BRUISER BEATDOWN

GPS Gets Repeat State Softball Title

15 Runs. 19 Hits. 0 Errors. 1 Beatdown for the ages.

GPS scored 10 runs in the first 2 innings of Friday night's State Championship game and never looked back, winning its second straight State Championship and 5th in the last 11 years.

Early in the first it looked like GPS would be in for a fight after speedy lead off batter Tory Lewis flew out to center and equally fast Whitney Hammond struck out swinging. Jessica Phillips walked to give the Bruisers a base runner, bringing Kamri Chester to the plate. With the count 3 and 1, Chester swung and missed, then put her head down and trotted to the dugout, thinking she had struck out. With some help from her teammates, she found her way back to the plate. With a full count, Chester hammered a triple to left center, scoring Phillips and energizing the Black & Blue. Jackie Baird then drove one deep to right field that bounced over the fence for a ground rule double and another RBI for GPS. Amy Campbell was hit by a pitch giving GPS runners on first and second with CC Gordon at the plate. Gordon singled up the middle, scoring Katie Dorris who was running in relief of Baird. The Bruisers first at-bat came to a close on force out on Maddie Smith's sharply hit grounder to third. The first half inning gave GPS a nice 3 run lead and left the Lady Eagles of St. Benedict stunned. What they didn't know was that this was only the beginning.

In the bottom of the first, senior pitcher Megan Wagner promptly retired the first three batters on 2 ground-outs and a strikeout.

Megan Givens led off the second with a double, bringing up the top of the lineup for GPS. Lewis bunted, and it appeared that she would be thrown out at first. But on the throw, Givens took off for third. In an attempt to quickly get the out at first, St. Benedict's first baseman pulled off of the bag early while attempting to throw Givens out at third. With Hammond at the plate, Lewis stole 2nd. The throw to second was not even close to getting Lewis. Givens headed for home on the throw and slid in safely stretching the lead to 4-0. Hammond then knocked what should have been a routine single to left. But when Hammond rounded first, she never broke stride and jetted over to second base, just beating the throw. Lewis scored on the play to make it 5-0 Phillips then singled, scoring Hammond on a bad play at the plate. With Phillips on first, Chester crushed a ball over the left field wall for a 2 run homer, and the rout was on. GPS would add 2 more runs in the inning on RBI's by Smith and by Givens on her second at-bat of the inning. When the dust settled, GPS had recorded 7 runs on 7 hits, and led 10-0.

Campbell and Gordon added an RBI each in the 3rd inning to extend the lead to 12-0.

Wagner carried a no-hitter through 3 1/3 innings. After the lead off batter for St. Benedict popped out to start the 4th, Wagner gave up a double for the Lady Eagles' first hit of the game. A single to center advanced the runner to third. With runners at the corners and one out, the Lady Eagles were in position to break the shut out. But a grounder toward second was tracked down by Gordon, who quickly tagged the runner going to second, and gunned down the batter at first for a double play to end the inning and preserve the shutout for Wagner and GPS.

In the fifth, reserve Haylee Blalock started the inning with a walk, followed by base hits from subs Kourtney Kell and Katie Dorris. Lewis picked up another RBI and Phillips closed out her career with a 2 RBI single to right for the final margin of 15-0.

St. Benedict's final opportunity at the plate was a short one. Wagner struck out the first batter, then forced 2 ground outs to seal the victory for GPS.

VIDEO: The final out.

Bartlett Wins Third State Title

In this morning's Div. II-AA singles tennis match against Gabriela Rangel from JPII, GPS senior Claire Bartlett won the first set 6-2. The second set was knotted at 6-6, but Bartlett took the tiebreaker 7-3.

The match started with the opponents exchanging breaks twice, leaving the 1st set score at 2-2. But then Bartlett won 4 straight games to claim the first set.

The second set was tightly contested, with the lead changing hand several times. Bartlett was out to a 2-1 lead, but fell behind 3-2. She rallied to go ahead 5-4, and was serving to win the match. But Rangle broke her serve to even the game at 5-5, then held serve to take a 6-5 advantage over Bartlett. Claire was able to hold serve to tie the set at 6-6 and force the 7 point tie breaker.

In the tie breaker, Bartlett won the first two points to put herself in control. Rangle got one back, but Bartlett then extended her lead further. Holding a 6-3 advantage, Bartlett's serve on match point was returned wide, sealing the victory for the GPS senior. Match point did not live up to match itself, which included some long points and great winners by both players. After shaking hands with Rangel, Bartlett quickly met her coach and mother Sue Bartlett for a shared moment of tears, joy, relief and excitement.

With the win, Bartlett becomes one of only 6 tennis players in TSSAA state history to win 3 State Championships, the most recent before her being Stephanie Harris, also of GPS ('02, '04 and '05). Harris may have been a four-time champion, but she missed her sophomore season ('o3) due to injury. In 2004, Bartlett was a state semifinalist as an 8th grader. She lost 6-4, 6-4 in the semis, missing out on what would have been an all-GPS final where she would have faced Harris.

