School year offered great memories for local athletes and sports fans

By Staff
Scot Beard
The 2008-09 school year was a time of success for many high school programs in Franklin County.
Some teams played for state titles while some teams progressed further than they ever had before.
A hand full of athletes made history at their schools by signing national letters of intent to play collegiate athletics while other athletes earned state championships in individual sports.
Here are the Top 10 sports stories in Franklin County for the school year.
1. Russellville football plays in another state title game
It was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Russellville football team.
Fans did not expect the team to win many games and would not have been surprised if the team missed the playoffs for the first time in several years.
The players had a different view of their season, and worked hard to exceed the fans' dismal predictions.
The Golden Tigers beat Deshler in the season opener to gain momentum for a 9-1 regular season. The only blemish was a loss to Hartselle in Week 4, which Russellville avenged in the state quarterfinals.
The Golden Tigers won several close games in the playoffs in a variety of weather conditions to reach the state title game.
Russellville fell behind 21-3 in the first half as Vigor jumped out to a big lead, but the Golden Tigers rallied to take a 23-21 lead early in the third quarter.
Vigor pulled away down the stretch for a 50-30 victory, but with several starters returning, the 2009 season could mean another return to the state title game.
2. Local athletes dominate state track meet
Track has always been a sport that attracted athletes with speed. In 2009, it was the sport where many local athletes earned titles and broke records.
At the state meet in Gulf Shores five athletes brought back seven titles, five runner-up finishes and three third-place finishes.
Russellville's Micah McCulloch won titles in the high jump, long jump and triple jump.
Belgreen's Katelin Barber broke a Class 1A state record to capture the 100-meters title. She also won the 200-meters.
Vina's Emily Davidson won the 3,200-meters while Red Bay's Cody Tucker won the 100-meters.
The Vina girls track team finished third in Class 1A while the Russellville boys finished fifth in Class 5A.
3. Belgreen girls reach basketball region finals
The Belgreen varsity girls basketball team returned to the Northwest Region Tourney and came within one game of earning a berth in the Final Four.
The Lady Bulldogs won the Class 1A, Area 15 Tournament, easily won their sub-region game and knocked off Hackleburg in the Northwest Region Tournament semifinals.
Belgreen's hopes of reaching the State Tournament ended with a 74-63 loss to eventual state champion Hazlewood.
Katelin Barber scored 18 points to lead the Lady Bulldogs while Loren McVicker and Deborah Billingham scored 14 points each.
4. Red Bay, Belgreen softball one win shy of state tourney
Two county teams came close to making trips to Montgomery for the State Softball Tournament, but were tripped up at the Region Tournament in Huntsville.
The Lady Bulldogs of Belgreen and the Lady Tigers of Red Bay were the only teams from the area to advance to the Region Tournament.
Belgreen was sent to the losers' bracket against Lynn in its first game, but battled back to reach the finals of the loser's bracket.
Red Bay won its first two games, but fell to the losers' bracket in the winner's bracket final against Ider.
The Lady Bulldogs knocked off state powers Waterloo and Athens Bible School to set up a rematch with Lynn with a trip to the state tourney on the line. The offense was unable to score a run and Belgreen's season was over.
Red Bay met Lexington in the losers' bracket final with another shot at the state tournament and a rematch with Ider on the line, but the Lady Tigers could not manufacture any runs and their season came to an end.
5. Vina seniors get first taste of baseball playoffs
After beating Mount Hope at home, the Vina baseball team thought it had earned a playoff berth, but news soon arrived that county rival Tharptown had upset Phillips to throw a wrench in the area standings.
The following day Vina defeated Mount Hope again, but once more Tharptown defeated Phillips.
Phillips had to hop on a bus and play Mount Hope to settle the playoff picture.
Phillips won the game and Vina received the playoff berth they thought they had earned the previous day.
It was the first taste of the playoffs for the Red Devils' three seniors – Judd Childers, Matthew Hester and Cass White.
Though Vina did not make it out of the first round, this season could be a sign of things to come for the program.
6. THS girls get first sub-region berth in basketball
It was a year of firsts at Tharptown High School, but perhaps none were bigger than what the varsity basketball team accomplished.
Putting together the best season in the school's brief history, the Lady Wildcats took Belgreen to double overtime in the Class 1A, Area 15 Tournament finals.
Although Tharptown lost the game, the Lady Wildcats had already clinched something more valuable – a berth in the sub-region round of the state playoffs.
The team lost that game against eventual state champion Hazlewood, but it also set the bar high for future players who suit up for the Lady Wildcats.
7. Vina cross-country finds success in first season
Nobody expects much from an athletic team during its first season of competition.
Apparently, the members of the Vina girls cross-country team never got that memo.
Emily Davidson, Heather Thorn, Shelly Morris, Fallyn Shotts, Kelsey Steward, Miranda Howard and Alex Miller propelled the Lady Red Devils to No. 4 in the Class 1A-2A rankings and to No. 52 in the entire state.
They also finished seventh in the team standings at the state meet, with Davidson finishing third individually.
8. Red Bay, Phil Campbell keep streaks going
Two county programs kept impressive streaks going this year as the Red Bay girls basketball team and the Phil Campbell baseball team maintained strangleholds on county titles.
The Lady Tigers won their 11th consecutive county title by defeating Belgreen 60-45 in the championship game.
The Bobcats beat Vina 6-3 in the baseball championship game to claim their 13th consecutive county title.
9. Phil Campbell ends 15-game skid in football
The Phil Campbell football team lost its final game of the 2006 season, did not win a single game during the 2007 season and started 2008 with four consecutive losses.
In Week 5, the Bobcats took a break from its region schedule to play Vina and a few hours later the losing streak was over.
Quarterback Jordan Benford hit Adam Mitchell for touchdown passes on Phil Campbell's first two offensive plays to put the Bobcats ahead 14-0.
Benford finished the game with 228 passing yards and four touchdowns as the Bobcats won 41-15
10. Montgomery, Myrick make history
This year, two area athletes made school history by signing national letters of intent.
Russellville's Cassie Montgomery became the first volleyball player at the school to sign. She will play for the University of West Alabama.
Tharptown's Jess Myrick became the first athlete in school history to sign. She will play softball at Jefferson Davis Community College.