Five years after making the first score in any women's sport at Georgia Northwestern Technical College, Carrie Hawkins-Powell has been hired as coach of its NJCAA Division III volleyball program. The 6-foot middle hitter from Ridgeland High School blasted a kill for the team's first point and went on to some all-tournament selections as GNTC defeated three club teams from Southeastern Conference schools and nearly beat others in those first two seasons. She remains among the program's statistical leaders. "I am confident that she's the right choice for this job," athletic director David Stephenson said in a school release. "To see a graduate of ours choose to come back to give back to the college is a pleasure for us." Said Hawkins-Powell: "This is a real passion of mine, and this is my college. This opportunity has come along at just the right time of my life." The Lady Bobcats will open their season on Sept. 5, and she will hold tryouts for GNTC students or potential enrollees at 6:30 p.m. next Wednesday and Thursday and Aug. 15, 16 and 20 at the Rossville Athletic Complex.
Running
• LISLE, Ill. - Red Bank High School track and field coach Hugh Enicks finished second in his 50-54 age group in the 3,000-meter steeplechase Friday at the USATF Masters national meet. He will be competing this morning in the 10,000-meter run. The retired Army lieutenant colonel, a long-distance specialist with multiple wins in the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon, was seeded low for his age group in the unfamiliar steeplechase but found himself shoulder-to-shoulder with winner Steven Kollars of Oregon going into the bell lap. Enicks' time was 11 minutes, 52.69 seconds.