The Mountain Lion Talk

Where does everyone stand dual-match wise heading into Wednesday's spring opener v. Mars Hill?  Junior Catarina Marcko Ferreira has competed in 42 dual matches (along with her 8 cross-country appearances and an undetermined amount of tennis tournaments she's in the 50 club for total appearances). Sophomores Joselyne Chapui , Meghna Mallath and Louise Ratiu have all competed in 23 dual matches.  Sophomore Yureni Gomez has 18 dual matches under her belt.  Junior Leanna Wood has competed in 12 dual matches, tying Fatima Murphy.   Freshman Emily Bush and Simone Mercier competed in their first three dual matches back in October. Both of them also competed in September's USTA/ITA Southeast Regionals.  *Junior Bailee Wilson isn't on the roster for the spring season but appeared in 23 dual matches over her career. 

Any Mountain Lion fan will know about the rivalry with North Georgia known as the Battle of Blood Mountain, and the fact that there are some sports that each school has more success in between the two schools. YHC, for example, has the edge in men's soccer while UNG has the edge in women's soccer, softball... and women's basketball, although the Mountain Lions got one back last night, snapping a nearly decade-long losing streak in the series (even sweeter was the fact that they won on the road in Dahlonega).  Hip hip hooray!  Let's take a look at the other games at North Georgia the past couple of years just to put in perspective how monumental this win is: Last year: loss by 19    2021: Loss by 33    2020: Loss by 14  2019: Loss by 28     2018: Loss by 9  2017: Loss by 31      2016: Loss by 3  2015: Loss by 3  February 5, 2014: Last road win in the series  From 2015 to last year, YHC had lost eight str...

Young Harris club sports don't get as much attention as they should- there should be a separate website that just covers YHC club sports- including bass fishing.   Case in point, there was a bass fishing competition back in September that had a Mountain Lion pair competing- a King of the Hill College Series stop at Lake Hartwell.  Fishermen Will Harkins and Mitchell Grimsley were the twelfth-best pair out of seventy-six boats with a total weight caught of 13.47 pounds, which put them six-tenths of a pound off of the tenth-best spot. 

10th: Sarah Reid with 83 11th: Sara Jorgensen with 81 12th: Lindsay Caudell with 80 13th: Mackenzie Johnson with 78 14th: Meghan McQuade/ Kalen Surles with 76 15th: Carly Winters with 69 

The top two, despite the fact that their playing careers are most likely over, will more than likely hold on to their top two spots for a long time coming.  Haylie Shope is the only multi-sport athlete at Young Harris with three hundred combined points, getting her 311 with 204 points in basketball and 107 runs scored in softball. Jessica Beckner - who's the only Mountain Lion with 100 points each in basketball and volleyball- recorded a combined 295 points in 71 appearances between the two sports.  

Midfielder Lisa Bausum appeared in eleven varsity games in 2015 and 2016- starting eight and scoring once in just under seven hundred minutes- in addition to being on the JV roster in 2015.  Goalkeeper Isabella Martin appeared in just one varsity game for just under six minutes in 2015 but was the JV starter in goal that same season.  Defender Lexie Mosley had nine varsity appearances in 2015 and 2016, tallying one assist and placing both of her shots on target, in addition to being on the JV roster in 2015.  Forward Anna Smith tallied fourteen minutes of action in one varsity game in 2015 but was a JV standout in that same season, including a four-goal, eight-point outing against Georgia Military.  Midfielder Sam Van Ness tallied four appearances for soccer and another three for tennis, going 0-3 in singles.   

1. Sophomore Joha Bernis with 69 2. Sophomore Kori Still with 51 3. Sophomore Chase Vaigneur with 48 4. Sophomore Mollie Lawrence with 37 5. Junior Alex Pierre with 31 

2023. A new year.   An opportunity to turn over a new leaf. An opportunity, as well, to have some new things added to the YHC athletics website.  Here's my list: 1. A link on the website to the e-newsletter. It's linked in every competition write-up, so why not just post it on the website itself? 2. A cheerleading schedule page. This would be a more convenient way to access year-by-year recaps of the NCA camps and national competitions than by scrolling through the archives.  3. Bring back the JV soccer schedule and roster pages. Several members of the varsity teams competed on the JV squads over the years, including but not limited to Lisa Bausum, Rodrigo Freitas, Andrew Gillman, Costa Lopez, Isabella Martin, Lexie Mosley, Cameron Saul and Anna Smith.  4. Bring back the developmental basketball pages. Several people made the leap to the varsity squad, including Troy Cagle- who recorded 140 points in 22 varsity games- and current senior Lenny Pradia. Also related-...