Briana Simms of Hendersonville, Tenn., and Station Camp High School has signed a women's cross country scholarship with Xavier University of Louisiana.      Simms is XU's first runner signed for 2012.      "Xavier had what I wanted, academically and athletically," said Simms, who has a 3.87 grade-point average and will major in biochemistry. "When I visited, it felt like a family there. I knew that Xavier was where I needed to be."     The Official Online Source for All Xavier Gold Rush and Gold Nugget Athletics and Sports Information (via www.xula.edu)

Photo by 4zgirls (User Uploaded)   High School Week in review February 13, 2012 - February 22, 2012

Tennessee Alumni Report for the week of February 13, 2012 - February 22, 2012

Soddy-Daisy High School seniors Matt Jenkins and Ben Kirk signed scholarship papers Wednesday to run cross country and track for Bryan College. (via timesfreepress.com)

Another welcome addition to the team is middle-distance runner Rhavean King from Memphis, Tenn. With three senior athletes graduating this year, there is certainly room for King to thrive during her first year on the team. She is Tennessee’s defending state champion in the 800-meter race, and she has the fastest time in the state in the 400-meter race this year. (via www.kansan.com)

TenTennessee State University Track & Field Director Chandra Cheeseborough-Guice announced the signing of four student-athletes during the recent National Letter of Intent signing period that began on Feb. 1. Clairwin Dameus, Leslye Williams, Jerome Henderson and Quamel Prince all signed their National Letter of Intents to suit up for the Tigers during the 2012-13 academic year. Tennessee State University Track & Field Director Chandra Cheeseborough-Guice announced the signing of four student-athletes. (via www.tsutigers.com)

The Liberty men's cross country team, which has won an unprecedented seven consecutive Big South titles, built for the future on Tuesday. Distance runners Jeremie Bourget and Will Templeton have inked national letters of intent to attend Liberty University for the 2012-13 academic year. Flames News (via www.libertyflames.com)

Athletes from five states will tune up for nationals, try once more to qualify, or simply conclude their season with a top performance.

  Trey Hardee, Alabama State Champion from Vestavia Hills, eventually went onto to become an NCAA and World Champion out of University of Texas. In this video series he goes into details and explains his training regimine for the event. 

  Here is this weeks alumni report a recap of the past weeks meets just for athletes that went to high school in Tennessee. I am sure there has been a few people left off this list, so please email me their names, where the go to college and where they went to high school. 

During a week that was dominated with major college football signing talk all across the country, White County High School had their own athlete ink a college letter of intent, but it was not on the gridiron. WCHS senior cross country standout, Alex Stover, signed her scholarship with the University of Tennessee at Martin to run cross country and distance track. MySpartaNews.com. News for Sparta, Tennessee (via www.spartaexpositor.com)

Vol sophomore Chase Brannon is doing so well in the pole vault this season, one would never surmise that he came to the program as a walk-on out of Brentwood Academy.  (via www.utsports.com)

Senior multi-event athlete Ellen Wortham of Maryville steps into The Exchange Zone to share what it's like to be a Lady Vol and compete in so many different events. (via www.utladyvols.com)

Photo by 4zgirls (User Uploaded) Indoor is a little slower so here is the weeks in review. I made  little longer to get some more meets in. Keep sending the college signings and if you run in an indoor meet you will need to email me the results and let me know where you went, because your not listed as your school it is almost imposible to match everyone with their profiles. 

Blogs (via blogs.commercialappeal.com) Arlington High School announced the signing of Alden Dixon to a National Letter of Intent for cross country and track at Middle Tennessee State University. Dixon is the Class AAA defending state champion in the 3200 meter run (9:19), and the region runner-up in the 1600 meter run with a personal best time of 4:16. He has also been the regional champion and The Commercial Appeal's Pepsi Best of the Preps finalist in cross country.

Held at the brand-new JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, the meet is open for unattached individuals and clubs from around the Southeast.

  We added a new feature that allows anyone (must be logged in) the ability to submit videos to us. Once you do so, they are instantly posted on the meet page. This allows you to help us supplement our coverage by shooting some video at the meets you attend, show off your creativity, and share your videos with the flrunners.com community.

