Middle School Athletics

 

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men”. (Colossians 3:23)

The purpose for our middle school athletics is to build on the Christian principle that we as athletes have the opportunity to represent Christ in our attitudes and conduct.

As coaches we must emphasize our Christian journey in our practices and competitions. We also serve as a feeder program for the high school, and it is our goal to help each athlete reach that next level. It is for this reason that middle and high school coaches work closely together to develop a team concept and a winning attitude. Whether it is in victory or in defeat, student athletes learn to glorify God, because it is the ultimate victory in Christ that remains the primary focus.

Jared Clark, Middle School Athletic Director
865.691.3427

 

Middle School Sports
CLICK ON HIGHLIGHTED LINKS FOR THE SPORT'S WEB PAGE
FALL
WINTER
SPRING

Cheerleading
Boys' and Girls' Cross Country Football
Golf
Girls' Soccer
Volleyball

Boys' Basketball A Team
Boys' Basketball B Team
Girls' Basketball A Team
Girls' Basketball B Team
Cheerleading
Wrestling
Baseball
Softball
Boys' Soccer

2011-2012 Middle School Schedules and Forms
Updated 02/13/2012

All athletes are required to have a valid (after 5/01/2011) sports physicals on file with the school before participating in ANY practice or game.Turn in your completed forms to your coach or to the Athletic Office, located in the High School building.

Congratulations to the
2012 KYS 9-11 Girls Basketball Tournament Champions!

This team, coached by Brett Ellison and James Lewis, was comprised of GCA 5th grade girls: Tara Conway, Abby Dickens, Olivia Ellison, Lauren Lewis, Gentry McReynolds, Kara Nipper, Virginia Pirkle, Reagan Shaw, and Abby White. These young Lady Rams competed in the Knoxville Youth Sports basketball league to better prepare themselves for middle school basketball.  Great job, girls!  We look forward to seeing you on the MS court next year.






Basketball B Teams Finish Strong

The GCA MS Boys B team earned runner-up status in the 2012 KISL tournament held at St. Joseph's School.  The young Rams netted a place in the championship game against Webb but came up short.  Still, the team accumulated an outstanding record of 11-5 for the season.  C.J. Gettelfinger received All-League and All-Tournament honors; Grant Ledford also earned All-Tournament honors.

The GCA MS Girls B team finished 2nd in the league with an overall season record of 9-6 while competing in the Small School "A" Division.  Bailey Akers received All-League honors this year.  The future looks bright for our middle school basketball program!

Boys Win KISL Title with 22-1 Record; Girls Finish as League Runner-Up

Congratulations to the Middle School Boys A Team who defeated Webb School to claim the 2012 KISL Championship. This year’s team finished with an incredible record of 22-1. Earning KISL All-league honors were Lee Poff and Jon Creel and teammates John Holland and Ben Andrews were named to the KISL All-tournament team. Robbie Windham was named MVP of the KISL Tournament.  Great job guys, we are proud of you!

Congratulations to the Middle School Girls A Team who finished runner-up in the KISL Tournament losing to Webb School in the final game. The Lady Rams finished with an outstanding record of 18-6. Katherine Griffith and Calynne Pridemore were named to the KISL All-league team and McKenna Wilson and Calynne Pridemore received all-tournament honors. Great job ladies!

MS Boys are 2012 KISL Champs! MS Girls were runners-up in KISL 2012

Clean Sweep at HMMS Tip-Off Classic



For the first time both boys and girls Middle School A teams brought home the championship trophy from the HMMS Tip-Off Classic.
All-Tournament players were: Katherine Griffith, Kristin Hunt, Calynne Pridemore, John Holland, Robby Windham and Lee Poff
This was a complete sweep because the MS cheerleaders also won the cheer competition! Great job, Rams!

2011 MS Football made Great Strides


The 2011 Middle School Football Rams had a good year but our record did not show it. We finished the year with a 4-5 record. We had 23 players that worked really hard, played through injuries and learned to battle as a family. This team had some off the field accomplishments that need to be mentioned: first, we had one player get saved at the middle school retreat; second, we had a parent come back after camp and rededicated his life to Christ, and it has changed his family and he is a great mentor to the players; third, the last four weeks of the season, every player passed every class they were in—not one F; finally, in this group of players, no one was put in detention all season. With all the accomplishments this team did off the field, this team took great strides in becoming MEN of HONOR.

