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Volume 3 | Issue 5

Thursday, May 5, 2016

Inside 4 News

OUS names Summerlin a Teacher of the Year

11 Business

PHOTO BY CHANING GREEN

Vice Chancellor of University Relations Alice Clark, left, and Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Brandi Hephner LaBanc hold up two of the prototypes they went through when chairing the committee that decided on the new graduation regalia, custom made for the University of Mississippi.

Final Details

High Cotton Salon has plenty to offer for Mother's Day

17 Sports

New regalia coming to the UM 2016 commencement ceremony

BY CHANING GREEN NEWS WRITER

The commencement ceremony for the University of Mississippi class of 2016 will be taking place on May 14.

Exactly 4,714 students applied for May graduation this

year, according to the university. That number includes those who finished their degrees in December, 703, as well as those who will be taking their final required credits this summer. How many of that number will actually walk will only be determined

when they show up that Saturday morning to figure out their place in the day’s events.

The people working on this year’s ceremony are doing everything they can to make sure it is one not to be forgotten.

The commencement ad-

dress for this year’s graduating class will be delivered by broadcasting legend Tom Brokaw. Brokaw made a name for himself covering nearly major event that took place during the last half-cenTURN TO BROKAW PAGE 7

Youth movement: Lafayette's success on track sparked by newcomers

OXFORD CITIZEN

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THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

Move to OPD has been full of ‘flexibility’

BY JOHN DAVIS

ON THE BEAT

OXFORD CITIZEN

Craig Baker needed to get back closer to home.

And the Oxford Police Department allowed him to fulfill that goal. The native of Pittsboro moved back to Calhoun County a few years back to be closer to his grandparents. At the time, Baker was working in Summerville, South Carolina as a detective.

“I met my wife in South Carolina, but they were getting older and needed help, so I moved back to help them,” said Baker, who credited his grand parents with raising him.

“My grandfather passed away February two years ago and my grandmother is in the early stages of Alzheimer's. We live right next to them. The move was good, and I really love it here in Oxford. Being that I was moving back to take care of them, Oxford was the perfect choice for me because it wasn't a small town. It offered

Craig Baker things, the OPD, that I was looking for.”

Summerville, Baker said, had a population of about “55,000” and it was located just outside of Charleston.

“It's quite a bit different there. It wasn't a college town, so that adds a big dynamic to it,” said Baker, who spent four years working in South Carolina.

When Baker left home, he joined the military, the Air Force, to be exact.

That's where he got his start in law enforcement as he served almost 10 years as a military police officer. He served five years at MacDill Air Force base in Tampa, Florida. He

also deployed for eight months to Afghanistan.

He left the service as a staff sergeant.

All of the training has gotten him ready to appreciate the size of town Oxford is, and what the department can offer, all at the same time.

“You get more training.

You get more opportunities. There is so much more involved in a department like this as opposed to a small town,” Baker said. “When I first started here, within a week or two of me being here, I found out I had cancer. I had no sick leave, no nothing and these guys donated their sick leave to me so I could go through my chemo

JOHN DAVIS

Craig Baker has been with the Oxford Police Department the past three years. He is the officer in charge of the Flex Unit. treatments and everything.”

For the record, Baker went through one cycle of treatment and everything is in remission.

“That was a great introduction to OPD, to go

through something like that and have them take me in and take care of me when they didn't even know me,” Baker said.

There is a Flex Unit at the OPD and Baker is the officer in charge of that.

The idea is fairly new to the department from a concept standpoint. It started 16 months ago after Baker talked with Major Jeff McCutchen on TURN TO OPD PAGE 4

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

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OBITUARIES PAT CONNER Pat Conner, 63, passed away Friday, April 29, 2016 at Baptist Memorial Hospital in New Albany.

Visitation was held Tuesday, May 3, 2016, at Coleman Funeral Home.

A memorial service followed immediately following the visitation, also at Coleman Funeral Home.

Memorial contributions may be sent to Pleasant Dale Baptist Church, at 220 Pleasant Dale Rd., Thaxton, MS 38871.

CECIL SIMPSON FORD Cecil Simpson Ford, 83, passed away Tuesday, May 3, 2016 at Yalobusha General Hospital in Water Valley. Services are planned for Thursday, May 5 at 3 p.m. at Seven Oaks Funeral Home in Water Valley with Rev. Allen McGraw and Rev. Don Lewis officiating. Visitation will be from noon until 2:45 prior to service time.

Burial will take place in Oakland Cemetery at Oakland. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to the First United Methodist Church, P. O. Box 288, Water Valley, MS 38965.

BRIEFING Ford's Drive One 4 UR School on Saturday Belk Ford has partnered with Lafayette High School to offer Ford's Drive One 4 UR School program in an effort to raise up to $6,000 in funds to benefit the school. The event will take place at Lafayette High School on Saturday, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m.

"Our community has been fortunate to have the support of business leaders like Belk Ford," said Kelly Duncan, LHS Band Director.

“We are happy to partner will Ford for a program benefiting our school and our kids.”

The Drive One 4 UR School program was developed as a fun, engaging way to help high schools raise money to support their sports programs and extracurricular activities. For and Lincoln dealerships partner with a local high school to conduct a test drive fundraising event. For every valid test drive completed, Ford Motor Company will donate $20 to the participating high school, up to $6,000.

Drive One 4 UR School has had great success since its inception in 2007, with thousands of test drives and dollars generated for school through the program.

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

OUS names Summerlin a Teacher of the Year

BY CHANING GREEN NEWS WRITER

Cindy Summerlin is rounding out her third year as a fourth grade teacher at Oxford University School, but that was plenty of time for her to earn the title of one of the school’s two Teachers of the Year.

Due to her husband’s job, Summerlin has moved around a bit. She and her family have lived everywhere from Budapest to Germany to Texas. Summerlin is from Pascagoula. Her education is spread across the University of Southern Mississippi, the University of Mississippi and a college in Texas.

When she moved back to Oxford, she did not teach full time at first. She worked as a substitute at both OUS and the public schools. She worked at Discovery Day School for about a year. It was then that OUS had openings for a third and fourth grade teacher. She applied and has held the fourth grade position ever since.

Summerlin started her teaching career later than most. She said that when she was growing up, she never really had intentions of being a teacher. She always saw herself a more corporate role. Then life happened. She was living in Europe with the man she loved, she was having children, and one day a corporate life was not what she wanted anymore.

“I liked working with

OPD FROM 2

how to execute it.

“I had three guys that worked under me. Right now, I only have one because two got promoted to corporal and we're waiting to rehire those positions,” Baker said. “There are four of us normally and we work all the busy times. We do all the details but on a daily basis, our work days, we have some of our guys come in at say 4 o'clock so that they take that busy call volume time from 4 to 6 in the evening.

That's when our overall

CHANING GREEN

Cindy Summerlin, an OUS Teacher of the Year, stands in the hallway just outside her classroom, in front of a bulletin board depicting famous Mississippians. kids,” she said. “I had worked a lot with kids, and I thought I could maybe make a difference this way.”

In Texas, Summerlin taught pre-k and worked with math intervention, tutoring elementary school students. She never thought she would stop working with pre-k students, but found that she

really loves fourth grade.

She likes their independence. They are at an age where they are individuals with personalities and interests of their own, yet still little kids who want to learn more about the world. Summerlin said it is that kind of in-between stage unique to this age group that she enjoys the most. However, as a sub-

stitute she worked with middle schoolers and said that she loved that grade level as well as well. She has always found something to love about every age group she has worked with. It is this level of caring and love of teaching that has earned her the title of Teacher of the Year.

“I have really enjoyed my time at OUS,” She said.

I do believe in this school and think we’re going in the right direction. I think it’s nice to have a choice about where you want send your child. It’s not for everybody, but it’s a great place for some. I really like it. I hope I get to stay here for a little bit longer.”

call volume is very busy and it's also the time where the day shift is trying to do their reports so they can go home.”

What the flex officers do is take all the calls while the day shift fills out paperwork, and they stay on until the night shift is all in. Chad Carwile is the other current member of the flex squad.

