Oak Ridge Today

Higgins, Wildcats receiver, commits to play football at UT

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Oak Ridge Wildcats Tee Higgins Clinton Dragons

Junior receiver Tee Higgins (5) celebrates his first touchdown catch for the Oak Ridge Wildcats against the Clinton Dragons on Friday, Aug. 21, 2015. Higgins had three catches for 57 yards and two touchdowns. Higgins announced on Monday that he has committed to play football for the University of Tennessee. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Oak Ridge junior wide receiver Tee Higgins announced on Twitter on Monday that he has officially committed to play football at the University of Tennessee.

Higgins, who is a 6’4″ and 185 pounds, is the No. 1 Class of 2017 prospect in the state, according to 247Sports.

Higgins chose the Volunteers over scholarship offers from more than a dozen other teams, including Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Ole Miss. [Read more…]

Girls Inc. Elite Awards honors Nikki Caldwell on July 15

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Nikki Caldwell

Girls Inc. will honor Nikki Caldwell on Wednesday, July 15. Caldwell is an Oak Ridge native, former University of Tennessee basketball all star, and current women’s basketball head coach at Louisiana State University.

She is also an “elite alumni” of Girls Inc., a press release said. The awards will also honor current elite member Semaj Clark of Oak Ridge, the release said.

The inaugural Girls Inc. Elite Awards ceremony is scheduled from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 15, at the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville. All proceeds will go directly into expanding current programming to improve program content while increasing the number of girls served, the press release said. [Read more…]

Roane State women’s basketball coach, players earn honors

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Roane State Basketball Honors

From left are Tennessee Community College Athletic Association (TCCAA) freshman of the year Haley Cornellison, second-team all-conference Shanae Brown, TCCAA coach of the year Monica Boles, TCCAA player of the year Shauntae Brown, and second-team all-conference Kassidi Freeman. (Photo by Roane State Community College)

 

Roane State Community College’s women’s basketball program swept the top Tennessee Community College Athletic Association awards.

Head coach Monica Boles was named TCCAA Coach of the Year. Sophomore guard Shauntae Brown is the TCCAA Player of the Year, and Haley Cornellison is the Freshman of the Year.

Brown was also named first-team all-conference. Shauntae’s twin sister, Shanae, was named second-team all-conference along with sophomore Kassidi Freeman. [Read more…]

Roane State men’s basketball team works to overcome early adversity

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Roane State Men Basketball Team 2014

 

Roane State Community College men’s basketball coach Randy Nesbit appreciates his team’s effort in the preseason.

He just needs his players to stay healthy.

“The key is depth,” Nesbit said. “We had four forwards on the roster that we thought would play big roles, and three are out with injuries.”

Sophomore forward Antonio Gardner is expected back soon. Freshman forward Tayte Kitts could be back by mid-November, and sophomore forward Greg Murphy, who scored 15 points per game last season, is week to week. [Read more…]

Honors: Gipson selected to Capital One Academic All-America third team

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Autumn Gipson Christmas Invitational

Oak Ridge High School graduate and Middle Tennessee State University student Autumn Gipson, right, running next to teammate Jackline Kiprono, left, in the mile at the Christmas Invitational in Murfreesboro, Tenn. (MT Athletic Communications)

 

First Blue Raider in track and field and cross country

AUSTIN, Texas—Autumn Gipson, a senior runner at Middle Tennessee State University and former all-star athlete at Oak Ridge High School, was selected to the 2014 Capital One Academic All-America Women’s Track and Field/Cross Country third team. The College Sport Information Directors of America announced the selection in late June.

Gipson, a key contributor for MTSU in cross country and track and field, is an exercise science major that has maintained a 4.0 grade point average, the university said in a story posted on its website. She was also selected to the Conference USA Women’s Track and Field All-Academic team on May 28 and the C-USA Women’s Cross Country All-Academic team in November 2013.

“Gipson is the perfect combination of putting academics and athletics together,” said Middle Tennessee head coach Dean Hayes. “She is a good student and has done good things athletically, while making the most of her opportunity at Middle Tennessee. What she has done in the classroom and on the track will help her find success in the future.”

The Knoxville native notched two top-10 finishes in cross country, placing as high as eighth on the two-mile course at the Front Runner Invitational, the MTSU story said. During the indoor season, she tallied three individual top-15 finishes and was a member of the distance medley relay, which placed in the top seven in the five meets they competed in. The relay team captured first at the Edward S. Temple Classic and seventh at the C-USA Indoor Championships. [Read more…]

Red Sox draft Oak Ridge pitcher Kevin Steen

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Oak Ridge Wildcats and Dobyns-Bennett

Kevin Steen, right, played for the Oak Ridge Wildcats basketball and baseball teams, and the right-handed pitcher was drafted by the Boston Red Sox on Friday. He is pictured above with Jaylin Henderson, left, during a March basketball game in Kingsport defending Tyleke Love of Dobyns-Bennett. (Photo by Ned Jilton II/Kingsport Times News)

The Boston Red Sox picked Kevin Steen, a right-handed pitcher from Oak Ridge High School, in the ninth round of the Major League Baseball draft on Friday.

