Nashville Marathon 5-time winner Scott Wietecha is new Beech cross country coach

It might seem that Scott Wietecha, winner of the last five St. Jude Rock ‘N’ Roll Nashville Marathons, has no more local goals left to reach when it comes to running.

His profound success in one of the nation’s biggest marathons has made Wietecha, 35, one of the area’s most accomplished novice runners.

He was featured in Runner’s World magazine in May after coasting to his fifth Nashville Marathon victory in April. He finished more than 16 minutes ahead of the runner-up.

There was, however, one achievement that had eluded Wietecha until recently.

He had always wanted to work with high school students. That finally happened when Wietecha was hired earlier this month to coach the Beech cross country team. Wietecha, a Hendersonville resident who was an elementary school teacher, will also coach the cross country team at T.W. Hunter Middle School.

“I’ve been looking for a high school job in the (Sumner) county to open up and this was the first thing I’ve seen since I’ve been here nine years,” said Wietecha, who will teach health and physical education at Beech. “I expect it to be more fulfilling because high school kids need more of a role model or a mentor than they do on the elementary level.”

It’s difficult to imagine a better role model for high school runners than Wietecha, whose friends gave him the nickname “Wintecha” after he won the Nashville Marathon for the fourth time in 2016.

“Everybody around here knows who he is so it’s really special to have him as our coach,” said Beech senior runner Lindsay Ahlmeyer. “I think kids trust him a lot because of his success and they know who he is. Because he knows what it’s like to go run when it’s really hot outside and you don’t want to and you’re tired. He really understands everything about it.”

Wietecha has coached several young runners over the last couple of years, but expects coaching a team to be considerably different.

“When you’re coaching an individual you concentrate on them specifically,” Wietecha said. “With team training you still have to do that, but you also have to figure out how to mold all of the pieces together to come up with the best possible puzzle you can. That’s probably going to be a bigger challenge.”

Wietecha has not decided if he will enter the 2018 Nashville Marathon. He does plan to participate in the Olympic Trials after missing out on them last year after suffering from an iron deficiency and fatigue.

“It’s really great having a coach who is still active in the sport because he coaches himself,” said David Ahlmeyer, Lindsay’s brother who is a junior at Beech. “He knows so much about coaching and the sport. I see his success and I can really trust that he knows what he is doing and he’s going to posture me for my own success.”  

NBA, NHL draft TV ratings still lag way behind NFL

Local fans didn't pay much attention to the NBA or NHL drafts, which were last week.

The NBA Draft on June 22 earned a 3.2 television rating (32,371 households) in the Nashville market, according to WTVF-5 programming and research director Mark Binda.

The NHL Draft first round the next day earned an 0.4 (4,046 households).

The first round of the NFL Draft in April earned a 7.9 (79,916 households).

Ex-Titan Kinney gets another job as fire chief 

Former Titans tight end Erron Kinney is resurrecting his career.

Not his football career, but the career he started after he retired from the NFL.

Kinney traded his football helmet for a firefighting helmet and in 2013 became the fire chief at Mt. Juliet when it re-instated its fire department. 

Kinney has kept a low profile since leaving Mt. Juliet a couple of years later, but recently was named chief of the fire department in Sherborn, Mass., according to the Boston Globe.

Kinney's wife, Julie, is from the area and attended Winsor School in Boston.

The couple's 6-foot-2 daughter Geanna is a sophomore and a promising high school basketball player.

Lee Fowler retiring, returning to Nashville

Former Vanderbilt basketball star Lee Fowler (1970-74), who later served as athletics director at Middle Tennessee State (1994-2000), is retiring and moving back to Nashville.

Fowler, 65, spent the last four years as the athletics director at South Carolina Update.

It was a position he accepted on an interim basis after he and his wife, Carol, had moved to Old Hickory.

Fowler ended up liking the area (Spartanburg) more than he expected and officials at South Carolina Upstate liked the job he did early on. After four months Fowler agreed to take the position on a full-time basis.

Fowler, who is from Columbia, plans to stay on until his replacement is hired.

Ex-Titans exec Jimmy Stanton named associate AD at Oregon

Former Titans vice president of communications Jimmy Stanton was named senior associate athletic director for communications at the University of Oregon on Thursday.

Stanton had also been associate AD for communications at Tennessee (2010-15), worked in public relations and marketing at Kentucky (2008-10), and been director of media relations for the Houston Astros (2001-08).

