David Helton, the Duke University linebacker who prepped at Baylor School, has been named a semifinalist for the Ronnie Lott Impact Trophy. A three-time Academic All-ACC team selection, Helton leads Duke with 94 tackles this season, the 16th best total in the nation. The Lott group named Helton a player of the week earlier this season for his 18-tackle performance against Pittsburgh. He also is a finalist for the Campbell (academic Heisman) Award with a 3.6 grade point average as a psychology major.
Soccer
• Tennessee Wesleyan lost 4-0 to top-seeded Reinhardt and sixth-seeded Bryan fell 4-2 to No. 2 seed St. Andrews in the Appalachian Athletic Conference men's soccer tournament semifinals Wednesday at Waleska, Ga. That left TWC's Bulldogs 10-7-2 for the season and Bryan's Lions 9-8-2, while the two finalists are a combined 29-3-2. Bryan's Daniel Branley was the final men's offensive player of the week for 2014 and also the AAC offensive player of the year, while teammate goalkeeper Josh Oldroyd was the defensive player of the year. Fellow Lions Gustavo Angel Tamayo and Jordan Dunstan joined them on the all-conference first team, along with Wesleyan's Nduka Kemjika. TWC's Othello Bah and Ben Wilks made the second team, and Wilks and Bryan's Stephen Ricketts were their teams' representatives on the league's Champions of Character team. Branley scored 14 goals and Oldroyd had 77 saves and a 1.27 goals-against average this year. Four of Branley's scores came in a 7-2 upset of Union College in the conference tournament; TWC goalkeeper Bogachan Akyildiz was the defensive player of the week for his part in the Bulldogs' 4-0 win over Bluefield.
• The AAC women's soccer awards were announced Wednesday night, and seniors Amy Cooley and Maddie Thomas and junior Alexis Dalberth of Tennessee were first-team all-conference along with Point University sophomore Kristabelle Rangel from Dalton, Ga., and Southeast Whitfield High School. TWC's Lindsey Brown and Haleigh Dunning were second-team picks, and Thomas and Bryan's Emily Lambert were Champions of Character choices. Dalberth repeated as the offensive player of the week for her two assists and a goal in the Lady Bulldogs' 3-1 tournament quarterfinal win over Columbia. They face Reinhardt this morning in the semifinals at Laurinburg, N.C.
Basketball
• The Tennessee Wesleyan basketball teams both were victorious in their AAC season openers Wednesday evening at Montreat, 72-49 for the 4-0 Lady Bulldogs and 69-67 for the 3-0 TWC men.
• The Bryan basketball teams opened AAC play Wednesday by beating visiting St. Andrews 65-48 in the women's game and 69-48 in the men's. The Lady Lions are 4-1 overall; the Lions are 5-0.
• The Chattanooga State women's basketball team won 74-69 at Snead State on Tuesday.
Volleyball
• First-place Bryan College had three of the AAC's four volleyball honorees for last week. After 3-0 wins over Truett-McConnell and Reinhardt, the Lady Lions had Kara Stamper as the player of the week, Ashley Ferris as hitter of the week and Taylor Fink as setter of the week. Stamper had 29 kills in five sets, while Ferris had 17 kills in six sets and Fink had 40 assists in each match. Bryan (25-8) beat sixth-seeded St. Andrews 3-0 (25-13, 26-24, 25-16) in pool play as the league tournament began Wednesday in Kingsport, Tenn. Eighth seed Tennessee Wesleyan (10-24) won a 3-2 play-in match (22-25, 25-19, 25-23, 19-25, 15-12) against 11 seed Bluefield.
Field Hockey
• Sewanee freshman Allegra Massey-Elim was honored Tuesday as the Southern Athletic Association field hockey newcomer of the year, and Tigers teammates Carrie Anderson and Sarah Barry joined her on the All-SAA first team with Zuie Billings, Kat Mulligan and Janie Spilman making the second team. Massey-Elim had six goals and four assists from her midfield position while Barry scored 13 goals and first-team repeater Anderson had nine goals and five assists.