As the Statesboro Blue Devils prepare for Thursday’s meet, several athletes have been leading the charge.

            At the first Statesboro home meet the varsity girls finished second while the boys finished third out of seven teams.

            Finishing first for the Devils were Keiyonna Gusby (high jump, 300-meter hurdles) and the girls 4x100 relay team.

            Second place finishers were Brandon Jackson (1600, 3200), Lauren Lipsey (100, 200), Yakeen Coleman (triple jump), Claire Alston (high jump), Joseph Mainer (400), Heather Wasdin (400), Dana Hilton (100 hurdles, 300 hurdles) and Amber Connely (pole vault).

            Third place finishers were Mahogany Lanier (100), Aaron Lester (110 hurdles), Wasdin (200), DeQuan Daniels (long jump), Khlid Smith (400) and Gusby (100 hurdles).

            When the Devils held the 14-team Statesboro invitational, on Feb. 27, the boys saw Marquavis Hunter finish third in the triple jump.

            At the same event, the Lady Devils took third of 12 teams.

            Finishing first was NoraA Billups (high jump). Second-place finishers were Hilton (100 and 300 hurdles), the 4x400 relay team and Gusby (high jump).

            Third-place finishers wereKierra Nixon (100), Billups (triple jump) and Alston (high jump).

            Statesboro hosts another home meet Thursday.

SEB sweeps Effingham

            BROOKLET — The Southeast Bulloch Yellow Jackets defeated Effingham County on both the boys’ and girls’ courts in tennis action last week.

            Mick Crosby (5-7, 6-2, 6-1) and William Groover (6-2, 6-1) got singles wins and doubles team Bubba Beasley and Tyler Wilson won in three sets. No. 3 doubles pair Jacob Johnson and Tyler Wilson also won, 8-4.   

For the Lady Jackets. Who won 3-2, the singles got the sweep. Victoria Herndon (5-7, 6-2, 6-1), McKenzie Waters (5-7, 6-4, 7-5) and Emily Herndon (6-2, 2-6, 7-6 [7-4 tiebreak]) each came out on top.

            The Jackets host Statesboro Thursday at 4 pm.

SEB sweeps meet

            BROOKLET — Both the boys and girls of Southeast Bulloch were in top form Tuesday afternoon as they each took first place at the SEB track meet.

            Both teams held off second place showings by Vidalia for the win.

            Savannah Morris (3200m, 1600m), Dinesha Baker (400m), La’Keria Hendrix (800m), Breanna Gates (long jump), and Crystal Mikell (high jump) took home first place in individual events. The Yellow Jackets’ relay teams continued to shine as Baker, Mikell, Hendrix and Gates won the 4x100m relay and Miranda Price teamed with Baker, Hendrix and Gates for the top spot in the 4x400 relay.

            Lindsey Lynch finish second in the 3200m while Hendrix, Gates and Baker took second in the 400m, 100m and high jump, respectively.

            The SEB boys dominated the field events as Rob Ware won the high jump, Derek Dobson took the triple jump, Robbie Spivy won the discus and David Johnson bested all throwers in the shot put.

            On the track, Saliek Murphy won the 300m hurdles while the 4x400 team of Anthony Gardner, Joe Holloway, Denzell McBride and Terrell Paulson also took the top spot.

            Taking second place finishes for the Jackets were Joseph Strickland (pole vault), Gardner (400m), McBride (800m), Dominique Rawls (200m), Holloway (high jump), Brandon Sullivan (discus), and Spivy (shot put).

            The Portal boys were able to take third place overall with 38 points.

            The Panthers were led by Chase Sheffield, who place first in both the 100 meter dash (10.96 seconds) and the 200 meter dash (23.07 seconds). Devon Spells also grabbed a first place finish in the 100 meter hurdles and took third place in the 300 meter hurdles.

            Darien Sanders was the top performer for the Lady Panthers, taking second place in the 100 meter hurdles.

            Next up for both squads will be a trip to the Bryan County relays, which begin at 5 p.m. Friday.

