BY MIKE BLACKERBY Calysta Garmer had her best race of the cross-country season just when it counted the most for the powerhouse Webb School Lady Spartans. Garmer’s first individual win of the season – and first of her high school career – came on … [Read more...]
5Star Preps Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year (2024): Keegan Smith, Knoxville Catholic
BY MIKE BLACKERBY Catholic’s Keegan Smith put a punctuation mark on a remarkable high school cross-country career in 2024. So much so that Catholic coach Sean O’Neil makes a strong case that Smith perhaps cobbled together the greatest single season … [Read more...]
2024 All-5Star Preps Cross Country Teams
2024 ALL-5STAR PREPS CROSS COUNTRY TEAM BOYS FIRST TEAM Keegan Smith, sr., Catholic Runner of the Year story The Colorado signee was the only male high school runner in the country to earn All-American honors at both the Footlocker and NIKE … [Read more...]
Northview Academy Lady Cougars construct big rally to topple 4A power Sevier County
BY MIKE BLACKERBY KODAK – Two big rivalry games. Two huge rivalry wins. It has been quite the start to the week for the highly regarded Northview Academy’s girls basketball team. After winning 62-58 at Gatlinburg-Pittman on Monday night, the … [Read more...]
Northview Academy Lady Cougars off to a soaring start (10-1) in 2024-25 season
BY MIKE BLACKERBY KODAK — One of the area’s hottest teams continued its torrid start to the 2024-25 high school basketball season, and posted a historic win in the process on Friday. … [Read more...]
STATE PREVIEW — Sevier County (14-0) to test its prolific offense against stingy defense from Page (14-0)
BY MIKE BLACKERBY The very nature of the marquee state championship football matchup lends itself to even more intrigue than usual. In fact Friday’s 7 p.m. TSSAA BlueCross Bowl Class 5A game between Sevier County and Page at Finley … [Read more...]
STATE PREVIEW — Alcoa Football looks to fend off another upset-minded opponent in Class 3A BlueCross Bowl
BY MIKE BLACKERBY Over the past nine years, Alcoa Football has beaten all comers in the BlueCross Bowl. Beating Alcoa. The task seems impossible — at state, anyway. Westview, out of Martin in West Tennessee, will try its hand, though, at 11 a.m. … [Read more...]
STATE BOUND: Sevier County Smoky Bears win at Oak Ridge in Class 5A state semifinal
BY MIKE BLACKERBY OAK RIDGE – Sevier County and Oak Ridge were trading touchdowns late in their high scoring, back-and-forth Class 5A semifinal game Friday night on Blankenship Field when Smoky Bears coach Todd Loveday decided he needed to roll the … [Read more...]
THE BIG PREVIEW (2024 State Semifinals): What Maryville, Sevier County, Oak Ridge, Anderson County, Alcoa, Coalfield face this week
BY MIKE BLACKERBY It’s Week 15 of the long and grinding high school football season, and we’re down to six area teams who are still in the hunt for state championships. Several blockbuster semifinal games involving teams in the 5Star Preps coverage … [Read more...]
Sevier County (13-0) wins another dramatic Class 5A postseason game; eliminates defending champion West in 2OT
BY MIKE BLACKERBY Team 100 is looking more and more like a team of destiny. Sevier County, in its 100th year of playing football, pulled off its second consecutive playoff stunner Friday night in Knoxville. … [Read more...]