wrsmith

I'm really sorry to learn about these injuries. Jake is a great kid and I wish him the best with his recovery. With a bit of sour grapes here, I'll say that Chester County had a very fast and athletic backup to Jake two years ago who was turned off of football by Jeff Cupples. The freshman QB during the 2002 season went to state in the high jump as a freshman (by the way, the only Chester County athlete to EVER go to Spring Fling) and knowledgeable football coaches will tell you that the greatest single measure of athleticism is vertical jump. He also ran a very fast 200 meters his freshman year. However, when Coach Cupples told him during the fall of 2002 that there was no way he would have a chance to beat out Jake in the future, he lost interest in football. Even though he might never have beaten Jake out (and Jake was certainly a better QB when he was a soph and the backup was a freshman), I couldn't imagine a coach making the sort of statement that would completely discourage a kid by telling him that he would never be good enough to take a starting position away from another player. I always thought coaches tried to encourage battles for starting positions in order to motivate both players. This former Eagle moved to Texas after that freshman year and no longer even plays football due to this unbelievable experience with the Chester County coach. If things had worked out differently, Chester County might have a very fast, quick and athletic QB that could have stepped in when Jake was injured and then led the team next year. By the way, Mason is also a great kid, very intelligent with a good arm, but the problem with speed and quickness showed up when he was the 8th grade QB. If he can work on improving his speed and quickness during the offseason, he should be able to have a good year next year since next year's senior class has some good athletes. Too bad he won't have the fastest kid in the school, Jerrin Wilson (probably misspelled his name), as one of his running backs. Coach Cupples alienated him also and turned him off to football with the favortism he showed toward another running back/defensive back. Wilson's speed could have taken a lot of pressure off of a QB and he's a great kid also. Well, best of luck to the Eagles against Camden and in 2005. Even though I think Coach Cupples has made several mistakes over his first three years based on immaturity and inexperience (e.g., the quote he gave the newspaper in the fall of 2002 in which he said there were good athletes at Chester County but he just needed to get them to come out for football, thus belittling the talents of those players who were on the team that year), I believe he can build a good program at Chester County.

I've been keeping up with CC long distance this year so am somewhat uninformed. I'm certainly delighted to see that they've already won 7 ballgames. I see a couple of things coming into play for this game. First, as has already been mentioned by others, CC's inability to mount an effective passing game has the potential of causing problems if Camden's defense puts 9 in the box and forces the pass. My recollection from last year is that CC's quarterback is somewhat slow afoot and also slow to make decisions in the passing game (e.g., getting rid of the ball when necessary). That results in sacks and other problems related to the passing game. The lack of a passing game will really be a problem if CC falls behind by a couple of TD's. Second, I think the watering down of the CC schedule may have an adverse impact here as the Eagles might not be as well prepared as they would have been after playing teams such as McNairy Central. While I understand the coach's decision to go for wins against poor quality 1A schools in order to build the confidence of a team unaccustomed to winning, I believe it may backfire at this stage of the season, especially since Camden seems to be peaking at the end of the season. My heart is with CC in this one but I think they have a very difficult task facing them playing an improving Camden team on their home turf. Good luck Eagles!

I hope you're right about Chester County doing well this year and they are certainly loaded with seniors. However, it's a group that has no experience with winning football and an inexperienced coach. Good luck to the Eagles.

I've looked on the TSSAA web site for the qualifiers for the state meets but there's nothing there. Does anyone know of a place I could find results for all of the sectionals. I'm especially interested in the boys high jump qualifiers in A-AA. Thanks for any help you can provide.

For high school, very few jumpers (male or female) jump higher than their height. However, if you look at older jumpers, they must jump significantly over their height to be competitive (the world record for men's high jump is over 8 feet and I believe the jumper was about 6'3"). Your daughter is in good shape now but will need to start thinking about jumping over her height as she progresses. Good luck and happy jumping!

