By Kaya Collins
Forsyth Central High School

12 seconds.

That’s about the longest a professional track and field sprinter will be on the track racing during a competition.

In 12 seconds history can be made, dreams have a chance to be fulfilled and hearts are broken.

Track and Field is an individual sport. Each athlete is responsible for every loss, every upset and every win. This makes every moment so much more passionate and important. Like every sport, professional track and field has had long standing rivalries that push athletes to their limits and make each athlete want that beautiful gold medal just a little bit more. The most notable of those rivalries is the competition between American and Jamaican runners. For decades now, competitors from these two countries have battled closely and hard for first place.

The Paris summer Olympics 2024 showcased this rivalry in one of the closest men’s 100 meter dash races in Olympic history. USA’s Noah Lyles won gold after a neck and neck finish with Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson. The race was so close that announcers actually stated, or assumed, that Thompson had won the race before results were posted, and ended up being incorrect. Lyles winning the 100m mens final that year, especially with the race being so close with a Jamaican runner, only further fueled the rivalry between countries.

From old competitors like Jamaican Usain Bolt and American Justin Gatlin to modern day Kishane Thompson and Noah Lyles, the USA vs. Jamaica rivalry has made its impact and continues to showcase phenomenal athletes and promising talent for future competitions. The next championship meet is September 2026.

Now the question is, will the rivalry continue with each country securing wins back and forth?

Or will a champion emerge and settle the long lasting struggle?

June, 9, 2026

By Uri Powell
Alpharetta High School

Are college athletes perfect? Some assume so, some disagree.

College athletes have some of the most pressure placed on them every game. Especially college athletes who strive in football or baseball. Athletes who play football or baseball have the expectations from their teams, of the likes of a MLB (Major Baseball League) , and a NFL (National Football League) athlete over their heads. Even when they aren’t on the field, their minds are running back and forth about their performance, practice, or anything to do with their athletic scholarships.

Sports can easily have a huge psychological effect on someone. Stress, Depression, Burnout, Substance Abuse, and more. Athletes usually develop these to survive under the pressure of reality and live up to the standards of fellow team mates and coaches. In Oct. 2023, Brown University held a studying discovered that around 30% of college athletes will eventually quit their sport due to physical and mental exhaustion. As many colleges across the country notice this behavior in their athletes, they try to ensure that their athletes maintain stable mental health by having equitable access to counselors and other comfort sources to improve and uphold their performance. Even though student athletes have resources to turn to if they’re struggling, they can quite easily be replaced if a coach suspects the player constantly struggling, this creates hesitation for players to reach out for help while knowing it could cost them they’re athletic career. As football players miss classes for practice, and baseball players miss so many hours of school due to sport travel and packed schedules. Academic pressure can increase on the athlete due to these rules.

If a college athlete is falling behind in academic performance, they are legally required to be benched until their grades reach standards again due to the National College Players Association. On field performance can cause exhaustion and stress which can lead to severe sleep loss from worrying. Being unable to sleep can greatly impact an athletes grades. Their grades can begin decline drastically which can lead to the legal ineligibility to play causing them become benched during games. After this process, it’s also very likely that the athletes will turn to substitutes to fill loose time which leads to substance abuse and mental exhaustion.

Although for baseball, it’s a bit different. Baseball players do need as much required academic excellence as college football does. College football usually only competes on Saturdays, baseball is a constant fast paced grind. A regular baseball season can average up to 56 games in a single semester. With this information, This can mean four to five baseball games per week with consistent travel and practices. While football must earn 9 credits during their fall semester to be considered for next years team. In baseball, they must earn only 6 credits during the fall semester to become eligible for next years team. Another challenge is that the NCAA Regionals are held in late April and early May, which are also the times colleges and universities are holding all final exams. This can cause tremendous stress among student athletes.

In Dec. 2023, the NCAA Student-Athlete Health and Wellness Study conducted a study for college athletes. It was shown that up to 45% of college athletes experience constant mental stress due to intense athletics, around 24% experience clinical depression, and over 55% participate in heavy substance abuse. This data clearly demonstrates how college athletes are affected by the industry.

College American Football, Golf and Cheerleading are a couple of the most mentally demanding sports while college baseball is one of the most strategic team sports. College football and baseball are two of the most fan hyped sports in the world. College sports are the most watched and cheered for sports in America at the moment. So maybe college athletes aren’t perfect, and they don’t always win, but they try their best.