“If there is no event or special event or say it's not a weekend, then we go do our own thing. We do traffic stops and look for things and do extra patrols and things like that,” Baker said. “If it's a weekend, we typically end up

on the Square or on a detail or something like that.

Most of the time, we will work 4 p.m. until 2 a.m.

That covers that two peak times with extra patrols on the road.”

Baker said that they really try to be selective as far as who participates in the unit. He added that they have made a lot of arrests, and over things like drugs.

“We have the opportunity to be proactive because we're not tied down to a beat and we're not answering the calls that the shift goes to,” Baker said. “We are able to do these extra patrols

and look for things.”

No matter how long an officer has worked, Baker added that there are always calls that stick out more than another in the mind.

“Without going into details, there have been plenty of those,” he said adding that he likes to help people the most.

“With the unit that I'm on, we really get the freedom to go out and do those things without having to be tied down. As soon as we come to work, you're going, going, going. And if we get a hot call, something that requires us to go emergency to, we're free

to go to all those. Anytime there is a major call, we'll go to it.”

The other thing Baker really likes about the OPD is the willingness to try new things.

“The department I used to work for, they talked about starting a flex unit, but they never implemented it. I like that they're willing to try new things,” he said.

“There is that diversity here. And it really is a family and they will look out for you even if they don't know you.”

chaning.green@journalinc.com Twitter: chaningthegreen

john.davis@journalinc.com Twitter: @oxfordcitizenjd

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

OXFORD CITIZEN

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OXFORD CITIZEN

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City Board holds monthly meeting

BY CHANING GREEN

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

UM graduate gives financial advice to women with new book

NEWS WRITER

BY KATHRYN WINTER

Tuesday night at City Hall, the monthly meeting of the Board of Aldermen kicked off with Mayor Pat Patterson thanking everyone at Visit Oxford for a great job organizing and executing another successful Double Decker Arts Festival.

The mayor also addressed the public about the closing of the local Caterpillar Plant, employing 240 people. He said that this was surely a great loss to the community and that the city will be working hard to find a solution to the massive job loss that will result from the closure.

One of the major highlights of the meeting was a request that came from the University of Mississippi. The school was asking the City Board to consider their proposal of closing down Gertrude Ford Boulevard on an uninterrupted basis from July 6 to Aug. 20. The road closure would be necessary for renovations to be made to the University Avenue Bridge, explained City Engineer and Public Works Director Bart Robinson. Aldermen took a vote an agreed to the road closure.

The city board also heard from Rob Neely, Superintendent of the Oxford Electric Department. Neely put forth a request to conduct an Arc Flash and Coordination study of the distribution system. Neely explained that it the study will look at two different things with in the Oxford Electric Department to make sure that both employees and citizens are safe.

“We’d like to basically test our system to see what type of protective clothing our guys should be wearing,” Neely said before the board Tuesday night. “It’s called an arc flash study. In an arc, when a fault occurs, there can be certain levels of voltage. We would like our consulting engineer to do a test to determine if our FR (fire resistant) clothing is strong enough to protect from burns. The system coordination study is to make sure all of our fuses and relays are set up in the best possible scenario to avoid outages.”

The city board voted to approve the request. chaning.green@journalinc.com Twitter: chaningthegreen

STAFF WRITER

Sydney Hedberg is the epitome of a girl boss. A recent University of Mississippi graduate, Hedberg wrote a book called “Barneys Bergdorfs and Bills, A Girlfriend’s Guide To Finance” at the age of 22. The book covers a wide range of topics, including chapters on everything from investing, budgeting, insurance and even touches on landing your first job. Hedberg wrote the book to help women understand finances in a clear and concise way.

Hedberg, originally from Asheville, North Carolina, splits her time between Carmel, California, Asheville and Oxford.

She came to Ole Miss as a freshman in the fall of 2011 and knew that she wanted to study finance. Her sister is currently a junior, making it a family affair to attend Ole Miss. Hedberg double majored in Risk Management & Insurance and Managerial Finance because she likes sales and negotiation.

Her dad also piqued her interest in the stock market.

“Growing up I learned a lot from my dad. He grew my knowledge of everything. Finance is something that we both have in common,” Hedberg said.

She watches Bloomberg Money Markets in the mornings, and marvels at how the financial market has so much power.

Her book has sold 300 copies on Amazon, and the process of writing it took Hedberg three and a half months.

“I was interning for a company and I would come home

and work on a chapter little by little. I look for the kind of advice you can’t Google,” she said.

“I wanted to make finance fun, glamorous and relatable.

She self published the book using Bookbaby. The next step for her is trying to find a literary agent to publish her book with a larger company. She is also beginning a career with a large company in New York City, where she is moving this June.

“My main goal for writing this book is not to make money but to help empower women,” she said. “So many of us are smart and driven and I want to help them achieve their goals.

I’m very happy with the progress of the book and hope it’s helping more women feel confident.”

Hedberg was proud when she finished writing the book because she did it all by herself.

In her spare time she loves to travel to reconnect with friends and visit her family. She also loves fitness and shopping.

“I love to take trips with my girlfriends, eat at fancy and expensive places, and live life luxuriously… but that will not be your reality forever unless you take a step back and keep tabs on your finances,” she said.

While she credits her father for her love of finance, her Risk Management and Insurance professors at Ole Miss were also very helpful and encouraging.

COURTESY

Sydney Hedberg, a graduate of The University of Mississippi, recently wrote a new book, "Barneys Bergdorfs and Bills,A Girlfriend’s Guide To Finance" that is supposed to help women with understanding financial details.

The hardest part of the whole process is figuring out the marketing for Barneys, Bergdorfs and Bills. “My market right now is mostly sorority girls. I have so many coming up to me saying ‘If I had had this book two years ago, I wouldn’t have made money mistakes,'” Hedberg said. “I gave a presentation at a chapter meeting the other night for a sorority on campus. Finance is typically thought of as a male dominated field, but the dynamic of that is changing.”

Hedberg said the idea to write a book came from some of her friends who asked her for

advice on understanding 401K's and what benefits to look for in the job market.

“Life isn’t cheap and we, as females, generally are not as well versed at handling money as men,” she said. “Many women select majors that do not place emphasis on the importance of knowing financial topics. This means fewer of us are learning the basics of accounting, economics and simple money management skills.

I hope that I can help others face their finances with confidence and empower women.

Don’t let anyone tell you your dreams are too big.”

OXFORD CITIZEN

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

COURTESY OF CURTIS WILKIE

Left to right, Chancellor Robert Khayat, Journalism Professor Curtis Wilkie and Tom Brokaw pose for a photo in the Grove. The photo was taken in 2000 when Brokaw, his wife and several colleagues made the trip down to Ole Miss to celebrate Wilkie’s birthday.

Brokaw FROM 1

tury. He began working for NBC in 1973 as their Washington correspondent, where he covered the Watergate scandal. In 1976, he became a cohost on “Today” and then moved to co-anchor “NBC Nightly News” in 1982, where he covered the dismantling of the Berlin Wall. In 1983, Brokaw became the sole anchor for the program and held the position until his retirement from the network in 2004, by that time having been a titan in the industry for decades.

Brokaw has been affiliated with University of Mississippi for several years. Journalism Professor, and longtime friend of Brokaw, Curtis Wilkie was what originally brought the NBC Anchor to the Ole Miss campus. Wilkie’s children threw him a birthday party in the Grove in 2000 and Brokaw and his wife attended. They enjoyed their stay and loved Oxford. The couple made friends with members of the university community, including Chancellor Robert Khayat, and has made many trips back since that visit.

“He’s been a fairly frequent visitor to Ole Miss and to Oxford,” Wilkie said. “They both enjoy Oxford. I know Tom is a big fan of Square Books and he loves to go to Bottle Tree for breakfast. He loves

the pastries there. Over the course of this, they’ve made a lot of friends here.”

