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The Paper | Thursday, June 11, 2015
Jackson County Brevet honors memory of 9-year-old Olivia Ouimet
Doug Chellew The Paper
Cyclists take part in the sixth annual Jackson County Brevet last Saturday. The ride was in honor of 9-year-old Olivia Ouimet and raised money for the Kelly Wilhite Aplastic Anemia Research Fund at Emory University. BY LEANNE AKIN
lakin@clickthepaper.com
At Saturday morning’s start of the sixth annual Jackson County Brevet, emotions were on the sleeves of the family of 9-yearold Olivia Ouimet, who died last November from complications from a bone marrow transplant. The daughter of Chris and Leah Ouimet was diagnosed in February of 2013 with Aplastic Anemia, the disease which Kelly, wife of Brevet founder Robert Wilhite has been battling for 27 years. A banner was unveiled featuring photos of a smiling, brave Olivia with her favorite saying: Peace, Love and Ice Cream. Also on the left sleeve of this year’s Jackson County Brevet ride shirt is a memorial tribute to Olivia. As Robert Wilhite made that announcement as the banner was unveiled, the Oui-
PEEK
Continued from 1B Tori Windom, who was a great friend and encourager to me, and so excited once I finally got to high school and we could play together again, and Tyler Rediger, who was also on the high-school team, once I got there. “So, there were always familiar faces. As a rising freshman that summer, (I) played with all the girls that made up the high-school team and they all helped me mature as a player, Alexis Ordini, Noelle Allen, Tori (Windom), Emily Hallberg. I miss that first-year team a lot.” Being the only senior on this year’s team, it was Peek’s turn to disperse direction, encouragement and knowledge to the younger players, the same that she had absorbed during her lacrosse maturation. “Coach called me into his room before the season and said, ‘Peek, I need you to be loud. They (younger players) look up to you and respect you and they need direction,’” said Peek. “I wasn’t quite intimidated doing that, it was just uncomfortable. “But, once I got the hang of my new role, figuring out what (needed to be said) and what (didn’t), it got comfortable.”
mets’ emotions spilled forth. “She’ll never be forgotten,” said Wilhite, who also prayed that her memory will live on and not be forgotten. “Yes, we worked our butts off but we give God the glory.” Wilhite prayed, “If the good God can use someone like me to create an event like this, I can use each of you. He is taking ordinary people and doing extraordinary things.” The ride is very personal for the Ouimets and for Wilhite and he thanked the more than 500 riders who climbed aboard their bicycles for the ride and joined him in trying to make a difference. He thanked Chris Ouimet, who is onboard as ride director. The ride is also personal for Melissa Sanders and her husband Craig who came from Myrtle Beach, S.C., to support and participant in the event. She has been fighting Aplastic Anemia for seven or eight years, said Wilhite, who noted the couple joined the ride in year two and have been riding every year.
There were two highlights that stuck out for Peek during her senior season, she said. The first was playing the entire season (she played just 11 games in 2014). She called the experience “painful.” The second highlight, beating Roswell High School. “I always like to beat Roswell,” said Peek. Now, Peek is ready to begin the next chapter of her lacrosse journey at Young Harris College. She says she’s “excited” to play at the next level and “specifically” at Young Harris. Peek says the coaches are “knowledgeable” and have “played” the sport, which can be a rarity, she explains. Her brother, Will, was being recruited by Young Harris when Peek was a freshman and sophomore in high school. Then, when Young Harris was allowed, it contacted Peek about playing for the girls’ squad, but she was looking at Division I schools at the time. She was preparing for a visit to Mercer University and had gone on an official visit to High Point, she said. However, after visiting camps and going on the recruiting trips during her junior year, Peek thought, “maybe I didn’t want to play in college.” “Every visit I went on at the Division I (level), the girls were tired and sore and so, so busy all the time, and most of them didn’t even get to play in games, (because) they kept such big teams,”
Annalia Polenitis from Decatur shared a hug with Wilhite. “I am so glad you made it,” he told the woman whose life is also impacted by the disease. Vehicles in the parking lot of Northeast Church, one of the major sponsors of the ride with Whole Foods, Chili’s and Tencate, displayed tags from Fulton, Hart, Gilmer, DeKalb, Douglas, Cobb, Walton, Barrow, Gwinnett, Forsyth, Coweta, Clarke and beyond as well as North Carolina. Lots of “Share the Road” tags were also displayed including by first-time participant David Hogan of Cumming who said he was invited to the Brevet by a friend and fellow cyclist. For Bill Newell of Jefferson, the ride is local – on roads he and friends ride each week. “We have done (the Jackson County Brevet) every year. It’s local and it’s for a great cause.” Wilhite also prayed for a “hedge of protection to surround every participant” in the fun-
said Peek. “I was convinced I didn’t want to play. “Then, two concussions, out half a season and all summer, I missed it so much I decided there’s no way I’ll be able to not play.” She turned her attention away from the Division I schools and started looking at smaller schools closer to home. Emmanuel College “caught” her eye, but she was sold on Young Harris. Her dream to go and play at Young Harris came to fruition when she got a call from the Young Harris coach. “I was standing on the sidelines of the boys’ North Gwinnett game at (North Gwinnett) and coach called, made the offer and I was so excited,” said Peek. “I speed-walked to my dad while still on the phone and told him the second I hung up.” She verbally committed last fall and officially signed her letter this past spring. “That was such a relief and a rush of excitement,” she said. “I know it’s going to be hard work and I’m willing to work, but also, I know these girls and they like to have fun. “The team isn’t massive, so my odds of getting decent playing time are much better and I’m willing to work for that, too. I’m just so excited to be playing with them and for those coaches in such a beautiful place.”
