Oak Ridge Today

Oak Ridge, others cheering for Higgins in Super Bowl

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Oak-Ridge-Higgins-TD-Catch-Clinton-Thomas-Aug-18-2016-Web-Cropped
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.

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Former Wildcat Tee Higgins competing in NFL playoffs Saturday

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Wildcats Tee Higgins Catch at Ooltewah Nov. 13, 2015
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.

While still in high school, Higgins won Tennessee Titans Mr. Football award two years in a row and was a finalist for Mr. Basketball.

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Olympians finish first in time trial races in Oak Ridge

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Three Olympic athletes won first, second, and third place in the USA Cycling Pro Road Individual Time Trial Elite Women’s National Championships in Oak Ridge on Thursday, June 17, 2021. In first place was Chloé Dygert, center, of Brownsburg, Indiana. Finishing second, left, was Amber Neben of Irvine, California. In third place was Leah Thomas of Santa Clara, California. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Olympic athletes finished first in both the men and women’s divisions of USA Cycling time trial races in Oak Ridge on Thursday.

Olympians also won second and third place in the women’s division.

The 2021 USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships are in Oak Ridge and Knoxville this week with the Individual Time Trial races in Oak Ridge on Thursday. It featured the Elite Women’s and Elite Men’s divisions racing against the clock on a 11.6-kilometer course (about 7.2 miles) on Melton Lake Drive. Racing continues in Knoxville on Friday, with a criterium occurring downtown Friday evening. There is a road race on Sunday.

Chloé Dygert of Brownsburg, Indiana, won first place in the Elite Women’s Division in the USA Cycling Pro Road Individual Time Trial National Championships races in Oak Ridge on Thursday, June 17, 2021. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Chloé Dygert of Brownsburg, Indiana, won first place in the Elite Women’s Division in the Individual Time Trial races in Oak Ridge on Thursday. She finished two laps of the course in 30:11.22. Dygert was the 2019 Time Trial World Champion.

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Bengals pick Higgins in NFL draft

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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.

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In June: USA Cycling Individual Time Trial Professional & Para National Championships

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The USA Cycling National Pro Road, Crit, Time Trial, and Para-Cycling Championships will be held in Knoxville and Oak Ridge June 27-30. This will be the second time all U.S. national champions in professional road cycling will be crowned the same week under the organizational umbrella of one host community, a press release said.

“All are invited to join for an exciting, fast-paced national championship event held in your backyard!” the press release said.

Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said the city “is pleased to welcome back the officials and participants of USA Cycling’s National Championships for a second year. The new route will take you through a challenging course in our neighborhoods as well as the speeding segments along Melton Hill Lake. We know you will enjoy the spectacle of world-class cycling within Oak Ridge and will learn about the unique sport that it is!”

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Kevin Steen, Red Sox pitching prospect from Oak Ridge, critically injured in car crash in Florida

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Oak Ridge Wildcats and Dobyns-Bennett

Kevin Steen (3) and Jaylin Henderson (2) are pictured playing basketball for the Oak Ridge Wildcats against Dobyns-Bennett in March 2014. (File photo by Ned Jilton II/Kingsport Times News)

Kevin Steen, a Boston Red Sox pitching prospect from Oak Ridge, was critically injured in a car crash in Florida late Wednesday night, according to the Red Sox and a CBS affiliate in Boston.

Steen was taken to a southwest Florida hospital, identified as Lee Memorial Hospital, in critical condition following the crash.

“The thoughts and prayers of the entire Red Sox organization are with minor league player Kevin Steen, who sustained serious injuries in a car accident in Florida last night,” the Red Sox said in a statement on Thursday morning. “The club will update his condition at the appropriate time.”

News reports said another car veered over a median and struck the SUV that Steen, 20, was driving. CBS Boston said the striking vehicle went airborne before crashing into Steen’s SUV. That striking vehicle caught fire, and the driver died on the scene, CBS Boston said.

The Red Sox selected the right-handed Steen in the ninth round of the 2014 draft. He has pitched 30 games in the minor leagues over the past three seasons, with 26 of them starts. [Read more…]