Welcome 2008
Last week, the Messenger sports pages were dominated by a look back at the escapades of the athletes who competed within the Greene County limits during 2007. This week, I thought we should take a look ahead to what 2008 could hold.
With the winter seasons about halfway completed, Carmichaels and Mapletown have established themselves as competitors for a Section 2-A championship in both boys and girls basketball. Not surprisingly, both schools have some similarities.
With the exception of Adam Checton, the second-year leader of the Maples boys team, all of the teams are led by veteran head coaches.
For the Carmichaels boys, Don Williams is one of the most senior of head coaches in the WPIAL as he is in the thick of his 30th season at the helm. Jim Lane has led the Carmichaels girls for around a decade.
At Mapletown, Linda Shultz is in her second stint with her girls and is a fixture at the school as she is also the Athletic Director. That kind of experience and confidence on the bench is key to a solid, lengthy run of success, the likes these programs have enjoyed.
Though he’s the baby boy of the group, Checton has already made an impact with his coaching peers as he guided the Maples to the playoffs in his first year at the controls.
Whether or not these four programs, all four of which went to the postseason last year, will continue to be in the thick of a section title race remains to be seen, but it’s safe to say their coaches will do all they can to get them there.
Turning our attention to the wrestling mats, all three of the county programs are facing stiff challenges in their paths for a section title. With Waynesburg Central looking up at Bethel Park in Section 4-AAA, the Raiders will need someone to knock off a strong Blackhawks team.
In AA, West Greene knows a title goes through Burgettstown, while Jefferson-Morgan has to deal with a pair of powerhouse teams in Mount Pleasant and Derry.
While section crowns will be hard to wrestle away, all three local teams are in good shape to make the postseason. If they can all get their playoff tickets stamped, it would be the first time since 2001-2002 that the feat has been accomplished.