Nathan Kerns got his junior year started early. Before swinging his club on Monday in the first fall golf match for the Marshall Thundering Herd, Kerns was picking up another course record.

Kerns — the former All-Ohio golfer for the Ironton Fighting Tigers — already owns a share of the Ironton Country Club course record with a 60.

This past summer Kerns matched the course record at Sugarwood.

On Monday, Kerns and Bosten Miller shared the team lead for the Herd after the first 18 holes of the Marshall Invitational with a 70. He had a 73 on the next 18 and has a 1443 total after 36 holes, leaving him tied for 32nd place overall.

As a team, Marshall has a 571 total and is tied for 10th place.

The third and final round will be held on Tuesday.

Hammer Time

The Huntington Hammer indoor professional football team will conduct open tryouts at 2p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 25, at the Marshall University Recreation Center Field, 402 Thundering Herd Drive.

Participants can pre-register for $20 and registration the day of tryouts is $30. To register or for more information, call the Hammer office at (304) 525-PASS (7277).

Fans are welcome to attend at no charge.

Change In Venue

The Ohio High School Athletic Association has moved its site for the state cross country meet to the National Trail Raceway in Hebron.

The state meet had been held at the Scioto Downs racetrack in the past.

The OHSAA announced the change during their fall meeting. The board also said the state operated at a $15,155 loss with the baseball tournaments despite a total attendance of 27,064 including 12,558 for the state tournament.

Softball operated at a $4,629 loss — 20,015 attendance including 8,292 at the state tournament — and boys tennis was at a $5,478 loss with a state attendance of 1,090.

Track and field produced a $14,446 profit. There was a 53,517 attendance including 26,097 at the state meet.

Bacon Petition

The Friends of Coy Bacon collected 156 more signatures at the Ironton-Russell game to bring the total to 546.

The group is hoping to get the former NFL All-Pro elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

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Jim Walker is sports editor of The Ironton Tribune.