Sports

Its almost football time!

The DeKalb County High School Tiger Football Program is gearing up for the 2021 campaign now that the TSSAA dead period requirements have passed and practices are underway with sights set on the season opener at Warren County on Friday August 20 at 7 p.m. WJLE will have LIVE coverage.

During Tiger Media Day Friday, Tiger Coach Steve Trapp talked about what’s in store for this team over the next month.

“At this moment (Friday) we are in our second week back in after the dead period. Our first week was helmet only. This week is considered the heat acclimatization period so we had to do two days in helmet and then three days in helmet and shoulder pads. We will have a sleep over camp on Friday night and then wake up and have a practice Saturday morning. After that Saturday practice we will have covered everything we need to cover. From that point on it’s about making it better and then tweaking it to whoever we are playing for that week. After this week we will go full pads. We will have a scrimmage next Friday, July 30 against Gordonsville there. The following week, August 6 we will have a scrimmage at home versus Friendship Christian. Those start times typically are at 6 p.m. and then the week after that we will have a Jamboree on a Saturday, August 14 at Gordonsville and we will play Clay County for two quarters,” said Coach Trapp.

“We have a lot of guys coming back with a lot of experience. For some it will be their first opportunity to make a name for themselves in this program but we have a lot of confidence and faith that they will do that. There are a lot of juniors and seniors out there on the field. I think we have one sophomore who will be a starter. Last year we had a freshman. It’s about who can get out there and produce but we feel like we have a lot of quality guys this year,” Coach Trapp continued.

This year a new assistant coach will be roaming the sidelines with Coach Trapp and the other assistants.

“Our new coach is Dalton Stallings. He will be working with the running backs and safeties. He got hired in to lead our new ISS program here in the school system. We are excited to have him on board. He has been a great addition and fits in well with the culture of our coaching staff,” said Coach Trapp.

Stallings will be filling the void left by former assistant coach Thomas Cagle, who is succeeding David Gash as Assistant Principal. The other assistant coaches will be returning including Corey Rathbone, Michael Shaw, Brad Trapp, and Luke Green.

The same foes from last year will make up the 2021 DCHS Football Schedule with the exception of Goodpasture, a private school from the Nashville area, which will replace Grundy County. As for the region, the Upperman Bees, a familiar regular season opponent of the Tigers in recent years, will be joining DeKalb County and the other four teams that make up Class 4A, Region 4.

“We have been in a region with them before but now they are moving up from Class 3A to 4A so they will be in the Region with us (DeKalb County) Livingston Academy, Macon County, Cumberland County, and Stone Memorial. The addition of Upperman is the only change in the makeup of Region 4. We like challenges and this gives us a chance to step up even more,” said Coach Trapp.

In addition to the region foes, the Tigers will also again meet Warren County, Cannon County , Smith County and Watertown this fall

The 2021 DCHS Football schedule is as follows (* Region Opponent):

August 14: Jamboree at Gordonsville: 7 p.m.

August 20: Warren County- Away: 7 p.m.

August 27: Smith County-Home: 7 p.m.

September 3: Macon County*- Away: 7 p.m.

September 10: Watertown-Away: 7 p.m.

September 17: Cumberland County*-Home: 7 p.m.

September 24: Cannon County (Homecoming): 7 p.m.

October 1: Livingston Academy*- Away: 7 p.m.

October 8: BYE- NO GAME

October 15: Upperman*- Home: 7 p.m.

October 22: Goodpasture- Home: 7 p.m.

October 29: Stone Memorial*- Away: 7 p.m.

Four members of the DCHS Tigerette Fast Pitch Softball Team have earned All-District Awards.

Morgan Walker, Aniston Farler, and Jacey Hatfield have been named to the All-District Team and Hatfield made the All-District Tournament Team. Bri Murphy was selected to the All District Freshmen Team.

The Tigerettes were eliminated from the District Tournament last week and finished the season at 13-13.

Pictured left to right: Bri Murphy, Morgan Walker, Aniston Farler, and Jacey Hatfield.

On Friday, May 7th the Warren County track and field team featuring 4 DeKalb County High School athletes competed in the TSSAA Division 2 Large Schools Track and Field Sectional Event. The top 4 individual and relay teams in each event would advance to the state competition which will host the top 4 individuals and relay teams from each of the 4 regions: west, middle, east, and Knox County.

