Jeff Hart

An international phenomenon, the 66th running of the DAYTONA 500 on Sunday will be broadcast to fans in more than 185 countries and territories, reaching over 550 million households worldwide.

Regions 8-6A, 8-5A, and 8-4A all will hold key region matchups to highlight Friday's action around northeast Georgia.

Several northeast Georgia area teams will be heading to tournaments over the weekend. But there are several interesting non-tournament, non-region battles set for Friday as well.

North Hall swept a pair of close matches with Gainesville on Thursday.

With one upset win and a Class 4A state tournament berth already in hand, a second upset against No. 4 North Oconee in the semifinals of the Region 8-4A tournament, on the Titans home floor, was almost asking for too much, even for a surging North Hall squad.

Chestatee will get a chance to defend its Region 8-4A championship while Cherokee Bluff suffered a frustrating loss to North Oconee in the semifinals at the North Oconee gym on Thursday.

The Lakeview Academy girls started the season off strong, routing Athens Christian 9-1 at home on Thursday.

The 2024 college baseball season opens Friday as Georgia plays host to UNC Asheville at Foley Field.

Smith McGarvey ripped a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Gainesville a thrilling 2-1 win over Flowery Branch in both teams' season openers at Ivey-Watson Field on Wednesday.

Cherokee Bluff has been waiting three days to open its season after having its opening day game washed out by rain on Monday. Gainesville at Prince Avenue -- (moved from Feb. 13)