Oak Ridge Today

Football photos: Oak Ridge shuts out Campbell County to win region championship

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Oak Ridge Coach Joe Gaddis was pleased with the performance of the Wildcats’ defense, which is shown here trying to stop Cougars quarterback Zach Rutherford (12) during a 28-0 region championship win at Campbell County on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

JACKSBORO—The Oak Ridge Wildcats shut out Campbell County 28-0 on Thursday to win the Region 3-5A championship, making them a top seed going into the playoffs and giving them home-field advantage in at least the first two rounds, assuming they get a win in round one.

Here are photos from the game by John Huotari of Oak Ridge Today. [Read more…]

Cross country photos: Oak Ridge girls finish fourth in Region 2-AAA meet

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Genevieve Schwartz of Oak Ridge, at right in the group of three above, finished 10th in the Region 2-AAA girls’ cross country race at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016. At center is Mollie Longmire of Anderson County, who finished seventh, and at left is Jenna Wall of Hardin Valley Academy, who finished eighth. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

KNOXVILLE—The Oak Ridge Wildcats girls’ cross country team finished fourth in the Region 2-AAA meet at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday.

The top three teams in the regional meet advance to the state cross county meet in Nashville on Saturday, November 5. Since Oak Ridge finished fourth, it does not advance.

But Genevieve Schwartz of Oak Ridge finished in the top 10, so she will compete in the state meet next week.

Here are photos from the Thursday meet by John Huotari of Oak Ridge Today. (See a story on the race here.) [Read more…]

Cross country photos: Oak Ridge boys win Region 2-AAA championship

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Oak Ridge senior Jake Etheridge finished first in the boys’ race in the Region 2-AAA cross country meet at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

KNOXVILLE—The Oak Ridge Wildcats boys’ cross country team finished first in the Region 2-AAA meet at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday. It was the third year in a row that the boys have won the regional championship.

The boys will race in the state cross country meet in Nashville on Saturday, November 5.

Oak Ridge senior Jake Etheridge finished first in the regional meet on Thursday. Sophomore Dalton Morgan was fourth. Daeton Byars was eighth, Reid Dukes was 10th, Will Jeter was 15th, Christian Borden was 21st, and Jose Villegas was 29th.

Here are photos from the Thursday meet by John Huotari of Oak Ridge Today.

[Read more…]

Wildcats football starts at 7 p.m. at Webb

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The Oak Ridge Wildcats football game at Webb starts at 7 p.m. today (Friday, October 21), rather than at the normal 7:30 p.m.

It’s a non-region game. The Webb Spartans are 6-1 overall and 3-0 in Division II, Class A, East and Middle Region.

The new start time was announced by Webb School of Knoxville earlier this week. [Read more…]

Soccer: Lady Wildcats upset Powell to win district championship

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The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats upset the Powell Lady Panthers 2-0 in the District 3-AAA championship game at the Powell Soccer Complex on Friday, Oct. 14, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 5:45 p.m. Oct. 15.

POWELL—Oak Ridge upset Powell 2-0 to win the District 3-AAA championship on Friday.

It was an especially satisfying victory for the Lady Wildcats after losing the district championship to the Lady Panthers last year. Powell won that one in a penalty kick shootout after two 10-minute overtimes and two five-minute sudden death overtimes. It was believed to be the first-ever district soccer title for the Lady Panthers.

The Lady Panthers also won the last two regular-season games 4-1 (one this year and one last year), and Oak Ridge last beat Powell in 2013. Powell (12-3-1) was the number one seed in the district tournament this year, and Oak Ridge (12-6-1) was number two.

“Our entire team was focused on winning, and we wouldn’t accept anything else,” said Lady Wildcats senior Olivia Hoyt, who played midfielder Friday. “It was kind of a grudge match.” [Read more…]

Volleyball photos: Oak Ridge-Hardin Valley

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Oak Ridge lost in three sets to Hardin Valley during the Region 2-AAA semifinal at Farragut on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016. Pictured above is senior Alex Sherles (25). (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

FARRAGUT—Oak Ridge kept it close through three sets during a Region 2-AAA tournament semifinal at Farragut High School on Tuesday, but their effort wasn’t enough to hold back Hardin Valley, which eliminated the Lady Wildcats and advanced to the regional championship volleyball game against Farragut. Here are photos from the Oak Ridge-Hardin Valley semifinal. [Read more…]

Volleyball: Hardin Valley eliminates Oak Ridge in Region 2 semifinal

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Oak Ridge lost in three sets to Hardin Valley during the Region 2-AAA semifinal at Farragut on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016. Pictured above is senior Alex Sherles (25). (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

FARRAGUT—Oak Ridge kept it close through three sets during a Region 2-AAA tournament semifinal at Farragut High School on Tuesday, but their effort wasn’t enough to hold back Hardin Valley, which eliminated the Lady Wildcats and advanced to the regional championship volleyball game against Farragut.

