W.H. Spencer High School Columbus, GA Click to visit website

June 2010

2010 Border Wars East-West All-Star Game
by Coach Oliver Davis

Several senior football players from Spencer High School were nominated to play in the 2010 Border Wars East West  All-Star Game.  Each player nominated was chosen by the selection committee of the Varsity Prep Sports organization.  The West roster consisted of players from the cities of Columbus, Manchester, Talbotton and LaGrange, while the East roster consisted of players from Warner Robins and surrounding areas.  Representing the city of Columbus and the Spencer High Greenwave were Daekwon Holloway, Aundrey Drummond, Michael Wilborn, Tevin Johnson, Kelvin McGruder and Terrence Dennis.

The first annual East-West All-Star game was played at Ft. Valley State University in their newly-structured football stadium.  These players had the opportunity to showcase their skills against some of the top talent in the area.  Several college coaches were in attendance, allowing the athletes a chance to advance and play on the collegiate level.

The men of Spencer High School made quite the impact during the game and accumulated impressive stats along with significant playing time.  Although the East won 27-0, Spencer’s Daekwan Holloway was voted MVP of the game.  He led the West squad with two interceptions, three pass deflections and a host of tackles.  This outstanding award is just one indication of the depth of talent and passion for the game that these young men exhibit.  They represented Spencer High School with class and integrity.

March 2010

At the beginning of the 2009 school year, a group of outstanding William Henry Spencer High School JROTC cadets set a goal to work hard and become a competitive Raider team that could compete at both the region and state level.

The JROTC Raider program is designed to challenge cadets, both mentally and physically, in the development of individual and team leadership skills. The competition tests cadets in many demanding activities such as the Army physical fitness test, the cross country search and rescue, the team three mile run, the team gauntlet and the team one rope bridge. 

The Spencer JROTC Raider team has performed well above expectations during this season. Their first event was the annual Muscogee County Raider competition held October 17 at Fort Benning, Georgia, where 12 schools from around the Chattahoochee Valley area participated. After several weeks of intense training, the Spencer High school female Raider team placed first in four of five events, taking home several individual trophies as well as the overall championship trophy. The male team gave an outstanding effort and finished fifth overall in the male division.

On October 24, the male and female teams combined and competed in the mixed division at the annual state Raider competition held at Fort Yargo Park in Winder, Georgia.  Although this was their first time competing at the state level, the team placed ninth out of approximately 24 teams from around the state in the overall competition and second in the gauntlet event, earning a state trophy. The female team was led by Cadet Battalion Commander Sahara McCaray, a junior with aspirations of attending the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2011. The mixed team was led by Cadet Brigade Commander Andrew Ramos, a senior who will be attending the United States Military Academy at West Point in June 2010. This was an exceptional effort performed by a group of outstanding student athletes. 

October 2009

2009 Greenwave Football
by Coach Davis

The Mighty Greenwave Football Team is starting the season with a very young and inexperienced group this year. We will have to learn while in the heat of battle and hope that we don’t have any casualties as we improve on the way. It’s going to be a growing pain for a little while as we iron out the kinks throughout the season.

There is one group that has a lot of experience and that is our secondary. The secondary consists of returning senior Daekwan Holloway, who is also our punter. Last year he had four interceptions and did an excellent job covering wide receivers all year. Returning also is Aundrey Drummond and Toney Williams, who led the team in interceptions with five each. Aundrey has been a very tough competitor at the cornerback position and has been able, from time to time, to shut down his man throughout the entire game. Toney started as a freshman and is the strongest, surest tackler on the team. Then we have Raheem Xeno, who arrived late in the season last year and finished up as a strong player for us in the secondary. And finally, Damion Brown played both ways as quarterback and corner.  He is a good defender and run stopper.

The team will be depending on their leadership and experience to help us stay on the winning track. Currently, our record does not indicate how far we have come, but with continued effort each week the tables will turn so we can have a better season than we did last year. Our young players are beginning to catch on − more and more every day. We are looking to finish strong by playing together as one team for four quarters.

Lady Greenwave Volleyball 
by Coach Moran

The 2009-2010 Lady Greenwave volleyball season has begun and the face of the program has changed yet again from the 2008 program. Out of the fifteen players on the roster, eight of them are freshmen.  There are only four veterans back from last year and with a multitude of roadblocks at the beginning of the season, the Lady Greenwave volleyball team is going through a huge transition.  But the new program is poised and ready because of these early setbacks and new players. 

When the season started, I was out for surgery and was not able to work with the girls at all from the beginning of August until the last part of the month.   Coach Sheffield, the women’s basketball coach, graciously volunteered to help practice the girls and work with them and that helped immensely as he is such a positive and disciplined coach.  He became a mentor to many of the younger players and has been a great positive force on our team.  So with this setback, we have had to learn and work together for only about a month and we are already a month into the season.  It has been difficult at times, but the new freshmen we have this year are probably the most athletic, aggressive and hard-working players I have had in the three years I have been at Spencer.  These girls have great attitudes and work ethics and are a lot of fun to coach.

