Oak Ridge freshman running back Jordan Graham (30) had two touchdowns, including one on a kickoff return, during a 45-33 win over Soddy Daisy in the first round of the Class 5A football playoffs on Blankenship Field on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2015. (Photo by Julio Culiat)
Oak Ridge beat Soddy Daisy 45-33 on big plays and turnovers in the first round of the 2015 Class 5A football playoffs on Blankenship Field on Thursday. Here are preliminary individual and team statistics by Mark Haste. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge freshman running back Jordan Graham (30) had two touchdowns, including one on a kickoff return and another on a 50-yard run, during a 45-33 win over Soddy Daisy in the first round of the Class 5A football playoffs on Blankenship Field on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2015. (Photo by Julio Culiat)
Note: This story was last updated at 10:25 a.m.
Oak Ridge beat Soddy Daisy 45-33 on big plays and turnovers in the first round of the 2015 Class 5A football playoffs on Blankenship Field on Thursday.
The Wildcats (10-1) will travel to Ooltewah (9-2) on Friday, November 13, for a second round game. The Owls, who are ranked eighth, beat the Clinton Dragons (4-7) in another first-round game on Thursday to advance to play Oak Ridge.
The Wildcats, who are ranked third, had another big night on defense and special teams. Oak Ridge senior Davon Middleton intercepted one Trojans pass in the end zone to stop one Soddy Daisy drive deep in Wildcat territory, and he later deflected a third-down pass near the goal line to help end another.
Junior wide receiver Tee Higgins and freshman running back Jordan Graham also had big nights. They each had two touchdowns for Oak Ridge.
One of Graham’s touchdowns came on the opening kickoff of the second half. The small, speedy freshman broke tackles and curled from the left side of the field—after it looked like he had been stopped—to the right before racing 88 yards to score on a run that took 25 seconds to complete. Graham ended the night with the two touchdowns, including one on a 50-yard run, and 154 yards on eight carries. [Read more…]
The front entrance is pictured above at the Alexander Guest House, which converted the beloved but long-vacant Alexander Inn into an assisted living center. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
A ribbon-cutting ceremony has been scheduled for Thursday evening at The Alexander Guest House, a historic hotel converted into an assisted living center.
The ceremony is scheduled from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, November 5. The ribbon-cutting is scheduled for 5:45 p.m., according to the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce.
“Following this ribbon-cutting, please plan to attend an open house,” organizers said. “We hope you’ll join us to celebrate.”
The Alexander Guest House, which has 64 apartments, is located at 210 East Madison Road in Oak Ridge.
Preserving the former Alexander Inn had been a dream for years. In September, Rick Dover of Dover Development of East Tennessee, said the two-year, $8 million construction and renovation project was almost finished. [Read more…]
The first-round playoff game between Oak Ridge and Soddy Daisy has been moved to Thursday because of thunderstorms forecast for Friday night, athletic officials said.
The football game will start at 7 p.m. Thursday, November 5, on Blankenship Field in Oak Ridge. Tickets are $8.
Other games, including the Clinton-Ooltewah game at Ooltewah, have also been moved to Thursday.
See more information about the football playoffs and a link to the Class 5A bracket here.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
Copyright 2015 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
A stretch of Oak Ridge Turnpike was closed west of Louisiana Avenue late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning as police and fire units investigated a shooting incident. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 9:13 a.m.
A stretch of Oak Ridge Turnpike was closed west of Louisiana Avenue late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning as police and fire units investigated a shooting incident.
A medical helicopter landed at Big Turtle Park in west Oak Ridge and could be seen taking off at about 11:40 p.m. Emergency workers reported a man with a gunshot wound to the face, although authorities hadn’t released details about the shooting as of early Wednesday morning. Update (9:13 a.m.): Police have since said the gunshot wound was self-inflicted.
All four lanes of the divided highway remained closed until past 2 a.m. Wednesday, and the Oak Ridge Police Department and Oak Ridge Fire Department were both on the scene early Wednesday. The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department helped provide traffic control east of the incident near United Grocery Outlet at Louisiana Avenue on Tuesday evening and into Wednesday morning. Most traffic was taking a side street route down West Lincoln Road. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge senior forward Macy Barclay (4) was named to the 2015 All Region 2 Team. Barclay is pictured above during a Region 2-AAA soccer semifinal on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015, when Hardin Valley eliminated Oak Ridge 2-0. Also pictured is senior midfielder Gabby Powers (17) of Hardin Valley, who made the All Region 2 Team. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Five members of the Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats soccer team were named to the 2015 All Region 2 Team.
