, the season starts Nov. 19 vs. Pace. The cheerleading squad is preparing for their competitive season, after securing a commitment from the football players to attend their meets and cheer for the girls.

Spirit Merchandise - Long-sleeved mock turtlenecks, cardinal, with embroidered GHS logo are now available for $22.50, sizes M. L, & XL (larger sizes available by special order). Sales of t-shirts continue as well as stadium cushions, auto tags, water bottles, hats, visors, and more.

Fundraising - ESPN Magazine subscription sales continue, 2 years for $40, Boosters or team gets $30 for each sale - see fall athletes for info. Knight cards available from Football team - $10 gets 2-for-1 deals at area merchants: Jersey Mikes', Dominos, Dunkin' Donuts and more. Good for 1 year. Great Deal!! (Stocking stuffer for your student)

Sarah Chaffin 404.377.5487 boyzmom5487@msn.com Christi Johnson 404.752 0571 christi.johnson@bellsouth.com

-- Sarah Chaffin (boyzmom5487@msn.com), October 31, 2002.

Grady Plays Tough Defense in Loss to Paideia

Grady's efforts in practice to tighten up its defense paid off in Thursday's game against Paideia at Python Field in Avondale. After giving up six runs in the bottom of the first, most on Paideia hits, Grady's defense held them close through the remainder of the game. The final was 12-2, Paideia, in six innings. Excellent defense was played by Jessica Caldas, who covered a lot of ground in catching several drives to left field, including one that doubled a Paideia runner off second base. Line drives were caught by Ashley Anderson and Miranda Brownlee. Emily Koehl pitched strong for all five innings, and made four good plays in the field, coming off the mound to get balls hit in front of the plate and throwing out the runners at first. And Nena Fortney continued her good play behind the plate, blocking low pitchers in front of her and catching a couple of foul pop-ups.

At the plate, Grady scored in the second after Jessica Caldas was hit by a pitch, eventually scoring on a wild pitch from third. In the fourth inning, Miranda Brownlee led off with a single over short and was later driven in by Alice Bufkin's line drive to left.

Grady's next game is against Crim next Thursday, 9/26 at Southside Park at 5:00 PM. Come out and see your improving Lady Knights!

-- Fred Koehl (fkoehl@yahoo.com), September 20, 2002.

University of Georgia Stampede Invitational Meet 9-14-02

With a tropical depression moving up from the Gulf we were not sure what kind of weather to expect for this race. We decided to meet at 5:30 am, drive to Athens, and make the most of whatever the skies had to offer. The day was cloudy with intermittent light rain, but the course was beautiful, with rolling hills, at the University of Georgia golf course. The temperature remained cool all morning, a nearly perfect day for running cross country. The girls ran with a small squad as several team members had soccer games. They did very well, led by Rebecca Tolmach and Kiah Vernon. The boys are beginning to show the results of some very hard work as they finished second, beating one of our primary region 5AA competitors, Pace Academy. Following are the results for our team.

Girls:

Kiah Vernon 16th 23:23

Rebecca Tolmach 17th 23:24

Emily Thornton 60th 26:20 (running on her birthday)

Lauren Bishop 68 26:42

Courtney Lambert 69 26:53

Amanda Lochridge 75 27:25

Kara Peterson 85 29:13

Team points 230 9th/14

Boys:

Yosef Bekele 5th 17:49

Nick Stephens 6th 17:51

Chris Carpenter 16 18:58

Corey McCauley 19 19:10

Breen Chambless 35 20:03

Saji Girvan 39 20:19

Nick Ward 55 20:52

Jack Giardina 85 22:27

Team points 81 2nd/17

-- Jeff Cramer (jcramer@mindspring.com), September 16, 2002.

Grady Plays Decatur in Softball Today, September 12

After a hard fought and disappointing loss to Crim on Tuesday by a score of 16-15, Grady's softball team play rival Decatur this Thursday afternoon. The game is at Oakhurst Park in Decatur, starting at 5:00 PM. To get to Oakhurst, take College Avenue toward Decatur. Turn right on Feld Avenue. Feld dead-ends into the park and a small parking area. Hope to see you there!

-- Fred Koehl (fkoehl@yahoo.com), September 12, 2002.

Grady Starts 2-0 with 41-0 Victory over Cross Keys

After a close victory over Southside in the opening game last week (24-22), the Grey Knights had an easy victory at home over Cross Keys tonight.

Michael Payton started the victory with a 35 yard carry on the opening drive, and Demarcus Deadwyler followed with a 25 yard run to the Cross Keys 5 yard line. Andre Pardue took it in from there and Grady was off to a quick 6-0 lead.

