Locals Place In Azalea Trail Run
March 25, 2012
Several North Escambia area runners took part in the Azalea Trail Run Saturday in Mobile, including two runners with top 20 finishes.
Hugh Long, age 75 of Atmore, finished second in his age division. Three other area residents, Michelle Peebles of McDavid, Jo Nolin of Flomaton and Charlene Cunningham of Century were top 10 finishers in their divisions.
Here are North Escambia area finishers in the Azalea Trail Run, listed by overall finish place followed by division place:
Azalea Trail Run 2012 10K
114 — 19, Bell Keith, 28 M, Atmore, 42:30
472 — 10, Rice Bert W, 63 M, Atmore, 50:44
791 — 80, Weber Jason, 36 M, Atmore, 54:57
968 — 10, Peacock Wayne, 67 M, Cantonment, 57:01
1205 — 71, Turner Shannon, 32 F, Flomaton, 59:39
1277 — 117, Clarke Adam, 40 M, Cantonment, 1:00:25
1483 — 100, Mosley Ashley, 36 F, Atmore, 1:02:33
1510 — 2, Long Hugh D, 75 M, Atmore, 1:02:53
1577 — 111, White Amy, 36 F, Flomaton, 1:03:33
1698 — 14, Peacock Sharon, 59 F, Cantonment, 1:05:04
1786 — 130, Bell Dawn, 38 F, Atmore, 1:06:29
1858 — 138, Godwin Jolynn, 36 F, Atmore, 1:07:23
1863 — 134, Godwin Gordon, 37 M, Atmore, 1:07:28
1882 — 142, Ragan Tonya, 39 F, Atmore, 1:07:50
1903 — 122, Hughes Ashley, 28 F, Atmore, 1:08:24
1933 — 143, Lassitter Amanda, 34 F, Atmore, 1:08:56
Azalea Trail Run 2012 5K
204 — 16 Yoder Glendon L, 30 M, Atmore, 27:50
227 — 43 King Adrian D, 12 M, Century, 28:19
258 — 16 King Gene L, 39 M, Century, 28:53
278 — 7 Peebles Michelle, 41 F, McDavid, 29:18
447 — 16 McGill Brian, 52 M, Atmore, 31:57
476 — 28 Smith Katie, 31 F, Atmore, 32:25
509 — 31 Johnson Heather, 34 F, Atmore, 32:45
666 — 33 Nall Natalie N, 43 F, Atmore, 34:37
669 — 49 Heaton Betty J, 32 F, Atmore, 34:38
963 — 68 King Judy L, 39 F, Century, 38:12
1176 — 7 Nolin Jo, 62 F, Flomaton, 41:10
1339 — 121 Steele Kellie, 32 F, Flomaton, 44:33
1545 — 97 Venker Cecilia, 23 F, Atlanta, 49:25
1588 — 100 McGhee Sydney W, 23 F, Atmore, 50:32
1589 — 101 Black Jessica M, 23 F, Atmore, 50:32
1682 — 9 Cunningham Charlene R, 69 F, Century, 54:16
1877 — 47 Heaton Jae, 6 F, Atmore, 1:58:13
1878 — 65 Heaton Mark, 33 M, Atmore, 1:58:13
Flomaton Beats Cottage Hill
March 24, 2012
The Flomaton Hurricanes beat the Cottage Hill Warriors 1-0 Friday night in area play.
Zack Watson threw a complete game 7-inning shutout only allowing 5 hits and striking out 11.
Andrew Cash hit in the winning run (Tyler Dove) in the third inning. Watson improved his record 5-1, and Lee Cockrell took the loss for the Warriors. The Flomaton Hurricanes’ record is now 12-3 in the midst of an 11 game winning streak.
The Hurricanes will play Excel on Monday. The JV begins at 4:00, and the varsity plays at 6:30.
Andrew Cash 1-3 1B RBI; James Dean 1-3 1B; Zack Watson1-3 2B; Trey Weeks 1-2 1B; Tyler Dove 1R. Pitching: Zack Watson 7IP 11K 4W 5 hits allowed.
Atmore Company Improves Monster Truck Performance
March 24, 2012
Bigfoot, a legend in the monster truck world, paid a visit to sponsor Alto Products in Atmore on Thursday.