VIDEO: Match Point-Bartlett's serve returned wide.

Brown Ends Night with 300m Hurdles State Championship

For GPS Bruiser Jasmine Brown, a long day of track and field events ended the way it should have – with Brown standing atop the winners’ platform, receiving a first place medal. The first place finish for Brown came in the 300m Hurdles, the last event of the evening that included a GPS athlete.

As a team, the Bruisers scored 61 points and finished 4th overall after winning the Team Championship in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Of the 61 points scored by GPS, Brown was responsible for an amazing 31.5 of them. Consider this: Twenty Division II schools were represented at the State Meet. Eleven of those teams scored fewer points as a team than Jasmine Brown did on her own.

Brown’s Spring Fling started on Monday when she finished 3rd in the Pentathlon, picking up 6 points for GPS. Her first of 4 events on Thursday was the Triple Jump. She finished a close 2nd (8 team points) after holding the lead until the last jump of the competition. An hour later Brown was on the starting block for the 100m Hurdles. She finished 3rd and added 6 more points to the team total. In the evening session, Brown ran the anchor leg of the 4X100 Relay, taking another 3rd place finish for 6 more points (1.5 earned by Brown). But her final event proved to be the sweetest – a dominating victory in the 300m Hurdles and a well-deserved individual State Championship. Brown led from the outset and never looked back, leaving the field well behind her as she crossed the finish line.

VIDEO: Brown Pulls Away to Win the 300m Hurdles


GPS Results from Thursday night:
100m Hurdles - Brown 3rd, Tory Kemp 8th
4X100m Relay - Stokes, Shepherd, Lawrence, Brown 3rd
4X200m Relay - Stokes, Shepherd, Lawrence, Lester 7th
300m Hurdles - Brown 1st

Bartlett Advances To State Singles Final

Claire Bartlett defeated sophomore teammate Sarah Evans in the semifinals of the State Singles Tennis Tournament. Claire won the 1st set 6-0 and the second set 6-2.

Bartlett will look to add a third consecutive Singles Title on Friday at 9:00 a.m.

GPS Softball Slides Past St. Benedict and Into Finals

GPS jumped out to an early lead Thursday afternoon and held off a late charge by St. Benedict to advance to the State Championship Softball game.

The Bruisers scored in the 1st inning when Kamri Chester singled up the middle. Tory Lewis, who had singled to lead off the game, scored from second on Kamri's hit.

GPS added 3 more runs in the third - the first 2 coming on a deep home run to center field by senior Kamri Chester. Jackie Baird walked following Chester's homer. Amy Campbell then hit one in the gap at left-center, scoring Katie Dorris who was running in relief of Baird. That extended the GPS lead to 4-0 after 3 and a half innings.

In the bottom of the 3rd, senior pitcher Megan Wagner struck out the side to keep the Bruiser lead at 4 runs.

In the 4th, Megan Givens bunted safely to lead off. Tory Lewis' sacrifice bunt then moved Givens to second. Whitney Hammond then beat out a ground ball to move Givens to third and give GPS runners on the corners. With Jessica Phillips at the plate, GPS pulled a double steal, with Givens scoring after an errant attempt to throw Hammond out at second. Following the error, Hammond was caught between 2nd and 3rd, but was safe at third after the St. Benedict third baseman was called for interference. Phillips then knocked one off the wall in left field, scoring Hammond and stretching the Bruiser lead to 6-0.

In the bottom of the 4th, St. Benedict led off with a single, but followed it with a ground out and two fly balls to end the inning.

The Bruisers would come up empty in the 5th, and gave up a run in the bottom half on a St. Benedict double to right-center with one runner on base.

Givens would again lead off in the 6th, this time reaching first after being hit by a pitch. Lewis moved her to 2nd again with another sacrifice bunt. Hammond then struck out, but Phillips singled up the middle to score Givens and increase the lead to 7-1.

St. Benedict got the bats going in the 6th, starting with back to back singles, followed by a two-run triple to right field. That made the Bruiser lead 7-3. The next batter grounded out, but scored the runner, further whittling away at the GPS lead. The next batter popped out to first, but St. Benedict bounced back with another single. GPS pitcher Megan Wagner went to work on the next batter, getting her 5th strikeout of the day, and rescuing the Bruisers from a rough inning with the score now 7-4.

In the 7th and final inning, GPS got nothing more than a walk by CC Gordon. That left one final opportunity for St. Benedict. The lead off batter hit a hard grounder down the third baseline. Senior Amy Campbell, snagged the ball and gunned the runner down for the first out. On the very next pitch, the St. Benedict batter hit a grounder to the shortstop Lewis, who fielded it cleanly and threw the runner out at first for out number 2. Two pitches later, St. Benedict hit a soft line drive that Lewis easily snagged, ending the game and sending GPS to the Finals once again.

