College Archives - Oak Ridge Today

Bengals pick Higgins in NFL draft

Posted at 11:44 pm April 27, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Wildcats Tee Higgins Catch at Ooltewah Nov. 13, 2015 — Tee Higgins, who was then a junior at Oak Ridge, makes a catch during a 26-17 loss at Ooltewah in a second-round Class 5A playoff game on Friday, Nov. 13, 2015. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

The Cincinnati Bengals picked former Oak Ridge wide receiver Tee Higgins in the second round of the NFL draft on Friday.

Higgins, a star football and basketball player at Oak Ridge High School, played three years at Clemson University in South Carolina before being drafted into the National Football League in the 33rd pick, the first pick of the second round on Friday.

Higgins, 21, joins Joe Burrow, the number one pick and a quarterback from Louisiana State University, at Cincinnati. Higgins was the second pick for the Bengals.

Higgins (6-4, 215) is tied with NFL stars Sammy Watkins and DeAndre Hopkins for the all-time touchdown record for a Clemson receiver (27). He caught 135 passes for 2,448 yards and 27 touchdowns during his three-year career, according to the Clemson Tigers. He played in two national championship games, winning one, the national championship game against Alabama in 2019. Higgins had three catches for 81 yards and a touchdown in that game.

[Read more…]

Roane State names head women’s basketball coach

Posted at 11:02 am August 2, 2019
By Owen Driskill Leave a Comment

David Harnish

David Harnish, Roane State’s new head women’s basketball coach, will hit the hardwood running as he assumes his new duties.

But for this Colorado native, it’s a return to what he loves doing and does so well. Harnish, 60, was the coach of the Western Nebraska Community College’s women’s team for 29 years and built a remarkable career record of 764 wins and 155 losses.

In 2003, his team played in the national championship title game before coming up short and finishing second in the nation. He has coached 14 All-Americans and more than 40 All-Region student athletes.

“We are extremely fortunate to have a coach coming in who has taken his former school to the NJCAA Division I tournament and has enjoyed such great, long-term success,” Roane State Athletic Director Randy Nesbit said. [Read more…]

Western Carolina standout named assistant women’s basketball coach at Roane State

Posted at 9:15 am June 14, 2019
By Owen Driskill Leave a Comment

Angel Allen

Angel Allen, a recent Western Carolina University graduate and four-year player for the Catamounts, has been named assistant women’s basketball coach at Roane State Community College.

Allen joins the staff of first-year coach Jason Taylor, a Roane State alumnus who took over the program in May.

Allen, from Murfreesboro, attended Blackman High School and was a two-time girls’ AAA state champion (2014 and 2015) and a one-time ESPN, Maxpreps, and USA Today national champion (2014). [Read more…]

Golf tournament in Oak Ridge will support Roane State team

Posted at 2:49 pm June 9, 2019
By Owen Driskill Leave a Comment

Roane State golfer and now graduate Hunter Clark (Submitted photo)

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

The second annual Roane State Community College Golf Team Fundraiser Tournament will be held Monday, July 1, at Oak Ridge Country Club.

All proceeds will go to assist the college’s golf team with various expenses, including team travel costs and equipment. The event will begin with lunch at 11:30 p.m. followed by a shotgun start at 1 p.m.

Thirteen teams participated in the first tournament last year, “and we’re hoping to have at least 20 teams this year,” said Roane State Foundation Development Specialist Lauren Barber. [Read more…]

Roane State alumnus Jason Taylor named head women’s basketball coach

Posted at 9:30 am May 17, 2019
By Owen Driskill Leave a Comment

Jason Taylor

Jason Taylor, the all-time winningest coach in Anderson University men’s basketball history and a Roane State Community College alumnus, has been named Roane State’s new head women’s basketball coach, a press release said.

“I am so grateful for this opportunity and feel very blessed to be back at Roane State,” Taylor said. “Roane State means a lot to me and the mentorship and friendship of Coach Randy Nesbit has been instrumental in my life.”

A Clarkrange native, Taylor played for Nesbit at Roane State from 1997-1999 before he transferred to NCAA Division I Jacksonville State University. He served as Roane State assistant coach from 2001-2003 and was an assistant at Anderson University in South Carolina from 2003-2006. [Read more…]

Try out for Roane State golf team June 3 at Oak Ridge Country Club

Posted at 9:00 am May 17, 2019
By Owen Driskill Leave a Comment

Roane State Golf

Tryouts for the Roane State Community College golf team will be held Monday, June 3, at Oak Ridge Country Club, Coach Chris Griffin said.

After a decades-long hiatus, Griffin in late 2017 took on the mission of resurrecting the squad, which recently wrapped up its inaugural season, a press release said.

Graduating high school seniors and Roane State students interested in trying out for the team should contact Griffin at [email protected] or (865) 898-0043.

“What an opportunity this is for area golfers to be able to compete on a collegiate level while obtaining a two-year degree tuition-free,” Griffin said in the press release. “My primary goal is to bring young men and women together to have fun and make life-long friendships.” [Read more…]

Higgins one of few former Oak Ridge athletes to win national collegiate championship

Posted at 3:03 pm January 9, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge’s Tee Higgins (5), who was then a junior, makes a leaping catch during a 26-17 loss at Ooltewah in a second-round Class 5A playoff game on Friday, Nov. 13, 2015. (File photo by Julio Culiat)

Oak-Ridge-Higgins-Clinton-Aug-18-2016-Web

Oak Ridge’s Tee Higgins (5), who was then a senior, talks to a television reporter after a 56-21 rout at Clinton on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. Higgins had two touchdown receptions and two interceptions that set up Wildcat scores. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Former Oak Ridge wide receiver Tee Higgins is one of a few former Wildcats to win a national championship in a college sport. Higgins, who was a football and basketball star in Oak Ridge, is probably the first former Wildcat with a touchdown catch in a national championship game.

