SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) – The 59th Georgia Junior Championship and 45th Georgia Girls Championship both teed off on Monday and wrapped up on Wednesday. With the results now finalized, our Savannah-area athletes more than held their own while going up against the best of the best in the state.

Boys:

T2 – Bear Dollander (Savannah)

T2 – Griffin Garvin (Statesboro)

T20 – Hamp Threlkeld (Savannah)

T44 – Patrick Mahaffey (Richmond Hill)

T49 – Evan Avret (Statesboro)

54 – Grant Odom (Statesboro)

T58 – Caden Hartley (Pooler)

With their Top 8 finishes, Dollander and Garvin will represent Team Georgia in the 49th GA/SC Junior Challenge Match at Reynolds Lake Oconee.

Girls:

2 – Mary Miller (Savannah)

9 – Ava Cottis (Savannah)

T16 – Hannah Barrett (Richmond Hill)

35 – Hayden Price (Richmond Hill)

T44 – Kate Barber (Savannah)

50 – Haley Hammet (Statesboro)

Copyright 2024 WTOC. All rights reserved.

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First)- The U.S. Senate has passed the Fire Grants and Safety Act.

When signed by the president, the bill will reauthorize key grant programs that provide federal funding to Georgia’s fire departments.

Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff said strengthening fire safety in Georgia is one of his key priorities.

“There’s no worse nightmare for any family than waking up in the middle of the night, smelling smoke, calling 911, but there’s no fire rescue service available in time,” Ossoff said. “After hearing from fire chiefs across the state about aging equipment and understaffed departments, I worked to bring Republicans and Democrats together to pass this bipartisan bill that will upgrade fire safety across Georgia.”

The bill extends authorizations for the Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) Program, the Fire Prevention and Safety Grants Program, and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grant (SAFER) Program, which can be used to upgrade equipment, hire and retain firefighters and provide better training.

Gary Clark, the Georgia State Firefighters Association president, celebrated the passage of the bill as a big win for departments struggling to pay for the rising cost of equipment.

“The money is tight right now, with inflation the way it is,” Clark said. “For instance, a new engine truck, say a new engine, five years ago, you could have purchased that truck for, you know, around $750,00-800,000. Now it’s $1.2 million. Inflation has gone and just skyrocketed. It eats into a lot of other budgetary items that the city or counties may have, to buy a new apparatus, turnout gear, needed air packs, or supplies for the station. The funding from this legislation is greatly needed and without it, it would be detrimental to a lot of departments in the state.”

Since taking office, Ossoff has delivered dozens of grants through these federal programs to cities, counties and agencies across the state— including Columbus and West Point; Augusta and Twin City; Metro Atlanta and North Georgia, Middle Georgia, Southwest Georgia, and Coastal Georgia.

The bipartisan bill now heads to the president’s desk for his signature.

Copyright 2024 WANF. All rights reserved.

Georgia has been the best team in college football in recent years, winning national championships in 2021 and 2022.

And ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg doesn’t see the Bulldogs falling off any time soon. In his future power rankings for ESPN, Rittenberg felt very comfortable slotting Georgia into his No. 1 spot in his future power rankings, which attempts to account for not just the upcoming 2024 season but the next three seasons as well.

“Georgia retained the top spot in the team rankings and the choice wasn’t very difficult,” Rittenberg wrote. “If the Bulldogs had stayed healthier down the stretch last season, they might have claimed a third consecutive national title after being ranked No. 1 for most of the fall.”

Rittenberg had Georgia ranked No. 4 in his future QB rankings, No. 3 in his future offense rankings and No. 1 in his future defense rankings. Georgia had the No. 1 spot in last year’s rankings as well.

Georgia is primed for another big season entering 2024, as the Bulldogs return a slew of proven contributors from quarterback Carson Beck to safety Malaki Starks. Both will likely be All-American candidates to start the season.

If all goes according to plan, Beck and Starks will likely be first-round draft picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. But Georgia has gone to considerable lengths to make sure it will never operate at a real talent deficit.

Georgia signed the No. 1 recruiting class for the 2024 recruiting cycle. While the likes of safety KJ Bolden or quarterback Ryan Puglisi may not make immediate contributions, there’s a lot of reason to be excited about their long-term potential.

The Bulldogs recruit better than anyone, as they currently have the No. 3 ranked recruiting class for the 2025 recruiting cycle. Talent acquisition matters to head coach Kirby Smart, as he believes it is the key to keeping Georgia at the top of the sport.

“We want to sign high school players, develop high school players and grow them as men and retain our roster,” Smart said at SEC spring meetings. “I think when you look across the country we’ve done as good a job of anybody of retaining our roster and not having to go wholesale into the portal, which is what I prefer to do when you talk about roster management.”

Georgia has also used the transfer portal in certain spots the add to the talent on the roster. The Bulldogs brought in nine players via the transfer portal this offseason, including big names such as running back Trevor Etienne and wide receiver Colbie Young.

Behind Georgia in Rittenberg’s power rankings was Ohio State at No. 2, Texas at No. 3, Alabama at No. 4 and Michigan at No. 5. Georgia will face Texas and Alabama in each of the next two seasons.

The Bulldogs also have games scheduled against No. 12 Clemson, No. 13 Tennessee and No. 15 Ole Miss.