He left the Titans after 16 months last September and founded LKP Strategies based in Franklin. Stanton had also worked in the Titans media relations office from 1999-2000.

"(Stanton) brings extensive knowledge and experience working with an array of high-profile organizations and understands how innovation plays a critical role in telling the Oregon story," said Oregon athletics director Rob Mullens.

Lawson, Springer being inducted into Cumberland Hall of Fame

Father Ryan graduate Pat Lawson and former Hunters Lane basketball standout Brandon Springer are in the 2017 Cumberland University Sports Hall of Fame class.

Lawson started out as a student assistant for Cumberland basketball coach Mike Petrone and then Paul Peck.

After he graduated Lawson was hired as marketing director/assistant athletics director and in 2002 was named athletic director, a position he held for six years.

In 2008 Lawson returned to Ryan as athletics director.

Springer transferred from Columbia State in 2008.

In his senior season at Cumberland, Springer was one of the leading scorers in the NAIA, averaging 22.4 points. He also averaged 9.4 rebounds and was the TranSouth Conference Player of the Year.

Former softball standout Danielle Henry (2001-03) from Knoxville and wrestler Corey Bleaken (2007-11) from Clifton, N.J., will join Lawson and Springer when the class is inducted on Oct. 6.

Ex-Austin Peay standout is new AD for Maury County schools

Former Columbia High and Austin Peay baseball standout Chris Poynter is the new athletics director for Maury County Public Schools.

Poynter, 35, previously served as CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Maury County.

Poynter was an all-state first baseman at Columbia and a two-time All-OVC player at Austin Peay.

Coach Forum coming back to Vanderbilt

The Coach Forum is returning to Vanderbilt Student Life Center with a lineup that includes several local speakers.

The July 12 forum (8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.) is designed for high school and college coaches, athletics directors and other administrators. 

More than 300 attended the inaugural forum last year.

Some of the speakers include Vanderbilt women's basketball coach Stephanie White, Tennessee State men's basketball coach Dana Ford, Austin Peay football coach Will Healy along with Alabama softball coach Patrick Murphy and Chattanooga wrestling coach Heath Eslinger.

Others include former Titans linebacker Tim Shaw, who is battling ALS; former Trevecca basketball standout Eric Johnson, who is now vice president of youth development at STARS Nashville; Lipscomb and Belmont team physician Burton Elrod; former Georgia offensive guard Steve Herndon, who also played in the NFL;  former Texas Tech soccer star Hayley McCall, who was the 15th overall pick by New Jersey's Sky Blue FC of the National Women's Soccer League; and Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever sports psychologist Chris Carr.

To register visit thecoachforum.com.

Garmezy lands job with PGA Tour

Former University School of Nashville golfer Sara Garmezy just finished her college career at Yale but will stay involved in the game.

Garmezy, a four-time academic All-American, started her new job earlier this week with the PGA Tour in Ponte Vedra, Fla. She is a business development coordinator.

Part of Garmezy’s employment package includes a membership at TPC Sawgrass, home of The Players Championship and the island green.

Garmezy's brother Alex is a business development manager for the Predators.

Dawson leaves Vanderbilt

David Dawson, who spent the last four years as the Vanderbilt women's basketball sports information director and color analyst for the radio broadcasts, has left.

Dawson accepted a position with the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board in Franklin.

Book on Nashville's baseball history is available

"Nashville Baseball History: From Sulphur Dell to the Sounds" became available earlier this month.

It's latest book by local sports historian and author Bill Traughber.

The 224-page book has 86 illustrations. 

Former Sounds general manager Farrell Owens wrote the foreword and there are interviews with former Sounds owner Larry Schmittou, Skeeter Barnes and Buck Showalter.

The book is available at local bookstores, Amazon.com and SummerGameBooks.com. 

If you have an item for Midstate Chatter contact Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.

Sports on Nashville TV

The top five local ratings for sporting events from June 19-25:
1. PGA: Travelers Championship (final round) 3.9
2. NASCAR: Sonoma 350 3.5
3. NBA Draft: 3.2 
4. PGA: Travelers Championship (third round) 3.0 
5. College World Series: LSU vs .Oregon St. 2.7 
Each rating point is equal to 10,116 Nashville homes.
Source: Mark Binda, WTVF-5 programming & research director