Steen, who has committed to play baseball at the University of Tennessee, was the 284th pick in the three-day, 40-round First-Year Player Draft, which had more than 1,200 selections.

He was one of of four right-handers picked by the Red Sox on Day 2 of the draft, with only one selection coming straight from high school, the team said in a press release.

Steen also played basketball for the Oak Ridge Wildcats and helped lead the team to a state championship game in March for the first time since 1963. Oak Ridge finished as state Class AAA runner-up. [Read more…]

Conference USA Rowing Championships in Oak Ridge on Saturday

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Tennessee Rowing

Image courtesy Tennessee Volunteers Athletics

 

The 2014 Conference USA Rowing Championships are in Oak Ridge on Saturday. The regatta is at Melton Lake Park and the Oak Ridge Marina.

The University of Tennessee will be competing against Alabama, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Old Dominion, Sacramento State, San Diego State, Texas, Tulsa, and West Virginia for the 2014 C-USA Title. The championship begins at 9:00 a.m.

For a schedule of events this Saturday, visit http://www.conferenceusa.com/championships/w-rowing-championship-14.html.

The regatta is hosted by the Oak Ridge Rowing Association.

Photos: SIRA Regatta at Oak Ridge Marina

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sira-regatta-8

The 2014 Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship Regatta was at the Oak Ridge Marina on Friday and Saturday. Here are photos from the regatta on Saturday.

It was the 46th annual SIRA regatta. Results from the Friday and Saturday races are available on the SIRA website.

A video of Friday’s races are available on the USRowing YouTube channel here, and Saturday’s races are available here. [Read more…]

Football player McKamey, 19, dies after brain injury

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Information from WYSH Radio

Late Tuesday night, the U.S. Naval Academy athletic department announced that 19-year-old freshman running back Will McKamey died on Tuesday, three days after collapsing during spring football practice. McKamey was flown to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center following the incident and underwent surgery to treat brain swelling and a blood clot over the weekend. He remained in a coma until he passed away Tuesday afternoon.

His parents, Kara and Randy McKamey, were very active on social media since Will went to the hospital, updating friends, family and complete strangers on the condition of their son. The online support drew attention from all over the country and the world as prayers were offered up for Will and his family, and his story was reported on by several national media outlets.

Randy McKamey was his son’s coach at Grace Christian Academy in Knoxville and also coached football at Clinton Middle School for several years.

Will McKamey won the state Mr. Football Back of the Year award in 2012, his senior season at Grace, and was majoring in oceanography at the Naval Academy. In his final high school game, he suffered a brain injury that ended his high school career and kept him in the hospital for several days but never needed surgery during his stay. [Read more…]

Honors: Former Wildcat receives national football honors, academic recognition

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James Normand and TTU Academic All Star Team

Former Oak Ridge Wildcat James Normand received national honors when he was named to a football academic all-star team earlier this year, and he was also among the scholar-athletes who helped the football team at Tennessee Tech record its second-highest GPA last semester.

Normand is a graduate offensive lineman for the Golden Eagles in Cookeville. In January, he and junior running back Stephen Bush were selected to the 16th annual Football Championship Subdivision Athletics Directors Association (FCS ADA) Academic All-Star Team.

The two Golden Eagle standouts were included on the 43-player team that was chosen by a panel from among 90 nominees, Rob Schabert, TTU Golden Eagles assistant athletic director for sports information, said in early January. The announcement was made at the site of the FCS Championship game. [Read more…]

Thompson-Boling lights brighter, more efficient; use ORNL foam

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Thompson-Boling LED Lighting

The SuperSport installation at the University of Tennessee’s Thompson-Boling Arena. (Photo credit: LED North America)

KNOXVILLE—With the installation of LED fixtures, the Thompson-Boling Arena at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville is one of the first in the world to feature lights that are smaller, brighter, and up to 85 percent more efficient than conventional arena metal halide lights.

The technology—developed and manufactured by Oak Ridge-based LED North America at the Tech 20/20 incubator facility in Oak Ridge, incorporating an Oak Ridge National Laboratory technology, and installed by Knoxville-based Bandit Lites—is being “premiered” at the state’s research university inside the largest on-campus single-sport arena in the country.

The light-emitting diode fixtures use an ORNL-developed lightweight graphite foam that cools the LED, making them more efficient and reliable. This enables 90 400-watt LED fixtures to bathe the arena’s floor with 200 foot-candles per square foot, compared to the 130 foot-candles produced by the arena’s existing 110 1,100-watt fixtures.

LED North America’s SuperSport luminaires have the potential to revolutionize sports and entertainment venues worldwide. UT officials are looking forward to participating in this effort and to seeing the results—and the savings. [Read more…]

AC Mavericks baseball standout signs to play at Auburn

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Information from WYSH Radio

Anderson County High School baseball standout Hunter Tackett signed his scholarship papers on Wednesday to continue his athletic and academic careers at Auburn University.

Congratulations to Hunter Tackett and his family and good luck down on “The Plains!”