The Bruisers will look to defend their State Title from one year ago on Friday night when they face the winner of tonight's losers bracket game. If GPS were to lose Friday night, they would get one more chance to claim the title on Saturday in the double-elimination format.

Bartlett, Evans to Face Off in Tennis Singles Semis; Doubles Team Falls in Tiebreaker

GPS Tennis players Claire Bartlett and Sarah Evans both advanced in Thursday’s quarterfinal singles tennis matches. Due to the tournament draw, the teammates will square off against each other in the semis for a chance to play in the finals. Bartlett is the 2-time defending State Champion in singles and is the #1 player for the Bruisers. Evans plays the #2 spot for GPS. Match time is 5:00 CST on Thursday.

The Doubles Team for GPS was eliminated in a heart-breaker Thursday afternoon. Partners Cady Jones and Ann Elizabeth Holley took their match to a third set after losing the first, but coming back to win the second. In the third set, GPS led 6-5 but dropped the last game to force a tiebreaker. The Bruisers lost the tiebreaker 10-8.

Singer Sets School Record; Two More Bruisers Place in Field Events

Chrissy Singer set a personal best and new school record when she cleared 10’ 00” in the State Pole Vault competition on Thursday. Singer needed three attempts to clear 9’6” to remain in the event, then cleared 10’00” on her first jump. Singer was unable to clear the next height, but her school record jump was good enough for 3rd place.

Julianne Wilson added another medal by placing 5th in the Long Jump with a jump of 16’ 7.75”.

Shateria Smith came in 8th place for the Bruisers in the Shot Put.


VIDEO: Singer clears 9'6"

Brown, Wilson Finish 2nd, 6th in Triple Jump; Parman 4th in Discus

Going in to the last jump of the competition, it appeared that Jasmine Brown would be the State Champion in the Triple Jump with a jump of 35' 9.75". But Chloe Tillman of BGA saved her best for last, jumping 36' 4" on the very last jump of the competition. Tillman had scratched on her first 2 of 4 jumps. Brown slipped to second place, and teammate Julianne Wilson finished 6th for the Bruisers with a jump of 34' 2".

In the discus, Heather Parman had a sub-par day by her standards, but still placed 4th with a long throw of 98'. Parman had qualified with a throw of 110'.

Next up for the Track & Field team is the Shot Put, Pole Vault and Long Jump at 11:00, followed by the High Jump at 12:30

Jasmine Brown (second jumper) jumps 35' 9.75"

Tennis Title Three-Peat for GPS

GPS claimed its third consecutive Team Tennis State Championship on Wednesday, defeating Hutchison 4-1.

Claire Bartlett (6-2, 6-0) and Sarah Evans (6-0, 6-2) breezed through their matches to lead the Bruisers. Ann Elizabeth Holley and Meredith Morrow picked up the other wins for GPS, but not without a fight.

Holley dropped her first set 0-6 but stormed back to win 6-1 and 6-2 to get the third win for GPS. Cady Jones won her first set, but lost a close match 6-4, 3-6, 2-6 to give Hutchison its first win of the afternoon.

That meant it was up to Meredith Morrow to seal the win for GPS before doubles matches would be played to decide a winner. Morrow won her first set 6-4, but dropped her second set 1-6. It appeared that doubles matches would be necessary to decide the team title when the Hutchison opponent took a 4-1 lead in the final set. But Morrow rallied to win five straight games to win the set, match and Title for GPS.

The Team State Championship is only the beginning of the Tennis action for GPS at Spring Fling. Claire Bartlett (Sr.) and Sarah Evans (So.) will compete in the singles event, while the duo of Cady Jones and Ann Elizabeth Holley will represent GPS in the doubles competition. Quarterfinals and Semifinals for both events will be held on Thursday, with the Finals matches taking place on Friday.

GPS Softball Opens Spring Fling with Win

Despite a slow start, the Bruiser softball team pulled away for a 5-1 victory over Briarcrest on Tuesday night in Murfreesboro.

Briarcrest jumped out to 1-0 lead in the first inning on a solo home run. GPS would leave runners on first and second to end 2 innings before finally cracking the scoreboard in the bottom of the 4th on a RBI by CC Gordon. Gordon batted in Amy Campbell who had doubled to set up the tying run.

GPS would extend its lead in the 5th. Tory Lewis opened the inning with a walk; Whitney Hammond then bunted her over and reached safely. Jessica Phillips reached first safely on a throwing error following her bunt. Both Lewis and Hammond scored on the play, and Phillips continued on to third. Phillips would score on a groundout by Jackie Baird. Campbell got a hit and again was batted in by Gordon to wrap up the 4-run fifth inning that would put the game out of reach for Briarcrest.