Brokaw has also been sent to Oxford on assignment a few times, like when he covered the 2008 presidential debate held at the Ford Center. In 2010, the newscaster took over one of Wilkie’s courses out of the Barksdale Honors College for a week. Brokaw held office hours and met with each member of the class. Wilkie said that Brokaw spent most of that week on campus, gaining an insightful understanding of what it was like to be a member of the university community. He had his wife come down fairly often for football and baseball weekends.

Brokaw even once threw out the first pitch at an Ole Miss game.

The commencement speech will be live streamed on the Ole Miss YouTube channel and will be available to anyone anywhere in the world.

However, Brokaw is not the only big thing about the 2016 commencement.

For the fist time in the more than 160-year history of the school, the regalia graduates march in will be custom made for the University of Mississippi. A committee comprised of university officials and chaired by Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Brandi Hephner LaBanc and Vice Chancellor for University Relations

Alice Clark made the final decision on what the regalia would look like.

The idea for custom regalia came during the 2014 commencement when Hephner LaBanc and her colleagues were suiting up for the ceremony and discussing the differences in their robes from their respective alma maters.

They noticed that some of them, like Provost Morris Stocks who received his doctorate from the University of South Carolina, had university symbols and colors stitched into the robes. Ole Miss did not. So they decided to something about it.

They had soon formed a team and began working with R.M. Hendrick Graduate Supply House, a Mississippi company that has long provided the regalia for Ole Miss graduation.

They originally intended to only customize the doctoral regalia, but soon realized that robes for all three levels of graduates could be designed exclusively for the University of Mississippi.

The committee began looking over the robes of different institutions across the country to find inspiration. They received input from university administration and deans, going through a few versions until they finally found one that resonated with everyone. chaning.green@journalinc.com Twitter: chaningthegreen

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OXFORD CITIZEN

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OSD Foundation gives out $51,000 in grants ford School District Foundations best year yet in its nearly 30 year history.

They had more members than they have ever had who raised more money than ever before, which allowed them to give more money to more teachers than ever before.

In total, the foundation gave out grants to 28 teachers, allowing those educators to work on innovative projects that engaged students and furthered their education.

“The Oxford School District Foundation has seen a steady growth because of several factors,” said Camie Bianco, current president of the foundation’s board whose term ends this month.

“First, our board has made a conscious effort to bring awareness to our

BY CHANING GREEN mission through events NEWS WRITER like the Charger ChalThis year was the Ox- lenge and the Charger

The Oxford School District Foundation gave out $51,000 in grants to district teachers whose grant proposals were accepted by the organization.

The foundation is comprised of parents of children in the Oxford School District as well as other community members who have a vested interest in seeing the schools succeed.The entire purpose of the foundation is to provide funding and support to teachers in the district who are working on projects that,for whatever reason, cannot be funded traditional through means in the district.

Funds that this group dispenses comes from donations and car tags sold to the

Kickoff Tailgate. Also, Supt. Brian Harvey and our district personnel have stood with us and supported everything we have done to promote the Oxford School District Foundation and its commitment to education.”

Allyson Best has been with the Oxford School District Foundation for four years now and will assume the office of president in August. She has children in the Oxford School District and said she enjoys being a part of an organization that can really make a difference in local education.

“I think the biggest thing is the ability to make an impact in my children’s classrooms,” she said. “The stronger our schools are, the stronger this community is.” chaning.green@journalinc.com Twitter: chaningthegreen

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

Chamber Jr. Leadership graduates 22; Dyer recognized with Leadership Award The Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce recently graduated 22 students from its Junior Leadership Program and recognized its Leadership Award Recipient at a graduation ceremony held on April 11. This year’s Junior Leadership program was sponsored by Your Extra Closet.

Graduates from Lafayette High School include: Elaina Dickerson, Lakynn Hillhouse, Tate Howard, Core Lawrence, Hogan Linzy, Halle Moore, La’Kyjah Shaw, Sarah Beth Tidwell, Kaitlyn Traylor and Emma Wilson.

Graduates from Oxford High School include: Grace Dyer, Andrew Gardner, Jimmy Green, Mary Clark Hayward, Anna Blake Lively, Aubrey Merrell, Addison Mills, Matt Redfearn, Anna Renfroe, Drew Tacke, Sarah Katherine Waller and Carlisle Yoste.

The Junior Leadership Program combines group study sessions with a community project that requires the use and development of leadership skills. Students participated in training sessions geared toward promoting team building, goal setting, community awareness, volunteerism, and communication skills.

“We had such a great group of young adults in this year’s class,” Pam Swain, Senior Vice President of the Oxford-Lafayette

County Chamber of Commerce said.

“Through the program, they have been able to see some facets of the community they may not normally come in contact with, and we feel they can walk away from the program more enriched about what goes on in the Oxford-Lafayette County area,” Swain added.

At the end of the eight-session program, the class selects a Leadership Award recipient from among their fellow classmates. It is awarded to a program participant who has shown great leadership skills throughout the course of this program, as well as excellent community service. Voted the recipient by her peers, this year’s Leadership Award recipient was Grace Dyer of Oxford High School.

Dyer is the 16-year -ld daughter of Frank and Allyson Dyer. She is in the Beta Club, Spanish Club, Anchor Club, Beyond Our Walls Club, the Mentor Program and Mock Trial, where she was a finalist in competition.

She won 2nd place in the 2015 Science Fair and is a computer applications top student.

Dyer is also on the Swim Team, participates in Young Life, and volunteers weekly with More than a Meal. She would like to attend college somewhere in the South, although she is not quite sure where as of yet.

OXFORD CITIZEN

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

PAGE 9

The Twitter and the damage done

L

ast Thursday had to be one of the most memorable – if not flat out cray cray – days of Ole Miss sports since the wind blocked a field goal a generation ago. The baseball Rebels kicked off a three-game series against LSU, a school that knows cray cray.

The weather was baseball perfect, warm enough for shorts and fizzy drinks. The game was a classic as well, going back and forth before the Rebels got the needed hits to win, 7-6.

A baseball game at OxfordUniversity Stadium, particularly watching from the outfield, is an experience that encompasses more than baseball. There are pit grills up-andgoing in the outfield and grill masters take their stadium cuisine seriously. Over the course of a season the pleasures are an embarrassment of delishes: venison wrapped in bacon, boudin, in fact, sausage of every season, garlic hamburgers, long, communal Cuban sandwiches, even charbroiled oysters. All washed down with your favorite BYOB beverage.

(For home runs, we throw our beers back, not up.)

I’ve often wondered if the tantalizing aroma of garlic and steak - dripping and browning on an open flame, a smell as old as fire - has ever distracted an opposing outfielder. Just the right whiff of garlic, at the right

Jim Dees Tales of the Town moment, could hypnotize a nerve ending an iota enough to cause a slower jump on a line drive. Roasted garlic could be a valuable asset in home field advantage. It is for me.

For fans, the food and drink leads to camaraderie and the best kind of social interaction; outside, under the stars, feeling the wind, a small fire nearby.

The joy is enhanced when the Rebels play well and win, especially against a rival such as the odoriferous cornies of Baton Rouge.

Food-stuffed fans, pre-occupied with the close game, could be forgiven if they weren’t glued to their phones watching the NFL Draft which was going on at the same time. Ole Miss was expected to make school history with three first-round picks.

The next day I was flabbergogged (new word) to read of former Rebel tackle and high draft prospect, Laremy Tunsil’s phone being hacked. From all reports, the moments surrounding his drafting were bizarre, surreal and ultimately, felonious. The most damaging was a leaked video of Tunsil

ical giant like Tunsil, are still the awkward years, the years you are trying on different clothes, egos, personas. It’s trial and error with pimples.

This doesn’t excuse Tunsil; he is responsible and accountable.

Still, very few of us will ever stand on a public stage, as a 21year-old, and watch our market value, our deemed “worth,” plummet by millions of dollars in (the dreaded term) REAL TIME with the whole world watching.

Last Thursday, though unsavory and unseemly, was still a magical night for sports. The baseball Rebels eventually vanquished the Yellow Britches, taking the series, two out of three. The football Rebels indeed made history with three players taken in the first round COURTESY including the avatar, Laquon "Has the tantalizing aroma of garlic and steak ever distracted an oppos- Treadwell.