Today, the in second part of our series, we are taking a closer look at the dozen-year relationship between the Atmore company and the monster truck industry. (For part one of this series, click here.)
According to Robbie Ferguson, vice present of the High Performance Division at Alto:
- Bigfoot has been using Alto Red Eagle clutches for 12 years.
- Bigfoot was the first monster truck to start using Alto Red Eagle clutches.
- When the relationship began, Bigfoot was using a competitor’s clutch plates and they could not make it through one weekend of racing without burning up the clutch plates in their transmissions.
- After Alto developed several new products specifically for Bigfoot, their Ford C6 transmissions started lasting six to eight weekends before needing attention.
- After Ford dropped all of their sponsorships at the beginning of 2009, Bigfoot changed to GM 2-speed transmissions and with Alto Red Eagle clutch plates installed their transmissions now last upwards of 6 months.
- Alto now supplies their Red Eagle racing clutches to over a dozen monster truck teams including Gravedigger, Black Stallion and Big Dawg.
- The Bigfoot trucks average about 1,500 horsepower and the “freestyle” portion of their shows are what cause the most damage to their trucks.
- This is the second time that Bigfoot has visited Alto – they did an appearance at a company picnic in Century back in 2002.
Pictured top: Monster truck Bigfoot at Alto Products in Atmore. Pictured below: Alto Products COO Bill Bush is dwarfed by Bigfoot as he points to the Alto logo sponsorship sticker. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Tate Beats Hueytown In 10
March 23, 2012
The Tate Aggies beat Hueytown (Ala.) High School in the Acentria Aggie Classic Thursday night.
With the 2-1 win in 10 innings, the Aggies improved to 12-1 on the season.
The Tate Aggies will be in action again next Tuesday with a short road trip to Pensacola High School. Game time is 7:00.
True Giant: Bigfoot Visits Area; Driver Climbing The Ladder
March 23, 2012
Bigfoot — one of the true giants in the monster truck world — made a stop at sponsor Alto Products in Atmore Thursday afternoon.
Bigfoot #10 is a 4-wheel drive behemoth that achieves its superior power from Atmore-made Alto Products transmission clutch plates. It is a methanol-fueled fiberglass truck sitting on eight custom nitrogen charged shocks with 66-inch Firestone tires. Over 700 hours of computer design work went into Bigfoot #10.
COMING SATURDAY: Coming up Saturday morning on NorthEscambia.com, we’ll learn more about the role Atmore’s Alto Products plays in Team Bigfoot and the rest of the monster truck industry.
For a photo gallery, click here.
The truck’s driver is JR Adams, a 32-year old Madison, Indiana, resident and father of one. Adams (pictured left) arrived at the Bigfoot team in February of 2011 as a bit of an unknown variable. He had, for a short while, been a driver for the Paul Shafer Motorsports team out of Portage, Indiana. A handful of former PSM drivers have gravitated to the Bigfoot organization (including current star driver Larry Swim) to take a shot at working towards one of the most desirable positions in the monster truck industry: driving for Team Bigfoot.
This had become the case for Adams as well. His time spent away from the monster truck industry had only fueled his drive to get back on the road, and when he heard through the grapevine that Team BIGFOOT was in need of a new display truck driver for their Firestone Bigfoot #8 display program, Adams made a call to St. Louis.
“It was pretty nerve-wracking being the new guy at a place that’s as well respected as Bigfoot,” said Adams. “This place has a heck of a professional reputation, so you’re thinking to yourself ‘Wow, I better bring my A-game’.”
Adams started off his career at Bigfoot assisting some of the team’s drivers at first-quarter indoor events, before transitioning to the role as the driver of the BIGFOOT #8 display truck, one of the team’s most vital positions.
As Bigfoot VP of Sponsorships & Business Development Bob Trent explained, “Our Firestone display program is the cornerstone of our business, and has been for some time. We depend on our display drivers as much as our race drivers to represent our team and our sponsors all across North America. It’s not a job to be taken lightly!”
Adams’ performance operating Bigfoot #8 continually met the team’s expectations, in addition to pleasing the scores of Firestone retailers that he and the truck visited throughout 2011. As the year began to draw down, a realignment in the team’s race driver roster set the stage for an early opening during the first quarter of 2012. Adams made sure he was in place to make the next great leap forward in his career, particularly as the normal route calls for two or three years of display and car crush experience first.
