Rang has an overall head coaching record of 86-29 at Powell, Dresden, Gatlinburg-Pittman, and Lewis County High Schools, and he coached the Dresden Lions when they won the 2016 state championship, according to Oak Ridge Schools.
5Star Preps reported that Rang, 28, resigned after one season at Lewis in west Tennessee, where he had an 11-2 record in 2022.
Oak Ridge Schools said each school coached by Rang has advanced to the TSSAA playoff quarterfinals or beyond, and Rang has won 18 postseason games as a head coach.
The Oak Ridge High School swim team finished the regular season undefeated by beating Lenoir City 199-120, Halls 165-90, Catholic 193-129, Webb 198-88, and Maryville 171-142.
Amazingly, the team did this without ever having their full team at a single swim meet.
The Wildcats will be back in action at the KISL City Championships on Saturday, January 28, at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
Powell eliminated Oak Ridge from the Class 5A football playoffs in a 43-13 quarterfinal win on Friday.
The Panthers (11-2) advance to a semifinal game against West (13-0) next Friday, November 25. It’s a rematch of a semifinal game last year. Powell won that game 35-7 on the way to a state championship.
The season is over for the Wildcats (7-6). They lost to the Panthers twice this year, once during the regular season in a 30-14 loss on September 30 and then again in the playoffs on Friday.
Powell had almost twice as many yards on offense on Friday as Oak Ridge, 442 to 249, and more than double the number of first downs, 14 to 6. The Panthers had one player run for more than 100 yards and another with more than 100 yards receiving.
Powell senior quarterback Jordyn Potts, who has committed to Tennessee Tech, threw for 250 yards against Oak Ridge with five touchdowns and one interception. He was 16-of-26 passing (about 62 percent completions), according to preliminary game statistics by Oak Ridge’s Mark and Shawna Haste.
Oak Ridge will play at Powell in a quarterfinal game of the Class 5A football playoffs.
The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Friday, November 18. Tickets are $10.
Oak Ridge (7-5) lost to Powell 30-14 during the regular season on September 30. It was the only loss for the Wildcats in Region 3 this year, and they finished 4-1 in the region.
The Panthers (10-2), undefeated in Region 3 during the regular season this year (5-0), were state Class 5A champions last season.
Oak Ridge wide receiver Tee Higgins (5), who was then a senior, catches a 17-yard pass from junior quarterback Johnny Stewart before falling backward into the end zone for a touchdown near the left pylon, putting the Wildcats ahead of the Clinton Dragons 42-7 with 2:57 left in the first half at Clinton on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. Higgins is defended here on his second TD catch by Clinton senior J’Quan Thomas (5). (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
People in East Tennessee and others across the country will be cheering for former Oak Ridge Wildcat Tee Higgins in the Super Bowl this evening (Sunday, February 13), and another former Wildcat, Zach Witherspoon, will be on the sidelines.
Higgins is a standout wide receiver who played for Oak Ridge and Clemson University, and he is playing in his second season for the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals (10-7-0) play the Los Angeles Rams (12-5-0) at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The game will be broadcast on NBC at 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Coverage of Super Bowl 2022 will air live on NBC and Peacock starting at 12 p.m. Eastern.
The Bengals advanced to the Super Bowl by defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 27-24 in overtime on January 30, with a game-winning 31-yard field goal by rookie kicker Evan McPherson. You can watch highlights of that game here and here, and read a scoring summary here.
The Oak Ridge Wildcats swim team finished fourth out of 40 teams in the Knox-area Interscholastic Swim League (KISL) City Championship Meet at the University of Tennessee on Sunday.
With the fourth-place finish, the Wildcats have had top five finishes in back-to-back years at KISL for the first time in KISL records dating back to 1997.
“In fact, the highest place Oak Ridge High School had ever placed since 1997 is seventh back in 2003,” a press release said.
The Sunday swim meet was in the Allan Jones Aquatic Center at UT.
Out of 22 ORHS swimmers, nine swimmers competed in the finals, the press release said.
Oak Ridge Wildcat Tee Higgins (5), who was then a junior, makes a 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)
Former Oak Ridge Wildcats wide receiver Tee Higgins and the Cincinnati Bengals will play the Tennessee Titans in an NFL playoff game in Nashville on Saturday.
Higgins, who was a standout football and basketball player at Oak Ridge High School, has played for Cincinnati since he was drafted in April 2020.
Atomic Junior rower Mason Fischer of Oak Ridge High School has signed a letter of intent to Oregon State University, where she plans to major in kinesiology. (Submitted photo)
Atomic Junior rower Mason Fischer of Oak Ridge High School has signed a letter of intent to Oregon State University, where she plans to major in kinesiology, a press release said.
She will be rowing for the Beavers in the powerful Pac-12 Conference, the press release said. Fischer is in her third year of rowing and was in the Atomic four that finished 8th nationally last spring.
An image by Cope Architecture of Knoxville showing what the rebuilt Ben Martin Track will look like at Oak Ridge High School.
A $1.3 million project is under way to rebuild the Ben Martin Track at Oak Ridge High School by June. The asphalt base of the eight-lane track dates back to the 1950s, the rubber surface is washing away, and holes are visible in the disintegrating and patched lanes. The pole vault has been unusable since 2017, and track coaches and athletes from other schools have recently declined to compete in Oak Ridge because of the conditions.