By Reese Johnson
Tombs County High School

For the first time in almost two decades, Georgia punches their ticket to Omaha. The 3rd seeded Bulldogs beat 14th-ranked Mississippi State in a two game thriller in front of sold out Foley field.

“I tell our guys all the time, I think toughness gets a bad rap. People think it’s some kind of physical element, and it’s not. You have to learn to be capable of great endurance and understand that our game is really long,” said head coach Wes Johnson after two close ball games. “And you just saw a bunch of resilient guys, and you saw the fruition of all that work come through.”

Game one was held on Saturday, ending in a close win for the Georgia Bulldogs. Mississippi State came out swinging, earning them a 7-0 lead. In the fifth inning, Georgia started climbing back to earn a 2-run lead. State and Georgia battle back and forth for the next 4 innings. In the bottom of the 8th, Micheal O’Shaughnessy – filing in for suspended third baseman Tre Phelps- hit a 3-run homer, sending it over the scoreboard. To end the game, closing pitcher Justin Byrd held the Mississippi State Bulldogs scoreless in the ninth inning, helping Georgia take game one of the Athens Super Regional.

Going into game two, Georgia just needed one more victory to punch their ticket to Omaha. The UGA Bulldogs quickly asserted dominance, keeping a steady lead for most of the game. With pitcher Caden Aoki setting the tone, pitching 5.2 innings, striking out 9 batters. State had a furious comeback attempt, which led to the game going into extra innings. Georgia star catcher Daniel Jackson blasted a go-ahead 2-run homer in the tenth. Justin Byrd took the mound yet again to secure the Bulldogs trip to Omaha.

“I remember going to bed that night knowing we were going to Omaha, we are going to win this game, and it just didn’t work out,” said Senior Kolby Branch. “And now we are on to Omaha, it’s kind of a full circle moment.”

Veterans, like Branch, having experienced heartbreaking endings the last two seasons, say the trip to Omaha is proof of their hard work paying off.

Head Coach Wes Johnson got emotional in the post-game interview, talking about the former players who helped the team get to where they are today and how the current team’s resilience is how they fought until the end to score their spot in the College World Series.

National Player of the Year finalist, Daniel Jackson, stated how seemingly little things as the “sour power” can unite their team like it has. The sour power trend started out as a simple celebration after scoring a run and it has turned into a fan wide tradition.

He ends his interview saying, “The chemistry on our team, it’s hard to talk about. I mean, it’s just incredible. I think a big factor of that is, as silly as it sounds to say, winning. When you’re winning together, it’s fun, and it’s true. The locker room is a much happier place after a win.”

By Grady Leatherwood
Calhoun High School

Every team begins the college baseball season with the same goal: to advance to the Men’s College World Series (CWS) in Omaha, Nebraska, and win the national championship. On Sunday, the Georgia Bulldogs took the next step in advancing towards the national championship, clinching a spot in the CWS after sweeping Mississippi State in a high-scoring two game series. In front of 3,633 fans packed inside Foley Field on Sunday, the Diamond Dawgs mashed four home runs — none bigger than junior catcher Daniel Jackson’s go-ahead two run home run in the 10th inning — en route to an 11–9 extra innings victory.

“It’s everything we’ve been working for the last ten months,” Jackson said during an interview with ESPN discussing the win. “As soon as I saw that it would stay fair, I knew it’d be lights out from there.”

Jackson’s tie-breaking home run was his 31st of the year, the second most in Georgia baseball history, behind Charlie Condon’s 38 home run season in 2024. “He’s the best player in the country,” Bulldogs head coach Wes Johnson said. “He’s one of the best I’ve ever coached.”

With the win, Georgia advanced to the CWS for the first time since 2008 and for just the seventh time in program history. In their previous six trips to Omaha, the Bulldogs have only won the tournament once, in 1990, led by late coach Steve Webber. The latest trip to the CWS for Georgia ended with a second place finish, as they lost the championship series to Fresno State.

The 2026 campaign has already been one of the most storied in program history, with the Bulldogs winning their first conference tournament in the club’s 140 year history. Additionally, the Super Regional clinching win on Sunday was the Bulldogs’ 51st of the season, second only to the 1990 team that won 52 games and the CWS. The team also leads the nation in home runs with 174, a school record.

