The athletic program at Washington-Wilkes Comprehensive High School continues to take its influence beyond the venues of competition and into the spirits of its athletes, their fans, and now even those who just happened to be looking.

A letter to the editor and an attached sports “vent” as reproduced on page 8A of this issue tell of an impromptu joint warm-up between the W-W Tigers and the Social Circle Indians just before their scheduled competition at the State Team Duals in Macon last weekend. It is illustrative of the turn W-W athletics has taken under the leadership of a relatively new athletic director and a great staff of coaches.

We first saw the “character” in the football athletes last fall as the climbed through adversity to the Class A state final. The sportsmanship of the Tiger wrestlers in Macon took that to a new level. They have set the bar probably higher than the rest of the state can handle. They have given us an example of the true spirit of sport rarely seen. It will likely never be forgotten.

Head wrestling coach Ed Lovvorn has instilled in his athletes the same character that Athletic Director Russell Morgan preached to his football players. The two men themselves live by such a strength of Christian character and they provide the examples by which W-W athletes learn the type of sportsmanship that is a cut above the rest.

It would seem that the attitude is picking up momentum and spreading throughout the W-WCHS program to all sports. Let’s hope it continues spreading to the entire community.