Hunter: Ready for next season?



By DAVID HUNTER

Courier Sports Writer

The end of the Cannon County Dixie Youth Association 2016 season was a couple of weeks ago with Championship weekend as six teams were crowned tournament winners in their respective divisions. Now, we can say the 2015-16 sporting calendar in officially over here in town. However, preparations are going on for the upcoming season, which is only a month away for all of the local sports teams in all age groups.

The sporting year ended with a bang for a local high school runner and six CCDYA teams. During the latter stages of May, CCHS junior Hannah Whited had a chance to repeat as TSSAA Spring Fling champion in the 4x800 relay for the Murfreesboro Central Magnet track and field team. However, she was running the anchor leg and she was passed on the last lap by eventual Class A/AA state champ by Christian Academy of Knoxville sophomore Rebecca Story, and the Lady Tigers finished runner-up.

There is more to the story (pardon the pun). In the June 27 issue of Sports Illustrated, the one with LeBron James on the cover celebrating the NBA title for Cleveland, Story was featured on page 24 in the Faces in the Crowd section of the publication featuring a paragraph about her not only winning the 4x800 relay, but only winning the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 during the same 2016 TSSAA Spring Fling meet.

You might see these two on either the cross country course or track compete against each other this upcoming season as Whited enters into her senior season for the Lionettes and Lady Tigers. I do want to give props to Whited for her willingness to speak with me during several occasions the previous school year either after cross country and track meets with class, dignity and honesty.

I hope to wish her and the rest of the local student-athletes and coaches at all levels good luck heading into the new school year in August, and thanks for making my job easier by giving your time and help with anything I need during the year.

I also want to give special thanks to Jen Bane, and the rest of the CCDYA staff for all of their help during championship weekend a few weeks ago. It was one of my favorite events to cover this season, and the players and coaches made it happen with their time win or loss in their respective title games. Congrats to all of the CCDYA teams on a great season.

Finally, I need your help with story ideas during the month of July, and I will cover anything and everything. You can email me the future story ideas at dhunter@cannoncourier.com.