The following message was released from the Georgia High School Association on Wednesday, July 15. The GHSA and the Sports Medicine Advisory Council appreciates our member schools' continued efforts in the successful implementation of the Coronavirus Guidance Plan. After our meeting today, the GHSA has elected to implement the use of football helmets only with the following stipulations: 1) football players may be issued a football helmet to begin using on July 20th and 2) schools must sanitize the helmet before and after each workout. All previously distributed correspondence is still in place until further notice, especially no use of locker rooms.  The GHSA and the SMAC has started the discussion concerning the start of the acclimatization period (beginning July 27), first date for practice (August 1) and the first contest date (different for each Sport/Activity).  More information will be available following next week's meeting. The GHSA Office is expecting all schools to continue reporting any and all Positive COVID-19 cases (list positive test date, athlete or coach, and sport) results since June 8th to Don Corr at don.corr@ghsa.net. In addition to the positive cases, we are requesting you report any and all individuals who have been screened out of any conditioning workouts (list date screened out, athlete or coach, and sport) to Don Corr at don.corr@ghsa.net. Recommendations and restrictions are fluid and subject to change.  Safety must be our top priority. Thanks for all you and your staff do for the student/athletes in the State of Georgia. GHSA Executive Director Robin Hines

A pair of Cartersville Country Club golfers wrapped up play in the 99th Georgia State Golf Association Amateur Championship Sunday on the Highlands Course at Atlanta Athletic Club. Rising Cartersville senior and University of Georgia commit, Buck Brumlow, tied for 40th place with a 54-hole, 14-over-par 227 total (72-78-77). Branton (76-75-81) tied for 58th place with a 232 total. Alpharetta’s Luke Schniederjans (72-70-71) edged Suwanee’s Brett Barron (70-69-74) in a playoff to win the 2020 state title. Both players finished the three-day event at even par 213. Maxwell Ford (72-71-72) of Peachtree Corners was third with a 2-over-par 215. Schniederjans is a 2020 graduate of the Georgia Tech golf program. Barron is a graduate of Georgia Southern and Ford is a rising high school senior at Rivers Academy in Alpharetta. He is committed to the University of Georgia.

Cartersville’s Buck Brumlow slipped to a tie for 38th place and Chad Branton is tied for 44th as the 99th Georgia State Golf Association Amateur Championship reached the 36-hole cut on the Highlands Course at Atlanta Athletic Club in Duluth. Brumlow followed an opening round 72 with a 7-over-par 78 Saturday to finish inside the cut line at 150. Branton fired a 4-over-par 75 Saturday after shooting 76 during Friday’s first round. Deven Patel of Johns Creek and Brett Barron of Suwanee are tied for the lead through two rounds at 3-under-par 139. Brumlow and Branton are among the 61 players to survive the 36-hole cut. Branton has an 8:48 a.m. tee time for Sunday’s final round. Brumlow starts at 9:36 a.m.

Rising Cartersville senior and University of Georgia commit Buck Brumlow is tied for 18th place following Friday’s opening 18 holes of the 99th Georgia State Golf Association Amateur Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club. Brumlow fired a 1-over-par 72 and trails co-leaders Steve Kibare of Canton and Deven Patel of Johns Creek by four shots. The leading duo both shot 3-under-par 68 in the opening round. Chad Branton, also a Cartersville native, shot an opening round 76 and is tied for 48th place heading into Saturday’s second round on the Highlands Course at AAC. Brumlow, who has a 7:48 a.m. starting time on Saturday, shot a 1-under-par 34 on the front nine Friday with a birdie at the par-3 fourth hole. He added birdies on holes 12 and 16 but struggles on 13 and 15 led to an inward 38 and a 72 total on the par-71 course. Branton, who will have a late start Saturday at 2:12 p.m., carded no birdies Friday and finished with bogies on holes 1, 8, 10, 12, and 16 for his 76. Typically a 72-hole event, the 2020 State Amateur is being conducted as a 54-hole event. Following Saturday’s second round, the field will be cut to the low 60 players and ties for Sunday’s final round.

The 2020 Bartow County Panthers travel football teams will hold open tryouts Saturday, July 18 at Hamilton Crossing Park on the football field. Try-outs for the 8,9,10,11, and 12 year old Bartow County Panthers football teams will have these try-out times: 9:00 am- 9 year olds and 10 year olds 11:00 am- 11 year olds and 12 year olds 1:00 pm- 8 year olds If you need more information, please contact the Bartow County Recreation Department at (770) 387-5149. Registration begins 30 minutes prior to each age group tryout. Open workouts / conditioning is also available July 13 and 15 at Hamilton Crossing Park at 7:30 p.m.