2011 MS A Volleyball

Back Row: Calynne Pridemore, Katherine Griffith, Ashlyn Robbins, Melody Coker, Savannah Brazzell, Emily Human, Coach Clark
Front Row: Haley Hatmaker, Ashley Ellison, Bailey Akers, Savannah McNelly

The middle school A volleyball team recently finished up their season with a loss to CAK in the KISL tournament. This group of young ladies worked extremely hard to develop their skills and showed great improvement from the previous year. The team finished with a record of 4-11 which included many tightly contested games against some very strong opponents. This year’s team was a very close knit group of girls who not only worked hard on the court, but also excelled in the classroom and demonstrated great Christian character at all times. Big congratulations to Calynne Pridemore who was named to the KISL All-Tournament Team.

Future MS Cross Country Member garners State Competition Title

C.J. Gettelfinger, a 5th grader in Mrs. Bass' homeroom, won 1st place in the 1 mile run at the 2011 Tennessee State MS Cross Country Championship.  C.J.'s time was a blistering 5:41!  Congratulations, C.J. !

2011 Cross Country Team gains Experience

Back Row: Coach Thacker, Coach Lower, Sarah McIntyre, Meg Lampley, Andi Pomeroy, Hope Roberts, Lexie Lambert, Coach Down
Front Row: Spencer Hollingsworth, Nathan Holland, Chris Crawford, Eric Beecham, Timothy Thacker, Brent Borden 
Not pictured: Mark Rhea

The 2011 MS Cross Country Team had a terrific season. Our team doubled in size from our first year in 2010, allowing the girls and boys to compete as teams as well as individuals. The runners experienced a variety of trail courses and weather (fun in the mud) while racing at locations such as Melton Lake, Cove Lake, Johnson University, and Victor Ashe Park. It was exciting to see the times of each runner improve significantly from the beginning to the end of the season. The high school team is looking forward to our prepared 8th graders running for them next season.

At the Tennessee Middle School StateCross Country Championships on October 22, more than 300 runners from the state converged on Victor Ashe Park. Grace's own Chris Crawford and Timmy Thacker qualified in the regional meet for the state meet, held on a rainy Saturday. Both ran their best times of the season, with Chris finishing in the top 50, averaging less than 7:00 per mile!

 

2011 Girls "A" Soccer Team has Best Season Ever!

Back Row: Coach Buhl, Tinsley Knight, Regan Dunn, Anna Grace Buhl, Jordan Ellis, Tyler Mowery, Brittany Bowery,
SarahBeth Duncan, Sydney Weisberg, Coach McCullar, Coach Dunn
Front Row: Haley Rudl, McKenzie Krebs, Allie Dunn, Lauren McCullar, Emma Yambert, Sarah Houff, Ellysa Smith

The Grace Lady Rams Middle School soccer team had their most successful season yet, finishing with a 6-2-1 season, despite being put in a higher competitive bracket against much larger schools.  The 2 losses were each by a 1-goal margin.  The Lady Rams began the year in the pre-season by tying traditional powerhouse Oak Ridge.  Once the regular season began, the Lady Rams had big wins over Lenoir City, Fort Loudon, Norris and others.  The Lady Rams were led by leading scorers Allie Dunn (7th grade) and Lauren McCullar (8th grade), who both did a fantastic job at the forward positions.  Regan Dunn led the team with the most assists, many times crossing beautifully from deep in the corner. Inside midfield was anchored by Anna Grace Buhl and McKenzie Krebs who both did a great job of pushing the offense while helping on defense. McKenzie also did a super job when playing keeper. Jordan Ellis and Tyler Mowery also had excellent play at midfield, many times stopping the opposing team from moving on offense.  The outside midfield featured Sara Houff, Emma Yambert and Haley Rudl, who used skill and speed to help fuel the high scoring offense. The Lady Rams defense featured incredible speed and toughness.  Led by 8th graders Brittany Bowery, Sara Beth Duncan, Sydney Weisberg, and Tinsley Knight the defense gave up very few goals per game and even shut some teams out completely. Ellysa Smith did a great job and showed her toughness by splitting time between defense and keeper.  The Lady Rams were pushed up higher than ever before by being placed in the 2nd highest bracket among ALL Middle School teams at the end of the season tournament.  Coaches Mike McCullar, Tony Buhl and Brad Dunn are very proud of each girl on our team and know they all have a bright future in soccer.  In addition to having a great season, the girls always represented themselves, their families and GCA in the utmost manner.

