Oxford March 9, 2017

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Volume 3 | Issue 92

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Inside 3 News

McCluskey named Lafayette's Teacher of the Year

7 News

CHANING GREEN | BUY AT PHOTOS.DJOURNAL.COM

Middle and high school students from all over the state congregated in the Tad Smith Coliseum at the University of Mississippi Saturday morning to compete in the FIRST Tech Challenge. Students have been working for months on their robots that they had to design and build for the event.

Robot Revelry

Kate Freeman Clark Exhibit Coming to UM Museum

15 Sports

Students gather in Oxford for statewide robotics competition Each year, teams participating in the This year’s competition, hosted at the Tad Pad, featured middle and high school FIRST Tech Challenge are required to teams from across the state seeking to build a robot that in order to most effiThe FIRST Tech Challenged returned to complete a challenge with the most ciently complete an assigned task on a the University of Mississippi campus for the amount of points and be declared chamfifth time Saturday morning. pion.

TURN TO ROBOT PAGE 8

BY CHANING GREEN OXFORD CITIZEN

Reliable Rebel: Jorge has fought through pain for OM men's tennis

OXFORD CITIZEN

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COURTESY OF OXFORD INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL

THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017

COURTESY OF OXFORD INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL

Oxford Intermediate School’s library received a grant through Walmart this year to purchase OIS held a special Book Tasting that featured food, books and conversation among the popular children’s books in Chinese, Spanish and standard Arabic. school’s international students and their families.

Book Tasting brings culture, food and community to OIS

BY CHANING GREEN NEWS WRITER

Tuesday night, Oxford Intermediate School held a special evening of food, books and community building during their first ever Book Tasting.

The event was open to students who are learning English as their second language and the families of those students. They were asked to bring a traditional dish from their native country. In all, over the 30 people attended to the event. Fam-

ilies were there from China, Egypt, different parts of Latin America and more.

There was food from all over the world and everyone sat together, ate and bonded with one another. There were also grade-level books in Spanish, Chinese and

standard Arabic available the students and parents to look through and check out.

Wendy Daughdrill is the librarian at OIS. Last spring, she applied for a grant through Walmart and was given $750 to spend exclusively on books in other languages. These are more expensive for the school to order than books in English, so the grant was a huge help in purchasing the unconventional materials. The school received the books back in September.

“I had been looking to help us build a collection of books in other languages in order to support our English-learning students,” Daughdrill said. “Even for the ones who speak and read English fluently, I saw a need for them to have something in their heart language. There’s been a really good response from the kids when the books came in, they checked so many of them out. They were all just so excited.”

Daughdrill and her library assistant Shimikqua Ellis then saw a need to engage these students and their families and wanted to give them the opportunity to interact with one another, as well as the administration at the school. She wanted to go beyond supporting them in their language and reading skills and work to build a sense of community, not only between the school and the international students, but also give them and their families the chance to learn from and

COURTESY OF OXFORD INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL

Students were invited to bring their families and a dish from their native country. Everyone had the opportunity to eat and get to know each other a little better. engage with each other.

“Our international community here at OIS enriches our school in so many ways, and it is easy to tell from talking to their families how passionately these parents care about their children’s education,” Daughdrill said. “We wanted to reach out to that entire part of our school community and let them know that we value them, and create a way for them to be more comfortable getting involved at school.”

Nikki Logan is the counselor at Oxford Intermediate and worked with the librarians to organize the event.

She considered it to be resounding success. She talked about how wonderful it was to meet all the parents and hear their stories. There were foods at the event that she’d never seen before and she listened and watched as these people from different cultures from all over the world found a way to connect and converse. Logan

and other faculty and staff members were able to help parents understand how to check their student’s grades using a computer.

Logan said that everyone seemed to really enjoy and get something out the event.

“They were asking me if we could do it more often, and that’s our goal,” Logan said. “We want to have these events and learn from each other. We haven’t figured out exactly how we’re going to do it, but I enjoyed it so much and so little effort went into it in terms of planning. It was simple.They came in and we didn't have an agenda or anything. We just ate, talked and enjoyed ourselves. I’m hoping to do start doing one at the beginning of the school year and then maybe one around the holidays, and them maybe another one later in the school year like this one was.” chaning.green@journalinc.com Twitter: chaningthegreen

THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017

OXFORD CITIZEN

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McCluskey named Lafayette's Teacher of the Year

BY CHANING GREEN NEWS WRITER

Connie McCluskey has been serving the Lafayette County School District for the past 22 years and her dedication to he profession and her students has officially earned the title of the district’s 2017 Teacher of the Year. Become coming to Lafayette, McCluskey spent nine years working at the university in the Department of Continuing Studies. The board certified educator then came to the Lafayette County School District and fulfilled her life-long dreams of becoming a teacher. McCluskey took some time Monday morning to speak with Oxford Citizen reporter Chaning Green about her life and work.

CHANING GREEN: What grades have you taught at Lafayette?

CONNIE MCCLUSKEY: I have taught sixth, fourth, second and am now teaching kindergarten. When I taught sixth grade, it a was kind of overflow position.

We’d had so many kids that year, that they needed another teacher, and I was available. That phased out, and I was placed in the fourth grade on a title position, which was paid for with grant money. Once a regular second grade position became available, I moved into it. I later made the transition from second grade to kindergarten at the request of the principal about five or six years ago.

GREEN: Do you have a favorite out of all the grades that you've taught?

MCCLUSKEY: Well, second grade is probably my favorite, just in terms of what they are capable of doing. I love kindergarten, but with second grade, you get to see a whole lot more of who they are as people at that age. They also do a lot more writing and begin working on projects and things like that.

GREEN: Did you grow up in Oxford?

MCCLUSKEY: Yes, I was born in Memphis, but my family moved here when I was 5. I attended school at the Oxford School District, graduated from Oxford.

GREEN: Do you think you’d ever want to go back to teaching?

MCCLUSKEY: It’s a possibility. It’s gonna be hard to give it up. It’s something I’ve done for so long, and it is gonna be hard to leave and change direction a little bit, but I feel like this is what I need to do right now. I think I’m going to be a mother and a grandmother right now.

I’ll probably look for something else to do though. I’ve been looking to get more involved with my church, so I’m very much looking forward to having the time to do that. I go to Yellow Leaf Baptist Church. Education has changed so much over the years, and it takes up so much more PHOTO BY CHANING GREEN time now. It’s been hard.

Connie McCluskey has officially been named the 2017 Lafayette County School District Teacher of the Year. McCluskey taught I’ve had to step away in the Lafayette County School District for the past 22 years. She is retiring at the end of the year. from church a bit, and I’m looking forward to GREEN: Did you plan on started out as a freshman help him with his own my children are 15 years getting back from that. teaching at the county at Ole Miss wanting to be schoolwork and spend apart, and I’d like to be chaning.green@journalinc.com schools upon graduating an educator. I went on to time with him. I also have able to spend some more earn a degree in elemen- grandbabies now from, time with them as well.

