Signal Mountain takes CASL title and other sports news

Friday, January 1, 1904

The Signal Mountain Green Giants lost to the Dalton Dolphins in the Chattanooga Area Swim League regular season, each team finishing 7-1 in the upper Blue Division, but the Giants' tradition of depth paid off in another city meet title Saturday at Baylor School. Signal finished with 2,504.5 points compared to 2,460 for the Dolphins. The Ooltewah Tidal Waves were third with 2,008.5, and Stuart Heights at 1,563 and Fairyland Club at 1,380.5 completed the top five in the 15-team field. Red Division champ Cleveland and runner-up Ringgold were sixth and seventh at 892 and 703.5. "We really had some great swims in the finals," Signal coach Nathan Bird said. "We had kids seeded fifth and sixth and they went and got third or fourth or got personal bests and were able to move up spots and improve. We knew it was going to be a close meet and there was no way to know who was going to come out on top. We didn't really feel like we had something to prove. We just knew we wanted to come out and give it everything we had." The Green Giants' Sam McHugh broke city meet records in the 100 individual medley and 200 freestyle and tied the record for the 100 free, and teammates Maggie Stovall, Susanna LaRochelle and Stephanie Xian joined him as age-group high-point scorers. Others were Raul Valdez, Roman Valdez and Alexis Vaughn of Dalton, Jake Kiemeyer of Ooltewah, Gwennie Davis of Stuart Heights and Kyle Berry of Cumberland. Age-group runners-up were Taylor Dale and Henry Bethel of Dalton, Mikaya Reynolds and Max Ransom of Stuart Heights, Peter Lochmaier and Jewel Gordon of Signal Mountain, Julia Dergunov and Ellie Waldrep of Ooltewah, Ryan Berry of Cumberland and MaeMae Powe of Big Ridge.

Golf

• Dalton golfer David Noll Jr. has led after all three rounds of the 2013 Georgia Amateur Championship at Kennesaw, but he takes a precarious one-stroke edge into the final 18 holes today at Pinetree Country Club after shooting a 5-over-par 76 on Saturday. Noll -- the perennial GSGA player of the year, it seems -- won the second of his two Georgia Am title at Pinetree the last time the tournament was held there in 2003. Ridge Purcell of LaGrange jumped into a tie for second place at 2-over-par 215 with a third-round 69. Brunswick's Travis Williamson also is at 215, and two-time Georgia Mid-Amateur champion Jeff Knox of Augusta is two back of Noll along with Jimmy Beck of Columbus and Zachary Healy of Peachtree. Chatsworth's David Watts fell to 218 and a six-way tie for seventh with a 77, and Calhoun's Chad Wilson is in a nine-way share of 13th at 219.

• The Golf Capital of Tennessee Women's Open Championship tournament runs Thursday through Saturday at Stonehenge Golf Club near Crossville. This is the fifth year at Stonehenge for the event and its 10th anniversary of being hosted at Crossville. Vanderbilt graduate Lauren Stratton of Spring Hill will be back to defend her 2012 title, and 110 other players will be trying to keep her from repeating. The 42 professionals and 66 amateurs include entrants from Australia, South Africa and Scotland as well as from the United States as far north as Michigan and as far west as Nevada. Pro Rachel Ingram from Benton, Tenn., and amateurs Jordan Britt, Jenna Burris, Haley Cothran, Maddi Everts, Avery George, Jamie Pierce, Jean Roise and this past week's Tennessee Girls Junior Amateur champion Blakesly Warren represent southeastern Tennessee.

Track & Field

• Shawnquell Stanford of East Lake is the only Chattanooga representative who qualified for the Hershey Track and Field North American final, but she was one of 14 local winners at the state level. Times and distances for state champions throughout the country were compared to determine who advances to the Aug. 3 meet in Hershey, Pa. Stanford was the 13-14 girls' state champ in the softball throw with a heave of 154 feet, 0.75 inch. John Hardy (161-6) and Kya Duckett from the Chattanooga regional won state softball-throw titles for ages 11-12, and Corey Taylor was the 11-12 boys' winner in the standing long jump. Kolby McGowan and Makayla Parker in 13-14 and Joshua Abdul and Jamia Boyd in 9-10 were 100-meter-dash winners, and Makala Strickland won the 11-12 girls' 200 dash. Mason Parker and Zaria Stokes in 11-12 and Benedict Mutumbwa in 9-10 were Chattanoogans winning 400 state championships, and Shawn Long was the 11-12 boys' winner in the 800. It previously was reported that local resident Will Bordash won the 13-14 boys' 800 and 1600 state races after qualifying from the Murfreesboro regional.

Chattanooga Area Swim League

2013 City Meet

Friday-Saturday at Baylor School pool

Team scores: 1. Signal Mountain Green Giants 2,504.5 points; 2. Dalton Dolphins 2,460; 3. Ooltewah Tidal Waves 2,008.5; 4. Stuart Heights 1,563; 5. Fairyland Flash 1,380.5; 6. Cleveland Aqua Tigers 892; 7. Ringgold TigerSharks 703.5; 8. Chattanooga Country Club Wavemakers 527.5; 9. Ridgeside Dolphins 338; 10. Fort Oglethorpe Marlins 295; 11. Calhoun Blue Barracudas 240; 12. Red Bank Gators 213; 13. Big Ridge Raiders 204; 14. Cumberland Youth Foundation Currents 196; 15. Mosby Park Waterdogs 192.5.

Age-group high-point scorers

15-18 girls: 1. Maggie Stovall (SM) 93 pts., 2. Mikaya Reynolds (SH) 83. 15-18 boys: 1. Sam McHugh (SM) 92.5, 2. Taylor Dale (Dal) 92. 13-14 girls: 1. Susanna LaRochelle (SM) 100, 2. Julia Dergunov (Ool) 90. 13-14 boys: 1. Raul Valdez (Dal) 90, 2. Peter Lochmaier (SM) 86. 11-12 girls: 1. Gwennie Davis (SH) 91, 2. Jewel Gordon (SM) 90. 11-12 boys: 1. Jake Kiemeyer (Ool) 100, 2. Max Ransom (SH) 90. 9-10 girls: 1. Stephanie Xian (SM) 96, 2. Ellie Waldrep (Ool) 87. 9-10 boys: 1. Kyle Berry (CYF) 100, 2. Henry Bethel (Dal) 85. 8-under girls: 1. Alexis Vaughn (Dal) 91, 2. MaeMae Powe (BR) 85. 8-under boys: 1. Roman Valdez (Dal) 97, 2. Ryan Berry (CYF) 85.