The Mountain Lion Talk

Sophomores Louise Ratiu , Meghna Mallath and Joselyne Chapui all tallied their twenty-ninth competitive dual match appearance against Reinhardt on Tuesday (Feb. 28), moving into a three-way tie for eighth-most in that category since the 2016 spring season. Zoe Freke, with 33, is seventh on the list. Freshmen Emily Bush and Simone Mercier , meanwhile, have appeared in all nine dual matches thus far.   

With an appearance against Carson-Newman (Feb. 28), senior second baseman Ethan Underwood has tallied 139 appearances, tying alumni Nick Sexton for eighteenth-most across all NCAA-era sports at Young Harris.  If he appears in the remaining 34 games, he'll finish the regular season with 173 appearances, which would be tied with alumnus Zach Odom for twelfth-most (he was tied for twentieth at the beginning of the season). So if Underwood and Sexton are tied for eighteenth, who's above them? *Baseball alumnus Brett Westmoreland is seventeenth with 146 appearances. *Three people are tied for sixteenth with 157 appearances- baseball alumni Tyler Washington and Zach Wall and softball alumnus (and current Assistant AD for External Operations) Maddie Urquiola.  *Softball alumnus Lindsay Tudor is fifteenth with 159 games played. *Fourteenth belongs to Morgan Curley, who appeared 167 times over her career.  

Junior faceoff specialist/midfielder Jacob Haas picked up seven ground balls against Chowan and now stands at 136 for his career, which is the new third-best mark on the men's side. The only men with more are alumni Zach Stephenson with 327 and Zac Barrett with 194.   With a twelve-save performance against Chowan- resulting in an overtime win- sophomore goalie Dylan Wilbur has moved into second in program history with 296 saves. He moves past Sean Dever, who still holds the men's goalie games played record with 42. The only person with more is alumnus Mason King, who saved 397 shots. 

With 161, junior Ella Hancock is currently third all-time. The only people with more are alumni Rachel Lepine and Meghan Tonnesen. Fellow junior Kinsley Purser has tallied 89 in her career thus far, which is currently twelfth all-time. She's two shy of moving into eleventh while the tenth-best mark is 103.  Classmates Belle Hardwick and Emily Flynt are both in the top twenty with 34 and 31, respectively.  Senior Felisse Richard , with 18, is just outside the top twenty, needing thirteen to reach that standing.  Freshman Mary Troyer , in her first season, has 14 draws. 

After Saturday's match against Belmont Abbey, where on the career lists does junior goalie Maddy Meyers rank? 1. It was her thirty-ninth game in goal, moving her past alumnus Carter Moore and into second all-time. Alumni Julia Darroch and Rachel Robb are tied for the top spot as they've each logged 55 games in goal.  2. Her now 1,517 minutes extends her fourth-place mark, with the third spot currently held by Sarah Nudelman (1,647 minutes).  3. Her 290 saves extends her third-place mark. The only two goalies with more are Darroch (396) and Robb (401). 

With six ground balls, junior Jacob Haas - who reached the top five in men's program history- now sits at 129 for his career. On the men's side, fourth place is held by Andrew Kim with 131 while Matty Ledon is third with 132.  After a 14-save performance against Mars Hill, Dylan Wilbur now has 284 saves and needs just three to move into second all-time.  Senior Ethan Underwood logged his 137th game, extending his nineteenth-best mark for NCAA-era appearances across all Mountain Lion sports. Eighteenth on the list is baseball alumnus Nick Sexton, who's appeared 139 times.  Junior Mackenzie Johnson appeared in her ninetieth game for the women's basketball program. In addition, her 449 points this season is the second-highest single-season mark in program history, trailing only Ladondra Johnson's 498-point season in 2013.  Fellow junior Kalen Surles tallied her 300th assist. She currently sits second in program history with 301. Additionally, her 558 career points r...

3rd Place: Matty Ledon (132) 4th Place: Andrew Kim (131) 5th Place: Junior Jacob Haas (123) 6th Place: Kerry Ostrowski (120) *Haas moved past Ostrowski into the top five in 32 fewer games  *Jacob Haas is not only fifth on the men's side, he's tenth all-time across both teams- alumnus Jaclyn Kernohan is ninth with 130. The only people that have more ground balls than him in both teams' decade-plus history, in addition to J. Kernohan, are Kim, Ledon, Hannah Sacristan, Erika Cross, Rachel Lepine, Zac Barrett and Zach Stephenson. 