The Bulldogs success this season can be attributed to a variety of factors, including their high-powered offense led by Jackson, Tre Phelps and Brennan Hudson, and a solid pitching staff headlined by junior and top Major League Baseball draft prospect Joey Volchko. However, the players claim that Buc-ee’s candy is the secret to the team’s winning ways.

Quattro Sour Power Candy Belts from the Texas-based gas station chain Buc-ee’s have established themselves into the mythos of Bulldog baseball. Georgia players claim the rainbow-colored candy gives them powers on the diamond.

“This is sour power right here. Every time you score, you get some of it,” Jackson explained during a post game interview. “It’s actually one of the things that brings us together. A part of our offensive identity is sour power.”

“Sour power” has become a rallying cry of sorts for the team. The fans have also embraced the sweet tradition, with a large “sour power” sign adorning the lawn of Kudzu Hill during Sunday’s game.

With a trip to Omaha secured, the Bulldogs know they can’t afford to become complacent. “We”ll soak it in for about 12 to 24 hours and then get right back to the grind,” Jackson said in a post game press conference. “Take each day of practice and get better. That”ll set us up for a good time in Omaha.”

Senior shortstop and clubhouse leader Kolby Branch also weighed in on the team’s need for focus. “We just want to get there and go from there and start playing and competing like we’ve done all year. Just like the SEC tournament, the Regional, and the Super Regional,” Branch said. “You just got to get to the next step and go from there. But we’re confident and ready to go and ready to get after it.”

Georgia’s third-year head coach Wes Johnson emphasized his lack of relaxation and his full concentration on the CWS. “We didn’t get to sit back and soak it in,” Johnson said when the media asked how he celebrated the Bulldogs win. “It was business as usual. We’re getting ready for Texas. Sitting back and taking it in will hopefully happen July 4th weekend.”

The Bulldogs are listed as the best team in the field of the CWS according to USA Today, having won 19 of their last 20 contests. Georgia’s first game in Omaha will commence at 7 p.m. EST on Saturday against the Texas Longhorns and will be broadcast on ESPN.

By Anthony J.T. West
Natchez Early College

College football used to be about staying loyal to one school. Players would commit, grow, and finish their careers in the same place. Now with NCAA Transfer Portal, things have changed. Players can leave and join new teams much easier, and that has had a big impact on the game.

On a college football team, a jersey used to mean everything. When a player chose a school, it felt like a promise something that would last for years. However, that promise isn’t staying the same. With the transfer portal, players now have the chance to leave one team and join another whenever they feel it’s the right move. The transfer portal created by the NCAA, allows college athletes to enter their name into a system where other schools can recruit them. “This means that we are now living in a world where more than 25 percent of all the scholarship football players in FBS are entering the portal annually!” This phenomenon has given players more freedom than ever before. If they are not getting playing time or feel like they don’t fit, they can find a better opportunity somewhere else.

This change has helped many players. Some athletes who were once overlooked have transferred to new schools and become stars. It gives them a second chance to succeed and shows what they can really do. However, the transfer portal has also changed how teams are built. Instead of only recruiting high school players, coaches now look for experienced players in the portal. Teams can improve quickly but adding new talent, sometimes rebuilding their whole roster in just one season.

At the same time, this can hurt smaller schools. They may develop a great player, only to lose them to a bigger program. This creates an unequal system where stronger teams can keep getting stronger. When I interviewed a person he says that he feels like “the transfer portal has improved and helped college football.” He also goes on to say that “bigger schools can build their teams easily and be more competitive against other teams.” The last thing he said was that “this can help the fans be able to be more engaged with the team and the players that are on the field on Saturdays.”

Another impact is the loss of team chemistry. When players are constantly coming and going, it can be harder for teams to build strong connections. Fans also find it harder to follow players when they don’t stay at one school for long. Now with players transferring from different school have less time to adjust, which can lead towards miscommunication and inconsistency on the field. It also affects leadership, since experienced players may leave and new ones may not be ready to step up right away. While the transfer portal creates more opportunities, it can make teams feel less stable and connected.

The transfer portal has completely changed college football in ways we never thought it would. It has given players more control over their future, allowing them to leave situations that don’t benefit them and find better opportunities in other places. At the same time, it has made the game faster and more competitive, with teams able to improve quickly by adding experienced players. However, this constant movement can also make college football fell less stable, as rosters change often and teams have less time to build chemistry. While the transfer portal creates new chances for success, it also brings challenges that continue to reshape the way the game is played and experienced.