Oak Ridge Today

Discount offered for Secret City 5k, Half Marathon

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Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau-logo

The Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau is offering a limited-time discount to the next 100 runners who register for either the Secret City 5k or the Secret City Half Marathon to be held November 29 and 30. With a few weeks left before the race, runners and walkers are encouraged to lace up their running shoes and sign up soon to participate in one of these great family-friendly athletic events in Oak Ridge.

Runners who take advantage of this discount are eligible for $10 off the Half Marathon using coupon code SPY10 or $5 off the 5k using coupon code SPY5. This discount expires on or before November 15. [Read more…]

After rough first quarter, Wildcats warm up in 70-54 season-opener

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Oak Ridge Wildcats Geevantay Gee and Grace Christian

Junior guard Geevantay Gee (12), the only returning starter to play in the season-opener, scored the only points for the Wildcats during the first quarter against Grace Christian on Tuesday, but the rest of the team played better in the next three quarters and Oak Ridge won 70-54.

 

KARNS—They had a rough start in the season-opener on Tuesday, but the relatively young Oak Ridge Wildcats improved after the first quarter and turned a 12-point deficit into a 70-54 win.

Junior point guard Geevantay Gee, the only returning starter to play in the season-opener at Grace Christian in Karns, scored the only points for the Wildcats during the first quarter—seven total. Meanwhile, the Rams started hot and quickly racked up 19 points.

But after their nerves calmed, the Wildcats started defending better—stepping up their pressure and forcing turnovers—and their performance improved. For example, Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said, the Wildcats had two assists at the half, and Gee alone had five in the second.

After giving up 19 points in the first quarter, the Wildcats held the Rams to 35 total in the next three. Green said he thought Grace Christian became fatigued. [Read more…]

Atomic City swimmers have impressive performances at Lois Weir Invitational

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Lois Weir 2014

Pictured from left to right are trophy winners Mason Fischer (10, first place), Madeline Linkous (10, second place), Daniel Arnold (10, first place), Thias Brown (10, second place), and Abigail King (10, third place).

 

After a dreary week, the sun shined on the Atomic City Aquatic Club at its annual Lois Weir Invitational in Oak Ridge.

“This was the largest meet we have hosted in quite a few years, and with the help of the volunteer efforts of our parents we pulled it off without a hitch,” said Coach Mike Bowman. “It was a fantastic meet on a nice weekend.”

The swimmers were impressive as well. In the 8-and-under age group,  Steven Zhukov (8), second overall, won three events, placed second in five more, and took third twice. Elijah Linkous (7) had nine top 6 finishes and brought home a third-place trophy. Trinity Byars (7) and Monica White (7) had outstanding debut home meets for the girls.

Daniel Arnold (10) took home the 10-and-under boys all-around trophy with 10 victories and two other top 3 finishes. Thias Brown (10) challenged Arnold with four second-place finishes and five other top 5 placements en route to second. Egan Rawn (10) finished in the top 7 eight times, and Loy Creed (10) and Dylan Arnold (10) also scored points for the team. [Read more…]

Wildcats use playoff ‘fury,’ determination to eliminate Soddy-Daisy

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Oak Ridge Wildcats Tee Higgins and Soddy-Daisy Trojans

Sophomore wide receiver Tee Higgins (5) of the Oak Ridge Wildcats catches a 30-yard touchdown pass over defender Christian Bell (26) of the Soddy-Daisy Trojans, giving Oak Ridge a 23-14 lead midway through the third quarter in a first-round playoff game on Friday. (Photos by Julio Culiat)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10:15 a.m.

Ahead by 17-14 at halftime, the Oak Ridge Wildcats played with fury and determination in the second half of their first-round playoff game on Friday and opened up a large lead against Soddy-Daisy, winning 53-28—despite an impressive offensive performance by the Trojans.

The undefeated Wildcats were not happy with the three-point margin at halftime.

“For it to be that close was just unacceptable,” junior running back Jaylen Nickerson said.

