The Fabulous Five
by Kay Milam

On May 13, 2010, Osborn High School in Marietta held a signing for five members of their girls basketball team. Having all five seniors receive scholarships is a huge accomplishment. Ashlee Allen and Bena Hanyard are the recipients of academic scholarships; Flo Brown, Shay Jackson and Dominique Stringer received athletic scholarships. This day meant much more than scholarships for these five young ladies. It may be the beginning of a new era in their lives, but it is the end of the “Fabulous Five.”

Seven years ago, Calvin Allen decided to coach a group of sixth-grade girls in basketball. One of the moms said, “They could not dribble. They could not pass. They could not shoot, and when the ball rebounded, they would duck and run away.” Three years later, after a lot of hard work and coaching, the Fabulous Five was born when all five girls started as freshmen at Osborn High School on the varsity girls basketball team.

Prior to the Fabulous Five, the girls basketball program at Osborn had been struggling. Lisa Williams, Osborn’s current athletic director, had come to Osborn the prior year as the head girls basketball coach. According to Coach Williams, the program lacked consistency and stability. The Fabulous Five brought these lacking qualities to the program. In fact, Dominique and Shay had the opportunity to attend other high schools but chose to stay with the group and play for Osborn. In the first three years on the team, they played hard and took Osborn to the Sweet 16. When Michael Marchese, Osborn’s current girls basketball coach, was asked what it was like to lose five starters at once, he said: “Basketball players I can replace. It is the character these young ladies have brought to our school that will be sorely missed.”

Each teacher, coach and administrator had kind words, good advice and tears in their eyes for the girls. But when the parents began to speak, the impact was felt around the room. These five families spent the last seven years together raising, teaching and molding these young ladies into the people they are today. This was a group effort, much like years past when family members lived next to each other and helped raise each other’s children. These families were not celebrating the accomplishments of their children as individuals; they were celebrating the accomplishments of the Fabulous Five. With five scholarships between them, I would say they did a pretty good job. With the character accolades from all who were in attendance, I would say they did a great job.

Climbing To the Top, Batting Over The Fence
by Decarus Wright • Photography by Brenda Ortiz

Trying to climb to the top, the Cardinals baseball squad has made this season one filled with improvement and taking the right steps towards a championship. This year the Cardinals have a record of four wins with four games left on their schedule.  Head baseball coach Jeffrey Fraker says, “That is a big improvement. We have been involved in a lot more games, and we have had an opportunity to win them. We have a great chance to win all four of those games, so eight wins will be a bigger improvement.”

According to Coach Fraker, the best game the team played was an away game against Campbell when they pulled off a 7-0 victory. “We had great pitching and great hitting. Everything was perfect,” says Coach Fraker. It was the first time the Cardinals beat Campbell as an away team in seven years!

Another great game came early in the season against East Jackson County. The Cardinals scored clutch runs and played great defense to win the game in the seventh inning. It was their first win of the year and a proud victory.

The team’s success is credited to the entire team and its three top players: OJ Gibson, Kyle Middleton and Xavier Rabbus. Gibson and Middleton have amazing batting averages of around .400. Rabbus has one homerun along with Middleton. Gibson is leading the team with 19 RBIs and Rabbus is in first or second place in all of the team’s categories. These guys work hard; in the offseason, they do anything to get the job done. All three are being scouted by colleges such as Reinhardt College, Andrew College and a few other schools.

Much of the Cardinals’ improvement has been due to hard work in practice. The team’s practices during the season are an hour and a half every day. Offseason practice is two and a half hours per day. In practice, the players use batting tees with big blocks of wood. “When players hit, it gives them a horrible swing, but it improves their power,” states Fraker. The high school baseball season is a grind. The Cardinals play three games every week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, which is why having practice is important.

Pitching has been the Cardinals’ Achilles heel this season. “We have a junior, two sophomores and a freshman who pitch for us right now. They are getting better day by day,” says Coach Fraker. One player that he feels is raising his game is senior Demetrius Campbell, who hits well and plays good defense.  Freshmen Martin Logan and Jeff Peterson are tackling each practice with passion. “They just hit the weight room and get stronger,” states Fraker.

