MARTIN, Tenn. - Kenta Nolin, a distance runner from Farragut High School in Knoxville, has inked a National Letter of Intent to run cross country for The University of Tennessee at Martin this fall, head coach Gordon Sanders announced.

Nolin ran cross country for coaches Chelsea Jacobs and Bobby Holcomb at Farragut, helping the Admirals to a 2009 Region I championship. He placed sixth in the state competition in 2008, and was ranked among the top three individual runners in the region. In 2008, he put together the seventh-fastest 5k time (16:50) in Farragut's rich history, but he recently broke that mark just last week. Competing in the Mercedes-Benz Marathon in Birmingham, Ala. on Valentine's Day, he finished second overall - just four seconds behind the champion - with a time of 16:31. His fastest time in the 3200 meter run is 10:27.61 and his fastest time in the 800 meter run is 2:09.95.

"Kenta uses his very inquisitive intellect for hands-on living," Sanders said. "A very well rounded young man constantly active in varied learning projects, he graduated in December and is taking advantage of the year with a long stay in India to visit family and get involved in another project there. His coach already describe Kenta's need to know the why of his training - a fact that fits perfect at UT Martin as he learns to measure and control the workloads that change his physiology."

Nolin joins Colin Johnson (Clarksville) and Vance Pounders (Nashville) in the UT Martin cross country class of 2010.

#SKYHAWKS#