The 11-0 team was determined to play better in the second half against the best offense they had played all year, Coach Joe Gaddis said.

“We just came out and played with a fury,” he said.

While the Trojans had held Oak Ridge to two touchdowns and a field goal in the first half, they allowed four in the second—including two by Nickerson—and gave up a safety and an interception returned for a touchdown, or 36 points total. [Read more…]

Wildcats open playoffs at home tonight; coach asks for huge, loud crowd

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Oak Ridge Wildcats Football Helmet

The undefeated Oak Ridge Wildcats play in the first round of the Class 5A football playoffs at home tonight against the Soddy-Daisy Trojans. The game starts at 7 p.m. today (Friday, November 7) at Blankenship Field in Oak Ridge.

Coach Joe Gaddis is asking for a huge, loud crowd.

“As we all know, playoff games are ‘winner take all’ in nature,” Gaddis said in a note to fans.”The winner advances, and the loser is finished for the season. It’s hard to believe but we have only had one home playoff game since 2005, and with that in mind, let’s have a HUGE and LOUD crowd Friday night! The weather is going to be cool, crisp, and beautiful…real football weather!”

The Oak Ridge Wildcats Football Boosters will have a tailgate party starting at 4:30 p.m. [Read more…]

Lady Wildcats basketball team has free clinic Tuesday for 2nd-6th graders

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The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcat basketball team has a free basketball clinic for girls in the second through sixth grade on Tuesday.

The clinic will be in the Oak Ridge High School Arena. It will start at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and end at 7:45 p.m. Tuesday.

There is no registration required, a press release said. The clinic will be conducted by the Lady Wildcat basketball staff and the players on this year’s team.

Boys, girls cross country teams run tough at state championship

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Wildcats Gashaw Duhamel 2014 State Cross Country Meet

Junior Gashaw Duhamel of Oak Ridge finished 11th in the 2014 TSSAA Class AAA State Boys’ Cross Country Championship in Nashville on Saturday. (Photos by Kindell Moore) 

 

The Oak Ridge High School boys’ and girls’ cross country teams, both coming off fantastic first-place finishes at regionals in late October, competed in the state championship 5k run in Nashville on Saturday. The boys’ team finished third, and the girls finished ninth.

Girls Team

The girls ran better than their ninth-place finish suggests. Freshman Katharina Gallmeier led the way in running for the Lady Wildcats with a 46th place finish at 20:30:95, followed shortly by senior Aislyn Peacock. Peacock ran a 20:37:41 and finished 49th.

Following closely behind these two was junior Megan Peters, who finished 57th with a time of 20:49:08. Freshman Robyn Wood finished 70th with a 21:05:81, and sophomore Maddie Zawisza finished 72nd with a 21:10:75. Freshman Esther Gallmeier finished 98th with a 21:42:37, and junior Mallika Vohra rounded out the team with a 22:04:80 finish at 109th. [Read more…]

Youth Turkey Trot on Tuesday

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The Oak Ridge Track Club youth program will hold its annual Youth Turkey Trot on Tuesday, November 4.

This is a fun race for children from kindergarten to fifth grade, a press release said.

The children will be divided into three groups: K-1, 2-3, and 4-5, each running a one-mile race. The K-1st grade race will start at 4:30 p.m., with the other grades following.

There is a cost of $5 per athlete.

Wildcats to play Soddy-Daisy in first round of football playoffs

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Oak Ridge Wildcats Football Helmet

The Oak Ridge Wildcats (10-0) will play the Soddy-Daisy Trojans (4-6) in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs on Friday, November 7. The game starts at 7 p.m. at Blankenship Field in Oak Ridge.

Pairings for the football playoffs for the 2014 Division I BlueCross Bowl were posted on the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association website on Saturday.

Thirty-two teams will compete in 16 games in the Class 5A playoffs next Friday. Winners advance to the second round on November 14.