Registrations for Cartersville Parks and Recreation Department Fall 2020 football and cheerleading begins July 13. Call (770) 387-5626 or visit www.cityofcartersville.org. Fall 2020 - Tackle Football & Cheerleading Registration Dates: July 13th – August 14th Registration Fee: July 13th – July 19th $65.00 + $20.00 non resident fee if applicable July 20th – August 14th $75.00 + $20.00 non resident fee if applicable Late Registration Fee: $125.00 + $20 non resident fee if applicable Practice Start: August 24th Season: September 14th – October 31st

Registration for Fall 2020 sports and activities with the Bartow County Recreation Department are now available. Sign up online at bartowga.org or call 770-387-5149.

Buck Brumlow of Cartersville fired rounds of 75-74-73 Monday through Wednesday for a 222 (+9) total and a tie for 12th place at the 55th Georgia Junior Championship conducted at Savannah Golf Club by the Georgia State Golf Association. Brumlow, a rising senior at Cartersville High School, is verbally committed to continue his golf career in college at the University of Georgia. He also recently broke the course record at Cartersville Country Club with a 59. The 2020 Junior Championship was won by Rome’s Hogan Ingram with a 1-over-par 214 total. He shot 71 Wednesday for a come-from-behind win by one shot over Parker Highsmith. Jackson Buchanan placed third and was two shots back. Jake Lawson of Cartersville made the 36-hole cut and finished in a tie for 57th place (238, +25). Locals Chanc Willis and Jeb McDonald played in the championship but missed the cut of 156.

When Georgia High School Association schools were allowed to begin conditioning earlier this month, teams were not allowed to use equipment related to their specific sports. Those rules change next week with workouts on Monday, June 22. Wednesday, the GHSA adjusted their guidance to allow the use of balls during workouts and to allow larger groups of players, coaches, and staff in the sessions. Scrimmages and contact still will not be allowed and sport-specific balls must be sanitized in between sessions. Locker rooms and showers will remain closed. Workouts began earlier this month with a limit of 20 total people including coaches. The limit was raised to 25 this week but will now rise to 50 beginning Monday. The other existing guidelines for student workouts will remain in place. At this point for football, quarterbacks will now be able to throw to receivers but due to social distancing requirements still in place, receivers are not allowed to work against defensive backs. More revisions and changes in the restrictions will be necessary before 7-on-7 or lineman camps can take place. No competition between schools for any sports are allowed at this time.

This past weekend, the 14U Georgia Power baseball club won the 14U Prep Baseball Report Classic played at LakePoint in Emerson. Three Cartersville High School rising freshmen are members of that team — Landon Cole, Caleb Daniel, and Ryan Johnson. Georgia Power 14U went 2-0-1 in Pool B to reach the championship bracket. The team then blanked the 6-4-3 DP Cougars in the semifinals before shutting out the Meridian Panthers in the championship game, 6-0.

It was a different kind of opening day for workouts on local high school campuses Monday, but from all indications the local athletic directors, coaching staffs, and athletes made the best of their opportunities amidst the COVID-19 restrictions and requirements. Monday was the first day the Georgia High School Association allowed weightlifting and conditioning for athletes since the pandemic shutdown of activities in the winter of 2020. Schools across Bartow, Coweta, Fayette, Forsyth, Gwinnett, and Hall counties were lifting weights, running sprints, and participating in other conditioning activities Monday. Nearby Cherokee plans to begin Wednesday and the majority of schools in Atlanta, Cobb, and Fulton plan to begin next week. Student athletes and coaches were not only limited to 20 or fewer in their workout groups Monday, but each person was pre-screened with a series of questions. Body temperatures were checked and there were no communal water sources. Athletes were required to provide their own water bottles. There were also cleaning periods throughout the day allowing weight room equipment to be sanitized between groups of athletes. Based on social media posts, there was excitement at each of the local schools as altered summer workouts began. The enthusiasm is obvious.

Woodland High School’s McKenna Trapheagen was named by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last Friday as the girls cross country Athlete of the Year. The recognition was inclusive of all GHSA schools and all classifications. The release also included Athletes of the Year in girls and boys basketball, cheerleading, boys cross country, football, fast pitch softball, girls and boys swimming, volleyball, and wrestling. Trapheagen, a senior who has signed to run cross country and track at Georgia Tech, posted the fastest time at the Georgia High School Association state meet. She completed the course in Carrollton in 18:27.67 to win the Class 5A classification for the second consecutive year. During her four-year high school career, her Lady Cats teams won two state titles (2016, 2018) and had a pair of state runner-up finishes (2017, 2019).