Twitter: chaningthegreen from Ole Miss?

MCCLUSKEY: When I did tary education and did my classroom work at Ole just that.

Miss, I did it through the county. I fell in love with GREEN: What do you Lafayette County schools love about your job? and knew that’s where I MCCLUSKEY: I love the wanted to be. It just so children. I love who I work happened to work out that with. I love meeting the way too. parents and working with them and just being able GREEN: What do you to help the kids grow and love about working in the learn. In a lot of ways, county schools? being an educator is comMCCLUSKEY: The atmos- munity service. You give a phere. Everyone here is lot freely. There are a lot of just so very helpful. The things the students need whole place is very much that are not just part of the like a family. It’s just been job and I do not think of it a blessing to work at as just part of the job. It’s Lafayette and work with definitely something that I whom I’ve worked with. I believe God called me to sure couldn’t have done it do. without them and all the It’s so much more than help that I’ve had to make teaching them how to sure I’ve had a good 22 write and teaching them years there. how to read. It’s wiping noses. It’s listening when GREEN: Did you always one of their pets die or they lose a grandparent or want to be a teacher?

MCCLUSKEY: Yes, I have. when they just can’t get it together for that day. It’s GREEN: Was there a par- just so much more than ticular teacher that teaching, some days. pushed to want to follow this career path?

GREEN: I was told you’re MCCLUSKEY: Oh, I’ve retiring this year. Is that had several wonderful true? teachers. When I was in MCCLUSKEY: Yes, that is high school, I had two in true. I am retiring at the particular who were both end of the year. We have a very much instrumental 12-year-old, and I want to in what I wanted to do. I be able to take the time to

OXFORD CITIZEN

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THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017

INTERFAITH POTLUCK

OBITUARIES FRANK BROOKS MCCULLOUGH Frank Brooks McCullough, 59, of Paris, died Sunday, March 5, 2017, at his home. Visitation will be Saturday, March 11, 2017, 11:00 a.m. 12:00 p.m. at Coleman Funeral Home in Oxford.

Funeral services will immediately follow at 12:00 p.m. in Coleman Funeral Home Chapel. Bro. Jeff Taylor will officiate.

Memorials may be made to Haven House, 152 A Highway 7 South, Oxford, MS 38655.

O.V. ELMO SHORT O.V. Elmo Short, 88, passed away Friday, March 03, 2017, at Methodist University Hospital in Memphis, TN. Services were on Tuesday, March 7, 2017, at 1:00 P.M. at McBride Funeral Home Chapel. Visitation was Monday, March 6, 2017, from 5:00 P.M. until 8:00 P.M. and Tuesday, March 7, 2017, from 7:00 A.M. until service time at 1:00 P.M. at McBride Funeral Home.

Burial followed at Shiloh United Methodist Church Cemetery.

PHOTO BY CHANING GREEN

Open Oxford held an Interfaith Potluck Sunday afternoon in the Stone Center. Attendees were encouraged to bring traditional dishes from their native cultures and engage in conversation. The community-building event was held to celebrate the diversity of the Oxford Community.

Hewlett resigns from county school board

BY CHANING GREEN NEWS WRITER

Monday night, the Lafayette County School Board voted to accept the resignation of former board member Ken Hewlett. Hewlett was not

present during the meeting.

Hewlett’s resignation was not on the agenda for the board meeting. This is because the school board received his resignation the morning of the meeting, days after the agenda

had been finalized.

Hewlett represented District 4 of Lafayette County, where the Taylor community is. According to policy put in place by the State of Mississippi, Lafayette is required to name an interim District

4 representative to the board within 60 days of Hewlett’s resignation.

The exact policy reads: “Vacancies in the membership of the county board of education shall be filled by appointment, within 60 days after the vacancy occurs, by the remaining members of the county board of education. Said appointee shall be selected from the qualified electors of the district in which the vacancy occurs, and shall serve until the first Monday of January next succeeding the next general election.”

By Monday night’s meeting, the process by which the board will choose Hewlett’s successor had yet to be decided on.

“I’m grateful for all of his years of service here,” the Lafayette Superintendent Adam Pugh said

after the meeting. “[The process by which to name Hewlett’s successor] will be entirely up to the board. The law states that the board has 60 days to name someone.

That’s something we didn’t get into tonight, so I can’t answer that question. The board will have to figure out the details and then proceed. Again, I’m just so grateful for his service to this district over the years.”

Hewlett was not present at the board meeting, and has yet to return calls asking for a comment on the issue. Last month however, Hewlett publicly expressed his displeasure with the board over their decision to terminate board attorney Grey Tollison, who had served the board for 17 years. The school board has yet to comment on why they felt the need to

not renew Tollison’s contract with the board.

During the meeting, the board also voted to create a new teaching position in the lower elementary school. After the meeting, Superintendent Adam Pugh said that he did not yet know the specifics of what the position, like what grade the teacher will serve, would entail, but that it would largely be left up to the discretion of Principal Paula Gibbs. The district saw the need to create the position due to the rapid rate at which the community is growing.

The district is also currently looking at cona new structing elementary school in order to accommodate the area’s unprecedented growth. chaning.green@journalinc.com Twitter: chaningthegreen

OXFORD CITIZEN

THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017

PAGE 5

City Board hears citizen's concerns regarding TND rezoning

BY CHANING GREEN NEWS WRITER

Tuesday night’s Board of Aldermen meeting was dominated by discussion of a proposed rezoning that would allow for the construction of a traditional neighborhood development within the Oxford city limits.

The traditional neighborhood development (TND) would be constructed “west of North Lamar Boulevard, east of Chickasaw Road and south of Molly Barr Road” and consist of 47.68 acres.

TNDs require very special zoning rules because they are more than just singlefamily homes. A TND includes a grocery store, childcare centers, retail stores and more. They function as self-contained neighborhoods. The proposed TND would include a range of housing products ranging from apartments to houses for families of different sizes.

Updraft Investments is the company wanting to

develop the land and turn it into a TND. They are the ones pushing for the rezoning that would make it possible. The two people behind it are Mac Monteith and Todd Paine. The pair also took over and turned around the Oxford Creek development a few years ago after the previous owners weren’t able to make it profitable.

TNDs are in line with what the City of Oxford had decided it wants to strive toward in the coming years. TNDs are an integral part of the Vision 2037 plan of where the City would like to be in 20 years.

Several people at the board meeting were in favor of the rezoning and many others were not.

