News
Gill Gearing Up for 3rd Season as Head Coach of Rhea County High School Girls Basketball
October 15, 2018
By: Dwayne Page
After two years as head coach of the Rhea County High School girls basketball squad, Darvin Gill is gearing up for his third season and is hoping the ball bounces in the right direction.
The Smithville native took over the program in 2016 and last year compiled a 25 win season. The Lady Golden Eagles were runners up in District 6AAA and advanced to the region semi-finals.
“I have been blessed with a really great group of players since I have been here. We have been a high scoring, high fast paced squad. Last year we scored 66 points per game and finished as the 8th highest scoring girls team in the state,” said Coach Gill.
This year’s schedule is perhaps a bit tougher but Coach Gill said he is hoping that it helps make his team better as the season progresses and especially by post-season time.
“I lost a fantastic group of seniors from last year. One of them was a starter and has moved on to play at Lee University in Cleveland. I have four returning starters. Out of those, three are juniors and one is a sophomore. I have beefed up the schedule this year adding a couple of top five teams in the state out of Memphis. I want to put us in a position to be a better team. We may not have the same win total as last year but the ultimate goal is to move further in the post season,” said Coach Gill.
From 2007 to 2015, Gill was an assistant to head girls basketball coach Michael Dodgen at Cannon County High School before the two of them left for White County High School in the same roles. Prior to joining the Cannon County program, Gill served as an assistant to former DCHS girls head basketball coach Victor Harrison in 2004-05. This is Gill’s first high school head coaching job.
“It has been very much a blessing. Shane Johnston, a Rhea County native, took over the program a few years ago and resurrected it. A year after he gave up coaching to move to the central office, I was fortunate to get the job. It is definitely something I wanted to do and I am grateful to my administration here. He (Johnston) laid the groundwork and was instrumental in getting the program back in the right direction. I am trying to get them to another level now,” said Coach Gill.
Gill is a 1994 graduate of DeKalb County High School and he furthered his education at MTSU earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Studies with concentrations in coaching and recreation administration. At Rhea County, Coach Gill works in a program serving special needs students with disabilities.
Rhea County High School is located near Dayton, Tennessee at Evensville. District 6AAA is made up of Rhea County, Stone Memorial, Cookeville, Warren County, and White County High Schools.
Cross Country Teams Head to State
October 15, 2018
By: Bill Conger
The DeKalb Middle School Cross Country teams are headed to the state competition after Saturday’s Mid-State Regional Middle School Qualifier held at Macon County High School. The girl’s team placed 2nd overall out of 10 teams while the boys came in 4th overall out of 11 teams.
“This is the first time in the four years since the program has been in place that both teams have qualified at the same time,” said Coach Kristen VanVranken. “Qualifying for the state meet is always our goal from the time we start training in April. Its a huge accomplishment, and they deserve it.”
The top five teams at the regional meet advanced to the State Championship meet which will be held at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on October 20.
Coach VanVranken says both the girls and boys teams displayed a tremendous team effort.
“They are truly an amazing bunch of student-athletes,” she said. “There are so many factors that take place when a team steps on the line, just like in many sports: the weather, the terrain of the course, the health of the athlete, whether they are sick or dealing with an injury. Many times in racing you don’t get the perfect scenario. You can train and train for weeks, and it all comes down to race day, putting forth your best effort with whatever you may be dealing with. The DeKalb Middle School Cross Country team did just that. They each rose up to the occasion and put forth their best despite any obstacles they had.”
In the boys’ varsity race, three runners made the top 20 out of a field of 102 runners: Aaron Gottlied, 3rd; Cooper Brown, 16th; Caleb Gray, 19th followed by Andrew Tramel, 53rd; Cale Brown, 54th; Jaxon Humphrey, 56th; and Kaleb Spears, 81st. (Spears normally places in the Top 5 but was under the weather for this race.)
In the girls’ varsity race three runners also placed in the top 20 out of a field of 84 runners:
Zoe Keys, 4th; Katherine Knowles, 5th; and Madeline Martin, 17th followed by Mylie Phillips, 26th; Laina Winfree, 30th; Emily Young, 47th, and Summer Morse, 48th.
In the JV race the teams had some “awesome personal records” for the season. Here’s how they placed at the regional meet: Sylvia Evans, 10th; Sadie Morse, 22nd; Alexa Hernandez, 25th;
Mara Oakley, 42nd; Liam Wallace, 18th; Erick Hernandez, 23rd; Jackson Hodges, 33rd; BJ Mosley, 35th; Ethan Spears, 38th.
“Our girls’ team is very unique,” says VanVranken. “We are very young but have proven ourselves throughout the season. To have a varsity team of 6th graders qualify for state is extremely rare and exciting! They are a tough bunch of girls putting out some fast times.”
“Our boys team has depth as well, adds VanVranken. “We will be losing several 8th graders who have had an extremely important role in our success, but our 6th and 7th graders have proven themselves this season. They have been a huge contribution and show much potential.”
The runners have wrapped up their hard training for the season.
“This week will be tapering off some to have rested legs for Knoxville,” VanVranken said. “It will consist of only one speed workout on Tuesday. The rest of the week—Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday— will be easy distance runs.”
DeKalb Band Class AA Champs
October 14, 2018
By: Bill Conger
The DeKalb County High School Fighting Tiger Band is the overall Class Double-A Champion after taking first place Saturday in Chapel Hill, Tennessee. The 36-member band won top honors at the Middle Tennessee Small Band Championship. Judges scored D.C.H.S. third out of all the bands. Band Director Tracy Luna says the band was also judged on how well it performed among all the Division II bands that were there with a school population of 1,000 or less.
“We also collected a grand division winning trophy for all the Division II bands, which is terrific,” Luna said. “The band scores were superior ratings all the way across. Color guard and percussion did well, but we were in the middle of the pack. Overall, we scored 2s with percussion and color guard. The percussion judge gave out only one superior all day.”
“I’m very proud of the kids,” Luna adds. “My whole mantra this year has been small band proud and being the best they can be. No matter what the score ends up being, put the work into it and results will come out of it.”
Drum major Axel Rico was first place in the Double-A division and third place overall with a score of 95 out of the 15 participating bands.
The band is off for the second week of Fall Break. Next, the band travels to the Foothills Classic in Seymour, TN on October 27.
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