Senior 800m runner Chanelle Price steps into the Exchange Zone to talk about this weekend's meet in New York, her career and her aspirations for her final season at Rocky Top. (via www.utladyvols.com)

Photo by RothRE (User Uploaded) Want to see how former Tennessee high school athletes are doing now that they have moved on to the college ranks? Here is a little break down kind of like our week in review for high school, but this one is college and just people that competed in Tennessee in high school.  I am sure we have missed a few people so please send emails with links to their high school profile and their college profile. 

      Today is February 1st, national signing day! Athletes around the country (and world) can now make their college commitments official. Many of the top stars around the country will have official signing ceremonies today, while others may do so in the coming days in weeks. We want to applaud all of our college-bound seniors and celebrate their decisions of where they will spend the next four years. Who will be the college programs to line up an amazing class to make then national championship contenders over the next years? Today the picture starts to become clearer! Send your signings announcements and signing ceremony photos to  JParks@MileSplit.us  and we will get them posted. Current List of Known 2012 College Commitments...  

 Basic TSSAA rules for the 2011-2012 track season that all coaches need to know. 

  Photo by RothRE (User Uploaded)   Some 40 teams may their way into Johnson City  to compete in the fifth annual KTC Indoor Track Classic on Friday and Saturday. 106 athletes met the MileSplit National Elite standard in their respective events, and 10 meet records were set, including seven on the girls side.    It was a productive weekend for Georgia athletes, as several put up national caliber marks and times.  Athens Academy's (Ga.) Torie Owers won the shot put in a mark of 50 feet, 2 inches, just outside of her national leading throw of 50'6". Monica Phillips of Pope (Ga.) won the weight with a 55-1 throw, which was her second-best performance of all time (Her best is 57'11"). Owers finished second behind Phillips in a throw of 52-9.75.   

  The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the racecourse, distinguishes Peters as Tennessee’s best high school boys cross country runner.  Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year award to be announced in January, Peters joins an elite alumni association of past state award-winners in 12 sports, including Ryan Hall (1999-00, 2000-01, Big Bear HS, Calif.), Derek Jeter (1991-92, Kalamazoo HS, Mich.), Candace Parker (2001-02, Naperville Central HS, Ill.), Kevin Garnett (1992-93, Maudlin HS, S.C.), Abby Wambach (1997-98, Our Lady of Mercy, N.Y.) and Mark Sanchez (2004-05, Mission Viejo HS, Calif.).  

KTC High School Indoor Classic Live Updates Refresh var twit = new Twitter.LiveUpdates('twit', 'twit_list', 'ktcindoor', 10000); twit.onUpdate(function() { document.getElementById('twit_update').innerHTML = 'Last updated: ' + twit.lastUpdate() + ' - '; });

David Oliver trains at ESPN Wide World of Sports at Disney World in Orlando with famed coach Brooks Johnson. He focuses on the fundamentals while looking toward the London Olympic Games.

Here is a new little feature we are working on. Want to see how former Tennessee high school athletes are doing now that they have moved on to the college ranks? Here is a little break down kind of like our week in review for high school, but this one is college and just people that competed in Tennessee in high school.  I am sure we have missed a few people so please send emails with links to their high school profile and their college profile. 

A trio of Sunshine State track stars returned home to train for 2012 season and gear up for the Olympics in London. Bershawn "Batman" Jackson, Jamaal Torrance, and Moses Washington spent a couple of days at the National Training Center in Clermont working on their speed and strength. 

  The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the racecourse, distinguishes Ward as Tennessee’s best high school girls cross country runner.  Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year award to be announced in January, Ward joins an elite alumni association of past state award-winners in 12 sports, including Ryan Hall (1999-00, 2000-01, Big Bear HS, Calif.), Derek Jeter (1991-92, Kalamazoo HS, Mich.), Candace Parker (2001-02, Naperville Central HS, Ill.), Abby Wambach (1997-98, Our Lady of Mercy, N.Y.) and Mark Sanchez (2004-05, Mission Viejo HS, Calif.).  

You’ve probably seen the commercials on TV about the fact that thousands of NCAA athletes will turn professional in something other than the sport they play in college.  That is very true and does emphasize how difficult it is to get to a professional level in any sport.  Track & Field is no different and there are a lot of athletes competing at all levels in college and their end result is a usually a great experience and most importantly, a college degree in a field that interests them.  College athletics is different than high school for sure, and sometimes takes much more focus than you may think.  