In the confusion of the night, ing outfielder?" it appeared Tunsil said that he took money from Ole Miss talk of the draft. It was played smoking a gargantuan hit of marijuana using uh, a gas mask more than his highlight reel.” I coaches. If so, it could be perbong (there’s an awkward con- wouldn’t advise repeated view- fectly legal as part a NCAA-approved student assistance ings if you have to drive or opversation with your children). fund. If his hacked messages, if erate machinery.

I watched the video and the The incident was yet another they are his, portend somesmoke he inhaled would have reminder how vulnerable we all thing more nefarious, the blowsent three normal humans to back could open a can of the ER. The cheap, phoneare to any cyber enemy, just filmed video, instantly cost clicks away. Many old codgers, worms big enough to fish the Yocona River.

Tunsil millions of dollars. myself included, can often be Moral of the story: Watch Oxford Citizen Sports Editor heard sighing how lucky we John Davis wrote: “Teams that feel not to have a blow-by-blow what you post and your passwords. Use a gas mask only for were expected to draft him did- video of our formative years. n’t, and the video became the The teen years, even for a phys- actual gas.

OXFORD CITIZEN

PAGE 10

Lafayette County School Board convenes

BY CHANING GREEN NEWS WRITER

Monday night the Lafayette County School Board convened at the district’s central office to hold their monthly meeting to discuss the state of the district.

A major point of the meeting was when the board heard from Pam Smith. Smith works at the University of Mississippi as a senior collection assistant in the Office of the Bursar.

She spoke to the board

about the importance of counseling and mental health services and their availability to students in schools. The school board meeting Smith spoke at this week was held almost one year to the day that Smith’s teenage son took his own life.

Smith wanted to engage the board and the community in a dialogue about what students need to ensure proper care when they need it. Is it a privacy issue, a peer issue or something else that the community is

not seeing?

“I had a celebration service for Scott Saturday,” Smith said when addressing the board. All of his friends came to the community center. There were several of them that said, ‘I need help too.’ We have to find a way to do that. All I can do is watch them, Facebook them, let them call me, but I need backup help with these kids that are suicidal.”

Smith is working with the Mississippi Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention on her campaign called More Than Sad. She gave out information packets to members of the board that included her contact information and told them that she would be happy to answer any questions they had about the issue. chaning.green@journalinc.com Twitter: chaningthegreen

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

Oxford Film Fest Opens call for entries The Oxford Film Festival has officially opened its Call for Entries for the 15th edition of the film festival, which will take place in Feb. 15-19, 2017.

Led by Executive Director Melanie Addington, film festival volunteers will screen films, television, and virtual reality projects in all genres, as well as promoting and celebrating Mississippi filmmakers culminating in the presentation of the film festival’s Hoka Awards. Through yearround programming, the festival works to encourage filmmaking in Oxford and North Mississippi while growing understanding of cinema through screenings, workshops and educational programs, during the five-day festival.

Three new categories have also been added for

the next edition of the festival. Those categories include: Music Documentaries, LGBTQ (expanded from the traditionally strong programming into its own section), and New Media.

The festival was founded in 2003 by the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council. In 2008, the Oxford Film Festival became an independent non-profit organization with 501c3 status committed to celebrating the art of independent cinema.

The festival screens short and feature-length films in both showcase and competition settings, hosts panel discussions on issues in contemporary filmmaking, and invites the filmmakers to interact with the audience at a number of social events.

FILM CATEGORIES INCLUDE: •Animated and Experimental?

•Documentary and narrative features and shorts •Mississippi narrative and documentary?

•Music Video and Documentary?

•LGBTQ •Film Forward: a showcase of new media

SUBMISSION DEADLINES •Early Bird: September 1, 2016 •Regular: October 15, 2016 •Late: November 15, 2016

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

PAGE 11

JOHN DAVIS

The women of High Cotton Salon and Spa include, front row, left to right, Hillary Poe, Kristy Payne, Teresa Shuffield and Taylor McGregor and back row, left to right, Brandi Glasson, Kaylyn Hubbard, Rebecca Dobbins, Melleny Faulkner and Beth Briscoe.

High Cotton Salon has plenty to offer for Mother’s Day

BY JOHN DAVIS OXFORD CITIZEN

Mother's Day means more than just buying a present. It's a day to purchase the right gift, a gift that can really do some immediate good. High Cotton Salon & Spa offers a number of services that can make any mother feel stylish, pampered and refreshed all at the same time.

Located in the Goose Creek Mall, at 2208 West Jackson Ave., High Cotton is offering Mother's Day specials. They have the type of gifts that make it easy for men not to get wrong.

“We are a full service salon except for facials. We aren't doing facials at the time but you can go head to toe basically,” said Kristi Payne, the manager of High Cotton. “We are doing 20 percent off any service for Mother's Day.”

Some of those specific services include massage, hair and nails, among other things. Payne has five hair stylists currently as well as three nail technicians and two that perform massage therapy.

There isn't any one service that outweighs another as far as what people come in for. Payne said the nail techs have been working for over six years. Teresa Shuffield was just added to the staff for massages, and she has 19 years of experience. Her specialties are hot stone massage as well as stretching, pressure points and sinus relief.

Payne has been styling hair for eight years, professionally. When she was little, she got in trouble for cutting the hair on her baby doll.

“I just always wanted to do hair. My high school actually had a vocational school inside it and cosmetology was one thing that

was offered,” Payne said, who grew up in Winfield, Alabama and now lives in Pontotoc. “I've been technically doing hair since high school.”

Another employee has 20 years of experience styling hair.

The goal for customers is for them to come in and be taken care of from start to finish, and to offer anything they could want.

“That's our goal. We want our clients to come to us for all their hair and spa needs,” Payne said.

“We want them to have the convenience of everything.”

May 1 was the two-year anniversary of the business, which is owned by Terry Warren. Payne remembers Warren not wanting the salon to leave the mall because he wanted to keep a variety of stores in place.

Payne was looking for a new challenge, or a distraction, after

her daughter passed away. That change fortunately started to work out when she and Warren sat down and talked about the future.

“We talked for about three hours and he was like if you want it, it's your baby. I need you, you need me,” Payne recalled. “That's how I came to be there. It was scary. It was very scary for me to take that responsibility on because he was depending on me. But it has grown by leaps and bounds. With the addition of the new staff members, I'm so excited. I feel like we're going to be one of the best salons in Oxford. The potential is unlimited really.”

Men had already come through the salon to purchase various packages or services for their wives. Payne expected the rest of the week to be busy as well.

“We've sold a lot of gift certificates for all our services, hail, nails and massages,” she said.

“We're going to be busy.”

Prices on massages start at $55 and go up. It all depends on the length of time, and the type of massage performed during the visit. A hair cut, with shampoo, and styling costs $45. A gel manicure and pedicure will run $70 for those looking to purchase that. Color starts at $85.

In the future, Payne is looking to have a room that will allow for facials to be performed. She would also like to employee 10 hair stylists and that many nail techs.

“I want every chair in the salon to be full,” she added. “Overall, it's been a real pleasant experience. It really has.” john.davis@journalinc.com Twitter: @oxfordcitizenjd

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John Davis Sports Editor

Burnett, McEwen have been turning heads this spring

T

wo former Oxford High teammates are back on the track this spring, and both have been impressive. James Burnett and Shelby McEwen have performed at a high level, even if the two have done it away from each other. Both Burnett and McEwen missed track in 2015.

Burnett was injured, while McEwen was concentrating on basketball.

McEwen, who is currently playing hoops at Northwest Mississippi Community College, is a very talented high jumper, who just recently realized that was going to be his sport in the future. He's been competing unattached in college meets, and jumping over 7 feet more often than not.

His personal best was 7-1.25 at Auburn's War Eagle Invitational. McEwen finished second, and just ahead of another former Charger, Alabama's Justin Fondren. Following the meet, McEwen picked up offers from Auburn and Syracuse, Middle Tennessee State, Memphis and Arkansas State.