As the last four games bring the season to an end and with hopes of wins for each game, the Cardinals keep the eyes on the prize and their batting pointed at the fence.  Fans, community members and OHS couldn’t be more proud of our boys!

OHS Tennis Racking Up Wins While Making History
by Joshua Florence and Evan Phillips • Photography by LifeTouch Studios

Racking up seven wins, the Mighty Cardinal Tennis Team concluded the 2010 season with great results and excitement for next season. The team, previously named underdogs, made a powerful comeback. By staying focused, practicing very hard and diligently performing their best every day after school, the players mastered their skills during the offseason. Even though they faced numerous odds and challenges (such as the Hiram Hornets), they overcame them and soared high. Team member Edwin Victor stated, “Hiram was really good, so we had to give the game our all.”

Making history and giving their all is just what head coach Christopher James, a special education teacher at OHS, had in mind this past season. Losing three key players at the beginning of the season was hard for the team, but the team’s no-cut policy helped attract eight new players. With only two returning players and five underclassmen, which included a freshman No. 1 singles player, the team tried their hardest to rack up some wins. The team, disappointed with their 2009 season results, did not lose hope.

Coach James encouraged the remaining players to keep their heads high and focus on ways they could improve during the offseason. This helped the team realize that they were at the beginning stage of building a great team. The tone for the new season was set with the motto: Win in 2010.

Words ringing true, prior to a 1-6 record, Coach James warned his team: “We are in a unique situation because most of the students have not been exposed to the game of tennis. Most of my players are new to the game and don’t pick up a racquet until the beginning of the season. They don’t live in tennis communities or play in the offseason, but their competition does. I don’t allow my players to use this as an excuse, but as a motivation tool to improve their game.”

After five consecutive losses, a break through came with a 3-2 victory over Paulding County High School.  At this point, the team’s goal changed from not just winning but to attempt to qualify for its regional tournament for the first time in OHS history.

With high expectations and a lot of determination, the team pressed forward and improved its record to 5-7 before the last four games of the season. This sparked excitement throughout the school, because the team had broken the longstanding losing streak for boys tennis. Since 2005, the boys tennis team had only won two matches, which it accomplished in two different seasons.

“This year we had so much support from our peers. I take it as an honor when my peers try to understand tennis and faithfully come out to watch us. They ask questions and want to know more about the game. We are making tennis a popular sport at Osborne,” commented senior Kenny Zedakia, a No. 2 singles player.

With great expectations, the Cardinals pushed forward with their goal in clear sight. The team’s attitude was on the right track for their next opponents. In a nail-biting match, the Cardinals displayed great athleticism and sportsmanship as they claimed a 3-2 victory over the Allatoona Buccaneers. This win placed them among the six teams eligible for the regional tournament, but they needed one more win to secure the spot.

This final match, and the key to the door for the first regional tennis tournament in OHS history, was against the Hiram Hornets. With the regional tournament dangling just within reach, all eyes were on the teams as they went face-to-face in an epic four-hour match. Both teams had skilled players battling it out, but sadly, we did not win against Hiram.

With a hope for not just a regional championship but also an opportunity to compete at state, Coach James and the team plan to practice hard in the offseason for 2011. They know this will not be an easy task, but they are willing to take on the challenge to achieve their goals of surpassing their history-making 2010 season and to fight for that regional win next year.

The team will unfortunately lose five seniors this year: captain Kenny Zedakia, Michael Pena, Percy Broussard, Brian Hickey and Errick Johnson. Yet, the mighty Cardinals are ready to take on the 2011 season with their upcoming and experienced juniors. With strong players like Evan Philips, Corey Clay and Reeve Vandersar competing next season, Coach James hopes this is only the beginning.

OHS Girls Tennis Team Has Good Season
by Lucia Delgado • Photography by Lifetouch Studios

With many wins the girls Osborne tennis team has done a great job this season! They had eight girls on the team, including Flo Brown, Shay  Jackson, Nia Frances, Keisha Greely, Mariam Hammond, Kenya Ruff, Eretha Hamilton and Alexis Williams, who have put forth a great effort to complete this season. Rodney Hill, the girl’s tennis team coach, stated that the Cardinal Ladies have tried very hard this season and did well.