Andrew Moore later returned a Cross Keys punt 33 yards to the CK 36 yard line, and Demarcus Deadwyler took it another 33 yards to the CK 3 yard line. Andre Pardue then took in in from there to make it 13-0 for the Grey Knights.

The Grady defense, lead by David Edwards and Anthony London, forced Cross Keys to punt again and Golden Roberson returned it 34 yards to the CC 16 yard line. 2 plays later Demarcus Deadwyler took it in from the 5 yard line to make the score 20-0 to end the 1st quarter.

Cross Keys was forced to punt to start the second quarter and Kyle Oden returned it 67 yards for a touchdown. Lukas Rentch added his 3rd extra point (5 for the game) to make it 27-0 in favor of Grady.

The Grady defense stuffed Cross Keys again, with the help of a 15 yard QB sack by Jesse Gordon and a blocked pass on 4th down by Jamari Norris. This set up a 27 yard pass from Alonzo Dennis to Andrew Moore to put the ball at the Cross Keys 8 yard line. Dennis took in in from the 3 yard line to make the halftime score 34-0.

It was more of the same in the second half as the tough Grady defense stopped Cross Keys again. Kyle Oden then returned the Cross Keys punt 35 yards to the CK 35 yard line. Alonzo Dennis then hit Andrew Moore for a 30 yard pass to the CK 5. 2 plays later, Andre Pardue took it in for his 3rd score of the night and Grady built a 41-0 lead.

Grady then played many of the reserves who also held Cross Keys scoreless and Grady ended up with a convincing 41-0 victory.

Grady takes next week off before facing arch-rival Crim on Saturday, September 21 at 2:30 PM at Grady Stadium. Come out and watch some exciting Grey Knight football.

-- Andrew Pardue (apardue@dtrac.com), September 09, 2002.

Grady Overmatched by Union Grove in Softball

The Grady softball team was overmatched by Henry County's Union Grove HS in the game at Southside Park Thursday afternoon (9/5). Union Grove's pitcher had both an outstanding fast ball and an ability to change speeds effectively, which kept the Grady batters off balance all afternoon. Pitchers Brett and Elissa kept Grady in the game by getting Union Grove to hit many playable balls. But the lack of offense was too much to overcome.

Grady's next game is a key one this Tuesday, September 10, against fellow APS school Crim. The game is at 5:00 PM at Southside Park. Come out and cheer your Lady Knights in what should be a very competitive game!

-- Fred Koehl (fkoehl@yahoo.com), September 06, 2002.

Grady Breaks Scoring Drought Against Paideia

The Grady softball team plated their first runs of the year Thursday afternoon against Paideia at Southside Park. The Grey Knights held the Pythons scoreless in the top of the first behind three good infield plays. In the bottom of the first, Nina Fortney drove Alice Bufkin in all the way from first with a triple to right field. After one inning, Grady held our first lead of the year, 1—0. Paideia came back from the second through the fourth, building a solid lead. But Grady scored again in the bottom of the fourth, with Alice again scoring after a hit by Rachel Caldas with an aggressive slide at the plate.

Grady’s next game is next Thursday, September 5, vs. Union Grove. The game is at Southside starting at 5:00 PM.

-- Fred Koehl (fkoehl@mindspring.com), August 29, 2002.

Grady's Softball Team Opens Season Tuesday, 8/20 The Grady softball team has been practicing for three weeks to get ready for their season opener. Grady will play Blessed Trinity this coming Tuesday, 8/20 at 5:00 PM at Southside Park. Southside is the location of all of Grady's home games. The park is at 3460 Jonesboro Road, SE. (From downtown Atlanta, take I-75 south, exit Cleveland Avenue, go east (left). Turn right (south) on Jonesboro Road; the park will be on your left just before you reach I-285). Come support your Lady Knights this season. A great group of about 20 girls has been practicing regularly under Coach Black's direction.

-- Fred Koehl (fkoehl@mindspring.com), August 16, 2002.

APS Football Jamboree on Friday, August 16, at 8:00 PM, at Lakewood Stadium.

The Grady Football team will participate in the Annual APS Football Jamboree on Friday, August 16, at 8:00 PM, at Lakewood Stadium. The team will play Therrell HS. There will be at least three mini-games that evening, beginning at 6:00 PM. We have been assured that the problems that occurred last year will not be repeated, as all parking lots will be open.

We may be in need of parent volunteers that evening, as there is a possibility that Grady will be given the responsibility of operating the concessions at the event. The Grady coaching staff has not been given a confirmation yet. It would be a good fundraising opportunity for the team, but the last minute timing will be difficult to pull off. If you, or anyone in your family, may be able to help, please let me know.

Thanks !!

-- Sarah Chaffin (boyzmom5487@msn.com), August 14, 2002.