With the retirement of sports editor Anthony Puca, the Marshall County Tribune didn't have to look far to find his replacement.

Current Shelbyville Times-Gazette sports editor Chris Siers will be expanding his role and has been named the sports editor of the Marshall County Tribune.

“I'm excited to expand my role into our sister paper's coverage and serve the communities of Marshall County,” Siers said.

Siers is no stranger to sports, having grown up around athletics his entire life.

“My dad coached basketball for years and years. When I was growing up, my days and nights were spent around his teams. Whether I was keeping a shot chart during basketball, videoing basketball or football games, or even serving as a bat boy for the few seasons he coached softball, sports are in my blood,” he said.

During his high school years, he was an avid runner, competing in cross country and track and field.

After high school, he was recruited to run cross country at Wingate University.

At Wingate, he fell into the communications field and served as copy editor of the Weekly Triangle, Wingate's student-run and student-published newspaper.

Following graduation, he was hired at the Elkin Tribune, located in Elkin, N.C.

“Working with the Tribune was definitely a great learning experience. I got my foot in the door and worked covering sports for about a year and a half before moving to Tennessee,” he said.

Since 2011, he's been the sports editor for the Times-Gazette.

“Moving to Tennessee was a big step for me. All my family is back east, so it was a major change for me to learn a new community and teams,” he said.

“Luckily, over my 10 years here, I've had lots of interaction with Marshall County teams and have covered them on several occasions. While I'm still new to the community, it's definitely nice having the background knowledge of the county with my experiences over the last decade.”

“The Times-Gazette has been very fortunate to have Chris as a vital role in our newsroom as sports editor, and I am looking forward to him carrying that over to Marshall County as well. Chris' knowledge of journalism, love for sports, great rapport with players and coaches- just to name a few- will now shine in both Bedford and Marshall County. I have personally worked with Chris since I joined the staff in 2014, and he is the best of the best. I am looking forward to watching him grow even more,” said Advertising and General Manager of the Times-Gazette and Marshall County Tribune, Diandra Womble .

While Puca will be stepping down as the sports editor, he will remain on staff and still be covering local sports.

“I'm glad Anthony will be staying with us and helping out. He's a great journalist and having someone with deep ties to the county will be a major asset to our department,” Siers said.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Puca and watching his coverage of Marshall County sports over the years. He was a huge asset to the sports department and we will certainly miss him full-time, but very excited he will be staying around to cover part-time,” Womble said.

Chris wants to meet you. He will be periodically in and out of the Tribune's office each week, but can be reached at sports@t-g.com or at 931-684-1200, ext. 219.

“I'm excited to be part of the Marshall County community and look forward to mingling with the community this summer as I get to know the area a little better,” he said.