1) Departure of Johnson voted year's top story

The tenure of Tommy Johnson as Warren County High School football coach was tenuous at best. On Dec. 8, it was officially over. After four years as the leader of the Pioneers, Johnson resigned from his post. His decision to leave Warren County following a stint that saw the Pioneers go 7-33 was the Southern Standard’s top sports story of the year.
Expectations were high for the Pioneers this year. Warren County was entering a new district and featured 15 seniors who had played their entire high school careers under coach Johnson. Summer success in 7-on-7 scrimmages and fall camps had fans thinking the Pioneers could be a playoff contenders. Instead, Warren County struggled to a 1-9 season which featured several heart-breaking losses.
The Pioneers lost in the final minute or overtime in three of their last four games of the regular season, along with dropping District 6-AAA battles with White County and Cookeville at home in games that could have went either way late.
Losing double-digit leads to Cumberland County and Stone Memorial – two District 6-AAA opponents – in Crossville seemed to ramp up grumbling about the future of the Pioneer coach.
Johnson decided it was in the best interest of the program and his career to make the move and announced his decision to his team after the Pioneers’ banquet.
The search for Johnson’s replacement began Monday, Dec. 9 when school officials posted the job and started accepting applicants. Before schools closed for winter break, WCHS had already received 50 résumés. The interview process is scheduled to start Friday, Jan. 10 and a coach should be in place by late January.

2) All-state players lead Lady Pioneers to sectional tourney

Success has become synonymous with the WCHS Lady Pioneer soccer team.
Warren County finished the 2013 season 16-6, advanced to the regional tournament for the fourth straight season and advanced to the sectional tournament for the second time in as many years.
Warren County advanced to the finals of the District 6-AAA tournament with a 5-2 win over White County. The Lady Pioneers followed it up with an 8-0 loss to Cookeville in the title game, sending the team on the road for its regional game against McMinn County.
Warren County had lost its last two road regional games – in 2010 and 2011 at Soddy Daisy – but a 1-0 triple overtime win over the Lady Cherokees changed the team’s fortune. Ansley Mullican and Morgan McCormick – the team’s pair of all-state honorees – combined for the dramatic goal that pushed the Lady Pioneers into a rematch with Cookeville in the regional final.
In the rematch, freshman Natalie Reed gave the Lady Pioneers an early lead against the Lady Cavaliers, but Cookeville rallied back with two goals in the final 15 minutes to win on its home field.
Warren County was forced to travel to Murfreesboro for the second straight year for sectionals and played tooth-and-nail with the Lady Patriots before the home team broke a scoreless tie in the second half to advance.
Along with being named all-state, Mullican and McCormick were named all-region – joined by senior Taylor Mullican. The trio were joined by Lesley Sweeton, Rylee Hilliard, Kristin Maynard and Jessie Newby on the All-District 6-AAA team.

3) WCMS spring teams win CTC championships

Something must’ve been in the air at Warren County Middle School during the spring. And whatever it was, it produced winning teams.
During the spring sports season in 2013, WCMS saw three of its programs claim Central Tennessee Conference titles. The boys soccer team claimed the regular-season and tournament title, the Lady Pioneer softball team won the CTC tournament and the baseball team was the regular-season CTC champion.
The Pioneer soccer team concluded an undefeated season with a 2-1 win over Shelbyville in the CTC tournament finals. For the year, Warren County was 9-0-1 and its lone tie came against Shelbyville in the regular season.
The Lady Pioneer softball team had a successful season, but it was in the tournament where the team really shined. Powered by great defense, strong pitching and opportunistic offense, the Lady Pioneers won four straight games to claim the CTC tournament title. In the championship game, Warren County defeated Coffee County 6-3.
The WCMS baseball team used an 11-game winning streak in the regular season to take home its CTC title. Warren County finished 13-2 in the regular season and followed it up with a second-place finish in the conference tournament.

4) WCHS baseball beats highly-touted Tullahoma

Nobody gave the WCHS baseball team much of a chance against nationally-ranked Tullahoma. Not even with the Pioneers playing the game at Patrick Ramsey Field in front of a packed crowd gathered to see just how good the Sheffield brothers and the Wildcats really were.
On March 22, the Wildcats weren’t better than Warren County. The Pioneers won a wild 14-13 contest over Tullahoma – who came into the game ranked No. 23 in national rankings.
Tullahoma featured Justus and Jordan Sheffield – two players most project as high MLB draft picks once their high school careers ended. While the Sheffields put on a show, it was closer Collin Smedley who took top honors on the night.
Smedley pitched his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the final inning as he preserved the Pioneers huge victory over the Wildcats. Will Sweeton was the winning pitcher as he went six strong innings against Tullahoma.
The Pioneers used an eight-run third inning to rally from a 7-1 hole and win. Lee Carden started the rally with a bunt single, then ended it with his first career grand slam.
While the win was huge, Warren County wasn’t able to build off it as the season progressed. The Pioneers finished the year 13-17 and lost in the opening round of the District 6-AAA tournament.

5) Lady Pioneer golf team wins district, goes to state

The Lady Pioneer golf team started its 2013 season with a string of tournament victories. The Warren County girls golfers ended their year in the state tournament.
With freshman Hannah Powell leading the way, the Lady Pioneers won the District 6-AAA and Region 3-AAA tournaments at River Watch golf course before taking fourth place at the state tournament held at Willow Brook golf course.
Powell was the team’s top performer as she earned District 6-AAA player of the year honors in her first year with the team. Powell was also the top medalist in the district and regional tournaments.
Sophomore Saylem Powell and junior Brittany Myers were also stars on the golf courses areound the Midstate as the Lady Pioneers claimed tournament titles in Tullahoma and Murfreesboro during the season.
At the state tournament, Warren County finished the first day in a three-day tie for first place with Rossview and Science Hill. A tough second day dropped the Lady Pioneers to fourth place while Science Hill went on to win the tournament.
All three players will be back this summer as the Lady Pioneers hope to embark on another run to the state tournament.