Oak Ridge and Hardin Valley were usually within a point or two and they were often tied, with the Lady Wildcats (20-11, 8-0 District 3-AAA) sometimes ahead. But the Lady Hawks (30-8-1, 6-2 District 4-AAA) had the lead at the end of all three sets, when it mattered most. The final scores were 25-21, 26-24, and 25-22.

“They played their hearts out,” Oak Ridge Coach David Kolodney said. “It’s a matter of inches. It’s a matter of a couple of points.”

The Lady Wildcats, who played without senior Stella Powell on Tuesday, fought through injuries and rotations this season, and played as a team, Kolodney said. [Read more…]

Soccer: Lady Wildcats beat Central Tuesday, play Powell for district championship Friday

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Oak Ridge senior Leah Scudder (22) scored after a breakaway and beating two defenders in the 27th minute of a 1-0 win over Central in a District 3-AAA semifinal game at home on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Oak Ridge beat Central 1-0 in a girls’ soccer district semifinal game on Tuesday and will play at Powell for the district championship on Friday.

The Lady Wildcats (10-6-1, 3-1 District 3-AAA) outshot the Lady Bobcats 38-5 at Oak Ridge High School in the district tournament semifinal game on Tuesday.

The shots-to-goal ratio should be closer to 10:1 or better, Oak Ridge Coach Jeff Trombly said.

“We’ve got to finish a lot better than that,” he said. “We had plenty of chances. We made it too close.”

Central came into the game undefeated, with a 16-0 overall record and a 6-0 district record. But the Lady Bobcats hadn’t played the top two seeds in the tournament, Powell and Oak Ridge. (Other district teams that did not play Powell or Oak Ridge and instead took 3-0 forfeits were Campbell County, Clinton, and Gibbs.)

Trombly said Oak Ridge needs a crowd to travel to Powell on Friday. [Read more…]

Cross country: Oak Ridge boys, girls finish first in Cherokee Invitational

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The Oak Ridge Wildcats boys’ cross country team finished first in the Cherokee Invitational in Knoxville on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016. (Photo by Nichole Zawisza)

 

The Oak Ridge boys’ and girls’ cross country teams finished first in the Cherokee Invitational in Knoxville on Saturday. Senior Jake Etheridge was the top overall runner in the boys’ 5k, or 5,000-meter race. Junior Genevieve Schwartz finished second overall in the girls’ race, and senior Abbey Greenhalgh was third.

The Oak Ridge boys had seven of the top 14 runners, and the girls had six of the top 13.

The first-place finish for the boys on Saturday came one week after they finished first in the Wendy’s Invitational in Charlotte, North Carolina, where Etheridge was also the top overall runner.

Oak Ridge Coach Allen Etheridge said Saturday’s race on Cherokee Boulevard in Knoxville is a hard race that was run during Fall Break, when the team is out of the normal school rhythm. The team has to run to “get its work in,” but is never “super satisfied,” Etheridge said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge plays in District 3-AAA girls’ soccer semifinal game on Tuesday

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The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats soccer team will play in a District 3-AAA semifinal tournament game at home on Tuesday.

Oak Ridge (10-6-1, 3-1), the number two seed, will play Central (16-0-1, 6-0), the number three seed, at Oak Ridge High School at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Central (16-0-1, 6-0) beat Gibbs 1-0 on Saturday to advance to the seminal game against Oak Ridge. Gibbs was the number six seed.

Oak Ridge and Central did not play during the regular season. [Read more…]

McMinn County gives Oak Ridge first loss, 28-24

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Note: This story was updated at 1:55 a.m

ATHENS—When the Oak Ridge Wildcats traveled to Athens on Friday night to face McMinn County, despite the Cherokees’ impressive 5-1 record, they probably were not expecting a loss.

But that’s exactly what happened, as the two teams swapped leads throughout the contest, and the Cherokees just barely escaped with the win, 28-24.

“They whipped us,” Oak Ridge head coach Joe Gaddis said. “To their credit, they whipped us. And I think they whipped us on both sides of the ball.”

McMinn County burned seven minutes and 20 seconds off the clock on their first offensive possession, with all but one of the plays designed runs, and concluded the drive with a Zane Byas touchdown carry to put the Cherokees ahead 7-0. [Read more…]

Soccer: Lady Wildcats fall to Bearden

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KNOXVILLE—It was not what Jeff Trombly was looking for.

The Oak Ridge girls soccer head coach spoke plainly about his team’s performance after an 0-4 loss to Bearden Thursday night, saying that he would grade it as an F.

“There was no effort,” Trombly said. “There was no connecting the passes. There was no spirit involved in the team at all. Worst game we’ve played all year.”

The Lady Wildcats traveled to Knoxville hoping to gain a late-season victory over the defending Lady Bulldogs.

Instead, Oak Ridge (10-6-1, 3-1 District 3-AAA) fell behind early in the contest, and struggled to gain any momentum. [Read more…]