CROSSVILLE — As a continuation of the table tennis program which began 2010, Stone Memorial High School recently hosted another history-making event in Cumberland County as well as the State of Tennessee.

I am proud to announce that the Program has taken roots to the extent that there are now four high schools participating in the first ever table tennis league in the state of Tennessee.   The participating schools are Cumberland County High School (CCHS), Rhea County High School (Rhea), Stone Memorial High School (Stone), and Taft Youth Development Center (Taft). 

Rhea County won the regular season league in singles play with CCHS, Taft, and Stone finishing second, third, and fourth, respectively.  Taft won first place in League doubles while Rhea, CCHS, and Stone then finished second, third, and fourth.

Many players attained calculated ratings based upon their results on both in-school play and inter-school competition. These ratings made it possible to conduct meaningful competitions during League play and to facilitate the season-ending Tri-County Championship Tournament.

The Tri-County Tournament results are as follows:

CATEGORY I―Overall schools singles champions were Rhea County, first place; CCHS, second place; Taft, third place; and Stone, fourth place.

CATEGORY II―Overall schools doubles champions were CCHS, first place; Taft, second place; Rhea County, third place; and Stone, fourth place.

CATEGORY III―Individual singles champions were Garion Fine, Rhea County, first place; Daniel Koehl, CCHS, second place; Devante Lomnick, Taft, third place; and Levi Melton, Stone, fourth place.

CATEGORY IV― Due to time constraints there was no doubles playoff.

Garion Fine of Rhea County was the bin individual singles winner at a new rating of 705, the highest rating in the Tri-County.  This was followed by  Daniel Koehl at a new rating of 654.

The four schools will receive trophies reflecting their finishes in both the singles and doubles and shown in CATEGORIES I  and II.

Individual winners shown in CATEGORY III will receive awards in recognition of their excellent play as follows:

Garrion Fine: Three-year membership in the USATT; Prepaid entry in the *KTTC Foothills 11, 2-Star USATT sanctioned tournament.

Daniel Koehl: Three-year membership in the USATT; Prepaid entry in the *KTTC Foothills 11, 2-Star USATT sanctioned tournament.

Devante Lomnick: One-year membership in the USATT; Prepaid entry in the *KTTC Foothills 11, 2-Star USATT sanctioned tournament.

Levi Melton: One-year membership in the USATT; Prepaid entry in the *KTTC Foothills 11, 2-Star USATT sanctioned tournament.

We thank the Stone Memorial High School and staff and  for their support in providing the  great venue for the conduct of the Tri-County Table Tennis Championships.

We also thank the visiting schools and visiting spectators for their participation and support in this first-of-a-kind competition.

We also recognize and thank Coaches Pat Koehl, Claude Martin, Bob Barnett, Bob Bowen, Nathan Brown, Scott Calahan, Braden Prudohm, and Tony Williams for their unselfish donation of their time in training these students in the wonderful sport for life. Table Tennis.

My thanks and gratitude for my friends, club mates, and playing partners,  Michael Plummer, and Ruth and Woody Gove, for volunteering their valuable time in helping with this and other tournaments.

We all thank Joseph Newgarden who made all of this possible through motivation and his donation of the equipment.  Mr Newgarden came all of the way from Gallatin, Tennessee for his brief visit to the tournament.

Thanks also to Michael Plummer for his generous donation of the club shirts.

Planning is now underway for the 2011-2012 season, which should be bigger and better than this inaugural season.

(Editor's note: Bill Neely is the program director for Newgy Industries Table Tennis Schools Program in East Tennessee.)