Mayor Patterson allowed citizens to speak on the subject for over an hour.

On the side opposing the rezoning were citizens with environmental, engineering and aesthetic concerns. Several people pointed out that the addition of so much concrete

would, they fear, create flooding problems for the surrounding low-lying land. This would also have implications of erosion, stagnate water in ditches that mosquitoes could breed in and several other environmental concerns. Construction on the neighborhood would likely take up to 10 years.

What about all of con-

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stant construction? Will those who live near the proposed site have to deal with loud noises and large construction vehicles tearing up the roads for the next decade? What implication does this have on traffic? Some people just said they think the neighborhood would be ugly and out of place.

There were also people who spoke at the meeting and said that everyone was getting ahead of themselves. The issue on that table is whether or not to rezone the area in such a way that a TND could be constructed. No one is saying that anyone will be breaking ground tomorrow on a TND. This is all about zoning laws.

Yes, this is a step toward the constriction of such a neighborhood, but the City is miles away from approving any specifics in regards to throwing up any buildings. Besides, Lafayette County is the fastest growing municipality in the state. Building more housing and having a neighborhood that has its own amenities would mean more places for people to live and less people on the roads. Why drive across town to Kroger or Walmart, when there’s a grocery store with everything you need right there in your own neighborhood?

Why bother getting on

the roads?

This was the last major public hearing on the issue. The Board of Aldermen will vote during next month’s meeting on whether or not to rezone the area.

Another big point of the meeting was the City’s consideration of donating $32,500 to Interfaith Compassion Ministries. The donation would benefit the residents of Riverside as they seek to find other housing arrangements. The vouchers being provided to Riverside residents will pay their rent at their new housing, but not their initial security deposit required to lock in a lease.

The City would be matching an equal donation from Interfaith Compassion Ministries in order to raise enough money to cover the costs of every Riverside resident’s security deposit at their new living situation. chaning.green@journalinc.com Twitter: chaningthegreen

OXFORD CITIZEN

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THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017

OPC board meets with city leaders about new activity center

BY JOHN DAVIS OXFORD PARK COMMISSION

The next step in the construction of a new activity center for the Oxford Park Commission is now in the hands of the city’s board of aldermen. The OPC’s board hosted a joint meeting of city leaders Wednesday morning to discuss several different options that would allow the project to move forward.

Three members of the city board – Janice Antonow, Jason Bailey and Robyn Tannehill – lis-

tened to the presentation.

The contingent also offered their thoughts on working through a construction issue that appeared for the first time just last week.

Based on the recommendation of a geotechnical engineer, 12 feet of dirt needed to be moved from the entire site in order for the new center to be built.

The original plan was to move five feet of dirt to accommodate the base of the new building. An additional three feet was going to be moved to create a new parking lot. All of that

changed last week after the report from the engineer.

The cost to remove dirt from the site, which served as a dump site for city residents over 30 years ago, would be $750 per truck because it would need to be taken to Three Rivers Landfill in Pontotoc. The normal cost per truck for dirt work is $135.

More extensive dirt work would increase the cost of the project at its existing location. There were three different proposals offered, including moving the activity center to a dif-

ferent spot in town. No decision was made on the center, only the possibilities discussed.

OPC Executive Director Seth Gaines said he and the OPC board wanted every possible option to be presented to city leaders so they could make the most informed decision on the center, and whether it would be located right next to the existing building or built in a new location.

“We want to put all the options on the table and let the board and Oxford decide which way to go,”

Gaines said.

The city board approved $7.5 million for the creation of the new activity center. The Lafayette County Board of Supervisors also pledged $1 million.

In other matters, the OPC board approved the hiring of Kris Brasher to the position of Leisure Lifestyle Administrator/Aquatics Director. Brasher spent the past 15 years as the aquatics director at the North Mississippi Regional Center. He worked at NMRC for the past 19 years. Brasher holds a

master’s degree in parks and recreation management.

Teresa Faust was transferred from RSVP Recruiter to Director of Volunteer Oxford.

Marlee Carpenter was transferred from part-time worker to the role of RSVP Recruiter that was held by Faust.

The board also approved the request made

by Deputy Director Bubba Robinson to advertise for seasonal maintenance workers as well as for lifeguards and a pool manager at the city pool.

Overseas adventure for UM chemistry students

BY DAVIS COEN SPECIAL TO OXFORD CITIZEN

Fourteen University of Mississippi Chemistry students are gearing up to spend the approaching spring break overseas in France learning all about

food culture and the science behind some of the country’s most famous dishes.

In conjunction with the University’s Study Abroad program, this spring semester course incorporates the studying of

chemistry and biochemistry in food culture in a classroom forum, with some first-hand field experience in the country of origin on which the course focuses; in this case, a world-renowned culinary destination.

The class, which is titled “Chemistry in France: Research in Food, Health and Culture,” will take what the students observe and experience during the trip and apply it to the remaining part of the semester, as well as to a research paper.

The students have been displaying great enthusiasm and excitement for their upcoming adventure in the weeks prior to departure, and are characterized by professor Susan Pedigo as a, “very interested, engaged group.”

“From the moment I heard about this trip, I was absolutely set on going,” said UM student JudiBeth McMillen. “I knew there was no way for me to miss out on this amazing opportunity.”

Another UM student, Lemuel Tsang, said he was excited to learn the science behind cooking.

“I feel when you know why something is, you gain an intimate connection to it that allows full appreciation of it,” said UM student Lemuel Tsang. “This allows you to make educated decisions when you’re cooking. You know what you can and cannot put into a meringue while beating.

You know what liquids will best extract the flavors from your spices.”

Students are each displaying their interest by trying recipes and experimenting.

Some have done so with such staples

of French cuisine and dining such as cheese, bread and chocolate mousse; preparing them at home and bringing them in to share with classmates. They then discuss how different processes lead to different characteristics, textures and tastes, and also investigate the physical and chemical transformations that occur in cooking.

One student even prepared her own “crème fraîche,” France’s distinctly different version of sour cream.

The students experimenting with making cheese have been working vigorously, trying different control experiments with lemon juice as opposed to rennet, for example, and noting how each curdling agent affects the consistency of the cheese.

In preparation, the class has been reading, “On Food and Cooking,” which is considered a kitchen classic and possibly the most influential book written by Harold McGee. McGee, an American author best known for exploring the subject of chemistry and the history of food science and cooking, also helped give birth to the culinary movement known as "Molecular Gastronomy."

In this book, Pedigo said McGee offers a “layman’s description of the chemistry of different

foods and integration of history and culture.”

Another major aspect of this research is food pairing. In this chemistry class, an emphasis has been placed on understanding how different foods have the potential to be paired together, based not only on taste but molecular makeup.