“It's a blessing to still be able to high jump after a year off playing basketball,” Burnett said. “I just had a couple of practices and it makes me feel real good to be able to beat some kids that have been jumping so long, it's just an honor.”

This past weekend, McEwen competed at Mississippi State and finished first with a leap of 7-0.5. His plan is to keep competing through the summer, play hoops for the Rangers one more season, and then take the best offer to high jump at a fouryear school. Before all that happens, McEwen added he was looking to compete at the USA Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, the meet that helps decide the Olympic team.

“Right after basketball, I took a few weeks off and got my mind back right.

Going into the month of March, I got a few practices in and then I started jumping,” McEwen said. “My first meet was actually at Southern Miss. I won that meet, the Southern Miss Invitational, and I jumped 6-11. I believe that the basketball helped me out more than I realize now. High jump is where my future is going to be at. I'll finish my last year at Northwest and then proceed with my high jump talent.”

Burnett, meanwhile, has blistered the track in the 400 for the Chargers. He is on pace to win the individual state championship at Saturday's Class 5A meet.

“I missed all of last season. The first indoor meet of my junior season, I got inTURN TO BURNETT PAGE 19

JOHN DAVIS

Lafayette's track season has been paced by several freshmen, and led by junior Orianna Shaw.Those that have qualified for the state meet include Brandon Turnage, Xhiir Burgess, Mariah Holland, Breanna Holland and Aja Norphlett.

Youth movement Lafayette's success on track sparked by newcomers

BY JOHN DAVIS SPORTS EDITOR

In sports, too many young athletes can hamper positive results. In the case of the Lafayette track teams, younger athletes have been the key to success.

Not a single senior will be competing for the Commodores, or Lady Commodores, Friday at Pearl in the MHSAA Class 4A state championships.

Only Orianna Shaw, a junior, has a lot of experience in Pearl. She has been there two other times, helping the Lady Commodores win the state title in 2014 during her first trip. Xhiir Burgess, who took first in the triple jump with a leap of 33 feet, 10 inches in the 4A north state championships, is one of four freshmen athletes on both sides that will be competing. There is also an eighth grader, Breanna Holland, who helped the 4x200 meter relay team finish first last weekend with a time of 1 minute, 45 seconds.

“Our numbers aren't great, but our quality is so good,” Lafayette coach Ben Mikell said. “Our people that are going are north half winners for the most part. We came in third in the north half with not that many girls.”

Brandon Turnage is the lone Commodore headed to the state meet, but he has been very impressive. Turnage is a freshman, and he won the 800 at north state with a 2:05. He also qualified in the high jump with a mark of 510.

“It's unusual to have a ninth-grade boy make it to state. It's not as unusual to have ninth-grade girls but it is to have them and no real older ones,” Mikell said. “It's highly unusual to have a ninth-grade boy winning.”

Mikell said the group, as a whole, is real calm and mature, which he said was unusual. Mikell added that Burgess is “extremely calm” on the track in pressure situations.

“She keeps her head about her real well. Maybe they get it from Orianna because she is so low key and laid back,” Mikelll said. “They have been pretty strong all year. They've done a good job all year. Breanna has been a nice, solid runner all year. Mariah has kind of come out of nowhere. Xhiir brought her around one day and said is there something she can do. They're really good friends and we just kind of stuck her in the shot and it just turned out that she's strong. She walked into a

practice meet, and she was putting the shot out 30 feet immediately.”

At north state, Mariah Holland finished fourth with a mark of 32-8. One of the unique things about the team, Mikell said, was how few meets the athletes competed in.

“They came in with their feet moving right off the bat. They kept doing it, and when they got to north half, they didn't panic or anything,” Mikell said. “They competed and they beat some people.

We're going to try and win (Friday) in all the events we can. We definitely have a chance to win every event that we're in, including Orianna in the 100. She just ran her best time in the 100 the other day even though it was fourth place. It was a close race amongst the top four.”

Shaw has won the 400 title before, but she hasn't won two individual state titles in the same meet.

“When we started out at the beginning of the year, the goal that we really had, the obtainable goal, was to double, to get two golds,” Mikell said. “We would have to run really well to win the 4x2, but it's not impossible. We won TURN TO YOUTH PAGE 18

OXFORD CITIZEN

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THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

Fantastic finish Tyler looking to lead Chargers to another state title

BY JOHN DAVIS SPORTS EDITOR

Heading into the Class 5A north state meet, Oxford's Jonathan Tyler said he hadn't been feeling well. He was a little down on his performances. Even though he was first in the division meet, and had a good showing in the regionals, Tyler just wasn't thrilled about his time.

Tyler was close, he felt, right on the border, of getting to where he wanted to be heading into the stretch run. This past Saturday at the north state, in the final meet at Bobby Holcomb Field, Tyler won the 1,600 and 3,200 meter runs. He finished the 1,600 in 4 minutes, 47 seconds, almost nine seconds better than his seed. He ran the 3,200 in 10:27, which was 22 seconds better than where he was seeded.

So if Tyler's still not happy with those times, and improvements, the rest of the field on Saturday at the 5A state meet better look out.

“I did have a good two mile (personal record) and I'm just trying to replicate that right now,” Tyler said.

“North half is just going to be a trial. It will be about how I'm feeling at the middle of the race, how I feeling at the end. How fast I finish will be a good indication of what's going to happen this last Saturday.”

Oxford absolutely domi-

Youth FROM 17

north half, so it's not like we haven't won the thing before.”

The thing Mikell likes about Turnage is that he runs well, and he's smart doing it.

“The 800 can be a little bit of a head game and he makes really good moves.

He understands when he should move and he doesn't waste a lot of energy,” Mikell said. “The good ones don't waste energy and he doesn't get caught up

sprinters going. We've been running our B team 4x4 for the past two weeks and we've won both relays.

We have so many distance guys that can go deep, Chip Powell, Will Farmer, Scott Brown, you name it.

We have many spots we can put people in.”

For those that don't know Tyler's personality, he has always been about the team, first. Of course in track, the better an individual does, the better the team does.

“I'm just trying to get points and it was all about qualifying. I want to be No. 1 at state,” Tyler said adding he was better at the 3,200 this season. “I almost went under 10 minutes a couple of weeks ago and I've been gearing more towards the 3,200 this year in preparation for cross country next year. That's where my times have been coming from.”

A better mental focus is something Tyler has been concentrating on heading into the races.

“I've been zoning in and not worried about what is going on around me, just watching my watch when I'm racing,” Tyler said.

“I've been trying to go hard PETRE THOMAS through the first mile, and Oxford's Jonathan Tyler is looking to win a gold medal in the 1,600 and 3,200 this Saturday at the MHSAA Class 5A state meet. first mile, just working on the strength part in order nated the 5A north state 104. Tyler raved about the people to replace people if going to,” Tyler said. to hold on to that second meet garnering 226 points team's speed as a big pos- somebody where to get “We've always had good mile.” hurt. We have so many distance guys, but this in the process. Canton was itive.

“Jaquan Webb, Devin sprinters this year and this year, Coach (Chris) Bush second with 139, while john.davis@journalinc.com Vicksburg was third with Rockette, we have so many is where Oxford track is has really gotten those Twitter: @oxfordcitizenjd doing stupid things like passing when it doesn't make any sense to pass or running in the outside lanes when it doesn't make any sense to do that. He accelerates really, really well.

He makes moves and he doesn't hesitate when he makes them. That's real important in the 800. He also knows his limitations.

He's not experienced enough to go the lead, so he doesn't do it. I've warned him against it, and he's smart enough to remember that and think about it in the heat of the race.”

Burgess was closer to what she wants to be compared to last year when she just wanted to place.

“This year, I'm expecting to win,” she said. “Coach Mikell, he came to me and he told me I look like a jumper. I do feel like triple jump is easier than long jump. Once you get the steps in your head, it's smooth. It didn't come natural at first, but I've been working with Erika Sisk she's been helping me with my steps.”

As for the youth movement, Burgess laughed and talked about the chances of

winning due to the talent each of the athletes have.

Shaw wasn't sure what she would tell the team when they got to Pearl. She is the big sister of the team, and Shaw hoped they looked at her as a role model.

