precision RIFLE

(70th) and freshman Hunter Bell (72nd) are part of the future core as well, as are freshmen Kalvin Ngov and Jack Thompson. Overall, the boys won seven team matches, and recorded six low medalist honors. Brooks was the low medalist three times, and once each for Turpin, Greene, and Bowman.

The Lady Indians, meanwhile, had finished in the top-five at state three times before. Missing out last year with a very young team fueled their desire this time around. With the senior leadership of Lundy and the consistent, low medalist play of sophomore Mallory Higgins, the Lady Indians came in 5th at state. Lundy was 10th individually with Higgins right behind at 13th. Sophomores Raegan Duncan and Madeline Martin were 29th and 35th, respectively. The girls won six matches this season as a team, and Higgins was a 5-time low medalist with Lundy garnering a pair of low medalist honors. TFS features the four sophomores - including Ella Akers, who will build off this year’s fantastic campaign.

After winning 10 matches a season ago and returning a young but talented roster, it was no surprise that the team built off last year’s run with a second straight top-10 finish at the GHSA State Championships.

Lone senior Jue Wang consistently was a top shooter to set the tone early, with TFS winning its first four matches. After a tough loss to Lumpkin County, the rifle team went on a big win streak. Competing at home, the team edged North Forsyth in their relay in the Area Sectionals. In the ensuing Area 6 Championship match, TFS finished as Runner-Up for a second straight season, a tremendous accomplishment when considering the size of the other schools in the area.

The State Sectionals included a date with Class 7A Westlake, and TFS had a tremendous showing with an 1138-857 win in which Leah Rogers (290) and Chloe Erwin (289) led the output. The team then had a similar output with a 1137-1102 win over Glynn Academy in the State Semifinals. Wang and Joseph McGahee both fired a 287, as that win clinched another State Championship appearance for TFS.

In the Championship at the University of North Georgia, Marc Crotta this time led the efforts with a 287 as the team finished 10th overall with an 1137. The team’s record rounded out to 11-1.

The season accomplishments included Wang tying the school record with a 292 in a 3x10 individual match. Tallulah Falls’ 1155 score in the Area 6 Sectionals bested the school record by six points. Wang (290), Erwin (290), McGahee (288), and Rogers (287) earned the top score. McGahee was a Junior Olympic Qualifier, and competed among the nation’s best. Crotta earned Positive Athlete Northeast Georgia status for Alternative Sport.

Though Wang departs, the rest of the team will seek to build off the winning foundation in place by coaches Katie Keister and Tim Stamey.

Great athletes don’t make excuses. Rather, they use the skills and resources they have and find ways to get better. For Anna Davis ’18, what sparked a spectacular career in track and field was an older brother blazing the path, a coach that believed in her, a set of dance techniques that transitioned to track, and a knack for finding ways to make the most out of what she had.

From Tallulah Falls School to Davidson College and eventually where she just graduated at Northeastern University, Davis has racked up countless awards, records, and accomplishments. It’s easy to see where she’s ended up, but her start came from humble beginnings.

“I was a ballerina leading up to starting at Tallulah Falls in sixth-grade, so hurdling seemed like the ideal event for me since I was used to leaping,” says Davis. It took me some time to learn some of the major technique differences between track and dance and learn to run through the hurdles rather than leap over them. I have always loved the extra challenge and technique that comes with hurdling as opposed to just running flat races. There is always room for improvement with hurdling through new cues and drills, and hurdle days have always been my favorite practice days because of that.”

Davis used to borrow the TFS hurdles to take to other facilities to practice and perfect her craft. That led to a pair of state titles in her senior 2018 season in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles. She was runner-up in both events as a junior, and third the year prior in the 300-meter hurdles. Davis also had a pair of fourth-place finishes in the long jump (2019) and 400 meter dash (2016). She still holds both hurdles records at TFS. Despite the school not having a full-sized track, she didn’t let that become a barrier. “Looking back at it, that could have easily impeded our ability to train, but Coach [Scott] Neal was amazing at adapting and creating workouts to fit what we needed,” adds Davis.