Tennessee had half of the six Southeastern Conference spring-sport athletes announced Monday as winners of prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships, and two of UT's three were from Chattanooga-area high schools: softball player Lillian Hammond from GPS and track runner Phoebe Wright from Red Bank. The $7,500 awards went to 29 men and 29 females nationwide. Hammond, joined with the honor by former teammate Tiffany Huff, ended her softball eligibility in 2009 with a .339 career batting average, 139 hits, 136 runs and 72 stolen bases. She was a three-time ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American first-team selection. "NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships are very competitive, and it is phenomenal to have two recipients from softball this year," co-head coach Karen Weekly said. Wright was the NCAA indoor and outdoor women's 800-meter champion this year, was a two-time ESPN the Magazine first-teamer, has a 3.97 grade point average in a difficult double major and was the SEC's H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year encompassing all sports. "Phoebe has clearly demonstrated her academic strengths. Now the NCAA has recognized her for her abilities in the classroom as well," said J.J. Clark, UT's director of track and field.
Football
* Former Notre Dame High School and Oklahoma State star Adarius Bowman caught five passes for 76 yards in Winnipeg's 36-34 home loss to Toronto last Friday in Canadian Football League play, and former Central High School and Auburn standout Damon Duval scored the first four points in Montreal's 33-23 win Sunday at Edmonton. Duval kicked a 45-yard field goal and then scored a "single" on a 69-yard punt. He also kicked three extra points and had a 73-yard kickoff, and he averaged 41.9 yards on eight punts.
* Maryville College junior receiver Wesley Idlette from Baylor School and Sewanee senior cornerback and receiver Chalankis Brown from Millbrook, Ala., received NCAA Division III preseason All-America honorable mention by www.D3SeniorClassic.com. Idlette caught 62 passes for 994 yards last year, each total the second best for a season in Fighting Scots history.
Softball
* ATHENS, Tenn. -- Football coach Bo Cagle is succeeding Chris Skidmore as softball coach at McMinn County High School. Cagle, who coached baseball when he was at Georgia high schools Model and East Paulding, said having good assistants to run spring football practice enabled him to pursue the softball job. In addition to keeping veteran assistant Billy Vestal, Cagle also will be assisted by his wife, the former Jennifer Smith, who played softball at Soddy-Daisy and Tennessee Tech. "We've taken pretty much the high school team and coached them in summer league the last two seasons," Cagle said. "Fundamentally there's not much difference in softball and baseball. Fielding the ball, throwing it and hitting are all universal. There's some inside things I'll learn." The core group returns from last season, but finding pitching help will be a priority. Athletic director Jimmy Haynie said he feels the program is headed in the right direction and the Cagles will help uphold that. Skidmore, who has two young sons playing baseball, will assist with the Cherokees' baseball pitchers next spring. "Chris did a wonderful job for us," Haynie said. "We hate to see him go. But we know little ones don't stay little for long."
Golf
* Stroke-play medalist Jessica Cathey had a bye Monday in the first round of match play in the Chattanooga Women's Amateur Championship at the Champions Club at Hampton Creek. Cathey will face Emily Javadi this morning in the open semifinals. Javadi defeated Lexi Stewart 6 and 5 on Monday. Belmont sophomore Megan Murphy defeated Hazel Davis 3 and 2, and Mercer freshman Mary Alice Murphy beat Belmont sophomore Patricia Masick 4 and 3.
Auto Racing
* Gary Hatcher of Soddy-Daisy, Andrew Reaves of Roswell, Ga., and Jacob Hyder of Calhoun, Ga., were the Super Pro finalists at the Brainerd Drag Strip last Saturday and divided the purse when heavy rain hit just before they could make their final runs. Steve Holloway of Tunnel Hill and Marlin Keown of LaFayette were the Foot Brake finalists with Stan Curvin third and Ray Zumstein fourth. Rossville's Brad Freeman got the prize for best estimated time with a 5.680-second run on a 5.68 dial in his 454 Chevrolet-powered 23 Ford "T," and Marietta's Blake Wilder had the low elapsed time (4.72) and top speed (151.20 mph) of the meet.