Four players, all seniors, were named to the First Team: forward Macy Barclay, midfielder Ellie Brown, goalkeeper Jasmine Rizk, and defender Katie Welsh.
One player, a junior, was named to the Second Team: Leah Scudder.
Casey Riemer of Bearden was named most valuable player in Region 2-AAA. First-year coach Mark Patterson of Hardin Valley, which made it to the state quarterfinals before being eliminated, was named coach of the year.
Here are the First Team and Second Team selections:
| 1st Team | |||||
| Bearden | Casey Riemer | Tayler Frizen | Clarity Voy | ||
| Ashtyn Glover | |||||
| Farragut | Grace Sommi | Miranda Burt | Megan MacLean | ||
| Jordan Fierley | |||||
| Hardin Valley | Dominique Rowe | Paige Hewitt | Kelsey Klett | ||
| Gabby Powers | Maggie Wilson | ||||
| Lenoir City | Devin Healy | ||||
| Maryville | Lizzie Fry | Dee Fritz | Emery Spears | ||
| Carolyn Hobbs | |||||
| Oak Ridge | Katherine Welsh | Jasmine Rizk | Macy Barclay | ||
| Ellie Brown | |||||
| Powelll | Lauren Sexton | Lauren Wood | |||
| Regional MVP | Casey Riemer | Bearden | |||
| Coach of the Year | Mark Patterson | Hardin Valley Academy | |||
| 2nd Team | |||||
| Bearden | Emily Carlevato | ||||
| Hardin Valley | Gweb Breslin | Macy Lindsey | Lainee Griffin | ||
| Farragut | Aleyse Evers | ||||
| Maryville | Preston Robinette | Abbie Anderson | |||
| Oak Ridge | Leah Scudder | ||||
| Powell | Raygan Scarbrough | Bailey Taylor | |||
| West | Tionna Thompson | AK Anderson | |||
Chloe Michelle Sullivan
Note: This story was updated at 8:08 p.m.
The Oak Ridge Police Department has issued a missing child alert for a two-year-old girl who was reportedly taken from her home on Tuesday morning.
Tuesday evening update from the ORPD: The missing child alert has been canceled. Chloe has been found and is safe. Thank you to everyone who assisted and shared our post!
The ORPD said Chloe Michelle Sullivan was taken from her home in Oak Ridge at about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, November 3. Chloe is described as a two-year old female Caucasian, two feet tall and 25 pounds, with brown, shoulder-length hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a pink skirt and a white T-shirt with a square pattern on the front, a press release said.
Drake Sullivan, the child’s noncustodial birth father, is described as a Caucasian male, 20 years old, 5’8″ and 130 pounds, with brown hair and black eyes. He allegedly took Chloe, according to the release, and he is believed to be in the company of his father, Shane Sullivan, described as a Caucasian male, 39 years old, 6’01” and 215 pounds with brown hair and black eyes; and Shane Sullivan’s girlfriend, Jessica Meeks, Caucasian female, no further description available.
All four were last seen in a silver 2013 Chevrolet Sonic, TN license plate V2318T, and are believed to possibly be traveling to Slidell, Louisiana, the press release said. [Read more…]
Elm Grove Park in east Oak Ridge has been proposed as a site for a new preschool, and it’s considered the best potential location. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The Oak Ridge Board of Education on Monday endorsed a recommendation to build a new preschool at Elm Grove Park. A new preschool has been on the city’s wish list for years, but this particular proposal is still in the early stages.
The school board received a report from the Joint City/Schools Preschool Planning Committee on Monday and endorsed the committee’s report in a 4-0 vote. The recommendation will now be considered by the city.
There was once a school at Elm Grove Park in east Oak Ridge, and the committee’s report, presented to City Council and the BOE in a work session in October, recommended using that city-owned site, officials said.
