Pierce County High School enjoyed a stellar spring sports run en route to capturing the Region 2-AAA All-Sports trophy this past spring, but there was still bigger hardware yet to come. In addition to the boys golf team winning the state title and the baseball team finishing as state runner-up, two other disciplines also competed for state titles in May. The girls golf team finished fifth at their state tournament, while several members of the boys track team competed as top individual finishers at the state track meet.
“We experienced an outstanding spring season with pursuing ‘excellence as the standard,’” Brandon Jernigan, PCHS athletic director, said. “Our student-athletes are second to none and are always striving to be the best in state.”
Coach Kip Burdette led the boys track team to a second-place finish in Region 2-AAA, narrowly missing the region title. However, three members wound up acquitting themselves well at the boys state track meet May 11-13 at Hugh Mills Stadium in Albany.
Emmanuel Jernigan claimed a pair of top-10 finishes for PCHS, earing fifth in the long jump and seventh in the triple jump. Elsewhere, Leroy Mason clinched fourth in the 300-meter hurdles and seventh in the 110 hurdles. Meanwhile, Kylil Miles finished close behind Mason in the 100 hurdles in eighth place.
On the links on May 22-23, Pierce County played host to both the boys and girls state championships. While the boys captured their respective state title at Lakeview Golf Club, the PCHS girls competed just a few miles away at the Okefenokee Country Club en route to a fifth-place finish.
“I am very lucky to have coached these girls for four years,” Erica Still Grady, outgoing PCHS girls coach, said. “I cannot express the heartfelt feeling I have for these girls and this program. We have come a long way from 10th place in 2014, fourth place in 2015, sixth place in 2016, and now finally a fifth-place finish in 2017. Fifth place may not seem like much to most people, but to face what these girls have had to endure over four years, a fifth place finish speaks volumes. I have watched these girls on their great days and their not so great days. These are the hardest working individuals you will ever meet.”
Leading the Lady Bears was Sloan Lanier, who carded 89 on the first day and 86 the second day (175 total). Anna Tiller fired 92 on the first day and 101 the second day (193 total). Kelsey Russell shot 95 on the first day and 99 on the second day (194 total), while Kayla Petrowicz carded 94 on the first day and 104 on the second day (198 total).
PCHS shot a team score of 275 the first day and 286 the second day for a total of 561. Franklin County was next with a team score of 565, followed by Westminster (584), Southeast Bulloch (590), and Savannah Arts Academy (593). It was the final tournament at PCHS for Grady, who is moving to Brunswick High next year along with her husband, Garrett Grady.
“It is with the heaviest heart that I have to exit the coaching world to pursue another teaching job for our family,” she said. “I have watched these girls grow not only in their golf games, but as individuals. I am told all the time that I have the classiest and most compassionate girls. I owe that to their parents and their community. I have been blessed to be able to be with them for this long. The hardest part is saying goodbye, and we got to do last week in our banquet. And today on the final 18th green, I got to hug my senior (Tiller) and walk with her on her final hole as well as hug each of their necks as we knew this was goodbye. The greatest thing is knowing goodbye is not forever.”
Grady also offered heartfelt thanks to her father, longtime veteran coach Greg Still, who returned to PCHS following a 30-year hiatus, to assist his daughter on the links this season.
“I do not think I would have been able to get through the craziness of hosting area and state tournaments if it had not been for him,” Grady said.
“In closing, I would like to thank the staff at Okefenokee Country Club,” Grady said. “We had everything we needed, and all of them worked countless hours and closed down their course to make sure the tournament was taken care of. Special ‘thank you’s’ go to Mike Ranew, Angeleek Strickland, and Brandon Key for hosting the state tournament and the craziness that goes with it. The facility was always prepared, well organized, and a great destination to host this big event. Without all of you, none of this would have been possible.”
Southeast/Pierce /June 2017
Pierce County High School
Blackshear, Georgia
Spring Brings State Championship Bids to PCHS