Ally Beneke was victorious at substate clenching the high jump title with a leap of 5-04.00. She remains undefeated in the season.

Ella VanVranken was on fire as she collected 3 spots to the state meet while breaking her previously set school records in each event. VanVranken had a third place finish in the women’s 1600 meter with a time of 5:15.50 (previously 5:24.12). She finished second in the women’s 800 meter with a time of 2:22.33 (Her previous record was 2:27.89).

VanVranken, Cadee Griffith, Katie Toney, and Emma Randall were seeded 5th in the women’s 4×800 meter relay. The relay squad broke their previously set school record (10:31.26) and knocked off fourth seeded Central Magnet to clinch 4th place and collect their ticket to the state event with a time of 10:30.18.

Aaron Gottlied had a great meet and was able to set some new PR’s. Gottlied finished 8th in the men’s 800 meters with a PR of 2:09.06. He also had an eighth place finish in the men’s 1600 meters setting a PR of 4:49.34. Gottlied and the Warren County relay team took tenth place in the 4×800 meter relay with a time of 9:15.74.

The track and field State meet will be held at Rockvale High School in Murfreesboro, TN on Wednesday, May 26. To view all results visit: https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/409415/results

On Saturday, April 17, the Warren County Track and Field Team ventured west to participate in the Tomahawk Chomp Team Championships at Riverdale High School in Murfreesboro. The team faced some challenging opponents, but continued their streak of setting PR’s and breaking school records.

Ella VanVranken and Cadee Griffith along with their Warren County teammates Katie Toney and Emma Randall crushed the long standing school record (11:50.22) in the 4×800 meter relay with a 10:31.26 pace. The school record breaking time was not enough to give them the victory as they finished third behind Riverdale and Oakland.

Aaron Gottlied set a PR in the 1600 meters and 800 meters. He finished 3rd in the 800 meters with a time of 2:10.33 and 6th in the 1600 meters with a pace of 5:00.46. Gottlied and the 4×800 meter relay team also had a 5th place finish with a time of 9:29.57.

Ally Beneke was victorious with her 5:04.00 high jump as she continues to hold on to her state ranking.

Athletes from Central Magnet, Columbia Central, Glencliff, Oakland, Riverdale, Rockvale, and Warren County competed in the meet.

On Thursday, April 22, the team traveled to Cumberland County. The dropping temperature did not stop the win streaks although they did take a toll on overall performances. Cadee Griffith had two first place finishes, one in the women’s 800 meter race with a time of 2:54.46 and another in the women’s 800 meter relay (11:31.06) with her teammates Katie Toney, Emma Randall, and Marissa Walker.

Griffith and Maleah Ruch raced the women’s 400 meter sprint where Griffith finished 4th (1:14.06) and Ruch finished 6th (1:20.17).

Ally Beneke continued her dominance with a 5-04.00 high jump, her closest competitor a foot shorter with a leap of 4-04.00. She also had a 1st place finish in the 4×200 meter relay (Sable Winfree, Kyra Perkins, and Savannah Winfree) with a time of 1:55.18.

Overall, York took first place in the meet with an overall total of 167.5 points, followed by Warren County with 107 points, CumberlandCounty (98.5), Livingston Academy (69), Clarkrange (50), Kingston High School (50), and White County (30).

The team travels to Cookeville High School on Tuesday, April 27th for the last regular season meet. The race to the State Championships begins with a subsectional meet on Friday, April 30th at Cumberland County High School. The top 4 individuals and relay teams in each event will advance to the TSSAA D1 Large School Section 2 Meet which will be held at Riverdale High School, Friday, May 7. The State Championships will be held on Wednesday, May 26th at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville.

The DeKalb County Tigerettes lost 14-7 at Watertown on Tuesday.

DC grabbed the lead with five runs in the second inning. Kennedy Polk’s sacrifice fly scored one run with singles by Madison Martin and Jacey Hatfield, and an error on a ball put in play by Morgan Walker

Watertown took the lead for good scoring eight runs in the fourth inning.

The Watertown pitcher surrendered seven runs on 12 hits over seven innings, striking out three.

Ellie cripps took the loss for DeKalb County. She went three and two-thirds innings, allowing nine runs on 11 hits, striking out three and walking one.

DeKalb County racked up 12 hits on the day including from Emma Johnson, and Polk. Hatfield went 3-for-5 at the plate to lead the Tigerettes in hits.