“I feel we had a great season, and we had many new players to the game,” said assistant coach Fabayann McQueen. This is her first year coaching the tennis team and she is very proud of each of the girl’s performance. She further stated that the hard work the students put forth during practice showed in each game. She has hopes for the next season to be as awesome as this past season.

For next season, the coaches are preparing the team to be more competitive and teaching them to strive and do better. “We are all going to practice, practice and practice,” says Coach Hill. The team practices two hours a day, three days a week. To get more practice they also practice with the guys. “The more practice, the better we get. We practice to improve!” says McQueen. They practice on the Osborne tennis court where Hill persuades them to do their best.

Providing them with positive reinforcement and letting them see what they can become, the coaches challenge them to get there, stay there and work hard. They never give up and give it all they got. “They are all star players, they all try and gave it their best,” commented Coach Hill. The star players on the team are seniors Flo Brown and Shay Jackson. According to Hill, Brown and Jackson seem to have a passion for the sport, and Brown had a successful season winning many matches and improving with each game. Jackson’s love for the sport showed on the court and in the relationship she has with fellow team members. Both will be missed as they graduate and go on to college.

The team played eight games this season against teams from area schools such as Sprayberry, Hillgrove, Hiram, Allatoona and South Paulding. The junior varsity team won most of their games; they were very competitive and ready for action. The varsity girls made many strides and is working on getting more competitive in the offseason. The ladies have progressed this season, point by point and player by player, as they learned the game and improved their play on the court. Their season started in February and ended in April.

Track And Field Team Racing To A State Victory
by Russell “CJ” Clay • Photography by LifeTouch Studios

Coming to the end of the 2010 season, the mighty Osborne Cardinals track and field team boasts athletes that have broken three records in track, won seven meets, and will be competing at state. Coaches Garland, Wilson, Tedder and Marzka began the season with high hopes as they had a big turnout at tryouts.

With regions right around the corner, the Cardinals have a fiery desire to compete and win. As Osborne prepares for this meet, Coach Garland reminds her athletes that “this meet will determine if you are capable to compete at state.”

Despite the pressure OHS has in competing at regions, the local meets were not taken lightly at all. Coach Wilson wants to go back to state this year, and he encourages the Cardinals to get better every day; all the meets up to this point have been ultimately a day for OHS athletes to “get better.” And hopefully there is a state win is in sight.

There was a great deal of competition this season, which prepared our mighty Cardinals for any and all opponents. They competed against teams like South Cobb, Pebblebrook, Sprayberry, Campbell, Kell, Wheeler and Hillgrove. With wins against South Cobb, Pebblebrook, Kell and Wheeler, the team is well prepared for the challenge ahead of them. They competed at such a substantial level at every track meet that some of the athletes were able to say, “Yes, hard work in practice does pay off!” In fact, it has paid off with the amazing opportunities to compete at state!

Track is really an individual sport, but there are events where it requires you to work as a team. As a team the Mighty Cardinals are well-suited to run the 4x1 and 4x4 since their soaring sprinters have always flown high and strong. The Cardinals make sure these specific events are run by the best of the team whose passion to perform well exceeds the rest. That passion also seeps into their personal interactions and the team’s unwritten rule: “There is no ‘I’ in team.”

The athletes that have stood out this year are sprinters Russell “CJ” Clay, Tierra Watts and Andrieco Clark. Each sprinter has been successful in his division. Then there is Dyarius Tucker, who is the most versatile athlete of the Mighty Cardinals, participating in both track and field arenas. Tucker has put up amazing stats this year, challenged by each meet to succeed to the next level.

As the season comes to a close and with seniors finishing out their final season, the next step is to begin the race toward a state victory and a bittersweet goodbye to a record-breaking season.

Rifle Team Soars To New Heights
by Yuleni Romero • Photography by Carolyn McCully, OHS Journalism

Osborne High School’s rifle team is recognized as one of the best, according to its students, because of its many victories at competitions. Really, who hasn’t heard of them? With an outstanding 9-1 record, this season has been very successful. “We’ll probably have like 10 [wins] soon,” says Chief Rodney Fagan, OHS rifle team instructor. “Our rifle team has had a great amount of victories, but the most memorable has to be Westlake.” The Cardinals competed against Westlake several times without success but recently defeated them to ensure a place in the playoffs.

