Stephen has covered sports in the tri-state area for the Times Free Press for more than 26 years and was named Sports Editor in February of 2015 after 10 years as assistant sports editor, where he oversaw the prep sports staff. Stephen is among the most decorated writers in the TFP newsroom, having won 54 awards at the state, regional and national level ranging from investigative work to feature and news writing, including 22 awards in the past three years. Stephen was named one of the top 10 sports writers in the nation at the Associated Press Sports Editors' conference in Kissimmee Fla., in 2012, and has been recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists with Green Eyeshade southeast regional awards three times, where his work was noted for its high standards of ethical journalism. He received an Associated Press national award for a season-long story following the Taft Youth Center football team, became the first writer from the TFP staff to win first-place as the state's top overall sports writer by the Associated Press Media Editors and has also been named the state's overall Writer of the Year three times in the past four years. He has been awarded the state's top prep writer a record 18 times, including each of the past six years, is the first writer on the TFP staff to win the prestigious Lawrenceburg Quarterback Club's Sports Writer of the Year and was recognized with the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association's Sportsmanship Award for Contributor of the Year in the state. He is also a regular contributor previewing and highlighting prep football on local television. In 2013, Stephen co-authored a book about University of Tennessee football entitled "Game Of My Life". Stephen is a lifelong Chattanooga area resident and has two children, Riley and Lauren.
After a career that spanned four decades, Doug Armstrong decided it was time to step away. Armstrong announced his decision on Monday, retiring as boys' basketball coach and athletic director at McMinn Central, where he spent the last 29 of his 40-year career.
by Stephen HargisOn what would have been the first of the two-day practice round for the Masters Tournament, Augusta National Golf Club Chairman Fred S. Ridley announced a new date for the annual event.
by Stephen HargisThe adage is that a picture is worth a thousand words. But what about one that leaves you speechless?
by Stephen HargisFew professions can inspire people quite like coaches.
by Stephen HargisTypically our sports writers would spend much of their work days covering games on dusty ballfields or interviewing athletes and coaches in a locker room.
by Stephen HargisThe glimmer of hope for prep spring sports to be played in Tennessee is getting dimmer for TSSAA executive director Bernard Childress.
by Stephen HargisLong before ever meeting Jimmy Wigfall, I felt like I knew him. Like so many people who grew up in the Sequatchie Valley, I certainly knew of him.
by Stephen HargisThe annual Sunbelt Bakery Ironman 70.3 in Chattanooga has been postponed, according to the event's official website.
by Stephen HargisDozens of rows of boxes, stacked high and ready for delivery, stretch throughout much of the warehouse inside Sports Spectrum on Highway 58.
by Stephen HargisEven after Gov. Bill Lee's call to extend school closures in Tennessee through April 24 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the TSSAA is holding out hope its state tournaments for girls' and boys' basketball as well as the spring sports season can still be played.
by Stephen HargisHoping to salvage the sports dreams of several thousand high school athletes throughout the state, the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association's Board of Control voted unanimously Tuesday to continue the wait-and-see plan.
by Stephen HargisThe world was only a few months into a new decade, and I was less than a year out of high school when my life changed for the better, all by chance.
by Stephen HargisUntil medical experts tell us the threat has decreased to the point that we're safe to return to our routines, sports must take a back seat to real-life concerns.
by Stephen HargisBaylor School athletic director Thad Lepcio announced on Friday that he has accepted a similar position at the Peddie School, beginning this summer.
by Stephen HargisThe uncertainty surrounding area high school sports continued to spread Friday when Hamilton County Schools athletic director Brad Jackson notified coaches throughout the county that all secondary athletics have been suspended until March 30 because of concerns over the coronavirus.
by Stephen Hargis and Lindsey YoungThe Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association announced late Thursday evening that the girls' and boys' basketball state tournaments are being suspended indefinitely due to concerns regarding the novel coronavirus.
by Stephen Hargis and Lindsey YoungThe Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association announced that beginning with the Friday, March 13 semifinals, the remainder of the girls' state basketball tournament, as well as next week's boys' tournament, will limit attendance to the players, coaches, team support personnel, their immediate families and school administrators of the qualifying schools.
by Stephen HargisThe Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association has announced that, due to concerns over COVID-19, the disease which caused the coronavirus, it will re-examine the girls' state basketball tournament schedule after the completion of Thursday's quarterfinal round.
by Stephen HargisEast Hamilton's Madison Hayes was named Class AAA Miss Basketball for a second straight year and Cleveland's JaCobi Wood earned the AAA Mr. Basketball award at a ceremony on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University.
by Stephen HargisAfter an emotionally exhausting week in which much of their hometown was leveled by a tornado, followed by the first on-court loss in more than two months, Upperman's boys' basketball Bees proved just how resilient they are Monday night.
by Stephen Hargis