Suwannee Sports
38th Annual Bob Palmer Tennis camp concludes
Live Oak —
corey.davis@gaflnews.com
LIVE OAK-Josh Fernald and Gabrielle Perry won their respective divisions at the 38th Annual Bob Palmer Tennis Camp held at John Hale Park.
Under the supervision of Bob Palmer and Pam Sherburne, a total of 45 kids competed for the individual titles, with Fernald and Perry taking home the trophies.
In the 9-under division, Fernald had to play a nerve racking playoff against Elaina McMillan for the trophy.
With nerves of steel, Fernhald executed the winning shot to win his first tennis title. McMillan’s strong showing suggests she has a bright future in tennis.
In the 10-over division, last year’s champion Perry won the title by winning the tie breaker against older brother Drew Perry and Stephen Hazlett.
In the playoff, all three players tied at two each. In the second round of the playoff, Gabriel tied Stephen at two all, while Drew, who only got one point, finished in third place.
Although Gabrielle was only nine, she never the less completed in the older division for the greater challenge.
“We do the camp to generate a little bit more interests in tennis,” Palmer said, “The kids have fun, it’s a big deal for the little kids and hopefully they will take the game up.”
Palmer has been doing the camps for 38 years along side Sherburne, who began assisting him 32 years ago.
Several of the 2009-2010 Suwannee tennis players including Katherine Haney, Mary-Beth Finch, Ashton Bracewell, Justin Garland, Lindsey Garland and Jabe Weaver all attended the camp, the lone exception being Sydnie Sine (who moved from Tampa).
Many of the kids who have attended the camp have come back to work, it is also their first job.
“The kids give back to the community also by being counselors,” Sherburne said, “Where they learn accountability like being on time and they also see things from a different perspective.”
9-under division
1. Josh Fernald
2. Elaina McMillan
3. Ian Willis
4. Mallory Fernald and Tori Lane
10-over division
1. Gabriel Perry
2. Stephen Hazlett
3. Drew Perry
4. Madelyn Lashley
- Suwannee Sports
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Jamboree time for Dog Pound
The Suwannee Dog Pound travels to Starke Saturday to participate in the annual Putnam Athletic League Jamboree. Admission is $3 for adults and free for kids under 17-years old.
All four teams including the Tiny Mites, Mighty Mites, Jr. Pee Wee and Pee Wee, will play a 20 minute running clock quarter at Bradford County High School.
The Tiny Mites will meet the Gainesville Blue at 10:40 a.m., the Mighty Mites will meet host Bradford at 11:55 a.m., Jr. Pee Wee will meet Gainesville Orange at 2 p.m. and Pee Wee will meet Santa Fe at 5:20 p.m. -
Dress rehearsal
Since the end of May when Spring football practice ended both Suwannee and Branford have been extremely busy in the summer preparing for the fall.
The wait over, as both schools will participate in their annual Kickoff Classic tonight. One of the many things that kept the teams busy was competing in a 7-on-7 passing league, conditioning and attending camps.
Branford coach Bill Wiles said in addition to his team playing 7-on-7 they have been lifting weights and conditioning. -
A new beginning
LIVE OAK-Another school year has begun and one school is taking the phrase “a new beginning” to another level.
Before leaving her post as principal at Suwannee High, Dawn Lamb hired Willie Spears as the new football coach. Newly hired Athletic Director Hunter Abercrombie has been on the job for two months now, joining newly hired principal Ted Roush, and in that short period, Abercrombie has had to replace several coaches as well.
Abercrombie accepted the job over the summer after working at First Federal for the three previous years. -
Back-to-back champs
LIVE OAK-Despite winning the regular season title, there was one team that remained a constant thorn in Suwannee River Community Church’s side: First Baptist Church of Live Oak.
SRCC (16-2) held off Tabernacle Baptist (15-3) by one game to win the title, with First Baptist (14-4) two games behind.
The lone team to knock off SRCC was First Baptist, which did it twice, so when First Baptist and SRCC met in the Suwannee Parks and Recreation Men’s Church League tournament at First Federal Sportsplex, you know SRCC was looking for some revenge. -
Dog Pound kicks off
The Dog Pound met arch-rival Columbia Tigers in a running clock scrimmage Thursday at Paul Langford Stadium.
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85 years of history
LIVE OAK-Suwannee High football celebrates its 85th season this year, having started in 1926.
This reporter has been researching the history of all four area schools and has come across many interesting stories. I am still in need of help of schedules and scores from several years, the attached chart shows some of what I have found and still need. -
Suwannee football history
^-Need schedule/scores
1939: (10-1) ^
1960: (2-8) ^
1961: (6-4) ^
1962: (11-0) ^
1967: (10-1) ^
1970: (6-5)
1971: (7-4) -
Quarterback Club on the move
LIVE OAK-The Suwannee High Quarterback Club has been busy over the summer with various activities.
Among them was handing out scholarships to deserving student-athletes to go towards their college tuition.
Recent graduate Joe McMillan now at Cumberland, was the recipient of the Ken Baldwin award and a Wesley Silas $500 scholarship winner.
Silas was a very active as a volunteer with the Suwannee High football team before his accidental death on the job on March 1, 1994.
Minnie Silas, mother of Wesley Silas, donates $100 towards the scholarship, while the Quarterback Club chips in with $400. Initial funding for the scholarship came from a successful charity golf tournament. -
Babe Ruth wrapup
LIVE OAK- We watched them compete for district and state titles for weeks at the First Federal Sportsplex, but what happened when they left town?
In the span of a month, about 60 Babe Ruth baseball teams competed in the District 6 (June 10-13) and North Florida State tournaments (July 15-17), but after winning or losing in the tournaments they all went their separate ways. So what happened to the winners from each of those tournaments? -
Green, White game this weekend
After two weeks of intense practices, Suwannee High will have its annual Green and White football scrimmage game Saturday at 8:30 a.m. at Paul Langford Stadium.
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Jamboree time for Dog Pound