That is expected to change with the new renovated facility, which could host large invitational, sectional, and college track meets. The renovation project will rebuild the asphalt base of the track, add a new rubberized surface, and replace underground utilities. All field events except pole vault will move to the infield. Shot put and discus rings will be on the north end of the football practice field, while long jump and triple jump will be along the straight section of track nearest the bleachers. The pole vault will remain on the south side of the track, but it will move to the west end near the field house.
“This is a first phase of what we hope to be a larger project long-term,” Allen Thacker, Oak Ridge Schools supervisor of maintenance and operations, told the Oak Ridge Board of Education in October. “This is foundational.”
The project has been talked about “behind the scenes” for a handful of years, and there has been intense planning for about two years, according to those involved.
The rest of this story is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:Basic
If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to: Oak Ridge TodayP.O. Box 6064Oak Ridge, TN 37831 We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here. We also accept donations. You can donate here. A donation of $50 or more will make you eligible for a subscription. Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support!
An image by Cope Architecture of Knoxville showing what the rebuilt Ben Martin Track will look like at Oak Ridge High School.
A $1.3 million project is under way to rebuild the Ben Martin Track at Oak Ridge High School by June. The asphalt base of the eight-lane track dates back to the 1950s, the rubber surface is washing away, and holes are visible in the disintegrating and patched lanes. The pole vault has been unusable since 2017, and track coaches and athletes from other schools have recently declined to compete in Oak Ridge because of the conditions.
That is expected to change with the new renovated facility, which could host large invitational, sectional, and college track meets, according to those involved. The renovation project will rebuild the asphalt base of the track, add a new rubberized surface, and replace underground utilities. All field events except pole vault will move to the infield. Shot put and discus rings will be on the north end of the football practice field, while long jump and triple jump will be along the straight section of track nearest the bleachers. The pole vault will remain on the south side of the track, but it will move to the west end near the field house.
An image by Cope Architecture of Knoxville showing what the rebuilt Ben Martin Track will look like at Oak Ridge High School.
A $1.3 million project is under way to rebuild the Ben Martin Track at Oak Ridge High School by June. The asphalt base of the eight-lane track dates back to the 1950s, the rubber surface is washing away, and holes are visible in the disintegrating and patched lanes. The pole vault has been unusable since 2017, and track coaches and athletes from other schools have recently declined to compete in Oak Ridge because of the conditions.
That is expected to change with the new renovated facility, which could host large invitational, sectional, and college track meets. The renovation project will rebuild the asphalt base of the track, add a new rubberized surface, and replace underground utilities. All field events except pole vault will move to the infield. Shot put and discus rings will be on the north end of the football practice field, while long jump and triple jump will be along the straight section of track nearest the bleachers. The pole vault will remain on the south side of the track, but it will move to the west end near the field house.
“This is a first phase of what we hope to be a larger project long-term,” Allen Thacker, Oak Ridge Schools supervisor of maintenance and operations, told the Oak Ridge Board of Education in October. “This is foundational.”
The project has been talked about “behind the scenes” for a handful of years, and there has been intense planning for about two years, according to those involved.
The rest of this story is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:Basic
If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to: Oak Ridge TodayP.O. Box 6064Oak Ridge, TN 37831 We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here. We also accept donations. You can donate here. A donation of $50 or more will make you eligible for a subscription. Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support!
Oak Ridge Coach Joe Gaddis had his 300th football coaching win when the Wildcats beat Clinton 42-6 on Blankenship Field on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. Gaddis, center, is pictured above with former Oak Ridge High School Principal Martin McDonald, left, and ORHS Athletic Director Mike Mullins. (File photo courtesy Martin McDonald)
Oak Ridge High School Athletic Director Mike Mullins is retiring, and football coach Joe Gaddis, who announced his retirement as coach in November, will serve as interim athletic director.
Mullins’ decision to retire was announced Wednesday by ORHS Principal Garfield Adams. Gaddis’ appointment as interim athletic director was announced Thursday.
“As athletic director, Mullins was responsible for leading an athletic department that is committed to excellence both in the classroom and in competition,” Adams said in a letter to families. Mullins led several capital improvement projects, Adams said, including the multi-million-dollar revitalization of Blankenship Field and the design of Wildcat Arena, which was part of a $61 million renovation of ORHS.
“This state-of-the-art facility is home to the Wildcat basketball and volleyball teams and is one of the finest venues in the state,” Adams said.
Other facility upgrades completed during Mullins’ tenure include the Pro2Serve Soccer Complex, a renovated weight room, and many locker room enhancements.
Oak Ridge Coach Joe Gaddis talks to the Wildcats football team after a 42-6 win over Clinton on Blankenship Field on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. It was Gaddis’ 300th coaching win. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
After 48 years coaching, a state championship, and more than 300 wins, Oak Ridge football coach Joe Gaddis is retiring.
On Tuesday, Gaddis, who has the most wins of any Oak Ridge coach and is among the top in the state, said he made the decision to retire during the past few weeks.
“I think coaches just know when it’s time,” he said. “You just kind of know.”
Oak Ridge High School Principal Garfield Adams said Gaddis has an overall record of 334 wins and 146 losses, and he is one of only three active coaches in the state of Tennessee with 300 wins.
“At Oak Ridge High School, Coach Gaddis holds a record of 196 wins and 58 losses, making him the winningest coach in Oak Ridge history and the eighth winningest coach in Tennessee football,” Adams said.
