Friday, January 1, 1904
Former Covenant College men's soccer coach Brian Crossman will be among the inductees in the 2011-12 NAIA Hall of Fame class. Crossman, who coached the Chattanooga Football Club the last three seasons, will be inducted at the men's soccer national tournament in November at Orange Beach, Ala., for meritorious service to the NAIA. He was the president of the NAIA Men's Soccer Coaches Association from 1995 to '98 and currently chairs the ethics committee for the National Soccer Coaches Association. Crossman, 55, is in his 27th year on the Covenant faculty and coached the Scots for 21 years beginning in 1986, after two years at Berea. "I'm very honored. The NAIA has a remarkable soccer history and a ton of people who have made their mark there," Crossman said. "Some of the NAIA programs have had better resources than a lot of NCAA programs, and a lot of the movers and shakers in the sport have come from the NAIA ranks."
Todd Morrow of East Ridge pulled off the $1,000-to-win Triple Crown in the JImmy Mowery Memorial event for Super Late Model cars Saturday night at Cleveland Speedway, which is operated by his father, Monty Morrow. And Eric Jacobsen of California won the 2011 STARS Volunteer Racing Series title by virtue of his win Friday night at Boyd's Speedway (with Riley Hickman second) and three second-place finishes to Morrow in the series finale Saturday. That tied Jacobsen with Ross White of Knoxville, who wrecked in Saturday's first race, for the season points lead; the tiebreaker is most wins, and Friday's victory gave that to the Californian. After finishing second Friday at Boyd's to Jeff Smith, Jason Welshan of Maryville won the Crate Late Model race at Cleveland with Andy Pickelsimer second. Other Boyd's winners Friday were Blake Armitage and Jimmy Smith in A- and B-Hobby and Thomas Gilbert in Front Runner.
Brainerd Optimist Drag Strip Hall of Famer L.C. Bigham has more than 400 wins in 35 years of racing at the facility, and he won there again Saturday night in the Foot Brake class. The 60-year-old retired carpet executive from Tunnel Hill won with a 7.04-second dash on a 7.03 dial in his 1976 Dodge Dart Swinger and got $400. Gary Hanshue of Calhoun, Ga., was second in a 1969 Camaro, and Mike Griep and Chris Smith were third and fourth. Travis Clark of Rocky Mount, Ga., won the 6:00 Heads Up class with Dewayne Teague second, and Ricky Millard Jr. won the 7:00 class with Johnny Lewis the runner-up.