The pairing of food and drink is also a prevalent topic in French food culture, particularly as it applies to wine.

The professor also puts emphasis on teaching students to be openminded to the differences in food cultures.

“I’m trying to introduce new foods to them, and I talk a lot about philosophy,” Pedigo said. “Food is such a part of culture that you can’t walk in with pre-conceived notions, or you’re closing yourself off to culture. You need to open yourself up and try everything.”

Pedigo anticipates conducting labs with students in her home kitchen when they return; dividing the class into several groups to prepare their own unique meals and then presenting the chemistry of it to their peers.

During the trip, the group will also venture to the vibrant capital city of Paris and tour some other nearby regions.

“Once the group arrives, the goal will be to explore and have fun,” Pedigo said.

OXFORD CITIZEN

THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017

PAGE 7

Kate Freeman Clark Exhibit Coming to UM Museum

BY KATHRYN WINTER STAFF WRITER

The University of Mississippi museum will be hosting a spring exhibition on the late artist Kate Freeman Clark, a native Mississippian and Holly Springs resident, along with the release of Carolyn Brown’s new biography on the artist. The Artist’s Sketch: A Biography of Kate Freeman Clark took Brown two years and tons of extensive research to write.

Brown poured through Clark’s journals and artifacts at the Marshall County Historical Museum and hundreds of paintings at the Kate Freeman Clark art gallery.

Dr. Brown is a writer, editor and independent scholar. She attended Duke University and later earned her master’s and Ph.D at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. Her first book A Daring Life: A Biography of Eudora Welty was selected by the Mississippi Library Commission to represent the state of Mississippi at the National Book Festival in Washington D.C. in 2012, and won the Mississippi Library Association’s Award for Nonfiction in 2013. In November 2014 she published her second book, another biography titled Song of My Life: A Biography of Margaret Walker, which won a special award from the Mississippi Library Association for Juvenile Literature. Brown has published articles in many journals, including Notes on Mississippi Writ-

ers, College Language Journal, the Eudora Welty Review, Persuasions: The Jane Austen Journal, and The Journal of Mississippi History. Her third biography on Clark was released February 2017.

According to katefreemanclark.org, “The major exhibition of Kate Freeman Clark's paintings and the release of an extensive biography of her life and career will be an historic event for the Art Gallery and for Holly Springs. The University of Mississippi Museum will host the exhibition containing an estimated 70 of Kate Freeman Clark's paintings as well as artifacts from the Marshall County Historical Museum that will illustrate different aspects of her life. At the same time the University Press will release the publishing of The Artist’s Sketch: A Biography of Kate Freeman Clark.”

“I’ve written two previous biographies about women writers in MS, so my editor at the time asked me to do a third book and I didn’t know who who what I wanted to write about. I was thinking another woman writer, but I love art and I started thinking about women artists from Mississippi,” Brown said.

“The book is exciting to me because it’s the first time ever that a full biography has been published about her life. She is known as a landscapist, but she painted in a lot of styles and genres-beautiful portraits, still lifes, watercolors, abstract and urban scenes later in her

life. Her journals depict important historical events- she lived through World War I, went to art school with famous American impressionists at the time, painting along some famous artists, and her work was equal to these painters but she held back and didn’t sell work or exhibit it. She never got the attention she deserved, used a different name and didn’t show her herself as a woman.”

One of the last exhibits on Clark was a show in 1996 at Lauren Rodgers Museum in Laurel. Paintings from Clark’s gallery in Holly Springs will be on display for three months.

“The gallery in Holly Springs has done a great job restoring and cleaning up her work,” Brown said.

“The best compliment I can receive about my book is that you learned something from it. My hope is that you can get a sense of her life from reading it.”

Kate died at the age of 81, her neighbors were surprised to learn of her gift of paintings for the enjoyment of the people of Holly Springs. With her will, Clark left her home with several hundred canvases and sketches from her New York years to the town of Holly Springs. She left instructions and funds to build an art museum to house her paintings, which were inventoried to include over 1,200 sketches and paintings.Today the Kate Freeman Art Gallery is what Kate Freeman Clark wanted: "A museum of fine and social arts."

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*Free Checking with Unlimited Cashback *Terms and Conditions apply 1101 Jackson Ave. W • Oxford, MS 38655 • (662) 236-9099

OXFORD CITIZEN

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THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017

Robot FROM 1

small pitch. This year’s challenge was called Velocity Vortex. The challenge required students to design and build a robot that can fit in an 18-inch box.

The robot can expand, but must be able to fit into that box in its smallest form.

The pitch is divided diagonally, a red side and a blue side. Teams are stationed on each side of the pitch and given a number of whiffle balls that they must put into elevated goals in order to earn points. Four beacons are clipped onto the sides of the pitch, two on each divided half. The robots must be able to independently press a button on their appropriate beacon. In the center of the pitch under the elevated goal posts are two, 21-inch balls. If competitors are able to lift these balls and set them on top of their goal, they are awarded a whopping 40 points.

Students were on the floor of the Tad Pad in costume, some with crazy-

CHANING GREEN | BUY AT PHOTOS.DJOURNAL.COM

The Tupelo Middle School Wavebots were also at the competition competing.This was their first year participating in the FIRST Tech Challenge. colored hair or shoulder pads made of duct tape and broken CDs, light-up pins and stray microchips, looking like fallen cyborg warriors from the future.

They were in tents set up all over the coliseum floor that held banners with their team name in big letters. Teams were huddled

together making final adjustments to their robots.

Others were in the few pitches set up on the court, making practice runs.

Some of their robots had tall, extendable arms and tubes and turny bits that fired whiffle balls at targets with deadly accuracy.

Tupelo Middle School

was at the competition, competing under the team name Wavebots. This is the first year for TMS to compete in the FIRST Tech Challenge. Team members spent the last several months preparing for the competition.

Students stayed after school multiple days a week, program-

ming, coding and building to get the perfect robot.

Last year, the middle school had an after school activity involving robots, so this wasn’t the first go round for some of the eighth-graders on the team.

Judy Harden teaches science at the middle school

and is the faculty advisor over the Tupelo Wavebots.

She said that she’s been so impressed with how dedicated all of the students have been when working toward this competition.

“All of this has been totally student-led,” Harden said, before the competition Saturday morning.

“They built the robot entirely themselves. Our engineers didn’t come in and help them get started. We got a sponsor, ACCO Brands out of Booneville to help us and they’ve been a really huge help to us, financially and otherwise.

They even sent two engineers over to check out or robot there at the end.

We’re hoping next year to go even bigger.”