“We think that after the factors we discussed, it was the most appropriate site,” Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers said. [Read more…]
Robertsville Middle School is pictured above in this file photo.
The digital transformation at Oak Ridge Schools starts Tuesday with the rollout of convertible laptops at Robertsville Middle School, officials said. It will continue Thursday at Jefferson Middle School.
“This is an exciting day for Oak Ridge Schools,” officials said in a press release. It marks the “first step in the digital transformation that will impact teaching and learning in our 21st century classrooms,” the release said.
“We aim to close the digital divide and ensure access to powerful technology tools for all Oak Ridge Schools students,” the press release said.
Here are some specific plans: [Read more…]
Neil Wilson, left, principal of RealtyLink, gives an update on the redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall at an Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce Rise and Shine at TNBank on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 11:15 a.m.
The new company leading the project to redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall plans to close on the property on December 15, an executive said Tuesday. It’s the first time a closing date has been announced by one of the developers associated with the project.
The new developer, RealtyLink, plans to have a minimum of seven stores open by Christmas 2016, Principal Neil Wilson said. That would include four stores adjacent to Belk and two adjacent to Walmart.
Wilson declined to name the stores but said the new mixed-use development, called Main Street Oak Ridge, could include a sporting goods store, a cosmetics retailer, one or two apparel merchants, and a 20,000-square-foot electronics shop that has signed a letter of intent. There could be a total of about 150,000 square feet of retail in those stores. There are roughly 130,000 square feet of retail at JCPenney and Belk, which will have a new facade and entrance.
Wilson said his company, which is based in Greenville, South Carolina, wants to start demolition on the enclosed spaces between the two remaining anchors, Belk and JCPenney, the day after it closes on the purchase of the roughly 60-acre property in the center of Oak Ridge. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge wide receiver Tee Higgins (5), who was then a sophomore, catches a 30-yard touchdown pass over defender Christian Bell of the Soddy Daisy Trojans at 5:51 in the third quarter in the first round of the 2014 football playoffs on November 7 on Blankenship Field. (Photo by Julio Culiat)
The state football playoff brackets have been posted. Oak Ridge will play Soddy-Daisy on Blankenship Field at 7 p.m. Friday, November 6.
Oak Ridge (9-1) is the number two seed in Region 3 in Class 5A, and Soddy-Daisy (7-3) is the number three seed in Region 4. The Wildcats beat the Trojans 53-28 in the first round of the 2014 playoffs after a close first half.
Here is the schedule for other Region 3-5A teams on Friday: [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Wildcats defense stifled the Campbell County Cougars’ running game on Friday, Oct. 30, 2015, allowing only 33 yards rushing on Blankenship Field. (Photo by Julio Culiat)
The Oak Ridge defense shut down Campbell County, and the Wildcats used an opportunistic offense and great punt returns in a 45-6 rout of the Cougars on Friday. Here are preliminary stats by Mark Haste. See photos by Julio Culiat here.
|
TEAM STATISTICS |
||
|
Oak Ridge |
Campbell Co. |
|
|
FIRST DOWNS |
||
|
11 |
Total | 8 |
|
9 |
By rushing | 1 |
|
1 |
By passing | 7 |
|
1 |
By penalty | 0 |
| RUSHING | ||
|
31 |
Attempts | 16 |
|
297 |
Yards gained | 43 |
|
6 |
Yards lost | 10 |
|
291 |
Net yards | 33 |
| PASSING | ||
|
4 |
Completions | 19 |
|
6 |
Attempts | 33 |
|
66.67% |
Percentage | 57.58% |
|
0 |
Intercepted | 0 |
|
65 |
Net yards | 141 |
| TOTAL OFFENSE | ||
|
356 |
Net yards | 174 |
| PUNTS | ||
|
2 |
Attempts | 8 |
|
28.5 |
Average | 34.38 |
| RETURN YARDS | ||
|
126 |
Punt returns | 0 |
|
4 |
Kickoff returns | 0 |
|
0 |
Interception returns | 0 |
| FUMBLES | ||
|
2 |
Total | 0 |
|
1 |
Fumbles lost | 0 |
| PENALTIES | ||
|
5 |
Total | 7 |
|
30 |
Yards lost | 60 |
