NOTEPAD: Mercer cross country begins season, Macon softball teams eye playoff positions

The college sports scene in Macon added another team to the mix at the end of August, as Mercer’s cross country teams jumped into action.

The men’s team placed second and the women’s team took third in the first meet of the season, the Covered Bridge Classic at Appalachian State Aug. 30.

Yianni Pothalakis ran a personal best 18:46.9 to place sixth among more than 90 runners for the men, while Nikki Harris’ personal record 18:13.1 in the women’s 5K was enough to snag seventh out of more than 100 participants.

Mercer cross country head coach Cameron Ruppe, newly installed over the summer after prior coach Josh Hayman left to take over cross country at Delaware, spoke at Monday’s athletics press conference on the team’s fast start.

“We opened up in strong fashion,” Ruppe said. “The men’s team is a very mature group, they know what they’re doing and they do what I need them to do… on the women’s side it’s the complete opposite, it’s a very young group, it’s super exciting… they have a lot of talent and room for growth.”

After the strong opening meet, the team hosted UGA track legend Lewis Gainey to chat about the sport and how to succeed. Gainey is well-known for his ability as a track and field athlete at Georgia and as a longtime coach that helped build up the program.

“He gave us some great stuff, we talked about how you can be competitive no matter what resources you have,” Ruppe said. “He built up that program, and we can do the same here.”

With the first meet done, the Bears now prep for their first in-town contest Saturday morning, the MGA/Julius Johnson Invitational at the Georgia Premier Cross Country course. The “Live in the Lou Classic” in Louisville follows Oct. 5.

ACE, FPD and others vying for prime softball playoff positions

With the postseason less than a month away for GHSA and GIAA, softball teams across Macon are getting set for the stretch run in what’s been an interesting season so far.

ACE once again maintained a stranglehold on Region 2-A Division I, racking up 36 total runs across both games of a double-header against Jefferson County to move to a perfect 10-0 in region play for the year. 

The MaxPreps rankings put the Gryphons at 11th best in the state among A-Division I teams, with region foe East Laurens close behind in the 14th slot. ACE has dominated its region opponents this year and only lost four games outside the region, many of those against higher classification opponents. The Gryphons have lost just one game, against powerhouse Perry, since Aug. 20.

The other Bibb County teams in the region have struggled. Central is the next-best Macon squad, 3-7 in the region and 6-8 overall. The record is good for sixth place in the region, but fourth place Dodge County is all the way at 7-2 in the region, making a playoff spot unlikely.

Northeast and Southwest sit at the bottom of the region with 1-9 and 0-9 records, respectively.

Rutland and Westside are behind the 8-ball in Region 2-2A. The Hurricanes sport a 2-6 region record, while the Seminoles are 0-8.

With a smaller region, though, the Hurricanes might be in the conversation. The fourth-place team in the group, Jackson, is only one win better at 2-6. Rutland has one more game left with the Patriots next week after splitting the first two games of the year with them.

Howard looks to be in a position to make the postseason, sitting in fourth place in Region 4-3A with a 6-4 league record and 8-13 mark overall. A difficult non-region slate has toughened the Huskies, though they have not competed at the level of region leader West Laurens, which MaxPreps ranks as the 11th-best 3A team in all of Georgia.

West Laurens no-hit Howard earlier this week, winning 13-0 to continue its dominance. The Huskies also suffered a surprising loss in an all-Macon contest recently, falling 6-3 to Rutland at home despite Jayla Evans recording a 2-for-3 night at the dish.

GHSA softball playoffs begin Oct. 14.

On the GIAA side of things, FPD has taken the reins among Macon teams. The Vikings got their latest win Tuesday, a 5-2 victory over Stratford, to stay atop the region and draw closer to a No. 1 postseason seed. 

Traditional powerhouse Tattnall sits close behind FPD, though. The Vikings are 4-0 in the region and 14-2 overall while the Trojans are 3-1 in the region and 16-5 overall. That one Tattnall loss? A 14-11 defeat in a shootout with FPD back on Sept. 5.

The teams have one more game against each other, a showdown at FPD this Tuesday at 6 p.m. that will have big playoff seeding implications.

The Stratford Eagles pose a possible threat as well, sitting at 2-2 in the region. They kept it close with FPD in their recent game and still have two contests left against Tattnall and another with the Vikings.

There’s much more possibility for shake-ups prior to the postseason in GIAA play, but FPD remains the favorite thanks to its stellar resume.

GIAA softball playoffs begin Oct. 17.

Mercer men’s soccer shutout streak ends, women’s soccer wins on Senior Day

The Bears men’s soccer team lost its shutout streak last week, giving up three goals against Kansas City in a draw Sept. 13 before giving up two goals in a 2-1 loss to Davidson Tuesday.

Mercer’s record this season now sits at 3-2-3 ahead of a tough game against No. 6 North Carolina this Tuesday.

The women’s team snagged two big wins over Georgia State and Presbyterian College.

The 3-1 win over the Panthers came on the road and saw three different Bears players score goals, including Larkin Thomasin netting her eighth score already this season. A late Georgia State goal kept the game from being a shutout, but the big road victory gave Mercer some momentum.

The Bears then came home and won their Senior Day game against Presbyterian College Sunday afternoon 1-0, as keeper Lindsay Bell earned the shutout and Thomason struck again for her ninth goal and seventh consecutive game with a score.

The wins bring Mercer’s record up to a nice 6-2-1 mark following tough losses to North Florida and Big Ten opponent Illinois. 

The latter game saw the Bears fight hard and keep pace with lots of shots on goal before the Fighting Illini pulled away late.

The women’s team opens Southern Conference play before the men, starting at home against Furman before going on the road to take on Western Carolina Sunday at 2 p.m.