Harden said that this getting ready for this year’s competition was so much fun that there are already students looking to join the team next year. She expects the Wavebots to be bigger and even better for next year’s FIRST Tech Challenge. chaning.green@journalinc.com Twitter: chaningthegreen

OXFORD CITIZEN

THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017

PAGE 9

Visit Oxford leaders are working to rebrand the town

BY KIRSTEN FAULKNER SPECIAL TO OXFORD CITIZEN

Visit Oxford leaders are working to rebrand the town through social media and community partnerships.

Communications and Partnerships Manager Katie Kaiser and her team have been working to create a strong brand image for Oxford.

Ole Miss Athletics has partnered with Visit Oxford to hang banners of athletes with the Visit Oxford logo throughout the Square. Visit Oxford has also teamed with the Oxford Film Festival to sponsor events.

Kaiser and her team have streamlined their social media, they recently created an online calendar featured on the Visit Oxford website, and Visit Oxford leaders speak to local clubs, organizations and University of Mississippi classes about their mission.

“The calendar is a great way for people to see what is coming up in the area,” Kaiser said. By reaching out to local businesses and organizations, they keep the calendar updated.

Elizabeth Pyron, a Visit Oxford

KIRSTEN FAULKNER

Visit Oxford intern, Elizabeth Pyron talks tourists about Oxford. intern, helps plan large Oxford events, such as Double Decker and the Oxford Film Festival.

“I talk to vendors and give them a booth assignments,” she said.

By advertising both online and through print, Visit Oxford reaches many ages. In such a fast-paced city, Kaiser feels it is important to stay current with social media,

Over the past few years, they have created a strong presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube.

In helping rebrand Visit Oxford, interns provide a young perspective to attract the college-age community. McCoy feels she is playing an important role as the social media manager because she has

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Marketing and communications intern Brittney McCoy manages many of the social media accounts. “Visit Oxford works to market themselves not only to the visitors of Oxford, but also to market their brand to other states,” she said.

“had to evaluate what will make people want to come visit Oxford.”

With the Double Decker Arts Festival coming up in the spring, Kaiser and her team feel they are well prepared for the event that always draws a large crowd.

“We have many art vendors and musicians lined up for Double Decker, and we hope to have an amazing turnout this year,” she said.

Their website VisitOxfordMS.com lists many upcoming events and places to visit. There are links to all their social media outlets and an app to help make plans while visiting.

The Visit Oxford app enables users to locate places on a map, including well-known sites people always want to explore.

Visit Oxford also recently moved from a conference center to a previously-owned law building off the Square. “We got away from the convention and meeting side of tourism, and we are now more of a marketing office,” Kaiser said.

The new Visit Oxford building has a history. Built in 1885, it was once the law office of James Stone, Nobel Prize-winning author William Faulkner’s mentor.

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OXFORD CITIZEN

PAGE 13

OXFORD CITIZEN

PAGE 14

THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017

COURTESY

This year’s Double Decker 5k and 10k race routes have been updated for the first time in 22 years. To see the new routes and register for the race, visit doubledeckerspringrun.com

Double Decker race takes runners down different path

BY CHANING GREEN NEWS WRITER

Since its creation more than 20 years ago, the Double Decker Arts Festival has kicked off every year with a race around town. This year’s race will be taking runners on a new route that will still show them the town and the university, but in a bit more practical way than years past.

The race, which can be run as either a 5k or 10k, is intended to take runners around downtown neighborhoods of Oxford, the University of Mississippi and the Square. It’s a way of letting visitors see what the town has to offer, while engaging in a fun physical activity.

The Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce is in charge of overseeing the race every year.

“We have been using the same route for the 22 years that the Double Decker Arts Festival has been around,” said Pam Swain, vice president for the Chamber.

“That route has come across some roadblocks with construction this year, particularly on campus.

Mainly, however, as our race has grown over the years, we’ve also been running into major congestion on the outskirts of the Square where vendors are trying to come in and get set up for the festival. We’ve got so many racers trying to come in and meander their way along their route, and they’re having to push past all these vendors.”

According to the Chamber, 55 percent of the runners participating in the race every year are locals, and the remaining 45 percent come from all over.

Last year’s race included an unprecedented 1,500 runners from 25 states across the country. The year before that, there were runners from 26 states.

All of those runners careening down sidewalks and roadways became impractical. The amount of runners this year is expected to increase again,

with organizers hoping to have at least 1,600 people participating in the race.

Something had to change before this became a safety issue.

So the Chamber decided to reexamine the course and see what they could do.

They looked at roads that wouldn’t be very busy early in the morning, when the

race is ran. They routed runners on the outer edges of the Square, making sure they would still be able to get a good view of everything, but would also be out of the way of the set up happening for the festival.

“We took a look at the course to see what might help alleviate some of those issues and put our racers on

a safer route that didn’t make them bottleneck as much with those vendors,” Swain said. “So with that, we looked at where the construction was and planned alternate routes.

We wanted runners to still get the experience of the Oxford Square, but not necessarily have to run right through it. The new route takes them past where the congestion is. It frees up that space for the exclusive use of the vendors, and, most importantly, it makes the whole ordeal safer for everyone.”

The City has also agreed to shut down a portion of North Lamar where the race is begins, in front of the YMCA. This is the first year they’ve done so.

Swain said that the 5k and 10k races are not only a way for out-of-towners to get a fun, healthy way to explore Oxford, but that it’s also a chance for the community to lift each other up.

The race gives everyone a chance to set a goal, work towards it and achieve it to-

gether. After the race there’s also the one-mile Fun Run for kids, so the morning has something to offer runners of all ages and levels.

“I think the race is just a healthy and communitybuilding way for everyone to start out what we know is going to be fun weekend in Oxford,” Swain said. “We track where all of these runners come in from based on their registration. And it’s really interesting because we have runners from all over our country. We’ve had 26 states in one year represented in our registration.

That’s over half of the country represented by somebody here in Oxford, Mississippi on the morning of Double Decker. That whole community feeling of running a race that takes you everywhere is just the perfect opportunity for everyone to get together and do something fun. It’s nice to see everyone supporting one another.” chaning.green@journalinc.com Twitter: chaningthegreen

THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017

PAGE 15

Parrish Alford Ole Miss Sports

Ole Miss receiving corps slow at catching on to scheme

D

ay 3 in the installation of a new offense looked like Ole Miss wide receivers coach Jacob Peeler thought it would.

It had issues.

Peeler was on the market in January when California coach Sonny Dykes and his staff were let go. He was quickly hired by Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze to fill the vacancy left by Grant Heard.

Freeze has stockpiled talent at wide receiver in recent seasons, but there were problems with dropped passes at the end of 2016 when the Rebels transitioned at quarterback from Chad Kelly to freshman Shea Patterson for the last three games.