“I'm excited to run with them because when you're younger, you have more enthusiasm to win,” Shaw said. “When you're older, you're used to it and everything seems like a job. They look at it as being fun.

That's what helps me.

They've always had enthusiasm and that helped me a

lot.”

Of the three events that Shaw will compete in, she was upbeat about her chances in the 200 as much as any.

“I think if I keep practicing hard up until Friday, I have a possibility of winning in at least two,” Shaw said.

Turnage has balanced football and track each day recently. He said all the hard work that the team has put in has shown up at the best times.

“I have a lot of energy.

I'm all types of hyper and it gives me energy to run

around the track,” said Turnage, who likes the 800 the best. “I'm comfortable with it. I like to run. The first lap is the hardest. That's when you lose all types of energy, but you rebuild it once you go around. I like the high jump, like to jump, period. I believe I can get 6-6 or 6-8.

The hard part is just getting my butt over the bar. This is a good opportunity, because I have three more years. I'll just get better going against better people.” john.davis@journalinc.com Twitter: @oxfordcitizenjd

OXFORD CITIZEN

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

PAGE 19

Gatlin has provided stability for Oxford's batting order

BY DAVIS MCCOOL SPORTS WRITER

At long last, Oxford baseball’s head coach, Chris Baughman, has finally found a man to fill his “black hole.”

Following a season-ending shoulder injury to junior Ben Bianco, Oxford’s rock solid lineup experienced a turn for the worst.

“Obviously, when Ben went down, offensively, we lost a huge player, who provided a great average and tremendous pop, and helped Thomas with that three-four punch we had in the lineup. I felt like we had to replace some really great numbers,” Baughman said.

The lineup that was once so daunting finally showed a weakness, and Baughman needed a filler for his eight-hole spot.

“Anybody we put there just got sucked in to the black hole,” Baughman said. “Anybody who we chose, no matter how well they had performed in practice or a JV game, the eight hole was just going to suck them in to a bad game.”

It truly was like being sucked into a black hole, for the Chargers’ eighthole spot, no matter the man, was averaging below .150 at the plate, with 20 strikeouts through 50 at bats, as well as boasting merely one run batted in, according to Baughman.

That is, before the Chargers found their man — senior Tag Gatlin.

After six players made their case for a spot in the lineup, namely Carson Stinnett, Korbin Harmon, CJ Terrell, Reed Markle, Jack Clemons, and Tyler Smith, Gatlin made his mark.

“I knew there was a spot for me, and I knew there was a chance for me to earn it,” Gatlin said last week. “You never want to see someone in your team get hurt by any means, but obviously there was a spot to take advantage of, and I wanted to be the one to take it.”

JOEY BRENT

Oxford's James Burnett is having a great season running on the track after year off due to a hamstring injury.

Burnett

JOHN DAVIS

Oxford senior Tag Gatlin has found a spot at the bottom of the batting order, which has turned to to be a key for coach Chris Baughman.

On a damp Friday evening in Saltillo, Gatlin was finally granted his chance to prove himself, and he earned his first start of the year.

“I was battling at Saltillo that night between Carson and Tag, and my gut went with Tag”, Baughman said.

Following that game, he managed to solidify his role in the eight-hole, more than two weeks after Bianco’s injury.

“That first at-bat at the Saltillo game, it finally clicked for me,” Gatlin said. “I’d gotten a few hits throughout the season, but that first double in the gap did it for me, and then I went two for three on the day.”

Since then, Gatlin had seven hits, four RBI’s, and a .429 on base percentage heading into the playoff matchup with Center Hill.

More importantly, Gatlin has provided the Charger baseball team with its formidability in the lineup that it once possessed.

“I felt like it was great for the team,” Gatlin said.

“After I found it for myself, I felt that there was never

going to be a weak spot in the lineup, much like last year.”

The road has never been easy for Gatlin, however, who spent his first three and a half years as a Charger on the bench.

“My first three years, my goal was to push the people in front of me, and fight for a spot,” Gatlin said. “But really, it was to make the people in front of me better, because I didn’t have a huge chance for a spot in the lineup. It was a grind for three and a half years to get here.”

Though he didn't provide Oxford with a spark on the field, his actions before this season have not been in vain.

“I’m kind of the person that rallies the people in the dugout,” Gatlin said. “I took it upon myself to keep the bench rowdy and help the people out in the field.”

Along with his dugout fanatics, Gatlin has always his hardest worked throughout many long practices as well as the offseason. He is widely regarded throughout the

Charger locker room as one of the best battingpractice hitters on the team, and it has begun to show results on the field.

“Before this year, he knew what his role was,” Baughman said. “It was hard for anybody to crack the lineup, but with Ben’s injury, it was time for somebody to step up and prove themselves. He hits the ball great in batting practice, and it’s line drives all over the field.”

“I don’t ever take a day off, and I always work my hardest,” Gatlin said.

Although Gatlin’s baseball days may be numbered, as he is continuing his college career on the football field at Mississippi College, for now, his primary goal is to aid Oxford in whatever way possible in returning to Pearl and repeating a state championship.

“No doubt we had found our man after the Saltillo series,” Baughman said.

“Hopefully he’ll keep up the consistency, and I am confident that he will. At least for now, we’ve definitely found our guy.”

group were like brothers.

He likes being the anchor FROM 17 man, and bringing the team back if they're behind late. jured and I was out for “I just feel like I run the rest of the year,” Burbetter as the anchor. nett said before talking Even if we are in first, I about how he got back going. “I started training keep us in first,” Burnett this past summer and up said.

As for the 400, Burnett until now, I've been likes to have a time that training non stop.” he can call his own. He The hamstring that said that's what coaches Burnett pulled, severely, look at, more than the doesn't feel the same as overall finish. it did before the injury.

Like a lot of Chargers, Of course, he's much Burnett felt like this better, or more than year's roster was the best good enough to comit had ever been. Oxford pete. has won the last two “I actually am faster than when I got hurt,” he state titles, and the fasaid. “That's something. vorite to win another.

“I feel like we have it I've run my best times locked in this year. Mile this year.”

Split makes predictions Burnett was part of a on who is going to win, contingent that got to compete in the New Bal- and they had us winning by over 50 points this ance Indoor Championships in New York. He year,” Burnett said. said it was an experience “We're not cocky, we're like no other he had ever confident in our abilities.

We're out here training been a part of. everyday, during breaks.

“What is crazy about We train Christmas nationals is everybody break, Thanksgiving. there is good. EverySpring break. There may body,” Burnett said. be a couple teams that “That was my first time do that, but not a lot of going to any type of nationals. I didn't run how I teams do that. Coach (Chris) Bush has done a wanted, but it was still a really good job of keepfun experience.” ing us motivated and This past weekend in having us hungry. He the 5A north state meet, Burnett won the 400 with takes us to places like New York and Kentucky a time of 48.38 seconds. and Birmingham all the He enters the event as time, just to run, keeping the athlete to beat. Burus interested in the sport nett has also been a which I really like.” member of the relay teams, and he really enjoyed being a part of the john.davis@journalinc.com 4x400 team, saying the Twitter: @oxfordcitizenjd

OXFORD CITIZEN

PAGE 20

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

LHS golfers looking to finish strong in 4A state championships

BY JOHN DAVIS SPORTS EDITOR

JOHN DAVIS

Former NWCC quarterback Gardner Minshew is headed to play for East Carolina in 2016.

Minshew leaves NWCC Rangers for East Carolina

BY JOHN DAVIS SPORTS EDITOR

Gardner Minshew never had a better year playing football than he did in 2015. The Brandon native led the Northwest Mississippi Community College Rangers to the NJCAA national title last fall from his quarterback position. He was planning to do the same thing this year until the weekend when he committed to play for East Carolina.

Minshew, who threw for over 3,200 yards and 28 touchdowns, only had to finish up some exams before he left Senatobia for his new home. He had a great relationship with the NWCC coaching staff and he hated to leave NWCC coach Benjy Parker and new offensive coordinator Stan Hill.