Lady Gamecocks

win sub-region

            The Screven County girls tennis team took down Southeast Bulloch by a count of 5-0 Tuesday afternoon. With the victory, the Lady Gamecocks sealed a sub-region title and a No. 1 seed in the Region 3-AA tournament.

            The doubles pair of Kelsey Forehand and Sydnee Weaver led the way, winning their match by a score of 6-0, 6-0. With the win, Forehand and Weaver — who have played together for three years — ran their all-time record to 39-7 and set the school record for wins as a pair.

            Also securing wins for Screven were the doubles pair of Lauren Bazemore and Lauren Thomas (6-0, 6-0) and — in singles play — Evan Sheppard (6-1, 6-0), Missy Zeagler (6-1, 6-1), and Katheryn Wells (6-1, 6-0).

            Screven’s boys weren’t quite as fortunate.

            The Gamecocks missed out on a chance to secure a sub-region title of their own as they dropped a 3-2 decision to SEB.

            Eli Woods and Taylor Driggers highlighted the boys’ efforts with a 6-3, 7-5 win in doubles play.

            With the loss, Screven drops to 3-3 in sub-region play and into a three-way tie for first place with SEB and Vidalia.

Jackets top Jefferson

            Tucker Bettis and Jalen Cassidy knocked in three runs each as Southeast Bulloch racked up a 10-4 win over Jefferson County Tuesday night in Brooklet.

            Jordan Davis started the game for the Yellow Jackets and recorded the win, with J.D. Smith pitching four shutout innings in relief to seal the victory.

            Blake Fulmer contributed to the winning effort, going 2-for-3 and scoring two runs. Tyler Brown also chipped in, knocking in a run while going

2-for-2.

SCHS baseball rolls

            Screven County made quick work of Laney Tuesday evening, cruising to an 8-3 win in Augusta.

            Chandler Johnson supplied some power, going 2-for-3 with a two-run homer and 3 RBI while Austin Peel went 2-for-3 and Kevin Lawton knocked in two more runs.

            Jonathan Long pitched into the sixth inning to earn the win for the Gamecocks and Joel Collins retired the last four Laney batters to round out the win.

            Screven now sits at 5-4 overall and is 1-0 in Region 3A-AA after the win over Laney.

            The Gamecocks head to Mill Creek this afternoon for a 6 p.m. date with Statesboro.

SEB boys soccer wins

            Southeast Bulloch made it two wins in a row, defeating Dodge County 6-3 in a tough road match Tuesday evening.

            Caleb Simmons scored twice and Ty Beggs, Doug Flott, Juan Escamilla and James Good each tacked on goals of their own to earn a win for the Yellow Jackets.

            SEB now moves to 4-4 on the season and return home Thursday to take on Calvary Day.

WJMS soccer

toughing it out

            The William James Middle School boys soccer team recently toughed out wins against Richmond Hill and Burke County.

            The Richmond Hill game ended tied 1-1 at regulation, and WJMS got the win on penalty kicks. The game was tied on a goal by Emilio Quintero with two minutes to go.

            Penalty kicks were made by Quintero, Abel Leon, Matt Samiratedu and Carlos Martinez.

            Martinez and Leon Robertson scored in the 2-1 win over Burke.

            The girls hosted Screven County for a win earlier in the season, and Emmalyne Sisson scored on an assist from Chelsea Wilson in a recent game against Burke County.

SEB to add four

to Hall of Fame

            BROOKLET — Southeast Bulloch will induct four new members into the Yellow Jackets’ Hall of Fame Saturday, April 17 at  ceremony in the SEB Middle School cafeteria.

            2010 inductees are Coretta Brown (Class of 1999), Beth Hopkins (1992), Danny Tremble (1985), David Miller (1973) and honorary inductee Gene Eden.

            Tickets to the event can be purchased for $10 at either  the SEBMS or high school campus. Deadline to purchase a ticket is Tuesday, April 12.

            If you have a score to report, please call the Statesboro Herald sports desk at (912) 489-9408.