1st Place: Mason King (397) 2nd Place: Sean Dever (286) 3rd Place: Dylan Wilbur (270) 4th Place: Bobby Parker (217) 

2nd Place: Ladondra Johnson (190)  3rd Place: Shereese Williams (124) 4th Place: Junior Kalen Surles (122) 5th Place: Briana Bell (106) *Williams logged 103 appearances to get her 124 steals, while Surles currently has 87 appearances. 

Saturday's contest against regular-season conference champs Georgia Southwestern will be the home regular-season finale for Kalen Surles and Mackenzie Johnson, the latter of which has had one of the most prolific single-season point tallies in program history (moved from fourteenth to third on the all-time scoring chart with the first 400-point season since 2016).  What's on the line on Saturday? 1. Mackenzie Johnson can appear in her ninetieth game, which will extend her tenth-best mark in team history and put her one back of Ladondra Johnson for ninth.  2. Kalen Surles can become the second in program history with 300 career assists- and first since Lauren Smith in 2011- as she currently has 299 for her career.  3. Mackenzie Johnson is now second in team history with 67 blocks, as she has 27 on the season. She can become the second in team history with 70 for her career (she's currently eight behind the career leader, Ladondra Johnson). She can also become the first wit...

4th Place: Ladondra Johnson (2,473) 5th Place: Junior Mackenzie Johnson (2,416)  6th Place: Briana Bell (2,361) 7th Place: Sara Jorgensen (2,311) 8th Place: Peyton Robertson (2,288) 9th Place: Senior Carly Winters (2,260) 10th Place: Junior Kalen Surles (2,259) 11th Place: Breanna Gleeson (2,214) 

Two women's lacrosse athletes recorded goal-scoring milestones against Davis & Elkins. Junior Ella Hancock tallied four goals, giving her 54 for her career and tying Aubrie Valvo for fifteenth all-time (fourteenth is alumnus Katie McNutt with 63). Classmate Kinsley Purser scored two goals, with her first #50 for her career (she's currently at 51). Fellow junior Gwenyth Gibbons , with 43 appearances in her career, is one shy of tying alumnus Jade Smith for the eighteenth-most games played in team history. Junior goalie Maddy Meyers played the final ten minutes in what was her thirty-eighth appearance in goal, tying alumnus Carter Moore for third-most in team history.   Women's tennis had weekend matches against North Greenville and Carson-Newman that saw several people move up the leaderboard of most competitive dual matches since the 2016 spring season. Sophomores Louise Ratiu , Meghna Mallath and Joselyne Chapui have all now appeared in 28 dual matches, surpassing...

How many people has Mackenzie Johnson surpassed points-wise from the beginning of the season to now? Note: I'm only counting team alumni.  1. Sarah Woghiren 2. Kaycee Cash 3. Jenny Vernet 4. Breanna Gleeson  5. Keta Robinette 6. Shereese Williams 7. Meredith Tarver 8. Niaya White 9. Peyton Robertson 10. Briana Bell She's also surpassed Carly Winters, the eleventh on the list, but Carly's still an active member of the team.   A: She's gone from fourteenth to third in career points through twenty-three games this season. It's more incredible if you look at both basketball teams. She was outside the top twenty at the beginning of the season and is now behind just five people- CJ Wilson, Ladondra Johnson, Frank Adams, Steve Viterbo and Lauren Smith. 

The men's basketball team fell to North Georgia, but Karl Chavis set an impressive milestone, as he's now started all sixty of his appearances for the team. His 60 starts puts him by himself in sixth place on the program's NCAA-era all-time list.  The women's lacrosse team fell 18-9 to nationally ranked Embry-Riddle but the scoreline isn't the only notable thing about the game. Ella Hancock retook the season scoring lead with 9 after a four-goal haul, with her final goal being the fiftieth of her career. Fifteenth on the all-time list is Aubrie Valvo with 54. All three goalies saw time in the cage with Maddy Meyers appearing in her thirty-seventh game in goal. She's now two shy of moving into third all-time in that category (Carter Moore appeared in 38 games in goal while Julia Darroch and Rachel Robb each appeared 55 times).  The softball team split their games against Lee University, winning the first and losing the second. Despite the split, the Mountain Lion...