The other day, I had a chance to talk with Don Williams about what it’s like to be a High School throws coach.  Don is the throwing coach at St. Benedict in Cordova TN (Div. II West) for the past seven years.   Don is a fifty-five year old financial advisor with UBS, and has been married for twenty years and has two daughters.  One daughter is in college and the other is a High School Junior and, surprisingly, neither had an interest in throwing events.  A lot of people know Don because he’s currently assigning officer for the MSFOA/TSSAA.  He has also been an official in the TSSAA and NCAA for 32 years (football and basketball).  Don also started coaching girl’s basketball 10 years ago, currently coaching in AAU and High School level.  He has refereed football in the NCAA for 15 years including 10 in Conference USA.  In basketball, he refereed in C-USA, Sunbelt, Southland, OVC, Gulf South, Trans South and several smaller JUCO, DIII and NAIA conferences.  Don also threw in college at University of Memphis (then called Memphis State).

Teams are selected by The Tennessean high school writers who use personal observations, coaches’ opinions and performances at the state meet in their selection process. (via saxo.highschoolsports.net)

After finishing a disappointing 84th at the 2010 state Class AAA cross country meet, McMinn County's Haley Ward threw down the gauntlet. (via Knoxville News Sentinel)

By Mike Blackerby (via Knoxville News Sentinel)

Haley Ward, McMinn County: The junior won the Region 3-AAA meet (19:36) by 37 seconds and won the state meet in 18:41, winning by 11 seconds. (via Knoxville News Sentinel)

Hardin Valley Academy's Will Templeton found out that cross country could lead him down a different and better path. (via Knoxville News Sentinel)

Will Templeton, Hardin Valley: The senior swept individual titles at the state, regional and KIL meets and the Hawks took fourth in the team race. (via Knoxville News Sentinel)

  Milligan College, Tenn. (Dec. 7, 2011) --- Milligan College has teamed up with Science Hill High School to host the second annual Johnson City Invitational track and field meet on March 30-31, 2012. The event will be hosted once again at Science Hill’s Kermit Tipton Stadium.       “We are pleased to be teaming up with Science Hill to once again be bringing an excellent event to our area,” Milligan Vice President of Student Development Mark Fox said. “The event will feature many of the top local athletes, and we hope it will continue to grow.”  

Joanna Elmore, Northwest: Elmore has been the most consistent female runner in the city for the past three years. She has two straight years of finishing in the top 10 in the region meet and as numerous first-place awards over the years. 2011 The Leaf-Chronicle All-Area Cross Country Team (via The Leaf Chronicle � Clarksville, Tenn., and Fort Campbell)

Ben Moroney believes he has been blessed with the ability to run, and with the success he enjoyed during the 2011 high school cross country season, who could argue with him? (via The Jackson Sun)

For those at Madison Academic, Angela Tharpe might be considered as one of the guys. (via The Jackson Sun)

In this second episode of The Fit Runner our host is Tara Gidus, aka the "Diet Diva" and nutritionist to the Orlando Magic. She gives us some solid meal and hydration ideas for before, after, and during a run. This is the latest episode in our series on being a fit runner.

Brentwood online newspaper - professional, go to place for everything brentwood, advertising, classifieds, obituaries, business directory, high school sports, and brentwood business. Online newspaper for Brentwood. (via www.brentwoodhomepage.com)

After the State Cross Country Meet in November 2010, several Varsity runners set off on a very determined course. The goal was to win the State Championship in 2011 and qualify to participate in the Nike Cross National meet in Portland Oregon in December 2011. Early in the season the BHS Varsity XC team was ranked 14th in the nation. With the addition of three new runners and many months of intense training, the team achieved their goals.  The newly crowned State Champions of the Brentwood High School Varsity XC team participated in the prestigious Nike Cross Southeast Regional race on 11/26 in Cary, NC. The runners did not represent BHS per Nike and TSSAA rules, but formed the Brentwood Cross Country Club. Nike Cross requires that the team participate in high school Cross Country though. Nike Team has 8 regions and the 22 fastest teams from those 8 regions will race in Portland, OR on 12/3. (via www.williamsoncountysportspage.com)

Sumner County saw a set of twins get All-State honors and a team take home a top-three finish at the TSSAA cross country meet at Percy Warner Park's Steeplechase course Saturday. (via The Tennessean)

NASHVILLE — Will Templeton has a well-deserved reputation for his all-out running and sheer determination on the race course. (via Knoxville News Sentinel)