First, let me thank everyone who has provided me with some input. As to a couple of questions that were raised, we are a church of Christ family and I would likely look first at C of C schools. With that said, however, I would look at other good private schools also. It seems from a distance that Franklin Road Academy has the best track program in the state. I have not been able to find their tuition rates on their web site and I fear that means that it will be very high. As you could see from my original post, I'm very concerned about academics and that will be a driving factor. Both of my boys are intelligent (if you can believe IQ tests) and make excellent grades. They also happen to be excellent athletes (my older boy and I just returned from the meet in Knoxville where he was disappointed in his high jump of 6'1" but he had just jumped two days earlier and it's difficult for a high jumper to jump in meets that close together). I just want them to be happy, learning (with me still having enough money to live on) and have access to good track and field facilities and coaching along with other sports they might be interested in (the 7th grader is 5'11" already and is high jumping 5'4"). As we drove back from Knoxville today, we stopped by the campus of Ezell-Harding and looked at their track facilities. We will likely be taking a family trip to Nashville soon to take a closer look so any additional information you can provide about quality and costs of Nashville area private schools is most appreciated. Again, thanks for everything you've provided to this point. It's been very helpful.

My family and I are considering moving from west Tennessee to the Nashville area for better academics and athletics. My older son will be a sophomore next year and his primary sport is track and field (already 6'2" high jump this season as a freshman and a good pole vaulter). However, he enjoys football and has played QB/DB/WR. We would like to find a place that has good academics, a good track and field facility and coach, and where he will have a good chance to be on the field in football and not on the bench waiting to be a senior. I was wondering what anyone on the board could tell me about Ezell-Harding, Goodpasture and David Lipscomb for academics, track and field, and what they have coming back at QB, wide receiver and defensive back. Any info you could provide would be most appreciated. [Edited by wrsmith on 4-18-03 12:58A]

BoredGuy, this is your old buddy from riding to the game at Trenton last year. I'd like to give you a little info "offline" if you'd send me your e-mail address. You can reach me at wrsmith@pepperdine.edu. I look forward to hearing from you.

Kenwoodrun, I sure wish my son could come to your meet next week but I'll be out of town at a meeting and his school won't bring him. He just returned from a meet at University School of Jackson where he cleared 6'2" (just missed at 6'4"). We're going to Knoxville Saturday but it's tough for a jumper to do well in two meets that close together. You said in an earlier post that he might do that magical 7' mark someday and I'm starting to believe it with the kind of freshman year he's having. I still think he will do 6'4" this year if he stays healthy (maybe I'll dream of 6'5" or 6'6" since there's a freshman in Long Beach, California that's already done 6'6"). I just wish he had a place to practice. We're considering moving to the Nashville area so he can develop in the high jump and the pole vault (perhaps the decathlon also). We're looking at Ezell-Harding, Goodpasture and David Lipscomb at this point and I wondered if you had any insight into the track programs at those schools. Good luck with the upcoming Kenwood Relays. It sounds like it's shaping up to be a great event.

I wouldn't say that Chris Wilson has conceded that he isn't the best jumper in the state. He's cleared 6'9" and Bowman has cleared 6'10". There's also the matter of "pressure" jumping. Some people thrive on pressure (e.g., setting records, winning big meets, third attempts, etc.) while others don't handle it as well. While I don't know either of these gentlemen, I'd love to go to a competition where they were in head-to-head competition. Good luck to both of them as they go for 7 feet and hopefully higher.

Freshman (14 years old, not 16 like some) Derek Smith of Chester County has jumped 6 feet both indoors and outdoors already. He jumped 6' feet at the Jackson Central-Merry facility today (Saturday, March 29). This is the worst facility I've ever seen. It was dangerous for both track and field competitions. He had to jump from 6 steps instead of 10, on wet asphalt that was soaking wet with cracks and grass everywhere. If he stays healthy he might well go 6'4" or better as a freshman with a decent facility and weather. If he had a place to practice, he might really excel (and, yes, I'm biased because he's my son).

I'm trying to find out what, if any, discussion took place at any of the TSSAA regional rules meetings about lengthening the TSSAA sanctioned length of the track season. For example, starting the season in January rather than in March so that Tennessee athletes aren't penalized and prevented from competing in indoor meets that only allow athletes to participate who are "officially" representing their high schools. [Edited by wrsmith on 2-5-03 1:39A]

To my knowledge, the only way you can determine from the TSSAA web site if a school runs track is to look at each individual school's information and see if they list a track coach. If they don't list a coach, you can assume they don't field a team and vice-versa.

I've heard rumors that at some of the regional meetings there was some discussion of lengthening the season to allow Tennessee athletes to participate in indoor meets while officially representing their high schools. Can anyone tell me if they've been at a meeting where such a discussion took place and what sentiments were expressed by those in attendance? thanks for any information you can provide

How about any exciting new talent in the field?