6) Lady Pioneer tennis team goes 12-0, wins district championship

When tennis season started last spring, fans were wondering if the WCHS boys team could make it four District 6-AAA championships in a row. Instead of watching the Pioneers win though, it was the Lady Pioneers who took home a title.
The Warren County High School girls tennis team won the regular season District 6-AAA title with a 12-0 record.
All-District 6-AAA seniors Peyton Baker and Susie Brown led the Lady Pioneers to their first victory over Cookeville in over a decade, then followed it up by sweeping past Coffee County, White County and Cumberland County to claim the District 6-AAA title.
Helping the team’s cause were the all-district doubles team of Tamomi Yago and Katie Phillips. Elizabeth Oxley and Kendal Smith also earned all-district honors.
Warren County completed its perfect regular season April 23 by sweeping Franklin County on its home court.
The Lady Pioneers would go on to advance to the finals of the District 6-AAA tournament, but fell in the championship match to Cookeville.

7) Montgomery resigns, Dillard hired as WCHS basketball head coach

Malcolm Montgomery’s resignation after four years as the WCHS boys basketball coach caught many by surprise. The revelations about his replacemant John Dillard’s past were even more of a shock.
Montgomery stepped down in April – two months after guiding the Pioneers to their third regional berth in four seasons. His decision left a void that WCHS officials filled May 16 when Dillard was named the newest Pioneer coach.
Shortly after announcing Dillard as head coach, it was found out he resigned at McNeese State in 2003 amid academic fraud charges.
WCHS principal Anthony Cassel and school superendent Bobby Cox admitted it was not known during the hiring process Dillard had resigned at McNeese State, but each offered support of their choice after receiving the news.
Dillard coached his first game for the Pioneers at Charlie Dalton Gym Nov. 12. He earned his first win Nov. 17 against Watertown.
After losing 11 of their first 12 games, the Pioneers bounced back over Christmas break to post back-to-back wins in the Midstate Christmas tournament en route to a second-place finish.

8) Fisher retires

Franklin Fisher ended an 18-year tenure with the Warren County High School volleyball team in February when he retired as the coach of the Lady Pioneers.
Fisher won 343 games as volleyball coach, including his most successful year in his final season with the Lady Pioneers.
During the 2012 season, Warren County won 42 games while capturing the District 6-AAA title. The team’s biggest win came against Cookeville as the Lady Pioneers beat the Lady Cavaliers for the first time in the program’s history.
Most of that history came while Fisher was leading the way. He took over the job in 1994 and presided over the program as it grew from a relative unknown into a Midstate powerhouse.
In the last decade of his career, Fisher’s team won 26 games per year on average. The Lady Pioneers also advanced to the regional tournament for the first time in program history in 2010 and repeated the feat in 2011.
Dena Upton was picked as Fisher’s replacement while the legendary coach served as a special consultant for the program. Fisher is now the principal at Warren Academy.

9) Ten WCHS seniors sign scholarships

When graduation commenced the school year in May, many of the school’s top athletes were throwing their hats in the air. The class of 2013 produced 10 players who signed college scholarships to continue their athletic careers at the next level.
The list included three girls soccer players, two boys basketball players, one golfer, one softball player, one boys soccer player, one baseball player and one football player.
Kimberly Warden, Lyndi Dodd and Madison Smartt each signed scholarships after helping the 2012 girls soccer team win the District 6-AAA title and advance to the sectional tournament. Warden and Dodd continued to their run as teammates when they both signed at Tennessee Temple, while Smartt moved on to attend Covenant College.
Tucker Smith and Nick Simmons also moved to the next level together when they signed scholarships to attend Bryan College and play basketball. They joined Katelyn Davenport in Dayton as she also went to Bryan College on a golf scholarship.
Monica Lane was the third Lady Pioneer to make the move to Chattanooga when she made plans to attend Tennessee Temple on a softball scholarship. Garrett Ortiz made it four Warren County graduates at Tennessee Temple as he inked a soccer scholarship to be a Crusader.
David Lee parlayed his Pioneer pitching career into a scholarship at Tusculum College.
Alex Hillis was the only player to leave state as he attends Berry College in Georgia on a football scholarship.

10) Lady Broncos win MTAC championship

When Boyd High School decided to leave the TSSAA and move to the Middle Tennessee Athletic Conference, school officials believed the Broncos and Lady Broncos would compete for championships on a yearly basis. It only took two years for that prediction to be correct.
In the second year competing in the MTAC conference, the Lady Broncos went undefeated during the 2012-13 regular season to claim their first MTAC championship.
Boyd went 15-0 in the regular season while relying on a senior class featuring Ashley Newby, Rachel Campbell, Bailey Gilliam and Marisa Hillis.
Many of the Lady Bronco wins were blowouts as coach Donna Newby had her team clicking on all cyclinders throughout the regular season.
Boyd nearly swept the MTAC titles, but a last-second loss to the Middle Tennessee Heat in the tournament semifinals ended the team’s run at perfection. For the year, the Lady Broncos finished 17-2 and Hillis took home all-tournament honors after the team’s final game.
This season, the Lady Broncos have continued their regular-season winning streak in MTAC play. Boyd has won its first six MTAC games, pushing the regular-season streak to 21 straight wins.