GPS senior pitcher Megan Wagner, despite giving up the first inning home run, was once again solid for the Bruisers. She only allowed one more hit in the game after giving up the homer - a lead off blooper in the 3rd inning.

Campbell finished 3-3 with 1 RBI and 2 runs scored. Gordon was 2-3 with 2 RBI.

The Bruisers advance to play again on Thursday at 11:30 CST. They will face the winner of Wednesday's matchup between St. Benedict and Pope John Paul II.

Bruisers Advance to Team Tennis State Championship Match

GPS defeated Baylor to advance to the Team Tennis State Championship Match to be held on Wednesday. GPS swept their rival in the semifinal contest, winning 4-0 in singles matches. Meredith Morrow was leading her opponent in the 5th singles match when GPS secured the win by picking up the 4th win necessary to win the match.

Last year GPS defeated Baylor in the Finals to win the State Title. The Bruisers will look to bring home another title on Wednesday when they will face Hutchison School of Memphis.

Winners for GPS included:

Claire Bartlett 6-0, 6-1
Sarah Evans 6-0, 6-0
Ann Elizabeth Holley 6-1, 6-3
Cady Jones 7-5, 6-3
Meredith 6-2, match suspended

Brown, Lester finish 3rd and 7th for GPS in State Pentathlon

Junior Jasmine Brown finished 3rd and senior Catie Lester finished 7th for GPS in the State Pentathlon at MTSU on Monday. In addition to earning personal medals, the duo also picked up 8 points for GPS in the team competition.

Of the 12 qualifiers at the State event, Brown had the 4th best qualifying score while Lester had the 6th highest. After the first event, the 100m hurdles, Brown was in 4th and Lester was in the 7th position. Brown moved up to 3rd following the Shot Put, and would go on to hold that position throughout the rest of the competition. Lester moved up to 6th overall momentarily, but dropped back to 7th place in the 5th and final event.

Both athletes will be back in action for GPS on Thursday when the State Champions will be crowned in indicidual events. Brown has the top qualifying time coming in to the 300m Hurdles and will also participate in the Triple Jump, 100m Hurdles, and the 4X100m Relay. Lester will represent the Bruisers as a member of the 4X200m Relay Team.

Final State Pentathlon Standings:
1. Malena Kellermann, Baylor - 3125
2. Anna Bowers, Ensworth - 3074
3. Jasmine Brown, GPS - 2937
4. Genny Mayden, Ensworth - 2800
5. Macy Conger, Brent. Acad. - 2755
6. Elizabeth Wilson, Father Ryan - 2447
7. Catie Lester, GPS - 2414
8. Payton Thomas, Baylor - 2243

Complete State Pentahlon Results from TSSAA

Full Spring Fling Schedule for GPS

Monday, May 19, 2008
10:00 AM CST - MTSU Track
Track - Pentathlon: Jasmine Brown, Catie Lester

Tuesday, May 20, 2008
3:00 PM CST - MTSU Tennis Center
Tennis - Team Semifinal vs. Baylor

5:00 PM CST - Starplex #3
Softball - Semifinal vs. Briarcrest

Thursday, May 22, 2008
9:00 AM CST - MTSU Track
Track - Triple Jump: Jasmine Brown, Julianne Wilson
Track - Discus: Heather Parman

11:00 AM CST - MTSU Track
Track - Shot Put: Shateria Smith
Track - Pole Vault: Chrissy Singer
Track - Long Jump: Julianne Wilson

12:00 PM CST - MTSU Tennis Center
Tennis - Singles Quarterfinals: Clair Bartlett, Sarah Evans
Tennis - Doubles Quarterfinals: Cady Jones/Ann Elizabeth Holley

12:30 PM CST - MTSU Track
Track - High Jump: Julianne Wilson

6:00 PM CST - MTSU Track
Track - 100 Hurdles: Jasmine Brown, Tory Kemp
Track - 4X100 Relay: Stokes, Shepherd, Lawrence, Brown
Track - 4X200 Relay: Stokes, Shepherd, Lawrence, Lester
Track - 300 Hurdles: Jasmine Brown

More Events will be added as Teams and Individuals advance or are assigned to a losers bracket

REFRESH for the latest updates

Softball, Tennis, and Track & Field Gear Up for Spring Fling '08

The GPS Softball Team (26-4-1) claimed a spot in the 2008 Spring Fling in Murfreesboro with two 9-run wins over BGA on Tuesday. Stories: Chattanooga Times Free Press and Chattanoogan.com

The undefeated GPS Tennis Team (13-0) advanced to Spring Fling with a 5-0 quarterfinal victory over Ensworth on Tuesday: Chattanooga Times Free Press

The GPS Track & Field team will complete its Region Meet on Thursday, May 15th.