Other District 3-AAA teams in the playoffs are Anderson County (8-2), Campbell County (8-2), Clinton (7-3), Knoxville Central (5-5), and Gibbs (5-5). [Read more…]

Photo: Cross country teams headed to state get Wildcat send-off

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Wildcat Pride Cross Country Sendoff

Wildcat Pride gives a Friday morning send-off to the Oak Ridge boys and girls cross country teams, which are competing in the state meet in Nashville today (Saturday, November 1).

 

Wildcat Pride gave a Friday morning send-off to the Oak Ridge boys and girls cross country teams, which are competing in the state meet in Nashville today (Saturday, November 1).

The boys and girls cross country teams swept the regional championships for the first time since 2008.

At the state meet, the first 10 finishers in the regional meet, along with the top three teams, will run.

Both Oak Ridge teams run on November 1 at the Percy Warner Steeplechase Cross Country Course in Nashville. The girls will run first at 1:40 p.m. Central time, followed by the boys at 2:20 p.m. Reward ceremonies will begin once all race results have been counted.

Girls middle school soccer team wins Smoky Mountain Tournament

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Oak Ridge Girls Middle School Wildcats

The Oak Ridge Girls Middle School Wildcats are front row, left to right, Eden Gee, Sami Jaffery, Emily Avila, Reagan Ross, Yuni Ramirez, Carter Valencia Van Booraem, and Isha Bhandari; and back row, left to right, Alyssa Tittsworth, Lorelei Heffernan, Muskaan Vohra, Laura Snyder, Lauren Bass, Midori Hammer, Sarah Hammonds, and Bailey Thompson. (Submitted photo)

 

By Gerry Palau

A group of middle school girls from Jefferson, Robertsville, and Oliver Springs middle schools that banded together as the Oak Ridge Middle School Wildcats recently won the end-of-season Smoky Mountain Middle School League Tournament during the weekend of October 25-26.

The Smoky Mountain league is the premier middle school soccer league in the metropolitan Knoxville area with more than 50 girls’ teams competing this fall. The Smoky Mountain League has been in existence since 1987, hosting a girls soccer season each fall, and a boys soccer season each spring. [Read more…]

Wildcats round up Mavericks, win AAA District Championship

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Oak Ridge Wildcats Undefeated 2014 Season

The Oak Ridge Wildcats football team went undefeated 10-0 in the regular season in 2014 for only the 12th time in school history and the first time since 1999. The Wildcats also won the District 3-AAA title in a Thursday night game against the Anderson County Mavericks at Anderson County High School in Clinton. (Photos by Julio Culiat)

 

CLINTON—Many players on the Oak Ridge football team don’t remember the last time the Wildcats went undefeated back in 1999. But now, 15 years later, they all have something to hang their hats on: an undefeated season and a district championship.

The Wildcats (10-0, 8-0 District 3-AAA) outlasted the Anderson County Mavericks (8-2, 7-1) to win the district title 28-16 on Thursday at Anderson County High School in Clinton. Oak Ridge was led by the two touchdown catches of sophomore wide receiver Tee Higgins.

Both teams scored one touchdown each in the first quarter, but the usually reliable Brandon Nickle missed a field goal for Oak Ridge. The Wildcats’ touchdown came on a one-yard quarterback sneak by Gavin Warrington halfway through the first quarter.

However, the Mavericks soon proved they deserved to be playing in the District 3-AAA championship. Anderson County faked a handoff up the middle, and quarterback Garrett Johnson, who filled in for injured QB Zane Smith, threw a touchdown pass to Cale Brock.

But the Mavs missed the extra point, making it 7-6 Oak Ridge after the first quarter.

Oak Ridge stepped up on offense and defense in the second quarter. With 8:53 left in the second, senior cornerbacks Jemiah Hall and Ted Mitchell combined for a bone-crushing tackle on Anderson County running back Matt Fox. Mitchell recovered after Fox fumbled, but the Wildcats couldn’t capitalize on the following drive. [Read more…]