4th Place is Ladondra Johnson with 2,473   5th Place- Briana Bell (2,361) 6th Place- Sara Jorgensen/ Mackenzie Johnson (2,311) 7th Place- Peyton Robertson (2,288)   8th Place- Kalen Surles (2,229) 9th Place- Carly Winters (2,228) 10th Place- Breanna Gleeson (2,214) 

9th Place: Ladondra Johnson with 91 10th Place: Mackenzie Johnson with 86 11th Place: Kalen Surles with 84  12th Place: Sarah Reid with 83 13th Place: Sara Jorgensen with 81  14th Place: Lindsey Caudell with 80  15th Place: Meghan McQuade with 76 * Carly Winters with 75 Sidenote: How impressive is it that, despite having only the ninth-most games, fourth-most minutes and a minutes-per-game average outside the top ten in team history, Ladondra Johnson is not only the team's career-record holder in points, field goals, rebounds, offensive and defensive rebounds and blocks, but is also the only person in team history with two four-hundred-point seasons? 

5th Place: Niaya White with 67 6th Place: Carly Winters with 65 7th Place: Kalen Surles with 64 8th Place: Mackenzie Johnson with 63 9th Place: Sara Jorgensen with 59 10th Place: Breanna Gleeson with 56 11th Place: Keta Robinette and Meredith Tarver with 52  

Men's Lacrosse Tommy Haas now has 116 ground balls for his career and needs five to move past Kerry Ostrowski and into fifth place in team history.  Men's Basketball Karl Chavis now has 826 points, which is ninth-most on the program's NCAA-era list. Eighth on the list is Bryson Robertson with 836. It's also worth noting that he's started all 59 of his appearances and needs one start to move into sixth place all-time by himself, as he's currently tied with alumnus Ben Waterhouse (fifth is Bjorn Walker with 72 starts).  Baseball Ethan Underwood has now tallied 59 walks in his career to move into eleventh on the NCAA-era list, surpassing Logan Worley, Cole Jackson, Zach Wall and Brett Hawkins. Tenth on the list is held by Tyler Washington with 62. He also appeared in game number 131 against Lee University, tying Karah Straub for the nineteenth-most appearances across ALL Mountain Lion sports since 2010, and his now-101 runs scored is tied for twelfth with Josh Rudn...

Basketball The race for the postseason has officially entered the final four games. Both teams will host North Georgia on Wednesday in the Battle of Blood Mountain return leg before traveling to South Carolina-Aiken on Saturday.  What to watch for: Can Mackenzie Johnson become the third women's basketballer with a 400-point season and first since 2016? She's nine points away.  Baseball Tuesday @ Lee University Friday, Saturday and Sunday v. Augusta in their conference-opening series  What to watch for: Which version of the Mountain Lions will we see this week? Will we see the four straight wins with 10+ runs, during which they outscored their opponents 66-19, or will we see their Lynn-Barry form, where they scored 8 runs and yielded 12 in their first two of three games against Sunshine State Conference opponents?  Softball Wednesday @ Lee University Saturday v. Lake Erie  Women's Lacrosse Wednesday v. sixteenth-ranked Embry-Riddle Sunday v. Davis & Elkins...

Women's Tennis: Sophomores Joselyne Chapui , Meghna Mallath and Louise Ratiu appeared in their 25th dual match against Tusculum on Saturday, and all three now have 26 under their belts. The Lincoln Memorial match on Sunday was the 20th for sophomore Yureni Gomez and the 45th for junior Catarina Marcko Ferreira , who's appeared at least 53 times for the Mountain Lions with her eight cross-country meets taken into account.  Baseball: With two runs scored v. Palm Beach Atlantic, senior Ethan Underwood reached 100 for his career. He's also appeared in 130 games, which is two shy of moving past Karah Straub for the nineteenth-most appearances across all NCAA-era Mountain Lion sports. 