“With the third day of a new install you’re going to have your hiccups along the way,” said Peeler, a Kosciusko native who played at Louisiana Tech and coached for Dykes there before joining him at Cal. “There are some things we have to improve on and get cleaned up. I’ve been impressed with their enthusiasm and desire to be great. That’s something that group really wants.”

Greatness comes with more consistency in hauling in passes, and the Rebels were hitand-miss with that in Tuesday’s workout.

Peeler led his players through a post-practice drill of making the catch and following it with their eyes all the way to having it safely tucked in.

Most of the first-team reps right now are going to sophomores A.J. Brown and DK Metcalf on the edge and third-year sophomore Van Jefferson inside.

Metcalf showed no effects of the broken foot that sidelined him after the second game in 2016.

Redshirt freshman Tre Nixon is working at the inside receiver with the second team along with Markell Pack. Junior DaMarkus Lodge was also working with the second team.

Patterson completed 54.5 percent of 132 attempts last season with six touchdowns and three interceptions.

Peeler says the most improvement in timing between Patterson and the receivers may come after spring ball.

“That’s the thing that normally has the biggest jump post-spring ball and going into fall came, where guys are able to throw on their own, and we’re not out there,” he said.

“That’s when timing really comes into play.” parrish.alford@journalinc.com Twitter: @parrishalford

PETRE THOMAS

Ole Miss senior Ricardo Jorge is 8-6 in singles and 6-1 in doubles play with partner Zvonimir Babic.

Reliable Rebel Jorge has fought through pain for OM men's tennis

BY JOHN DAVIS SPORTS WRITER

Exactly one calendar year ago, Ricardo Jorge was watching the Ole Miss men's tennis team win matches from the sidelines. The senior from Tavira, Portugal had a forgettable 2016 from a playing standpoint. He missed two months to be exact due to pain in his back. This is the final season of tennis for Jorge, who will undergo surgery on his back to repair scoliosis in December.

“That's why this is a special year for me.

I shouldn't be playing tennis right now.

Every doctor said I should stop,” Jorge said.

“Every match I play, I struggle with pain. I always play with pain. I was supposed to get surgery two years ago, but I would have

had to stop playing immediately. It would take six months to recover or to even do some physical activity. I can play tennis again but only socially. This is my second chance.”

Jorge had a lot of fun playing tennis for the Rebels when he was a freshman. He played well, winning 13 matches overall in 2014. After that, Jorge has been up and down, which made him felt like he was never able to play his best.

“I was not having fun on the courts or comfortable. It wasn't a good experience where as this year, I'm able to show what I can really do,” Jorge said. “Even though I have this problem and I have pain, my mentality has changed. This is my last year to play so I'm going to enjoy it and take the most out of it. I'm just going to give it all

I've got.”

Doubles is a fun part of matches for Jorge, who is playing alongside his really good friend, Zvonimir Babic. The duo are 6-1 heading into the Georgia match.

“That makes it even more special because we are together every single day. We hang out together and we know each other really, really well,” Jorge said. “We are best friends off the court so the chemistry on the court is just fantastic. He knows what I'm going to do and he knows what I'm going to do. He knows my strengths and my weaknesses and he knows mine. We play according to what he's best at and what I'm best at.”

Jorge is comfortable on the court at No. TURN TO JORGE PAGE 20

OXFORD CITIZEN

PAGE 16

THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017

COURTESY

Lafayette's Mariah Holland shoots during Monday's MHSAA C Spire Class 4A state tournament game with West Lauderdale in the Mississippi Coliseum. The Lady Commodores will play for the 4A title tonight.

Lady 'Dores rout Lady Knights, advances to 4A title game

BY BEN MIKELL SPORTS WRITER

Defense wins championships.

The Lafayette Lady Commodores are one step away from winning their first gold ball in 35 years thanks to their defense that was on full display in their 51-21 blowout victory over the West Lauderdale Lady Knights during the semifinal round of the MHSAA 4A playoffs inside Mississippi Coliseum.

The Lady 'Dores’ defense was on point from the start, holding West Lauderdale (22-13 overall) to just three points in the first quarter on their way to a 14-3 lead after the first eight minutes.

Shayne Linzy said. "The second quarter, they made a couple of little adjustments offensively and defensively. We saw that and I didn't want to change anything up, but we did anyway. The girls were forcing the issue in a couple areas offensively and defensively."

After halftime, Lafayette (29-3) clamped down on defense and turned much of their defense into transition points on offense leading to a 21-4 third quarter for the Lady 'Dores and pushing the game well COURTESY out of reach by the start Lafayette head coach Shane Linzy talks with the Lady ‘Dores during a time out on Monday, March 6, 2017, in the MHSAA C of the fourth quarter with Spire State Basketball Tournament semifinals at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson, Miss. a 43-17 lead. West Lauderdale never threatened The Lady Knights started ter cutting the lead down distance by halftime at out and we did all the to make a run in the things we were supposed to slowly claw their way to as little as seven and 22-13.

TURN TO ‘DORES PAGE 20 "First quarter, we came to do," Lafayette coach back in the second quar- stayed within striking

OXFORD CITIZEN

THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017

PAGE 17

USA TODAY

The Rebels leading scorer Deandre Burnett is questionable for their SEC Tournament game on Thursday night.

Burnett questionable for SEC Tournament

BY BEN GARRETT SPECIAL TO OXFORD CITIZEN

An uphill climb to claim an NCAA Tournament berth awaits Ole Miss in Nashville, Tenn., this week.

Whether leading scorer Deandre Burnett will be available to help traverse the terrain — a four-game gauntlet in the SEC tournament starting Thursday night against Auburn or Missouri — is yet to be determined.

Burnett didn’t play Saturday against South Carolina. The Rebels won anyway, 75-70, to move to 19-12 overall and 10-8 in SEC games. Ole Miss is No. 68 in the latest NCAA RPI rankings, meaning the

Rebels don’t necessarily need quantity of wins, but quality to make a real postseason case.

And they may very well need to simply take home the tournament championship. They last won in 2013.

“We need more quality wins,” senior forward Sebastian Saiz said. “I feel like if we can get one or two more, I think we can be in it. It’s a great time.

The experience is amazing. I try to tell all these guys it’s really hard to get in. We got in the last day (two years ago). It was a great experience. We’ve got to keep going and keep winning.”

Burnett is in his debut

season at Ole Miss after sitting out a year following his transfer from Miami (Fla.). He’s been up and down, to say the least, in his 28 games played, but he still leads Ole Miss in scoring at 16.5 points per game.

Burnett, who started 24 games, is shooting 34 percent from the field, including 36 percent from 3. He’s made a team-best 178 free throws in 198 attempts, good for 89 percent. Rebel assistant coach Bill Armstrong said Burnett, a junior guard, will be a game-time decision. Ole Miss is scheduled to play the last game on Thursday.

