Latest news with #Hight
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Clark Lea doesn't need Martel Hight to be Travis Hunter but could have his first Vanderbilt two-way player
Vanderbilt football could have a new option on offense in 2025. Martel Hight, a starting cornerback and second-team All-SEC punt returner, has gotten some reps at receiver during spring practice. It's not yet known if Hight would play both ways during the season. The idea to try offense was Hight's first. He played both ways in high school, then approached the coaches to ask if he could try it with the Commodores. Right now, Hight is in a trial period, and if the coaches like what they see, the arrangement could carry over to games. "I've got pretty good ball skills, and coaches have seen it, and I kept bringing it to the coaches' attention that I wanted to play both sides, and they finally gave me the opportunity to do that," Hight said. "So now I'm trying to capitalize." Using Hight could aid a Vanderbilt offense that has struggled to get much production at wide receiver under coach Clark Lea. The Commodores return Junior Sherrill and Richie Hoskins, as well as top tight end Eli Stowers, but outside that they are light on proven production at receiver. Vanderbilt took two transfer receivers during the fall: Chance Fitzgerald from Virginia Tech and Trent Hudson from Mississippi State. Fitzgerald was a local high-school star but he didn't play much with the Hokies. Hudson was highly productive at New Mexico State in current Vanderbilt offensive coordinator Tim Beck's system, but he struggled to get on the field with a Bulldogs team that finished 2-10. Redshirt freshman tight end Brycen Coleman is another breakout candidate based on his spring performance, but adding Hight to the offensive group − even if it's only in certain packages − could provide a new wrinkle. In 2024, Hight appeared in all 13 games. As a defensive back, he made 33 tackles, two tackles for loss and two interceptions. As a punt returner, he had 265 yards on 18 returns with one touchdown. Among SEC returners who averaged at least one punt return per game, Hight was first in yards per return (14.7) and second in total yards (265). That type of shiftiness could aid him at receiver. LANGSTON PATTERSON How Vanderbilt football's Langston Patterson was affected by a trip to Navajo Nation During Lea's tenure, Vanderbilt has not had a player who played both offense and defense during the same season. Colorado's Travis Hunter won the Heisman in 2024 as a two-way star. But if Hight ultimately is used on offense, his role will likely be more limited than Hunter's, being used in certain situations rather than playing nearly every snap. Hight's special teams prowess also adds a new dimension to his game. Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@ or on X, formerly Twitter, @aria_gerson. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt football: Clark Lea may make Martel Hight a two-way player
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
NHRA Champ Robert Hight Trades Racing Business for Gun Business
Three-time NHRA Funny Car champ and president of John Force Racing thanks John Force for '30 great years,' says being out of car has inspired new goals. Force puts trust in business director Bob McAleer to keep status quo. Hight exits NHRA with 65 victories, third-most in class. Three-time Funny Car champion Robert Hight announced Thursday he has resigned as president of John Force Racing, a position he has anchored since 2011. 'Family is everything,' team owner John Force said in a prepared statement. 'So as much as I'll miss Robert, I understand that he has some other things he wants to do. He was a big part of the success of John Force Racing for more than 25 years. "I love him and I wish him well in whatever he decides to do. Down the line, we'll name a new president. But right now we've got a great team in place and I'm looking forward to working closer with everyone. With Robert leaving, Bob McAleer will be my go-to guy.' McAleer, based at the company's Brownsburg, Ind., headquarters, is JFR's Director of Business Operations. Force said, 'He already works closely with our partners. Now, he'll be working with me a lot more, and with the brain trust, to keep this machine firing on all cylinders.' Hight, 55, said, 'I had 30 great years at JFR. But being out of the car last year made me realize there are other things I want to do, especially with my wife Leslie and my family. John opened so many doors for me, and I'm just glad I was there to help him and the company through everything that happened last year.' He was referring to the June 23, 2024, crash at Virginia Motorsports Park, near Richmond, that has sidelined the 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion and 157-time winner with what was diagnosed as a traumatic brain injury. But Hight also was Force's lifeline and a stabilizing influence in late 2007, when Force suffered a devasting crash at Texas Motorplex, near Dallas, that followed the March 2007 passing of teammate Eric Medlen. Hight, who started his career as a crew member with Force's championship-winning Funny Car team in 1995. Hight became the facilities manager at JFR before becoming the company's first designated test driver in 2004. He made his competitive driving debut in 2005, winning in just his fourth career start. He was runner-up to Matt Hagan in 2023, his final season. Hight leaves the sport with 65 victories (third-best in the category) and championships in 2009, 2017, and 2019. He still owns the Funny Car class' national elapsed-time record at 3.793 seconds on the 1,000-foot course. And until his successor, current champion Austin Prock, officially broke the 340-mph barrier at 341.68, Hight had owned the sport's fastest speed—339.87 mph—since August 2017. Earlier this week, a social media post on the Trap Shooters website, North Carolina businessman Tom Wilkinson said he has sold his Durham Gun Works to Hight. Another website indicated that Hight would move the business from Oxford, N.C., to the Provo-Orem area of Utah to Spanish Fork, Utah, where he has been living since announcing he was on medical leave from JFR. 'We just signed new deals with [sponsors], and I'm really excited about being back at the track with all of them, with our race teams,' Force said. 'Jimmy and Thomas Prock, Nate Hildahl, my son-in-law Daniel Hood, Chris Cunningham, Tim Fabrisi, David Grubnic,and John Collins. That's our brain trust,' Force said. 'They run the race cars, but they also work with Sam Fabiano at Force American Made, our company in Brownsburg (Ind.) that makes all our parts, everything from chassis to engine blocks to cylinder heads to superchargers. It's why we stay on top.'