DRAGONS
Continued from 1B rience at the skill positions is really showing. “We are going to work on getting off man coverage. We are probably going to get a lot of man coverage this year. We had some teams out here today that were able to line up in our face and jam us at the line and we’ve got to be able to be more physical coming off at receiver.” Hall added the outside linebackers need work on pass defense, but they only focused on stopping the run game during the spring. “But, it’s good we were able to identify that from the sideline,” said Hall. “We will look at the film, show the kids the film and then, hopefully, on the 19th, we will have a better showing. “Overall, as coaches, we are very pleased (with) the effort and the willingness to compete that these kids showed today. I have a good time with this every year; Lot of work, but we have a good time with it.” Hall said the play of Zack Boobas and Alex Mason stood out from the secondary. Boobas and Mason will be the Dragons’ anchor in the secondary at the safety position. “They did a pretty good job considering what they were up against,” said Hall.
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draising event which cyclists from across the region traveled to ride in and which others support monetarily. One of Olivia’s teachers, Beth Richey, was inspired to fundraise in the last several days with more than $1,000 being raised for the charity, said Wilhite. He thanked pro cyclists George Hincapie and Christian Vande Velde for participating in the VIP ride as well as in Saturday’s Brevet. Wilhite also acknowledged Dr. Michael J. McLemore of Emory University, one of three at Emory doing clinical research on Aplastic Anemia. See more photos at ClickThePaper.com. For more information about the Jackson County Brevet and how to join the cause, or how to donate, visit www.jacksonbrevet.com; e-mail info@jacksonbrevet.com; and find them on Facebook, search Jackson County Brevet.
Hawks finish second at JHS 7-on-7 tournament BY CHARLES PHELPS
cphelps@clickthepaper.com
JEFFERSON – The 2015 high-school football season is still two months away, but the competition is already heating up just like the summertime temperatures. Last Friday, the Mill Creek Hawks walked into Jefferson Memorial Stadium for a 7-on-7 competition. According to assistant head coach Josh Lovelady, the 7-on-7 tournaments are “really big” for confidence in the individual players to execute what they have been coached to do up to that point, but it is also important for them to have confidence to execute plays with their teammates. For a team that has a brand new cast of characters on both sides of the ball, the Hawks look like they are starting the summer off on a great note and gaining confidence as they outlasted the likes of Gainesville, Houston County, Jefferson and more to finish second in the summertime competition. The Hawks defeated Jefferson and Houston County to reach the finals, where they lost to Archer, 33-20. “It was good,” said Lovelady. “It was real good as far as we came out here and competed. “This first tournament is when you start getting different looks, offensively and defensively, and that’s the biggest thing is being able to adjust on the run and being able to sit there and let the scheme take care of itself and be disciplined on both sides of the ball when you have different opponents and different looks.” Mill Creek got its first look at its offense, which was helmed by Cameron Turley for the first time in competition. “Offensively, we did a lot of good things,” said Lovelady. “We had some young guys stepping up. “Obviously, this is the first test of the new class of kids coming in, and we’re saying, ‘Who’s going to be the playmakers?’” Lovelady was pleased with the defensive effort, too, stating the group “flew around” to the football. “We’ve been coming to this tournament for several years, I would be willing to put my money on that we, probably, had more picks (interceptions), defensively, than any year we have been here as a group,” said Lovelady. The Hawks next 7-on-7 tournament is the Corky Kell 7-on-7 Invitational on Friday, June 19, at the Roswell Area Parks Football Complex.
Charles Phelps The Paper
Jefferson’s Chaz Evans makes a catch during 7-on-7.
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