“He’s working hard every day in the training

room to get his knees ready to play. He’ll obviously be a game-time decision, but he’s making progress, for sure.”

Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy was noticeably frustrated by Burnett’s absence against South Carolina. In his postgame comments, he said the expectation was for Burnett to play, but Burnett and the training staff determined it best to sit out.

Burnett has battled nagging injuries throughout the year. He sat for a game and a half due to a highankle sprain in January, and he’s held himself out of various team activities a handful of times due to

myriad aches and pains.

“He played really well against Missouri. He took a knee to the thigh,” Kennedy said. “Had a little bit of swelling, but didn’t miss any time. Obviously played against Alabama.

We came back, and I wasn’t real pleased with the way we had executed. We practiced pretty diligently Thursday. He practiced.

He moved around a little slow and said his knee was bothering him. My knee’s bothering me, too. Nobody at this time of the season is healthy. He comes in (Friday), can’t go.

Game time decision, they tell me before the game he can’t go. We’ll check him out thoroughly and find

out what’s going on. I was planning on him playing tonight.”

With or without Burnett, Armstrong said the Rebels are excited about the opportunity the SEC tournament presents. Ole Miss is the No. 6 seed.

“We’re excited to enter the tournament playing well,” he said. “We had a big win Saturday. After a 14 start (to SEC play), we finished the year 9-4 in the league. Our team is banged up a little bit, but we’re trying to get healthy, and we’re looking to be healthy on Thursday. The guys are excited about a fresh start and going into the tournament with a lot to play for.”

OXFORD CITIZEN

PAGE 18

THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017

Strong Senior Johnson's work ethic, dedication has been key for Lafayette

BY JOHN DAVIS SPORTS WRITER

Hard work has never bothered Lafayette senior Amani Johnson. His dedication to the Commodores, in football and now in powerlifting, has never been questioned.

Johnson is an ideal athlete in regards to training routine and how he goes about his daily life.

LHS powerlifting coach Jason Russell raved about Johnson and what he meant to Lafayette, which will compete in the Class 4A north state meet on Friday.

“I think the thing Amani does better than everybody else is he shows up to work and grind out a workout every single day,” Russell said. “Amani, as far as strength numbers go, he wasn't one of our top lifters at the start of the season. But with his work ethic, he has put himself into the position where he made it to the north half and has been very successful this season.”

Johnson started the season in the 242-pound weight division. He is now competing in the 220 class. Russell asked him to cut weight and he obliged in order to help the team.

“That proved to be a very good thing, us dropping him a weight class.

He was stronger there and I'm not sure he would have qualified in the 242 weight class,” Russell said.

“That's the kind of dedication he's shown. Not only how he works in the weight room but also how he does things the right way. He walks into the weight room and every time he is putting up a new max. It's incredible to watch him mature. He's a senior, but he is a young senior so he is very much maturing and he is getting stronger day by day. The sky is really the limit as far as his strength goes.”

That statement from Russell should be taken as good news for Ole Miss fans because Johnson will

be walking on the Rebels in the fall as a defensive end. Johnson is proud of his gains this season, adding he's lifting more than he ever thought possible in his first full season after being a spotter on previous teams.

Johnson didn't know what to expect heading into the north half meet.

The regional meet was the first time he compete in the 220-class after being in the upper division in all the invitational meets. He was excited about what the Commodores could do on Friday.

“This team, we've lost a few lifters, but I think we can still go to state with what we have,” said Johnson, who has the most confidence in his bench press. “The lift that I've improved the most in is my squat. And my deadlift. I would say they were about the same. The deadlift kills my hands, but I can get up 500.”

The most Johnson has bench pressed this year is 275 pounds. With a good squat, he could be in contention to move on to state.

Football was a very successful season for Johnson and the Commodores, who won the 4A title this past fall.

He still sees the underclass players in the weight room, and how they're getting ready for the upcoming season. All of it brings back positive memories for Johnson.

Coming into the powerlifting portion of his senior season, the expectations changed for Johnson the more meets he competed in.

“It's gone up over the past few months. My expectations are still average even though they have gone beyond that,” Johnson said adding that Russell has been huge in his development. “Coach Russell is a super strength and conditioning coach.

He knows what each lift helps and he knows what auxiliary stretches help.

He knows the science of it.

PETRE THOMAS

Senior Amani Johnson has been very good for the Lafayette powerlifting team this spring.

OXFORD CITIZEN

THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017

PAGE 19

Oxford loses nail-biter to Laurel

BY BEN MIKELL SPORTS WRITER

One could point out the 20 turnovers Oxford committed. Another could point out to the lack of flow the game had with 45 whistles for fouls during the course of the contest and the foul trouble the Chargers were under.

However it was chopped up, it resulted in a 67-65 Oxford defeat to the Laurel Tornadoes in the semifinal round of the MHSAA 5A playoffs inside Mississippi Coliseum that ended the Charger's season.

Oxford (25-8 overall) quickly fell behind Laurel (22-8) in the first quarter. The Tornadoes used a 16-3 first

Jorge FROM 15

3 singles. He was ready to step up for coach Toby Hansson after playing at the bottom of the lineup during his career.

“This is my first year playing there, so I don't have a lot of experience there, but I'm

quarter run to take a 16-7 lead into the second quarter.

Oxford coach Drew Tyler, after finishing up his 20th season at his alma mater, gave credit to Laurel for putting the Chargers in catch-up mode from the beginning.

"We're playing a good disciplined team," Tyler said.

"At times they were very patient. We kinda shot ourselves in the foot early and we needed some heroics from Jarkel Joiner and he gave them to us and gave us a chance to win."

Joiner, a senior, finished the season with a single-season school record of 1,204 points and a career school record of 2,710, including 35 points in Tuesday night's

contest. Joiner did what he could to keep Oxford in the game scoring 14 of the team's 22 points in the fourth quarter.

"He's done it from the first game of the season to the semifinals, to the ending of the season," Tyler said of what Joiner has done for the team this season. "We did what we've done all year. I've maxed guys out on minutes.

I actually subbed a little bit more than I've been subbing in the postseason. We didn't have to reinvent basketball.

We weren't trying to pull a rabbit's foot out of our pocket, we didn't think we had to. We had plenty of chances."

One of the players that

played big off the bench was another senior in Cameron Bailey. Bailey played big in the Charger's second round playoff win against Canton when Oxford was in foul trouble scoring seven points and four rebounds in 18 minutes. Against Laurel, Bailey had a similar performance scoring eight points and four rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench.

"I thought Bailey gives us a lot of energy, he does a lot of the dirty work around the goal," Tyler said of his senior forward. "He definitely helped us out. We would get something on defense, and then we were out of sync on offense. We had 20 turnovers tonight and I felt like we were

on defense the majority of the night. Probably so with that many turnovers and Laurel being patient.

