Oak Ridge Today

Oak Ridge boys, girls cross country teams both going to state meet

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge boys and girls cross country teams have both qualified for the state meet in Nashville next Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017, finishing third in the Region 2 Large Division Championships at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 26.

The Oak Ridge boys and girls cross country teams have both qualified for the state meet in Nashville next Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017, finishing third in the Region 2 Large Division Championships at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 26.

 

The Oak Ridge boys and girls cross country teams have both qualified for the state meet in Nashville on Saturday, and the Wildcats had one runner finish second in the region and another finish fourth on Thursday.

It’s the first time since 2014 that both teams are going to state together.

Both teams finished third in the Region 2 Championships for the Division I Large Division at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday. The top three teams in the regional meets advanced to the state cross country meet at Percy Warner Park in Nashville on Saturday, November 4.

Oak Ridge senior Jose Villegas finished second in the region in the boys 5,000-meter run at Victor Ashe Park on Thursday, and senior Genevieve Schwartz finished fourth in the girls race.

“You always want to get at least one team to state, but ultimately, you want to get both,” Wildcats Coach Ed Wright said after the Region 2 Championships. “Today was a good day.” [Read more…]

Oak Ridge boys, Etheridge are Region 2 champs, headed to state cross country meet

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

oak-ridge-jake-etheridge-finish-boys-cross-country-region-2-meet-oct-27-2016-web

Oak Ridge senior Jake Etheridge finished first in the boys’ race in the Region 2-AAA cross country meet at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

KNOXVILLE—Oak Ridge senior Jake Etheridge and the boys’ cross country team finished first in the Region 2-AAA meet in Knoxville on Thursday, and they will race in the state meet next Saturday.

It’s the third regional championship in a row for the boys’ team. It’s the second year in a row for Oak Ridge to have the top male racer. Gashaw Duhamel, who ran for Oak Ridge as a senior last year, was the top runner last year.

The boys’ cross country team finished as state runner-up in 2015. Brentwood, a Nashville area school, was state champion with two of the three top runners (one a sophomore and one a junior), and that team is considered a favorite again this year. Other top teams this year include Daniel Boone of upper East Tennessee, which has been a strong team, and Wilson Central of Nashville.

Etheridge led the entire 5,000-meter, or 5k, run during the Region 2-AAA meet at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday.

“I got out hard, and I kept going,” said Etheridge, who finished with a time of 16:27.87. That was about 13 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, Seth Bowden of Maryville High School. [Read more…]

Cross country photos: Oak Ridge boys win Region 2-AAA championship

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

oak-ridge-jake-etheridge-finish-boys-cross-country-region-2-meet-oct-27-2016-web

Oak Ridge senior Jake Etheridge finished first in the boys’ race in the Region 2-AAA cross country meet at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

KNOXVILLE—The Oak Ridge Wildcats boys’ cross country team finished first in the Region 2-AAA meet at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday. It was the third year in a row that the boys have won the regional championship.

The boys will race in the state cross country meet in Nashville on Saturday, November 5.

Oak Ridge senior Jake Etheridge finished first in the regional meet on Thursday. Sophomore Dalton Morgan was fourth. Daeton Byars was eighth, Reid Dukes was 10th, Will Jeter was 15th, Christian Borden was 21st, and Jose Villegas was 29th.

Here are photos from the Thursday meet by John Huotari of Oak Ridge Today.

[Read more…]

Cross country: Oak Ridge boys, girls finish first in Cherokee Invitational

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

oak-ridge-cross-country-boys-oct-8-2016

The Oak Ridge Wildcats boys’ cross country team finished first in the Cherokee Invitational in Knoxville on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016. (Photo by Nichole Zawisza)

 

The Oak Ridge boys’ and girls’ cross country teams finished first in the Cherokee Invitational in Knoxville on Saturday. Senior Jake Etheridge was the top overall runner in the boys’ 5k, or 5,000-meter race. Junior Genevieve Schwartz finished second overall in the girls’ race, and senior Abbey Greenhalgh was third.

The Oak Ridge boys had seven of the top 14 runners, and the girls had six of the top 13.

The first-place finish for the boys on Saturday came one week after they finished first in the Wendy’s Invitational in Charlotte, North Carolina, where Etheridge was also the top overall runner.

Oak Ridge Coach Allen Etheridge said Saturday’s race on Cherokee Boulevard in Knoxville is a hard race that was run during Fall Break, when the team is out of the normal school rhythm. The team has to run to “get its work in,” but is never “super satisfied,” Etheridge said. [Read more…]

Cross country: Oak Ridge boys finish second, Etheridge third

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge Jake Etheridge State Cross Country Nov. 7, 2015

Oak Ridge senior Jake Etheridge, left, who is shown above running in the state Class AAA cross country meet in Nashville on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015, finished third in the Cherokee Classic in Knoxville on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 8:15 p.m.

The Oak Ridge boys cross country team finished second in a meet in Knoxville on Saturday, and senior Jake Etheridge finished third.

The Oak Ridge girls finished 10th.

The boys, competing against 35 other teams, were running shorthanded because Daeton Byars, the team’s number three, didn’t run, and Jose Villegas ran it as a workout rather than as a race, Oak Ridge Coach Allen Etheridge said.

“He’s just getting his legs back under him,” Etheridge said of Villegas.

Finishing in first place at the Cherokee Classic in Knoxville was Daniel Boone High School with 61 points. Oak Ridge was second with 83 points.

Behind them were Maryville (128 points), Knoxville Catholic (146), and Farragut (160). [Read more…]