“They have been so supportive. I talked to them on the phone this weekend and they were all congratulating me,” Minshew said.

“It's obviously a loss for their team but they under-

stand the situation and they couldn't be happier for me.”

The Rangers were 11-1 this past season and they won two overall championships, including the MACJC state playoff title.

“It was the best year of football that I've had. I really enjoyed it. After fall camp, I started telling my buddies 'Hey, we have a chance in this thing. We really have some talent on this team and I think we're going to make a run at it,'” Minshew said. “Things just unfolded the way they did and we were fortunate enough to win state and national titles.”

Even though Minshew is leaving, he feels like the Rangers will still be a good team in 2016.

“They recruited so well this year. They have a great class coming in and they had a lot of freshmen that were major contributors,” Minshew said. “With this coaching staff, and Coach Parker and what he's going to do on defense, and Coach Hill's new offense, I

really feel like the sky is the limit. I don't think they miss a beat. When I was here, the plan was to go win another (NJCAA title) and I think that's still possible with this team.”

Minshew has already graduated from NWCC. That happened back in December. He added that “60 to 70 percent” of his work towards a degree in Communications is complete now. Minshew will have three more years to complete that degree, and work on a master's degree. He could redshirt this fall at ECU. “I'm looking forward to the competition when I get there,” Minshew said.

“They have a senior who was a starter but they said that they're going to give me every opportunity to go in there and give everything I have and try to be the starter. If not, I do have that redshirt year available and that could be a great thing for me.” john.davis@journalinc.com Twitter: @oxfordcitizenjd

A top-five finish is what Ryan Avent was hoping his Lafayette Commodores would be able to accomplish this week in the MHSAA Class 4A state golf championships.

Chris Long, Zack Watts, Thomas Jenkins, Floyd Pittman and Parker Brown were set to compete in the two-day tournament that was being hosted at Diamondhead Golf Course on the coast.

The Commodores finished second to New Albany in their division tournament, which was held on New Albany's home course. Avent said the conditions were not favorable on the ninehole course.

“I've got one senior and what's great about this team is this my second year and our second year to go to state,” Avent said.

“This year, I was able to take the guys on a spring break trip. We went and played in Oxford, Alabama and then we came back and played in Hoover. We played 105 holes in five days. The guys improved 27 strokes on average. I took seven guys over there and they enjoyed it. I saw a huge improvement on ball striking.”

Lafayette finished seventh as a team in last year's state meet. With more experience, Avent felt like that would be better.

“We've got guys that are putting some work in the summer now. We do have some other guys that are playing other sports, too, but we've got a couple of guys who are buying memberships to the courses and staying on them,” Avent said.

“That's helping us out a lot. You're seeing that. I'm

always looking for younger talent. The guys can start playing in the seventh grade and looking for guys moving up, guys that may not play baseball. Parker Brown plays baseball, so you can play both, but he has had to work on his own over the weekends as stuff. It's always great to get younger guys, and also other guys.”

The Commodores have primarily played at Mallard Pointe in Panola County. Ole Miss was another site for a match, while Kirkwood Country Club out of Holly Springs has also been helpful to Avent and the team.

“Mallard Pointe and Kirkwood have just welcomed us in and helped us anyway possible. They have been unbelievable,” Avent said.

John.davis@journalinc.com Twitter: @oxfordcitizenjd

Oxford’s Vaughn signs national letter of intent

COURTESY

Oxford tennis standout Abbie Vaughn was joined by her parents and coaches Tuesday as she signed on to play for Sewanee University. The Chargers then defeated Grenada 7-0 to capture the Class 5A north state title.

OXFORD CITIZEN

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

Ole Miss tennis teams make NCAA Championships FROM OXFORD CITIZEN REPORTS

For the 23rd straight year, the Ole Miss men’s tennis team will be playing tennis in May, as the Rebels earned a No. 2 seed in the Cal Region for the NCAA Championships.

The matchups were announced Tuesday. The Ole Miss women’s tennis also made the NCAA championships, advancing to play Northwestern at the North Carolina regional.

The Ole Miss men will face Denver in the first round May 14 in Berkeley, California. Cal, the No. 13 seed overall, is hosting the first and second rounds and will face Army in the first round. The winners will meet on May 15 for a berth in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. Ole Miss owns the fifth longest consecutive NCAA appearance streak in the nation with 23 straight. The Rebels earned their first ever NCAA bid in 1989 and then again in 1994. They have been every year since then.“It’s obviously one of our goals to make NCAAs every year,” said Toby Hansson, head coach of the Ole Miss men. We have an opportunity to close out the season on a high note and it’s very

exciting. The guys are looking forward to going to California. We know they have a nice facility and hopefully they’ll have a good crowd.”

Ole Miss will meet Denver for the first time in program history. This is the second time the Rebels have traveled to California for the NCAA first round since the current format was instituted. The Rebels traveled to Los Angeles in 2011 for the UCLA region.“We are not that familiar with Denver, since we don’t face them regularly, but they’ve had a good year,” Hansson said. “We’ll familiarize ourselves more with them in the coming days and get ready for a good match. I am very familiar with the guys at Cal. They are a great group of players. It will be an interesting match-up if both teams make it through. It’s an exciting regional to be part of.”

Ole Miss senior captain Stefan Lindmark said it was good to be back in the NCAAs.“We are going to a place where we feel that if we play well, we have a good chance to advance. I am super pumped,” he said.

“It’s my last year, and I am ready to make the most of this opportunity.”

WOMEN The women earned No. 3 seed in the North Carolina regional.

The host Tar Heels will meet East Tennessee State University in the first round. The winners will face each other on May 14 for a berth in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. Ole Miss is making its 19th overall NCAA appearance and eighth straight since 2009. This marks the 10th overall NCAA appearance under head coach Mark Beyers. The Rebels hold a slim 3-2 edge in the all-time series with Northwestern. The two schools haven’t met in dual match competition since 2000.“It says a lot about the players we have on our team that we went through some injuries, some ups and downs, had some really close losses, but at the end of the day, we made it to the tournament,” Beyers said.

“Getting into the NCAAs is hard, even though we’ve done it eight years in a row. There are a lot of good teams in the field and a lot of really good teams that didn’t get in to the tournament. We’re excited to be at the North Carolina regional and play Northwestern.”

PAGE 21

Freeze, Walls win Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Challenge Team Ole Miss went sixunder par over the final five holes to win the 2016 Chick-filA Peach Bowl Challenge by two strokes Tuesday at the Reynolds Lake Oconee Resort outside Atlanta.Ole Miss head football coach Hugh Freeze, and celebrity partner Wesley Walls, a former All-American tight end and member of the College Football Hall of Fame, carded a score of -11 to win the $100,000 first-place prize. Teams from Georgia, Georgia Tech and NC State finished tied for second at nine-under par.The winning stretch run started when Freeze holed an 8-iron from 150 yards on the par-four 14th for an eagle. The pair then went on to birdie the final four holes to seal the win.

“The ball was jumping off my irons and I knew I hit it good,” Freeze said of the shot. “Then Wesley said he thought he saw it disappear. I thought it was long but I started walking to the hole pretty fast and found out it went in. That’s when we thought we had a chance.”

“I was just nervous and we both had a lot of adrenaline

running through our veins,” Walls added. “The way coach was putting we knew we just had to keep the ball in play.”

Ole Miss went five-under par on the front side before stalling with four straight pars on holes 10-13 leading into the eagle that got them going.

“Congratulations to Ole Miss’ Hugh Freeze and Wesley Walls for an outstanding come-frombehind victory today,” said Gary Stokan, president and CEO of Peach Bowl, Inc. “The Rebels have been a wonderful partner of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, our Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game and now as champions of our Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Challenge. We are thrilled to donate $100,000 to them for university scholarships and the Hugh and Jill Freeze Foundation.”

The Ole Miss victory ends a two-year run by defending champion Georgia Tech, who had won four of the last five events.

Final official results from the 2016 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Challenge including total charity and scholarship winnings:

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THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

Chargers come up short to Mustangs in 5A playoffs

BY JOHN DAVIS SPORTS EDITOR

OLIVE BRANCH — Balls went up in the air Tuesday night. They just didn’t leave the ballpark.