Cameron played well. I would think with some kids that came off the bench that we went to tonight, I'm sure they had butterflies, I'm sure they were nervous. I'm pleased with our rotation."

Oxford clawed their way back into the game in the second quarter and used an 10-2 run to tie the game at 21. After trading a pair of baskets, the Chargers started getting into foul trouble. Laurel used that to their advantage and finished the quarter on a 7-0 run to go into halftime with a 30-23 lead.

The Tornadoes managed

to push the lead out to 11 to start the second half at 36-25 with five minutes left in the third quarter. Oxford was then able to put together an 11-1 run and trimmed the lead down to 37-36 and trailed 44-43 after three quarters. The Chargers were able to get over the hump at the start of the fourth quarter to take one of their few brief leads of the game at 45-44.

The contest went back-andforth between the teams trading made baskets with two made free throws or vice-versa all the way down to the end.

Oxford's other starting senior Terry Williams finished with eight points and six rebounds.

sure I can handle it pretty well,” Jorge said about the role change. “It was basically confidence. I started playing much better this semester. I knew I could play at that level. The team knew I could play at that level. It was just mental.”

Just before the Rebels got going against Alabama last weekend, assistant coach

Devin Britton took off his 2009 SEC Championship ring and told the team that was what they were playing for.

“That was a huge motivation for the match and for the rest of the season,” said Jorge, who felt the team was more balanced and bonded than in previous seasons. “We're much closer than we have been before. We've had some

older guys before and some younger guys and it didn't seem like we were as together. We didn't hang out as much together where this year, we do everything together. We go eat together and study together.”

Being a close team can only help the Rebels, especially in the tight SEC matches. After playing at

Georgia and Tennessee, the Rebels head back home for a while and will have three home matches during spring break.

“This team really supports each other. I could feel that against Alabama. Even though we had already won, we still had to finish the match and every guy came to watch where everyone else

on Alabama were looking at their phones,” Jorge said.

“Even against North Carolina, we were losing 6-0 but the entire team were there supporting each other. We all watched Fabian (Fallert) win that last match. It didn't matter for the team, but it mattered for his singles record.

And we wall wanted him to win.”

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PAGE 20

‘Dores FROM 15

second half.

"We talked about (the little things) at halftime, getting back to the easy stuff, the fundamentals, blocking out, attacking the glass, and not settling for those threes," Linzy said. "We love the threeball. Our game is inside and that's where we want to attack, and we'll kick out for the occasional three, but we want to get back into the lane and in the third quarter and we did. Defensively, I'm not concerned about us. I thought we did a great job. Bottom line, the other team is going to score at some point."

"I told them 'we could make this a long game, or we can make it a quick one,'" Linzy continued. "'We're going to have to do something here in the third quarter, it's going to be y'all's choice.' Credit the girls, they really came out with a high level of energy and aggressiveness and West Lauderdale wasn't able to match it."

Shaniyah Buford scored as many points as West Lauderdale did with a game-high 21 points and added six rebounds with two blocks in 23 minutes. Azariah Buford had a great all-around game with six points, seven rebounds, four assists, and a game-high nine steals.

Nine

different players scored for Lafayette.

April Hunt and Mallory Thompson each had six points to lead the Lady Knights. The Lady 'Dores held West Lauderdale to just 20 percent shooting on 7-for-35 from the field.

TITLE GAME Lafayette advances to the 4A title game against Division 2-4A opponent the Ripley Lady Tigers, a team the Lady 'Dores defeated once in the regular season 69-31 in the LHS gym, and once in the 24A Tournament 57-38.

Ripley (19-10) advanced to the title game by defeating another 24A foe Byhalia 45-43 in the other 4A semifinal

game. The Lady Tigers previously lost to Byhalia earlier in the regular season 68-44, but prevailed in the second meeting.

Ripley also did the same thing with Pontotoc, defeating them 41-37 in the playoffs after losing to them 42-39 in the regular season. Ripley has shown that they can learn from past mistakes and put it together. Linzy knows beating the Lady Tigers a third time and winning Lafayette's first gold ball since 1982 will be a very difficult task.

"The hardest thing to do is to beat a team three times in one season," Linzy said. "If we want to achieve our goal, then that's what we are going to have to do."

THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017

COURTESY

Lafayette’s Xhiir Burgess (5) puts back a rebound against West Lauderdale on Monday, March 6, 2017, in the MHSAA C Spire State Basketball Tournament semifinals at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson, Miss.

Saiz named first-team All-SEC; Weatherspoon, Peters honored

BY PARRISH ALFORD DAILY JOURNAL

Ole Miss center Sebastian Saiz was named firstteam All-SEC by the league’s coaches today.

Mississippi State’s Quandary Weatherspoon

and Lamar Peters were also honored. Weatherspoon was named All-SEC second-team, and Peters was named to the league’s all-freshman team.

Saiz, named the Howell Trophy winner on Monday as the state’s top player,

leads the Rebels into the SEC tournament averaging 15.1 points and 10.9 rebounds. A senior from Madrid, Spain, Saiz is the only conference player to average a double-double.

Weatherspoon, playing most of the season less

than fully healthy, averaged 16.6 points and 5.1 rebounds, both team highs.

A sophomore from Canton, Weatherspoon was named SEC player of the week in mid-January after a 25-point performance

against Arkansas.

Peters, a New Orleans native, averaged 10.9 points and 3.4 assists this season. He ranks fifth in the SEC in 3-point shooting percentage.

Florida’s Mike White, a former Ole Miss player

and assistant coach, has been named coach of the year.

South Carolina guard Sindarius Thornwell is the player of the year. parrish.alford@journalinc.com Twitter: @parrishalford

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Medical

THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017

Medical

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Methodist Rehabilitation Center is looking for a Community Outreach Registered Nurse in the Northern Mississippi area to enhance the referrals that we receive from that region. This nursing liaison position combines the clinical patient assessment skills (50% of time) of a Registered Nurse with marketing and sales (50% of time). Daily travel within the territory is required. This exciting opportunity will challenge anyone looking to expand their traditional nursing role. Covering the North Mississippi territory, this individual will be responsible for developing relationships with potential referral sources and for working with physicians, case managers, social workers, etc. to ensure continued referrals and admissions to MRC. Candidate must be a Registered Nurse with current MS licensure and excellent computer skills.

The required use of a computerized pre­screening tool to capture patient assessment information requires a working knowledge of Microsoft Windows and Excel. Non­structured schedule; must be flexible. Competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package available.

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METHODIST REHABILITATION CENTER 1350 E. Woodrow Wilson Jackson, MS 39216 www.methodistonline.org EOE

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