By KEVIN WEAKSMessenger SportsNASHVILLE — The bar has been set pretty high.So high, in fact, that improvement from the previous year was appreciated but not completely satisfying.Published in The Messenger 11.7.11 (via www.nwtntoday.com)

NASHVILLE — Webb School of Knoxville's bid for a repeat sweep as Division II-A state cross country champions came up just short Saturday. (via Knoxville News Sentinel)

(via www.williamsoncountysportspage.com)

NASHVILLE � West Tennessee didn't bring home any championships at the TSSAA state meet on Saturday at Percy Warner Park in Nashville, but a few local athletes doing well. (via The Jackson Sun)

  Photo by CoachTJP (User Uploaded) OK, just for FUN, take it for what it is worth.......  I took all the boys results (just like the girls) and imported them into RaceTab (if you don't have RaceTab yet, you need to get it . IT IS FREE) Once they were all in there, I combined all the results into one big boys race just to see how they would all stack up.   

Photo by CoachTJP (User Uploaded) OK, just for FUN, take it for what it is worth.......  I took all the girls results and imported them into RaceTab (if you don't have RaceTab yet, you need to get it . IT IS FREE) Once they were all in there, I combined all the results into one big girls race just to see how they would all stack up. 

 McMinn County’s cross country team handed out awards at its team banquet Thursday night on the Tennessee Wesleyan College campus, but the biggest award may be yet to come.  (via dpa.xtn.net)

Four local cross county runners will be making the trip up to the Steeple Chase course in Nashville Saturday for the 3-AAA state meet. Bradley Central’s Harold Smith leads the pack with a second place finish at the 3-AAA regional race in Sparta last Thursday. Smith’s best time this season was a 16:05 at the Jesse Owens Invitational in Oakville, Ala. He had two other top 10 finishes one of which was at the 36th annual Junior Ward Tennessee Classic which was held on the same course he will ... (via www.clevelandbanner.com)

The Bearden boys cross country team has been running for a state championship all season; with the help of Olivia Gianeselli, the girls now have the opportunity to be running for one on Saturday. At the region championships on Oct. 27, the boys team won going away, with Bryan Fitzsimmons coming in third place, Skylar Winchester in fifth place, and Cory Oegema in 11th.  (via my.hsj.org)

Saturday will be the day for each young man and woman to display their talents for the entire world to see. Some will go home ecstatic and overjoyed with the results while many others will leave disappointed with personal questions of "What happened?" {articledate} (via www.chattanoogan.com)

Coaches, we are going to have a coaches meeting (as usual) at 4 pm on Friday at the Steeplechase.

There appears to be a little bit of a sibling rivalry with Beech High School freshmen Jessica and Julia Rizor. And, that's just fine with Buccaneer cross country coach Brice Askren. (via The Tennessean)

Fort Bluff Camp is known for championship tournaments with many of the fall sports, but November 12th will mark the first ever NACA Cross Country Championship meet.

  **IT IS HIGHLY LIKELY THAT ATHLETE NAMES ARE MISSPELLED DUE TO THE HANDWRITTEN RESULTS USED TO TYPE IN THE ENTRIES BELOW. Please don’t hesitate to email jimkaiser@mindspring.com with any name spelling corrections (or year in school).  

Photo by hudlowjr (User Uploaded) Better late than never I guess, here is the week in review. Unfortunately I will not be able to attend the state meet this year but I wish every one the best of luck. 

Under cold, damp and rainy conditions, Brentwood High School’s Varsity XC teams continued their quest for a state title. The varsity boys finished in first place decisively with all seven runners finishing in the top 13. They earned a total of 24 points. Paul Stuart finished first followed by Alec Thomas in 3rd and brother, Nathan, in 5th with 00:01.14 seconds difference between brothers. Stuart, Alec, and Nathan Thomas finished with times qualifying them as Silver Elite status. The boys team had an average run time of 16:06.32. Other BHS runners include Taylor Caldwell, Aaron Thomas, Daniel Hamm and Coleman Churich.  (via www.williamsoncountysportspage.com)

Vanderbilt's women's cross country team won its first SEC title on Monday, placing four runners in the top 10. (via www.vucommodores.com)

Buoyed by three top ten finishes, the Warriorette cross country team earned their first-ever trip to the state meet. Overcoming the rain and cold conditions, the Warriorettes finished third overall in Region 3AAA capturing the final team spot. Individually, the Warriorettes placed three in the top 10. Alex Stover finished sixth, followed by Morgan Voyles and Nikole Pryor in seventh and eighth, respectively.MySpartaNews.com. News for Sparta, Tennessee (via www.spartaexpositor.com)