That was the biggest difference for the Oxford Chargers in Game 2 of their best-of-three series with Center Hill. In the opener, the Chargers hit home runs en route to a win. In the second matchup, delayed four days by rain, Oxford batters lifted the ball right to spots where the Mustangs could catch them.

And if they didn’t lift the ball to outs, the Chargers were sent back to the dugout by starter Frankie Hefflinger via strikeout.

The Chargers did have seven hits, and they had a chance to wrap up the series late. They loaded the bases in the top of the sixth inning, but left three stranded and finished with just run on the scoreboard. They scored another run in the seventh, and got two more runners in scoring position, but came away empty.

“The sixth is what killed us.

Bases loaded, two outs, that was the difference,” Oxford coach Chris Baughman said.

“Throughout the game, they got the big hit when they needed it, and we didn’t. We hit too many balls in the air. That’s been our MO all year. They booted it around and get us a chance to get back in it and we start going fly out, fly out, K, fly out.”

Not getting as many big hits, at critical times, was also compounded by the fact that the Chargers fell behind 4-0 right out of gates. The Mustangs got four hits off Carson Stinnett, and never trailed in the game. They also never let OHS get any closer than two runs.

“We left the ball up early on.

Carson (Stinnett) left some pitches up that he usually doesn’t leave up,” Baughman said.

“They did do a good job of hitting the ball hard and on line, something we didn’t do very well. It’s something we haven’t done a great job with in the eight games we’ve gotten beat. We haven’t done a good job of keeping the ball down, and on the ground.”

Baughman did feel confident about winning in Game 3 because Houston Roth was starting on the mound.

“We have one of the best pitchers in Mississippi on the mound. If I had to do it all over again, I would do the exact same thing,” Baughman said. “I struggled with the thought and the rain pushed me back far enough to where I thought this was the

JOHN DAVIS

Oxford's Preston Perkins dives back to first base during Tuesday night's MHSAA Class 5A playoff game with Center Hill. Oxford lost 7-5. best thing for us to do. It gives us our 1A, 1B, whatever you want to call him, against one that’s not their best. And it’s at home. I would rather have Houston throwing in an elimination game, Houston or Jason (Barber), than anyone else we’ve got.

But it’s all about us coming out and hitting the baseball. We’ve preached it for a while. It is who we are and we can’t change anything at this point.”

Oxford has all the talent to advance, and win a title, but Baughman said they are past the point of where talent can take them.

“Everybody at this point is talented. Their first four or five guys in their lineup are just as dangerous as our first four or five,” he said. “When they get the big hits, that’s what wins ballgames.”

Center Hill coach Neil Fredric told his team that they had to make more plays than in the opener. That was accomplished due to the Mustangs holding their composure. Heading into Game 3, Fredric talked about it being do or die for both teams.

“They’re going to be pretty confident because Roth hasn’t lost a game in his high school career,” Fredric said. “I’ve seen him pitch a number of times, and seen him pitch against us. Which

Oxford's Thomas Dillard scores a run in the third inning. way would you want to go to get to the next round? You got to beat the best. It’s making plays.

That was what got us in the hole the other day, and that’s what

has shot us in the foot all year across. If we can do that, we’re long. If you go back and look at going to be in the game.” our stats, it’s basically like we john.davis@journalinc.com beat ourselves because we can’t Twitter: @oxfordcitizenjd field a ground ball or throw it

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Rowdy Rebel Olenek gives OM baseball a spark with his style

BY JOHN DAVIS SPORTS EDITOR

A live wire. That may be the most accurate way to describe Ole Miss freshman Ryan Olenek.

For the Winter Springs, Florida native, the only way to play baseball is going 100 miles-per-hour.

He takes the biggest leads on the team from first base. He jumps up in the air when something good happens. And he plays his spot in the outfield with tremendous passion.

“That’s how I’ve played my whole life. I’ve just been a scrappy player and what you see is exactly what’s going through the pitcher’s head,” Olenek said.

“I like to think that the pitcher is thinking about me more than the hitter so they miss spots. When we were at Alabama on the field, the players were saying I just don’t get out. But really, I did alright that weekend. When I was on base, I was trying to create havoc.”

It’s rare for a player to say they want a pitcher to try and pick them off. Olenek wants it to be close, like he prefers to live dangerously, compared to stress free, on the bases.

“If they think it’s going to be close, then they will keep thinking about me and not the hitter,” said Olenek about his plan of attack. “It just brings energy I think.

It just shows the team that you can have a presence on the field whether you think so or not.”

Olenek, who was hitting .297 with two home runs and 23 RBIs prior to the meeting with Arkansas-Pine Bluff, likes all kinds of music. He dabbles with country, picking Kenny Chesney as his main guy. He also likes classic rock. Olenek is a risk taker as well. He and his mother didn’t agree on his desire to jump out of an airplane when he was in high school.

The mixture he enjoys from a music and life standpoint translates to his playing style. Olenek is a spark plug. He’s versatile, and his athleticism allowed him to move from shortstop to outfield without much of an issue. In fact, he’s attacked the position, making it fun to watch him out there.

“We all play hard like that, like we don’t care if anything is in our way,” he said. “I never played outfield in my life until I got here.

I was always shortstop. I never had a problem with catching pop ups. Outfield isn’t easy, but there

JOSHUA MCCOY/OLE MISS ATHLETICS

Freshman outfielder Ryan Olenek plays with a lot of energy and passion for the Ole Miss Rebels. is more room for error. At shortstop, you can’t mess up. You have limited time. On a fly ball, you can mess up on a route and still catch it.”

Olenek said others have been pleased with his year. The results, with three SEC series left, wasn’t quite up to his standards, he added.

“I feel like I belong where I am.

When I got my shot, I took advantage,” he added.

Ole Miss is a school Olenek always heard about, or at least since he was in ninth grade. He fell in love with the stadium, and the atmosphere, when he came on his visit.

“I know I made the right decision. I enjoy it here,” Olenek said.

“It’s been more than I could ever

ask for. This team is just phenomenal, to be around them. I think we play great together. We just have a real good team chemistry.”

The Rebels made the most of being at home for back-to-back series, winning five of six SEC games. Olenek is focused on each game, rather than the big picture, adding that if you look to

far ahead, the focus gets lost.

Olenek said he doesn’t follow any Twitter accounts about college baseball.

“I like to look at the SEC sports just to see how other teams are doing, but other than that, I have no clue,” he added. “I have a couple of buddies that play college baseball I keep up with at Lipscomb and I have couple of buddies at Florida, but they’re in the SEC, too. I’m blocked off from the rest of the world. It helps me stay focused. I’m just worried about our goal and how our team is doing.”

The thing that Olenek has improved on the most since arrived in Oxford is his attitude. He deals with failure a lot better.

“It’s a process, I’m still working on it, but I feel it’s better than in high school, which helps me play the way I have been,” Olenek said. “If I have bad body language my first at bat, then it may prevent me from getting those hits later in the game when they need me the most.”

Ole Miss hitting coach Mike Clement agreed that Olenek was a different guy who deserved a lot of credit for coming in, as a freshman, and having success.

“The single biggest element is the belief that they’re good and he’s got that. Sometimes it rubs people the wrong way, but he’s got that belief,” Clement said.

“He’s 168 pounds and he’s the same height as Colby Bortles and 80 pounds less. He’s going to get better as he physically develops, but he’s got that belief in him that he’s a really good player. So he’s had a really good season. If you don’t have somebody with an edge to them, you’re in trouble. And he will fight you to get hits, and wins and everything else.”

Clement added that Olenek was the kind of player that would frustrate in the fall, but somebody you love to have on the team.

“And if you’re in the other dugout, you hate him,” Clement said. “You have to have guys like that for sure, and he’s that guy for us. He’s not the fastest guy in the world, but he plays fast. He plays faster within the diamond than if you just lined him up and had a race. He just has good instincts for the game, and done a great job for us for sure.” john.davis@journalinc.com Twitter: @oxfordcitizenjd

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