Sophomore Ally Cattoni currently leads the team with 7 goals- five less than her 2022 season total.  Junior Ella Hancock has scored 5 times, including the 45th of her career.  With 4 goals, junior Kinsley Purser is one away from 50 for her career.  Junior Emily Flynt , freshman Mary Troyer , junior Belle Hardwick , sophomore Morgan Lewis and sophomore Ashlyn Fraley have all scored 3 goals each.  Junior Ruthie Mandell and senior Felisse Richard have one apiece. 

Here are the current standings: Georgia Southwestern (11-3) South Carolina-Aiken (9-5)  Augusta/Clayton State/Columbus State/North Georgia (8-6)  Young Harris (6-8) Lander (4-10)  Flagler (3-11) Presumed tournament field (assuming the top eight advance) *These don't mean tournament seeds 1. Georgia Southwestern 2. South Carolina-Aiken 3. Augusta 4. Clayton State  5. Columbus State 6. North Georgia 7. Young Harris  8. Lander

Entering the season First place is Ladondra Johnson's 498-point season from 2013. Second place is Meredith Tarver's 433-point season from 2016. Third place is Ladondra Johnson's 431-point season from 2011.  New fourth place: Mackenzie Johnson with 391 points (2022-23).  Fourth place is Niaya White's 385-point season from 2019. Fifth place is Mackenzie Johnson's 364-points-in-27-games from last season. So far, Mackenzie has 391 points through 22 games at a scorching 17.8 clip, which means she replaces her own fifth-best mark from last season with the new fourth-place mark so far this season (dropping Niaya White's 385-point season to fifth).  There are four more guaranteed games to finish out the regular season. Third place is within reach- Johnson needs just 41 points to surpass Johnson's 2011 mark. By that same logic, second place is also within reach as she needs just 43 points in four games.  The 498 points, however, is probably safe- Johnson would need 1...

Women's Basketball: Mackenzie Johnson continued one of the best scoring seasons in program history, as her 20-point outing pushed her over 900 for her 86-game career (currently at 911). The only two people she's behind in program history are Ladondra Johnson and Lauren Smith. She's also sixth-best across both hoops teams scoring-wise. The only people who have more points are CJ Wilson, Johnson, Frank Adams, Steve Viterbo and Smith- pretty impressive company.  Not to mention that her 86 appearances is tenth-best on the women's side- just nine people across thirteen seasons have more.  Baseball: Ethan Underwood made his return to the lineup as DH after missing the last couple of outings. He not only recorded career run scored number ninety-eight (which extends his fourteenth-place mark in team NCAA-era history) but appeared in his 129th game, extending his twentieth-best total across all NCAA-era Mountain Lion sports.  Women's Lacrosse: Gwenyth Gibbons didn't scor...

Back in September, before the basketball season started, Mackenzie Johnson was the fourteenth-best scorer on the women's side and well outside the top twenty overall. She now has 875 points, which is not only fourth-best on the women's side but- currently- tenth-best across all sports at Young Harris since 2011. Here's just the former athletes she's surpassed with just this season's games alone: Corey Nelson, Justin Jones, Sarah Woghiren, Kaycee Cash, Jenny Vernet, Herdie Lawrence, Marcellus Roberts, Breanna Gleeson, Ryle Owens, Keta Robinette, Nicksen Blanc, Shereese Williams, Bjorn Walker, Kevin Altidor, Seth McCoy, Meredith Tarver, Niaya White, Isaiah Johnson, Bryson Robertson, Peyton Robertson, JB Charles and Brian Harper.    

Men's Lacrosse The season opener was a 19-10 loss, but several people stood out.  Junior Wyatt Peek scored three goals with sophomore Tommy Chriszt contributing two. Both have now scored 26 goals.  In his twentieth game, junior Jacob Haas contributed eight ground balls (111 total) for game-high honors and added sixteen faceoff wins for 193 in his career (North Greenville as a team won fifteen faceoffs).   *With 111 career ground balls, he's ten shy of surpassing Kerry Ostrowski (120) for fifth-most in team history.  Sophomore Ben Soenen scooped three ground balls and caused three turnovers.  Young Harris as a team held NG to one score on nine extra-man opportunities.  In goal, sophomore Dylan Wilbur turned away eighteen shots, giving him 222 for his career and moving into third all-time, surpassing Bobby Parker's 217 saves in a career that ended in 2014. Second-most all-time is Sean Dever with 286.  Men's Basketball Sophomore Karl Chavis ha...