Colorado's Smith wins first Thunder Rock 100 and other sports news

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

Ryan Smith of Boulder, Colo., won the inaugural Thunder Rock 100 trail race Friday and Saturday in the Cherokee National Forest in 17 hours, 47 minutes, 55 seconds, and Nick Lewis from Memphis was second in the 100-mile addition to the Salomon Rock/Creek Trail Series in 19:02:50. Next after Lewis, a member of the Rock/Creek racing team, was Brian Pickett of Kingsport, Tenn., in 19:28:56. He is 34 like Smith; Lewis is 28. Riva Johnson of Carlisle, Pa., was the first woman and 23rd overall in 21:36:05.

• T.J. Davis from Ooltewah High School and Tiana Mills from Girls Preparatory School were among the 10 Carson-Newman track and field athletes earning 2014 NCAA Division II All-Southeast Region distinction from the USTFCCCAA. Davis was all-region in men's long jump and triple jump, with the region's best long jump and a South Atlantic Conference championship in the triple. Mills was a long jump honoree for her school-record leap.

Basketball

• Cory Hill scored 41 points to lead St. Louis past the Chattanooga RailRunners, 123-118, in a Central Basketball Association playoff semifinal Saturday night at the Rossville Athletic Center. Dontay Hampton, Fred Sturdivant and Alex Wells led the RailRunners (8-3) with 19, 18 and 15 points. All three played for local high schools before going on to college careers. Hampton played for UTC, Wells for Chattanooga State.

Baseball

• The Lee University baseball team finished second Saturday in the National Christian College Athletic Association World Series by defeating fellow Gulf South Conference member Shorter University 11-8 before losing 5-1 to Fresno Pacific at Mason, Ohio. The Flames (37-19), who won 14 of their last 16 games this season, scored seven runs in the bottom of the first inning against Shorter. Cameron Brewster was 4-for-5 and Siosi Poti was 3-for-3, each scoring twice, and Derrick Pitts and Nathan Wierzgac each batted in three runs in that game, and Jordan Stewart was 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Jeremy Bales (5-0) pitched the third through seventh innings, allowing two runs, for the win, and Pitts got the last four outs without allowing a runner for the save. Zach Santos was 2-for-4 with a triple and three RBIs for Shorter (17-36-1). Doubles by Zacary Hawkins and Brewster were Lee's only hits against Fresno Pacific (39-19).

Softball

• Chattanooga State finished third in the NJCAA Division I softball tournament Saturday with its second loss of the St. George, Utah, event to the College of Central Florida -- 6-3 in the losers-bracket final. Central Florida then beat Angelina 6-2 but lost 8-5 to the Texas school. Chattanooga State (55-8) won 10-3 in Friday's late elimination game against Southern Union State and took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning Saturday, but Central Florida scored three in the bottom half and added two in the third off pitcher Sharlene Godoy. Katy Richardson was 2-for-3 with a two-run double and Courtney Crawford was 2-for-4 with the other RBI for the Lady Tigers, who outhit the winners 9-7. Hanna Manley, who pitched an eight-inning three-hitter in a 2-0 win over Odessa on Friday, allowed three hits and one run in the final 3 2/3 innings against Central Florida, whose Jamie Nelson gave up only two earned runs with the nine hits. Leadoff batter Cheyenne Blaha was 1-for-2 with a three-run home run, two walks and two runs scored. Friday for Chattanooga State, Dana Horgan was 3-for-4 and Khadija Neely was 2-for-4 with the winning two-run double against Odessa, and Crawford was 4-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, Baylee Williams was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs, Emily Dagnan was 3-for-4 with a run, Izzy McCurry was 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs and Lindsey Stickrod scored twice against Southern Union. Shelby Willard took her first pitching loss of the season in the 4-2 defeat by Central Florida earlier Friday. Neely was honored as top defensive player, and Crawford was all-tournament.

Auto Racing

• The 80-minute documentary "It's a Dirt Track Life" by Cleveland residents Ron and Debbie Moore about the history of dirt-track racing will be shown free today at 3 p.m at Walker Valley High School, and the public is invited.