Atlanta Motor Speedway’s 10th Anniversary season of Thursday Thunder opened with a record-high 113 competitors vying to make their mark early in the season in hopes of capturing a coveted championship title. Papa John’s Pizza Opening Night featured a New Year’s Eve theme with an entertaining backwards junker car race during intermission.

The U16 Fayette Scorchers recently came in third place in the Georgia Soccer State Recreational Championship. The team also placed first in the District Championship, winning the game on penalty kicks. Photo/Special.

A record 844 athletes were selected to the Peach Belt Conference 2006-07 Presidential Honor Roll last Wednesday, and that list featured 39 Clayton State athletes, including two former Fayette County standouts, Jordan Windisch (basketball) and Allie Peterson (soccer).

The annual Peachtree City Youth Triathlon took place at the Glenloch Recreation Center last Saturday. The event, as always, drew a big crowd.

Having completed the fifth edition of the Tour de Georgia one month ago, the impact of America’s premier, professional cycling event and rolling festival continues to be positive on several levels. Over half a million spectators (515,000) watched the Tour de Georgia from April 16 to 22 along its 667-mile route. And for the fourth consecutive year, detailed crowd intercept survey reports have found that the economic impact has surpassed $26 million for the fourth consecutive year.

Palmetto resident Cory Nestlehutt promoted and fought in the Southside Slugfest at the Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater last October. There were plenty of naysayers out there, but the event went off without a hitch. The venue was sold out and the crowd, which some expected to be rowdy and out of control, behaved themselves and caused no problems. After the event, Nestlehutt stated that the event went so well that he hoped “The Fred” would have them back. His wish, and the wishes of mixed martial arts fans from all over Metro Atlanta, came true. Southside Slugfest II will take place Saturday, June 23 at “The Fred.”

The Citizen pulled over 150 photos from its archives to create a slideshow of all the highlights from the 2006-07 high school sports season.

Starr’s Mill graduate Lindsay Walker almost made the College World Series in her freshman year at the University of South Carolina. The Gamecocks lost to Northwestern, the 2006 runner-up, in two games over the weekend. Still, the team should hold their heads high. They entered the postseason as an unseeded team and made it to the brink of college softball’s biggest stage.

The Alabama softball team played in its third consecutive NCAA Super Regional last weekend, but saw its season come to an end against Washington in a best-of-three series, 4-3 and 7-5.

Spincycle announces that the Georgia State Criterium Championships will be held on June 2 at Shannon Mall in Union City.

The final field has been set for the Ultimate Game at Wynn Las Vegas, and 40 golfers with varying backgrounds, including Peachtree City’s Dave Schreyer, will play for $2 million.

Two former area high school softball players are playing Division I softball in college and are a series away from the College World Series.

Six members of Team Reality attended the USA Climbing South East Regional Championship on May 12 in Atlanta, Ga. and four placed high enough to receive an invitation to the Divisional Championship in Suwannee, Ga. on June 9 & 10.

What fun it was to watch all the local high school sports teams in action during the spring.

Soccer, as usual, drew attention for all the teams that reached the state playoffs and, especially, the two that won state championships.

The 2007 high school spring sports season in Fayette County has ended, but not before state championships were won by several teams in soccer, track and field and tennis.

Palmetto resident Cory Nestlehutt is bringing his mixed martial arts event back to the Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater on Saturday, June 23.

The Starr's Mill Panthers traveled to Gray, Ga. Wednesday afternoon to face the Jones County Greyhounds in the second round of the AAAA playoffs.

The Starr's Mill Panthers traveled to Gray, Ga. this afternoon to face the Jones County Greyhounds in the second round of the AAAA playoffs.

Class AAA boys

Sandy Creek placed first overall with 69 points. The team broke the old 4x100 state record (as well as setting a new school record). Elbert Co. ran 41.41 in 1998. They broke that mark on Friday’s qualifying with a 41.35, then broke their own record in the finals Saturday with a 41.29. Also, Christian Taylor was the AAA High Point Award winner. He scored 10 points in all of his individual events (Triple Jump, Long Jump and 200M Dash) as well as 2.5 points on the two Championship Relay teams (4x100, 4x400). He also had the best All Class mark in the Triple Jump at 49’11.25” (another school record).

The Starr’s Mill Panthers and the Sandy Creek Patriots have advanced to the second round of the state baseball playoffs in their respective classifications.

For the first time in history a Fayette County tennis team brought home the state championship.

The Starr’s Mill girls tennis team crushed Marist’s shot at a 13th consecutive state title in the Class AAAA state finals to win the championship.

The McIntosh Boy’s lacrosse team recently closed their season suffering a tough loss to Northview HS in the state quarterfinals held at McIntosh. In an exciting game the Titans surprised McIntosh jumping to a three-goal lead very early in the first quarter. The young McIntosh squad battled back to tie the game and take a 7-4 lead into halftime. The third quarter proved to be the difference as Northview took the lead and held on for a final 11-9 victory.

Lace up your running shoes, because it’s that time again, time for the 15th Annual Old Courthouse 5K Road Race, to be run Saturday, May 19 in Fayetteville.

The Sandy Creek boys track team placed first in the Class AAA state track meet with 69 points. Oconee County placed second with 36 points.

The Starr's Mill Panthers defeated the Brunswick Pirates in two games to start the AAAA state baseball playoffs. The Panthers won game one 7-5 behind four RBIS from Trent Freeman, two from Tyler Claburn and a home run from Brian Fletcher. Starr's Mill won game two 5-3 after a delay due to inclement weather.

Starr's Mill's Kourtney Kowal, Jessica Lange and Caroline Smith were all winners in the AAAA state tennis final against Marist. The Lady Panthers won the title with a 3-0 score.