Trio of Golden Tigers make rosters for North-South All-Star Sports Week

Three Russellville High School athletes, rising seniors in the 2022-23 class, were recently named to the AHSAA North-South All-Star rosters.

The annual All-Star Sports Week will take place this summer July 18-22 in Montgomery, with two RHS soccer players and one softball player planning to participate.

Russellville boys’ soccer will be represented by Yamilson Velasquez, while Ashley Garcia will be playing in the girls’ match. Over on the softball diamond, shortstop Jenna Whitfield will take the field representing the Lady Golden Tigers.

Brandon Dean, director of the Alabama High School Athletic Directors and Coaches Association, announced the player rosters and coaches for the squads. The teams were selected by the coaches committee of each sport – representatives selected by and representing each of the eight districts. All-Star player nominations were received by the committee from AHSAA member school coaches.

The North boys’ soccer 18-member team will be coached by Randy Vice of Southside-Gadsden, Michael Farmer of Fort Payne and George Cavender, the former Butler coach who is now retired. The North won the 2021 match 3-0 and has a 13-4-1 advantage in the event. Russellville’s Velasquez is one of 12 players on the boys’ All-Star team who participated in the 2022 state final four in Huntsville.

The North girls’ soccer club also consists of 18 players this year. They will be coached by Adam Johnson of Mountain Brook, Brandon Rice of West Morgan and Cavender. The North squad also won the 2021 match, and they did it by a 6-1 score to add to their series lead, which is now 16-3-1.

In softball, the North team coaches are Trent Patterson of Lauderdale County, Taylor Burt of Hewitt-Trussville and Kent Chambers from Bob Jones High School. The softball teams play a double-header in North-South competition, with the North sweeping last year by scores of 11-8 and 6-1. The North holds a 27-23-3 lead in the series dating back to 1997.