Higgins is a sophomore wide receiver for the Clemson Tigers, who crushed the Alabama Crimson Tide in a 44-16 championship win in Santa Clara, California, on Monday. It was Clemson’s third national championship and second in the past three years, both over Alabama. It was the first national championship for Clemson since Higgins, the team’s leading receiver who has impressed fans with his catches, joined the Tigers.

Higgins had three catches for 81 yards on Monday, including a five-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter, the final Clemson touchdown.

Clemson is the first college football team to go 15-0 since Penn in 1897. Trevor Lawrence, the Tigers’ freshman quarterback, was impressive Monday, finishing 20-for-32 for 347 yards and three touchdown passes. He became the first true freshman starting quarterback to win a national championship since Oklahoma’s Jamelle Holieway in 1985. [Read more…]

Tryouts will be held June 28 for Roane State golf teams

Posted at 3:32 pm June 20, 2018
By Owen Driskill Leave a Comment

Chris Griffin

Tryouts for the revived Roane State men’s golf team and the first-ever women’s team at the community college will be held Thursday, June 28, at Oak Ridge Country Club, 150 Gum Hollow Road.

Chris Griffin, a Roane State alumnus who was a member of the college’s golf team, is volunteering his time to reactivate the men’s squad and launch a women’s team, a press release said.

Rising Roane State sophomores and students who have graduated from high school and are enrolling in Roane State this fall are invited to try out, Griffin said.

Those tryouts will consist of a single 18-hole round, and tee times will begin at 1 p.m. Contact Griffin at (865) 898-0043 to reserve a tee time. [Read more…]

NRA Foundation awards grant to national champion Roane State Shooting Sports Team

Posted at 2:30 pm June 7, 2018
By Owen Driskill Leave a Comment

Roane State’s national championship Shooting Sports Team has been awarded a grant for supplies from the NRA Foundation. Shown after winning the national title last fall are, from left, Assistant Coach James Wattenbarger, Head Coach Kenneth Carey, Ty McCaskey, Nathan Wattenbarger, Andy Carey, Codey Dean, Assistant Coach Kevin Hembree, and Nathan Hembree. (Submitted photo)

The national champion Roane State Community College Shooting Sports Team has received a Friends of the NRA Foundation Grant for supplies valued at more than $4,400, a press release said.

“We greatly appreciate the foundation’s support for our athletes,” team coach Kenny Carey said.

Through the grant, the team will receive Winchester 12-guage shotgun shells, Winchester 20-gauge shotgun shells, and a promotional banner.

The Roane State Shooting Sports Team participates in trap, skeet, sporting clays, and five stand competitions. The team has received state and national recognition for its performance, including a first-place finish in the Scholastic Clay Target Program last fall. The competition included more than 200 athletes from 14 states and 21 colleges. [Read more…]

Big 12 Rowing Championships in Oak Ridge this weekend

Posted at 11:45 pm May 11, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Kansas State competed in the SIRA Championship Regatta on the Clinch River (Melton Hill Lake) in Oak Ridge on Saturday, April 21, 2018. The Wildcats will also race in the 2018 Big 12 Rowing Championships in Oak Ridge on Saturday, May 12, and Sunday, May 13, 2018. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

Note: This story was last updated at 12:30 a.m.

The 2018 Big 12 Rowing Championships are in Oak Ridge on Saturday and Sunday.

The races will feature some of the top rowing programs in the country. The eight participating teams, including No. 3 Texas, will compete for an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships set for May 25-27 in Sarasota, Florida, according to TexasSports.com.

Besides Texas, other teams competing in Oak Ridge this weekend are Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, and West Virginia, in addition to rowing affiliate Alabama, Old Dominion, and Tennessee.

The Big 12 Championships begin at 2 p.m. Saturday with preliminary heats. Final heats start at 9 a.m. Sunday. [Read more…]

Roane State to add men’s and women’s golf teams for fall 2018

Posted at 11:49 am December 1, 2017
By Owen Driskill Leave a Comment

Chris Griffin, who was a member of the Roane State golf team when he was a student in the late 1970s, has volunteered to coach a revived squad, which he intends to compete in collegiate tournaments beginning in the fall of 2018. (Photo by Roane State)

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

A Roane State alumnus with fond memories of his days on the college’s golf team wants to make those experiences available to current students as well as those who enroll at Roane State in the future.

Chris Griffin of Oak Ridge has volunteered to be the coach of a revived men’s golf squad and to also launch the college’s first-ever team of women golfers.

Current high school golfers and Roane State freshmen will be invited to try out for the squads—composed of between five and seven members each—and Griffin said plans are for competition tourneys to begin in the fall of 2018. [Read more…]

Photos: ORHS WildBand performs with UT Pride of Southland at Neyland

Posted at 6:59 pm September 24, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge High School Wildcat Marching Band performs with the Pride of the Southland Band on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017, at the University of Tennessee and UMass football game. (Photo courtesy Ginger Meadows)

Note: This story was updated at 10 a.m. Sept. 25.

Here are photos of the Oak Ridge High School Wildcat Marching Band performing with the Pride of the Southland Band on Saturday at Neyland Stadium before and during the University of Tennessee and UMass football game.

The WildBand participated in the march to the stadium and the patriotic themed halftime performance.

Here are pictures by ORHS Counseling, Teresa Ledden, Ginger Meadows, Jutta Bangs, and Danny L. Weeks, along with a video by Kristin Hensley. [Read more…]