Despite a winning season so far, the rifle team faces many challenges at the start of every season. When beginning competition season, it becomes very hectic as only 10 students are taken to a competition and around 36 students show up for tryouts. During the first few days of tryouts and practice, students see how much work is required and some stop attending. After-school practice lasts four days, and the team shoots on Thursdays.

For those who do not know much about a rifle team, it’s hard to accept that most of the work is mental and involves a lot of concentration. “A person must be really strong mentally,” stated Fagan. If they aren’t, they will only have trouble in this sharp-shooting sport.

Anyone who would like to try out should be prepared for what they are getting themselves into. For example, many think that because they can hunt, they are prepared to be a rifleman. This is not always the case. The team is not just about hunting and shooting. Students must be mentally focused on the fundamentals of what they are going to be doing and what their goal is. “The target is about the size of a quarter,” Fagan emphasized. If you can’t focus, you can’t hit this small target. Although no accidents have occurred, students must be cautious and focused at all times.

For those who are focused, the benefits are endless and most of the members exceed academically. The way they learn to focus and succeed during practice really helps them maintain balance in their daily school routine. For instance, Bernardo Trevino, an OHS senior, made Osborne proud last year by breaking the school’s shooting record. It didn’t stop there; this year he broke his own shooting record. Trevino’s dedication really shows in his outstanding performances.

According to Fagan, the team’s improvement and qualities show their commitment to performing at the highest level. Bernardo Trevino, Jacob Furman, Daniela Berrones, Ceron Hargrove, Roxana Funez, Sonia Martinez, Cory Flowers and Roberto Molin plan to continue their winning spree and perhaps even win the playoffs.
 

The Best is Yet to Come
by Russell Clay • Photography by Carolyn McCully, OHS Journalism

“The best is yet to come,” claims OHS boys soccer team head coach Aaron Foster about this spring season. The soccer team has been blessed with talented players, outstanding coaches and supportive parents who all hope this will be the year they make it to a region championship game.

Coming a long way over the past few years, the team had a good season in 2007 but struggled in 2008. In 2009, they opened up the season by winning important games against good teams. “The region we are in is pretty tough, but we are able to compete with the schools,” Foster says proudly of his team, adding that the boys have come a long way in their performance through their constant practice of soccer fundamentals. “Working on skills and doing little drills that really kind of build the technique, [the team has] started to understand, is what I feel is going to take us to the next level.”

The soccer team has set high goals for this season, one of which is a region championship. This goal is set high, but the boys soccer team believes that it is achievable for them this year. If they make it and win they will have a chance to compete in the state tournament. Getting that far will give them the right to be ranked among other top-performing teams, and that is what they are hoping for.

Scoring 46 goals last year, it is expected that if they play with a strong mindset, a region championship just may be in their sights. Although last year’s season went very well, the OHS boys soccer team must “keep the same composure and play on a high level,” according to Foster. “We seek success this year in all our players, but the way we play will determine how the season ends,” he notes.

So far, the seniors and juniors have been showing a great deal of dedication, commitment, hard work and leadership on the field and in the classroom. The soccer team understands that without these  qualities it will be hard to be successful.

This year the boys soccer team has 13 seniors, each with at least one year of experience on the varsity squad. They are all well-qualified for scholarships and it is just a matter of who wants one more. They have put in time and effort during the summer and preseason to get ready for the upcoming season. Perhaps the thought of an impending scholarship offer will put these student-athletes in a confident mindset.

For senior Mohammed Dumbuya, a scholarship is just a matter of choice. He has received a couple of offers and Foster states that Dumbuya is debating on which school to attend. Foster has also recently taken four players to different schools in the South. “We are going to have a number of colleges come to watch us during the season, to see the guys play and see if they can help them out,” Foster explains. He anticipates that a few of his graduating seniors will be inspired to play harder for a potential scholarship offer.

This year is expected to be a great one from start to finish. From the seniors down to the freshmen, the soccer team will be a force to be reckoned with. So watch out, the OHS boys soccer team is ready and better than ever!