Tennessee plays host to the SEC Championships on Oct. 31 at Lambert Acres Golf Club in Maryville. UT last hosted on Halloween in 1998, also at this venue.  (via www.utsports.com)

By KEVIN WEAKSMessenger SportsWhen runners from Obion Central and Union City head off to Nashville in two weeks, they’ll be carrying some baggage with them. Published in The Messenger 10.26.11 (via www.nwtntoday.com)

 Marty Sonnenfeldt was at a Knoxville Track Club Christmas party in 1987, and someone asked him if he was interested in taking over the KTC's Youth Athletics program. In his best Holiday spirit, Sonnenfeldt was quick to respond. "I agreed blindly, 'Yeah, I'll do that,' because I'd served as a site director or volunteer the year before," Sonnenfeldt recalled Tuesday. "I thought, 'Hey, this will be OK, I can do this.' " Boy, could he ever.    

Five local cross country runners were part of a field of 917 from 102 schools that took part in the Tennessee State Middle School Cross Country Championship Saturday in Knoxville. There were 256 runners in the boys’ 2-mile race where eighth-grader Javan Winders placed 13th with a time of 12 minutes, 15 seconds and his sixth-grade brother, Titus, was 15th in a time of 12:16. Henry County middle school cross country coach Lance Winders is the father of the two boys. He said Javan, who was one of the pre-race favorites to win, struggled from the start and never got in a rhythm Saturday.  (via www.parispi.net)

Most recently, the Brentwood Bruins cross country team participated in the Williamson County Championship meet. Paul Stuart finished first, Nathan Thomas second, Alec Thomas third, Taylor Caldwell fourth and Aaron Thomas sixth to claim first place. Allison O’Neil finished first for the BHS girls team with Brianna Koshy at 2nd. In the JV race, Lacey Duvall finished first overall.    In early October, Brentwood High School participated in the 13th Annual Jesse Owens Cross Country meet in Oakville, Alabama. The boys finished first in the Gold Elite Run with four runners finishing in the top ten earning a total of 60 points. Paul Stuart finished 2nd, following Brock Baker from Murfreesboro who finished first. The difference between Stuart and Baker was 25 seconds. Nathan Thomas finished 4th and the difference between 3rd and 4th place was 31.5 seconds. Alec Thomas and Taylor Caldwell finished 5th and 9th respectively. Aaron Thomas, Daniel Hamm, Coleman Churich, Rahib Bashir, Grant Sechman and Waggas Fazili completed the team. The average run time was 15:52.89.   (via www.williamsoncountysportspage.com)  

“In running, you learn to do things you never thought you could,” said Head Coach Don Madgett of South-Doyle’s cross country team. After 15 years as a head coach and years of experience as a runner, he knows what it takes to push his runners to do their best. Madgett ran for Powell High School and Tennessee Technological University, as well as participated in the Boston Marathon twice. (via my.hsj.org)

As the leaves turn colors and fall to the ground cross country season also turns to championship season.  On October 22nd at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville 1000 competitors from Memphis to Bristol and from Chattanooga to Dyersburg will take to the line to settle the all important question of who is the fastest middle school runner in the state.  Make no mistake that this meet ends up giving us a preview of what is to come once they arrive to high school so coaches, take interest. Runners like Brock Baker, Andrew Ogle, Molly Foster and Hannah Denton who are tearing up the high school circuit today were all once a precocious 13-14 year old with dreams of a state championship.  So as we approach this year’s edition, who will be the next big thing in Tennessee? Let’s take a look at how the regional championships unfolded:

Henry County cross country runner Javan Winders set a course record in winning the boys’ 2-mile race at the West Tennessee Elementary-Middle School Cross Country Regional Championship held Saturday at Shelby Farms Park in Memphis. Winders (eighth grade) won the race in a time of 11 minutes, 15 seconds to beat the course record by 33 seconds. The Henry County middle school boys placed seventh out of 15 teams. (via www.parispi.net)

  Just in time for regional championships, MileSplit has updated its virtual meet technology. Take a spin through this article to see what's new.