2011 Girls "B" Soccer Team Wrap-Up

On the regular season, the Lady Rams finished with a 4-6-0 record. The team finished 5th out of 8 teams in their division. Overall, the season was a success for this very young team. During the end of the season tournament, the Lady Rams faced off against the #2 team in their division and lost 3-0. Next, they played the #2 from the division ABOVE, and lost 12-0. In their third and final game, the Lady Rams played another team within their own division and tied the game, 1-1, with a late goal by Lindsay Hackworth, assisted by Kendall Warwick and Gentry McReynolds! That was just one of the highlights this season; there were many, many others.  We had exceptional play from our two goalkeepers, Bryanah Hack and Michelle Edwards, throughout the season.  Seven girls, from our team of 14, scored goals!  Bryanah Hack and Gentry McReynolds each had 2 goals, Jessica Dukes had 3 goals, and Chloe Becker had 2 goals, on of which was a penalty kick.  Aly Coffey and Kendall Warwick both had 1 goal each, and Lindsay Hackworth had 21 goals; altogether, 32 goals were scored for the season!!  Gentry McReynolds led the team with 8 assists on goal, followed by Bryanah Hack and Jessica Dukes with 6, and Kendall Warwick with 4!  None of these would have been possible without the exceptional play of our midfielders and defensive fullbacks: Amaya Barger, Chloe Becker, Lakin Lawson, Lauren Ball, Morgan McMullen, and Alyssa Felts!  A special thank you goes out to Anna Arwood for her support of the team throughout the season!  Anna suffered a season-ending injury prior to the start of the regular season.  Great job, team!

 

Back Row: Coach Hackworth, Anna Arwood, Aly Coffey, Michelle Edwards, Lauren Ball, Lakin Lawson, Chloe Becker, Coach Arwood
Front Row: Jessica Dukes, Alyssa Felts, Gentry McReynolds, Bryanah Hack, Lindsay Hackworth, Morgan McMullen,
Amaya Barger, Kendall Warwick

2011 Softball Team (Fall League) Places 3rd in State Tournament!

The GCA Middle School Softball team (Fall League) finished 3rd in the SEAA Fall State Fastpitch Softball tournament held Oct. 14-16 at Caswell Ball Park.  The Lady Rams defeated teams like Farragut, Karns, and Powell to place 3rd in a field of 13 teams.  The girls also finished 3rd in the MS League tournament, which was held at the end of their regular season.  The Lady Rams sported bright pink socks in both tournaments to show their support for Breast Cancer Awareness month.  Congratulations, Lady Rams!

Back Row, L to R: Katelyn Lewis, McKenna Helton, Rachel Lett, Avery Jones, Sarah Ingram, Leslie Beecham
Middle Row: Kristin Hunt, Abby Smith, Brooke Wyrosdick, Ashley Ellison
Front Row (reclining): Bailey Akers, Olivia Ellison

2011 Girls' Volleyball "B" Team Garners Undefeated Regular Season!

The GCA Middle School B Volleyball team finished with an impressive record of 16-1.  The team was named KISL regular season champions and KISL tournament runner-up. The team rolled through the regular season accumulating a 14-0 record and winning their first two matches in the KISL tournament. The Lady Rams advanced to the KISL championship game and fell to St. Mary’s in an exciting three game match. Kristin Hunt received All-League honors and Darby Flickinger and Rachel Lett were named to the All-Tournament team. Congratulations to Coach Winters and our B volleyball team members on an awesome season.

Back Row, L to R: Rachel Lett, Katelyn Adamson, Coach Winters, Riley Hester,
Lily Duncan, Kelsey Holland (kneeling)
Front Row: Kristin Hunt, Darby Flickinger, Kiley Sexton, Rebecca Straub
Not pictured: Tara Flinchum