The Southern Conference cross country meet is being held this morning in Kernersville, N.C., and a new women's winner is guaranteed. University of Tennessee at Chattanooga All-American Teghan Henderson has been injured and will be unable to defend her title. Seniors Keeley Stewart and Amanda Cotter and junior Rebecca Greenwall will try to improve on their 2013 finishes with sophomore Jessica York and freshman Emily Drouin helping. The UTC men graduated two all-conference runners from last year but have been led in every meet this semester by senior John Gilpin, and freshman Austin Cassasa and juniors Trevor Janssen and Matthew Marshall provide support.
• Covenant College senior Beth Burgess from Nicholasville, Ky., was honored Wednesday as the USA South women's cross country runner of the year, and Covenant freshman Eliot Kaufmann was the men's runner and rookie of the year with the Scots' Katie Stanford the men's coach of the year. Kaufmann, who's from New York City, is only the second person in conference history to double up as the overall and rookie honoree in the same season. Burgess won the USA South women's meet last year. Ruthie Cargill and Stephen Dillon were Covenant's all-sportsmanship selections.
Wrestling
• The UTC wrestlers will hold their preseason intrasquad Blue-Gold match Saturday at 11 a.m. in Maclellan Gymnasium. Admission is free. Fourteen matches between coach Heath Eslinger's Mocs are scheduled in the #familyfeud themed event. Former UTC wrestlers Josh Keefe and Joe Waddell with the Blue and Michael Keefe and Dan Waddell with the Gold will help Rocco Mansueto and Phil Mansueto direct the squads. UTC was picked to repeat at Southern Conference champion and has seven starters and 18 lettermen back from the 2013-14 team. The regular season begins Nov. 9 in the Hokie Open at Salem, Va.
Volleyball
• The Tennessee Temple volleyball team lost three pool-play matches Thursday in the opening day of the USCAA national tournament in Canton, N.Y. The Lady Crusaders (22-14) lost 15-25, 25-23, 15-13 to Carlow; 25-22, 25-15 to Florida College; and 22-25, 25-18, 15-6 to Alfred State.
• Ten kills apiece from Kara Stamper and Rachel Mosley led Bryan College to a 3-0 Appalachian Athletic Conference volleyball win Thursday night against visiting Truett-McConnell. Jessica Sokol added seven kills and Taylor Fink and Shelby Enochs had 21 and 13 assists for Bryan (22-8, 13-0) in the 25-13, 25-11, 25-14 victory, and Madison Akins had four aces and 13 digs.
• Dalton State defeated Reinhardt 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-20) in volleyball Thursday night as Kianna Delaney made nine kills and four block solos. Alyne Bianchi and Anna Metzler added seven kills apiece, Michala Askew had 25 assists and 10 digs and Karly Newman and Ashley Nations had 19 and 16 digs for the Lady Roadrunners (12-10).
Soccer
• Covenant soccer seniors Joel Friesen and Snoopy Davidson made the 2014 Capital One Academic All-District team that includes NCAA Division III players, as voted on by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Friesen has seven goals and three assists this season and carries a grade point average of 3.71 as a community development major with a minor in economics. Davidson leads the Scots with nine goals and six assists and also has a 3.71 GPA, majoring in economics. The Scots host Piedmont at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in the USA South tournament.
• Freshman defender Josie Roebuck from GPS made her first start for the Georgia women's soccer team in its visit Thursday night to seventh-ranked Texas A&M televised on the SEC Network. The host Aggies won 2-1, securing their second Southeastern Conference championship in a row. Roebuck played 82 minutes.
Basketball
• Erika Woodfin from Dade County scored 27 points with nine 3-point baskets and fellow sophomore Payton Smith from Sonoraville had nine assists and three steals as Reinhardt University began its women's basketball season with a 79-53 home win Thursday against Bob Jones. Senior April Besley from Dalton High contributed six assists, six rebounds and two blocked shots.