The Station Camp girls and Beech boys claimed the Sumner County Cross Country Championship meet, ran last Thursday at Sanders Ferry Park. The Lady Bison finished 31 points ahead of Beech. The Bucs placed 28 points better than second-place Station Camp. Beech’s Julia Rizor took first in the girls’ race, followed by twin sister Jessica. Both are freshmen for the Lady Bucs. Station Camp’s Logan LaGarde edged Beech’s Miles Malbrough for the top spot in the boys’ race. (via The Tennessean)

Brock Baker kept his mind clear Saturday morning. He forgot about how many miles remained during the 3.1-mile run at the Midstate Cross Country Championships. The Oakland junior just went out and ran the Sharp Springs Natural Area course. Baker, the Class AAA runner-up in 2010, won Saturday in 15:20.08, more than 46 seconds ahead of second-place finisher and teammate Conner Thompson. Baker’s time was about 13 seconds off the pace of his personal best of 15:07, which is the fastest time in the state. (via The Tennessean)

Webb School of Knoxville swept the middle school cross country championships at Victor Ashe Park on Wednesday. The event was one of five regional qualifiers for the Tennessee State Middle School Championships on Oct. 22, also at Victor Ashe. Webb won the girls race with 51 points, followed by West Valley (60) and Karns (63). Webb dominated the boys' race with 29 points, followed by Farragut (67) and West Valley (141).     (via Knoxville News Sentinel)  

Saturday’s 39th annual Trailblazer Invitational saw dominating runs in the varsity boys and girls races and in the team standings. In the boys’ race Morristown West’s Quintin McKinnish won by 29 seconds over Bradley Central’s Harold Smith. McKinnish covered the 5,000-meter course in 16:08.2 for his fifth race win of 2011.  ‘I am excited for the win,” McKinnish said shortly after crossing the finish line. “The weather was real nice. Everything was perfect on the course, the only thing slowing us down was the wind.” Tri-Cities Sports - Your Source for Local Sports!! (via tricitiessports.com)

Photo by RunDC (User Uploaded) Have you ever watched a child play?  They’ll run as fast as they can for as long as they can, usually for just a few seconds, but then they’ll do it over and over and over and over again.  They’ll throw things, sometimes at you, but still, they throw things – anything.  They’ll jump around or over anything in their way and if there’s nothing exciting to jump over, they’ll make something up and then jump over that.  Excuse the pun, but that’s Track & Field in its infancy.  But as those interests focus on other sports, those fundamental movements tend to migrate towards the mechanics needed to excel at those other sports.  The execution of the simple “run” is eclipsed by the various agility and other movements needed to perfect other activities.  The training – the coaching – of how to simply run becomes secondary to teaching the skills of a specific sport.  So in track & field events, and not counting the throwing events specifically, the basic competency needed to excel is the simple skill to run with swift efficiency.   

The Brentwood Middle School girls and boys cross country teams are on a roll! Both teams were undefeated in their regular season, and both went on to close out their fall competition in a convincing fashion, taking the Williamson County Cross Country Championship titles at Woodland Middle School on October 5th. (via www.williamsoncountysportspage.com)

  Photo by gsf37090 (User Uploaded) This week looks to be a little slower for meets, I guess everyone is getting ready for the different area and league championships. Good luck to all and please keep posting your photos to the meet pages. 

Williamson County Cross Country teams and top runners are highlighted for their performances thus far in the 2011 season. October 8, 2011 (via www.williamsoncountysportspage.com)

The DMS Lady Trojan cross-country team captured the West Tennessee District Championship last Thursday competing against 15 other squads. Seventh-grader Kayla Puzdrakiewicz once again led the way winning her fifth race of the season navigating the two-mile course in her best time 11 min. 48 sec...   (via Dyersburg State Gazette)

  Cross Country Update  Please review information pertaining to cross country in the 2011-12 TSSAA Handbook.  You may, also, access this at TSSAA.org  As voted by the coaches and approved by the TSSAA Board of Control, the State Cross Country Meets will be 5 Kilometers (3.1 Miles).  The regional meets shall be 3 Miles or 5 Kilometers.   