“When I found out that I might have the opportunity to step into one of the team’s race trucks already, I wanted to be sure I was ready. I finally got to do my first car crush performance (in Bigfoot #10) at a Firestone retailer in San Marcos, Texas, in November. It was a great time, and the truck felt amazing – and I knew I definitely wanted to get back into the driving seat.”
Now in the driver’s seat of Bigfoot #10, Adams is now climbing the driving ladder which typically consists of several months of exhibition car crushing and freestyle performances, a path that numerous championship Bigfoot drivers have traveled. Needless to say, Adams is excited about the opportunity.
“I feel like I’ve worked hard to get here, and it is incredibly exciting to have this opportunity in front of me,” Adams said. “I owe a huge thanks to everyone at Bigfoot for giving me a chance and helping me learn and grow and get to the point I’m at now. I’m enjoying every minute of this, but it’s still kind of hard for me to believe that I’m already here.”
For a photo gallery, click here.
Pictured: Bigfoot #10 paid a visit to sponsor Alto Products in Atmore on Thursday. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Tate Gets Tourney Win; EA Girls Beat Sparta
March 22, 2012
Here’s a look at baseball and softball action from around the area:
Tate 10 — McAdory (Ala.) 5
After suffering their first loss of the season Tuesday, the Tate Aggies bounced back with a win Wednesday.
The Aggies beat the McAdory (Ala.) Yellow Jackets 10-5 in the Acentria/Aggie Classic. The Aggies are now 11-1 on the season. Tate dropped to Pinson Valley 3-2 in eight innings Tuesday.
Tate will play the Hueytown Golden Gophers at 7 p.m. Thursday at Tate (this is a location change) for fifth place in the tourney.
SOFTBALL
Escambia Academy 14 – Sparta 0
The Lady Cougars of Escambia Academy shut out Sparta on Tuesday, 14-0. Sydney McGhee was 3-4 at bat with a single, double and triple. Megan Duncan was 3-3 with 2 RBIs.
Escambia Academy 2 — Sparta 1
In junior varsity play, Escambia Academy defeated Sparta 2-1. Kennedy McGhee and Autumn Corley had doubles for the JV Lady Cougars, while Victoria Sawyer, Anna Catherine Sasser and Carson Barnett had singles.
NHS JV Beats Freeport (With Photo Gallery)
March 21, 2012
The junior varsity Northview Chiefs defeated the Freeport Bulldogs 8-2 Tuesday afternoon in Bratt.
For a photo gallery from the game, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Atmore Christian Beats Gateway
March 21, 2012
Atmore Christian School picked up another win Tuesday afternoon, defeating Gateway Academy of Bonifay 16-6 in five innings.
Atmore Christian will host Escambia Academy’s Cougars on Friday afternoon at 4:30.
Pictured top: Jonathan Bender (left), Christopher Gehman and Perry Metzer up to bat for Atmore Christian. Pictured below: Brooks Hart for ACS. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Escambia Academy Beats Sparta
March 21, 2012
Escambia Academy took two from Sparta on Tuesday.
Escambia Academy 14 — Sparta 3
Escambia Academy’s varsity beat Sparta 14-3 on Tuesday. The Cougars scored nine of their runs in the first three innings. Michael Thompson allowed no earned runs, walked none and struck out five for EA. Jarrett Hadley was 2-3 for the Cougars with 3 RBIs, Braxton Chastang also went 2-3 with 2 RBIs, and Chance Jackson was 1-3 with 2 RBIs.
Escambia Academy 5 — Sparta 4 (JV)
Escambia Academy’s junior varsity got past Sparta 5-4 Tuesday in five. The Cougars’ Nate Smith had 2 RBIs on two hits — a homer in the first and a single in the third. Trey Smith took the win on the mound for the Cougars, striking out six, walking one and allowing two hits.
NWE Baseball Camp Canceled
March 20, 2012
A Northwest Escambia baseball camp scheduled for this weekend has been canceled.
Players from NWE were to attend the camp with the Northview High School varsity players on the Northview campus. The even will be rescheduled for a later date.