Sports
2nd straight season as US best in Pom, Game Day
May 6, 2021 by Staff Reports
Bearden High School’s dance team program has gone back-to-back from coast to coast — winning two national titles in one season for a second consecutive year after this season’s 20-member team competed in Universal Dance Association’s National Dance Team Championship virtually, accomplished against talented teams from across the country in Large Varsity Pom, Jazz and Game Day divisions.
Bearden won national championships in Large Varsity Pom and Game Day, while earning second place in Large Varsity Jazz. Having won three national titles in Pom and two national crowns in Game Day division in program history, Bearden also repeated as TSSAA Large Pom and Large Jazz state champions in 2020-21 after also winning state in both last season. Five of the eight BHS seniors will graduate in June as the most decorated performers in program history, having helped deliver five national titles and six TSSAA state crowns.
Read More
May 6, 2021 by Michelle Hollenhead
Concord Christian School recently hired Lincoln Thomas as its new athletic director.
A Greenville native and “proud Vol For Life” as a 1993 University of Tennessee graduate, Thomas most recently served as assistant athletic director at The King’s Academy in Seymour.
Don Snider, CCS head of school, had been interim AD while the school had searched for “the right fit,” said Lorna Keeton, CCS director of marketing and development.
“I am excited to hire someone with Lincoln’s depth of experience and proven track record in areas of athletic administration,” Snider said. “It is our desire that athletic teams at Concord are very competitive while exhibiting the highest levels of sportsmanship.
“I believe under coach Thomas’ leadership that both of these goals will be prioritized and achieved,” he added.
Thomas, who also has a master’s degree from David Lipscomb University, has a 24-year career in education and mentoring that included seven years serving in various capacities at Grace Christian Academy, and a stint as assistant coach and strength coach for Webb School of Knoxville’s high school girls basketball team.
“I love to develop student athletes with an identity in Christ,” Thomas said. “My favorite thing about working with student athletes is the opportunity to guide kids in an athletic setting, helping them achieve greater focus and better understanding; that their walk with Christ can positively impact and advance their athletic career in the best ways.”
Thomas and his wife, Natalie Thomas, have four children: twins Emory and Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ellis.
May 6, 2021 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
KNOXVILLE — A new era officially began for the Knoxville Catholic High School football program last week.
The school introduced Korey Mobbs as its new head coach during a press conference in the KCHS gymnasium Wednesday, April 28.
Mobbs, a Chattanooga native, comes from Lanier High School in Sugar Hills, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. He grew up in Georgia after leaving Tennessee at an early age.
He won a pair of region championships at Lanier and compiled a head coaching record of 58-22 in seven season (2014-2020).
Previous to being head coach, Mobbs was offensive coordinator at Lanier dating back to when the school opened in 2010.
Mobbs said he and his wife, Mary Mobbs, and their children “couldn’t be prouder to be here. I met with our team a few minutes ago; and as a coach, you always know how kids have been coached and what kind of homes they come from by their body language.
“As I paced around the locker room, I saw their eyes and that validated that this was the right decision,” he added.
Read More
May 6, 2021 by Staff Reports
Easily qualifying for the TSSAA Large School Track & Field state meet later this month in Murfreesboro, Mason Collins, Farragut High School junior, finished second in the Large School Section 1 decathlon at Morristown West High School Monday and Tuesday, April 26-27.
The decathlon consists of 10 events scored together spanning two days.
“We knew Mason had a shot at qualifying for state going into it,” FHS head coach Chris Allison stated in a press release. “Mason started Day One off well in the first event and did great.”
Though not scoring a point in one event, “Mason then went into ‘compete mode’ and managed to place second at the end of the last day, just 120 points out of first place without one of his events,” the coach also stated.
May 6, 2021 by Alan Sloan
A decisive home victory against a district rival was a nice way, if making the playoffs wasn’t in the cards, to end the 2021 girls lacrosse season.
Farragut took control of its match against Christian Academy of Knoxville in the final eight minutes of the first half, then slowly increased the margin after halftime for a 15-8 victory at the FHS Lacrosse Field Tuesday evening, April 27.
Led offensively by senior Megan DeFranco’s seven goals and three assists, Farragut finished the 2021 season 8-5 overall and 5-2 in district.
“We had one hard loss that kind of held us back” from making the playoffs, versus Knoxville West, “but we had a really good season; we played some tougher teams and we played well against those tougher teams,” said FHS head coach Pam Hill, a long-time lacrosse youth coach who helped start the Farragut program in 2015. She finished her first season as Lady Ads skipper.
Read More
May 6, 2021 by Staff Reports
A two-girl no-hitter allowed Webb School of Knoxville softball to finish with a winning regular season record after a 14-4 home victory against Friendship Baptist Academy Friday evening, April 30. The Lady Spartans finished the regular season 10-9 overall, 6-6 in the district.
Jamie Sharp and Maddie Ladd combined to pitch the no hitter while Bryn Lawson was four-of-four at the plate with three RBI and three runs scored. Hannah Bruce doubled and tripled with three runs scored. Kylie Bridwell added three hits while Mason Dunlap and Jeneva Mitchell connected for two apiece.
Clinching fourth-place in the district with what head coach David Moore said were “two big wins” earlier last week, Webb hosted its annual Strikeout Cancer game versus district foe Concord Christian, both teams wearing mostly pink, winning 5-3.
Sharp got the complete-game victory while giving up just two hits. The Lady Spartans took a 1-0 lead with Mitchell’s first-inning inside-the-park homerun. But Concord took a 3-1 lead with a two-run double by Autumn Phillips in the third inning, along with a run-scoring double by Lexi Esteppe.
Webb came back with four runs in the bottom of the fifth. Megan Gilbert lead off with a bunt single. Mitchell followed with a single before Ladd ripped one by the right fielder for another inside-the-park homerun. Dunlap then drove in Bruce.
Read More