Thirty years ago, Len Jeffers was a runner on Daniel Boone’s first state championship cross country team. This season, the Trailblazers’ sixth-year head coach is trying to lead Daniel Boone to a third state title and its first since 1998. To become a true title contender, however, Jeffers pointed to one key area where ‘Blazers need to improve. “We have an extremely strong team, but the thing which would benefit us the most would be to have a closer pack,” Jeffers said. “We need a few of our runners to close up on each other and cut the time gaps down.”  (via JohnsonCityPress.com)

In this “Athlete Spotlight” the Williamson County Sports Page is pleased to introduce an impressive Williamson County athlete who is not only focused on her own accomplishments, but also inspires those around her to be their best. The WCSP is proud to highlight the remarkable athlete and young lady, Rachel Wooten. Rachel Wooten is a senior athlete at Franklin High School, and is one of the best runners in the state of Tennessee.  Her high school career has been one chalked full of awards, personal bests, and records broken.     (via www.williamsoncountysportspage.com)

The Cumberland County cross country teams are in the stretch run in their regular season, after the team competed in the third Chattanooga Cross Country League meet at Davis Cattle Ranch in Ringgold, GA, on Thursday, Sept. 29. The Lady Jets finished sixth and the Jets took seventh in the meet which featured teams from Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia. CCHS finished with 166 points, sixth behind Darlington School (60), Home School of Chattanooga (82), Heritage High School of Catoosa, GA (86), Rome High School (126) and GPS (166), according to ga.milesplit.com.   Submitted The Crossville Chronicle Tue Oct 04, 2011, 02:30 PM CDT (via crossville-chronicle.com)

The White County High School cross country team was in action Saturday, but in two different places. Most of the team ran in the Burnett Invitational in Cookeville, but two runners made a trip to Alabama to compete in the Jessie Owens Classic as individuals. At the Burnett, all three Warrior runners went under 20 minutes. Tyler Rice set a new PR of 19:38 to become the third Warrior team member to be in the 19’s. Hunter McCoy led the Warriors with a time of 19:24 good enough for 37th place. Tyler took 46th and Aaron Webb was a step behind Rice in 47th with a time of 19:38.5.   MySpartaNews.com. News for Sparta, Tennessee (via www.myspartanews.com)

Ravenwood High School Cross Country teams competed on Saturday, October 1, 2011 in Alabama at the Jesse Owens Cross Country Classic against tough competition from all over the Southeast. (via www.williamsoncountysportspage.com)

The McCallie cross country team finished third in the Gold Elite Division at the Jesse Owens Cross Country Classic in Oakville, Ala. The meet featured 136 boy's teams and over 1400 individual runners.  Under near perfect conditions McCallie was led by Matthew Jones who covered the 3.1 mile course in 16:02.    {articledate} (via www.chattanoogan.com)

Will Templeton (Hardin Valley TN) upstaged everyone in the Invitational Race with the best boys' time of the day.

Three top-10 national powers squared off in an intense battle for bragging rights on a cool North Carolina morning.

Perfect weather for racing, coupled with high-level competition from around the country, made for a record-breaking day.

Cool weather and a fast course combined for one of the best weekends of cross country ever in North Carolina.

Ideal tool for track & field coaches and athletes. Convert marks/times/pace. This is a nice, easy tool for any fan, coach, or athlete of cross country running, road racing, or track & field.

The Milligan College track and field program has announced that world-renowned shot putter Dylan Armstrong will return to campus on Wednesday, Nov. 2, for the second annual Dylan Armstrong Shot Put Clinic.  

SMYRNA -- Going against lots of tough competition from Murfreesboro and middle Tennessee, the Cookeville boys and girls cross country teams came away with very strong performances Saturday at the Sharp Springs Invitational. Justin Morgan (16.47) and Chase Mussard (16.50) garnered the top two spots individually for the boys to help the Cavaliers cruise to the team victory in the gold division, while Will Hilton (17:29) and Stone Fagan (17:40) came in sixth and seventh. (via www.herald-citizen.com)

Getting up at 5:30 Saturday morning was a tough task for Chantal Wilson as she and her Morristown West teammates traveled to Chattanooga for the Cross Country Festival at the Chickamauga Dam recreation area. (via timesfreepress.com)

        by John Hunt The weather was absolutely perfect for running Saturday morning and more than 1,300 runners from middle school, high school and local colleges took advantage at Chickamauga Dam. Taking part in the annual Chattanooga Cross Country Festival, a couple of runners from Morristown West claimed victory in the high school races with impressive times.   (via chattanoogan.com)

Once again here is the week in review. Don't forget you can tag yourself in any of the meet photos and they wil show on your profile. Also keep the results coming in more and more people are converting to racetab and when you do it make great looking results but also helps us get them into the national rankings much faster.