NOTEPAD: Mercer football’s Moore gets NFL invite, ACE golf advances, FPD tennis wins titles

Mercer’s T.J. Moore, one of the team’s star defenders this season and a former unanimous All-American, received an invite to rookie mini camp from the NFL’s New York Giants this week.

The cornerback from Riverdale dominated for the Bears during their 2024 season en route to a Southern Conference title and playoff appearance. Moore had 64 tackles, seven interceptions and 13 pass break-ups.

Moore is second in all-time interceptions for Mercer with 11 after playing five seasons for the Bears. He ranked second in the country with 20 passes deflected in the 2024 season and was the runner-up for the Buck Buchanan Award, which is given to the top defensive player in the FCS.

FPD tennis win state titles

The FPD Vikings dominated in the GIAA Class 4A State Tournament for tennis, winning both the girls and boys championships Wednesday in the finals in Macon.

Both teams were the No. 1 seed in their respective brackets. The girls defeated No. 2 Brookstone 3-1 to earn the trophy, while the boys won their title 3-0 against No. 2 Tallulah Falls.

ACE golf teams advance to state

The ACE girls golf team won the GHSA Class A-Division I area title this week, shooting a team score of 174 to defeat several other regional teams for the
trophy.

Two ACE girls, Chloe McDonell and Hannah Forehand tied for the fourth-best score of 87 among Area 1 girls competitors.

The ACE boys placed second in Area 1 behind Berrien, finishing with a 330 score. Berrien shot 327. 

Mason Clark had a great showing for the Gryphons, tying for the best score among boys in Area 1 with a 75. Clay Pinholster followed with an 83 for ACE.

Unlike Class 4A-6A schools, the placings mean the Gryphons qualify for the Class A-Division I State Championship without sectionals. ACE will compete for the trophy with 11 other teams at Arrowhead Pointe Golf Course in Elberton starting May 19.

Stratford student sets new track and field record ahead of state meet

Tyler Burnett set a new school record for the triple jump last week, according to the school’s social media account.

Burnett jumped 46 feet, 11 inches to set a new high watermark for the school.

The GIAA will hold its state track and field meet this weekend at Strong Rock High School in Locust Grove.

Macon squads place at GIAA golf state tournament

Multiple Macon teams competed at the GIAA state golf tournament this week in Thomasville.

The Stratford boys team took fourth place. Phillips Swift shot a team-best 71 on the course, with Drew Sutherland followed with 73. FPD’s boys team finished sixth.

The Eagles’ girls team finished sixth, with Anna Burns Myers shooting an 87 to lead the team.

Mercer women’s lax win Big South regular season title ahead of playoffs

The Bears won a share of the Big South conference championship last week, finishing in a three-way tie for the top spot after notching a 19-1 win over Longwood on
Saturday.

After Mercer and two other teams went 1-1 against one another, the final seedings were announced Monday morning, with the Bears earning the No. 1 spot in the Big South tournament for the third straight year.

Mercer will play No. 4 Wofford in the semifinals at Five Star Stadium in Macon this Friday at 4 p.m. after securing bye and home field advantage.

Caroline Glus, a junior out of Hershey, Pennsylvania, has dominated for the Bears this year. She leads the team with 62 points on 56 goals this year and scored six goals in two games this year, once against Radford and again versus High Point.

MGA tennis teams make tourney, baseball players awarded

Middle Georgia State’s tennis teams were selected to compete in the 2025 NAIA National Championship bracket after finishing their regular seasons last week.

The women’s team finished 12-6 and earned the No. 7 seed, giving them a bye in the first round before playing in the second round May 14. They will play the winner of No. 10 LSU-Alexandria and No. 23 Bethel.

The men’s team had a record of 9-8 and were awarded the No. 16 seed in the tournament. They play No. 17 Morningside, a 24-1 team out of Iowa, in the opening game May 13. Should they win, Middle Georgia State will play No. 1 Georgia Gwinnett on May 14.

MGA also had multiple players named to the Southern States Athletic Conference annual All-Conference team.

Zane Faulk and Ethan Gill were named First Team All-Conference. Faulk hit .370 this year with 10 home runs, while Gill pitched his way to 7-2 record with a 4.18 earned run average with 45 strikeouts.

Mercer softball player earns conference award

Gabby Ellis was named Southern Conference Pitcher of the Week for the Bears on Monday after dominating during Mercer’s series victory over conference foe UNC-Greensboro over the weekend.

Ellis pitched two shutouts against the Spartans in the same weekend, throwing a two-hit shutout in a shortened mercy-rule game Saturday before tossing a four-hit shutout the next day. In all, Ellis had 12 innings of scoreless work without allowing a base hit while striking out seven batters.

UNCG had the ninth-highest home run total in all of Division I softball coming into the series against Mercer.

ACE names new coaches

The Gryphons announced new softball and volleyball coaches this week.

Andrew Claxton will be the softball team’s new coach. Claxton, an assistant at ACE for the past two years and a former varsity head coach and collegiate player, has a daughter that attends ACE.

Lonnie Wheeler, the coach of the junior varsity volleyball team, will ascend to become the varisty coach for ACE next school year. Wheeler began his volleyball coaching career at Mary Person’s High School in 2002 and also coached at Ola, Mount de Sales, Jones County and Locust Grove. His teams have played in the state tournament 15 times including three trips to the Elite Eight and one Final Four appearance.