This year there are only five returning players; Terrinda Johnson, Ricca Johnson, Devon Blackmon, Jamisha Riggis and Precious Billins are the only veterans left from the 2008 team.  Toody, Jamisha and Ricca are doing an amazing job this year for us and Devon is slowly coming into her own as a utility player off the bench.  Precious Billins, who was our number one all-around player last year,  sustained an ACL injury during basketball season last year and has been in rehab during the season so far, but will hopefully be cleared to play in the next couple of weeks.

But the main body of the team has been comprised of underclassmen new to the Greenwave team. Freshmen Kadacia Merritt and Lavon Pridgett are the two players the Lady Greenwaves will look to for carrying the bulk of the load at the setting positions.  KiKi and Lavon are truly amazing athletes.  They both have speed, power and the potential to develop into all-star players.  KiKi is the fastest player we have; she can jump and she uses her aggressiveness to get to almost every ball we pass.  She is a fiery competitor who hates to lose and is quickly becoming one of the leaders on our team.  Lavon is the best server on the team and when she is on with her serve, no one can stop it.  She is also, like KiKi, a very aggressive player and is always looking to improve her game.

We also have some very talented players in our sophomores, Kuanisha Jones and Chastity Crowley. These two young athletes are coming over from the basketball team and bringing much-needed power and height on the front row.  Chastity is learning the middle position with her height and aggressiveness at the net.  If we can get her to have the confidence to know she can put the ball down, she will be a monster.  ‘Nisha has been quite a surprise for us this year as she has never played volleyball , but has learned the outside position quite fast and just needs game experience to help her development.

Juniors Christy Sharpe and Jamisha Riggins are our outside hitters and have a lot of maturity on the court for two players who haven’t played much volleyball before.  Christy has the most power on her attacks, but the consistency is what we are working on with her swing.  Jamisha is a very versatile player who can play any position I need her to play. The aspect of her game that we are working on is her ability to lead. She is a natural leader and is working hard to bring this team together.

Seniors Ricca Johnson and Toody Johnson are our seniors who had to step up from JV play last year and bring not only leadership, but knowledge of my coaching style.  Ricca is a very aggressive player and will chase a ball into the stands. Once she learns and becomes comfortable with the middle back defensive position, I feel she will help us come tournament time.

Rounding out the varsity lineup are freshmen Alicia Gates, Elise and Corrina Johnson and sophomore Rachel Crowell.  Alicia came to me at the first of summer and announced how much she loved volleyball and couldn’t wait to practice. She usually was the first player at practice and is a quiet force on the team.  Of all the players, Alicia has the most natural passing form and for a freshman, has stepped up in our serve-receive rotations and done a great job for me.  She just now understands the basic aspects of the varsity level play and needs experience to become a great defensive player.  Elise is another freshman middle who is learning the game and has a wonderful attitude and work ethic. She is a joy to be around because she is always smiling, and once she gets some conditioning and playing time, she will be a great player as well.  Corrina and Rachel are two of my favorite players on the team, mainly because they have such great attitudes and they are, first and foremost, team players.  Rachel is my quiet middle who does a great job when I put her in. She never gets rattled and has improved tremendously since the first of the season.  Corrina is, along with KiKi, one of the fastest players on the team and she also has improved tremendously and will be a great player once she masters the basics and gets more playing time.

The season has been a learning experience for the Lady Greenwave with the JV team experiencing quite a bit of success and that comes with many of the JV players having double time playing varsity as well.  We have been trying to get as much playing time for our younger players to get us ready for the Region Tournament.  We have been playing varsity matches with as many as four or five freshmen on the court at one time and we are playing matches that are going three games and losing by mere points. Our biggest area of concern is actually finishing a match once we get to 22 or 23 points.  We let opponents get up by nine or 10 points and then we start playing and usually end up losing by a couple of points. All we need is experience on the court and it’s a learning process on the mental aspect of the game.  Many of these players have not had to play at the more advanced level of volleyball where you have to think strategy and game situations instead of just taking the ball over in one or two passes.  Our freshmen are learning the game of volleyball, meaning positional specialties and the flow of transition of the game.  The whole team chemistry is just now coming together and it’s just a matter of time for the team to peak.

The best part of this team is the obvious fun they are having not only as a team, but on the court as well.  When glancing around the gym during a practice, it is very apparent that not only do these girls love the game, but they really like each other.  Sometimes the most difficult aspect of coaching is trying to bring team chemistry to the players and find that fine balance between being competitive with each other and the other opponents.  These players have a great team spirit and once they learned that it’s better to turn your aggression to the other side of the court, they just blossomed.  In our recent match against Callaway High School, the players bonded in a huddle and were telling each other, “We can do it and only we can do it. Coach can’t do it for us and we need to start doing this for ourselves.”  I was very proud of them and I felt we had finally turned the corner and gained a new level of confidence.  I think we will do well in the tournament and this team can only get better.  But the best part is that I will have most of these girls for years to come and that is what is making this year more fun than ever.