Lanni Marchant

Chattanooga attorney and former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga running star Lanni Marchant beat the Canadian women's marathon record by 36 seconds in the Toronto Waterfront Marathon on Sunday, and the woman who had held the mark for 28 years, Sylvia Ruegger, was at the finish line to hug and congratulate her. Ruegger's record of 2:28:36 came in the Houston Marathon in 1985, when Marchant was three months old. The former Southern Conference athlete of the year finished third Sunday in 2:28:00, nearly four minutes faster than her previous personal best from 2011, according to the Toronto Star. She said the greeting from Ruegger was "just awesome." Added Marchant, in the Star's story: "Sylvia's such a legend to me, and she's such a strong woman and a strong personality, and to take the record from her -- I'm in awe."

• Bryan College senior Alex Stephens from Cleveland was the AAC men's cross country runner of the week after leading the Lions to a close third-place finish behind NCAA Division I schools UTC and Middle Tennessee in UTC's Front Runner Invitational on Saturday. Stephens finished fifth individually in the 5-kilometer race in 15 minutes, 11 seconds.

Golf

• Former Girls Preparatory School golfer Mary Alice Murphy claimed her first college title when she tied for medalist honors at the Fighting Camel Fall Classic on Tuesday at Keith Hills Golf Club in Buies Creek, N.C. The Mercer University senior shot a 5-over-par 221 over three rounds Monday and Tuesday. She shot a final-round 3-under 69 -- the only under-par round of the tournament -- to surge from 14th place to a tie with Elizabeth Haycock of Old Dominion and Kaylin Yost of Campbell.

• The Lee University men's and women's golf teams are on the verge of National Christian College Athletic Association titles going into the final day today at Panama City Beach, Fla. Lee's Courtney Shelton has a nine-stroke individual lead at 137 in the women's invitational, where the Lady Flames share the lead at 596 with Dallas Baptist, and the Flames rallied to take a one-stroke lead at 578 over three teams with Hunter Vest and Shea Sylvester tied for second individually at 140, Matt Emery at 148 and Taylor Davis at 150. Lee's Bernadette Little is tied for third in the women's event at 147 with Madison Alexander tied for 13th at 153. Covenant College finished 18th out of 18 men's teams, and the Scots' James Van Nice tied for 32nd individually, missing the cut for today's round by one stroke.

Soccer

• Reigning Appalachian Athletic Conference men's soccer offensive player of the week Daniel Branley scored two goals and Alan da Costa had a goal and an assist as Bryan College celebrated moving up to No. 21 in the NAIA poll Tuesday with a 3-0 win over visiting Oakwood. The Lions (12-2) outshot the Huntsville team 37-6. Branley received his AAC honor for the second time this season after scoring the first goal in each game in shutout victories last week over Virginia Intermont and Milligan. Branley leads the NAIA with eight game-winning goals this season.

• Alex Kuh scored twice and Shannon Mollenhauer had a goal and an assist as Bryan (4-9-1) defeated Tennessee Temple 4-2 in women's soccer Tuesday in Dayton. Lacreasha Couch put Temple up 1-0 in the 14th minute, and Liz Adams scored late for the Lady Crusaders. Jennifer Fortmiller had Bryan's first goal at 42:59. Stephanie Gagnon had nine saves in the win.

• Tennessee Wesleyan senior Kimberly Key was the AAC women's soccer offensive player of the week for her hat trick in a 3-1 defeat of Union College on senior day last Saturday. That was the fifth consecutive conference win for the Athens team. Key, who headed in crosses for her first two scores against Union, leads the team in goals (six), shots, shots on goal and assists.

Volleyball

• Paula Martins had 25 kills and 16 digs as Lee edged Campbellsville 3-2 in volleyball Tuesday night in Cleveland. Latrice Johnson and Lauren Williams had 16 and 15 kills for the Lady Flames (10-5), who got 57 assists and 14 digs from Camil Martinez in the 25-16, 26-24, 23-25, 23-25, 15-12 victory.

• Ashley Ferris had nine kills and Carolyn Evans and Kara Stamper had seven apiece as Bryan College improved to 27-1 in volleyball and 16-0 in the AAC with a 25-16, 25-14, 25-14 home win Tuesday against Tennessee Wesleyan. Taylor Fink had 25 assists and Corrie Walker had 15 digs and three aces. Hayli Raines had seven kills and nine digs to lead TWC.

• Covenant College lost 3-0 in USA South volleyball Tuesday at Piedmont. Chelsea VanDyk had 12 kills, Stephanie Kirkpatrick had 27 assists and 16 digs and Cora Schroeder had 18 digs in the 25-14, 26-24, 25-16 loss for the Lady Scots (14-10, 7-5). Estes Carlson and Jaclyn Stuart added 12 and 11 digs.