Few former athletes who are current high school coaches have the distinction of participating in Spring Fling (1994 to present) as a player and coach and have a state championship included in their resume.
The Chattanooga area has at least three – Tara Garner (Boyd Buchanan tennis), Dustin Kane (Baylor tennis) and Kelli Howard Smith (Baylor softball) – who meet the above mentioned criteria and all three are coaching this week in Spring Fling XXIII in Murfreesboro.
Tara Garner – Tara won back-to-back state singles championships for Boyd Buchanan in 2008-09, is in her second year as tennis coach for the Bucs, coached a doubles team in Spring Fling last year and has a singles player (Christina Amos) in the tournament this year.
Christina faces Emily Enoch (CPA) Thursday at 1 p.m. EDT in a state quarterfinals match Thurs. May 26.
Dustin Kane – Dustin reached the state tennis singles semifinals in 1998 as a senior at East Ridge and later played for MTSU and UTC … He is in his seventh year as head girls tennis coach at Baylor and has led the Red Raiders to five straight team titles – 2011-2015 – and Baylor is the favorite to win a sixth straight this week.
Baylor girls face Harpeth Hall in the semifinals Tuesday at 9 a.m. at Old Fort Park tennis complex.
Kelli Howard Smith – Kelli has state championships as a player and coach … was a member of the 1994 Red Raider softball team which won Spring Fling I at Warner Park … she was also on the 1993 state championship team the year before Spring Fling was born … she has also coached Baylor to seven state softball titles – 2003-04-05-11-12-13-15 - all in the Spring Fling Era.
Baylor opens defense of its state championship Wed. at 11 a.m. against St. Benedict at the Starplex.
Great Tennis Addition: The Old Fort Park Tennis Center has 24 outdoor courts, 16 of which are lighted.
Indoor Courts: The new, climate-controlled Adams Tennis Complex has 8 indoor, color-coated asphalt tennis courts with two scoreboards, an upstairs mezzanine for spectator viewing, plus locker rooms and a pro shop.
Spring Fling XXIII
If You Are Going or Want Information
Tickets: $10 per day
Parking: $5 per day
Important web sites
brackets.tssaa.org/scheduleFull.cfm
tssaa.org/tssaa-spring-fling-coverage-keep/
for tennis results go to: brackets.tssaa.org
MAP of Spring Fling Venues – go to tssaa.org/map-of-tssaa-spring-fling-venues/
Monday – Track’s Decathlon (Monday & Tuesday) and Pentathlon - MTSU
Tuesday – Baseball, Softball, Soccer, Tennis are under way ... 2nd day of Decathon
Wednesday – Track and Field team competition begins at MTSU
Spring Fling continues through Friday at various locations
Tennis – Old Fort Park
Soccer – Siegel Soccer Complex
Softball – Starplex
Baseball – Multiple Sites .. all championship finals at MTSU
Track and Field - MTSU
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net