One of the seven University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's cross country and track and field newcomers announced for 2015-16 by coach Bill Gautier is Sydney Gautier, his all-state daughter from Baylor School. She is a local addition to the Mocs along with Madison Watson from Girls Preparatory School, whose UTC decision was reported previously. Sydney Gautier was all-state in cross country and in the 4x800-meter relay in track and holds the Baylor record for the steeplechase. "She has battled injury but will be a great addition to the team," Coach Gautier said in a UTC release Monday. "As a father it will be exciting to spend more time with her. As a coach, I know she has potential and I can help her get back to form." He is excited also to have Nicole Buerhle from Philadelphia, Nicole Elmore from Maryville High School, Haley Morris from Lenoir City, Lily McKee from Knoxville Bearden and Wisconsin-Eau Claire transfer Brianna Nelson, her high school's 800 record-holder and overall female athlete of the year in 2014. Buerhle set Hazelton High School records for the 800 and 1600 and was a three-time conference all-star. Elmore was a sectional champion in the 100 hurdles, and Morris was fourth in her region in cross country. The Mocs open their cross country season Sept. 5 at the Belmont Invitational meet in Nashville.
Auto Racing
* Red Bank roofing contractor Dereck Pickle won the $2,500 top prize in the Super Pro class Saturday night at the Brainerd Optimist Drag Strip. He won with a 5.04-second burst on a 5.03 dial in his new dragster powered by a 555-cubic-inch Chevrolet engine built by Steven Farrow. Kevin Rodden was second with a 6.01-second run on a 6.00 dial in his 1972 Chevy Vega. Shane Kay of Ragland, Ala., won the Foot Brake class with a 6.01-second run on a 5.88 dial in a 1975 Ford Mustang, and John King of Soddy-Daisy was second in a 1978 Chevy Camaro. Jake Clayton won the Junior Dragster class with a 7.95 on a 7.93, compared to a 7.91 on a 7.90 for runner-up Mattie Keener. Clayton was the Juniors' strip champion last year, and Keener leads in points this year. Eric Boyd of Flintstone had the low elapsed time (4.82) and top speed (136.25 mph) of the meet.
Softball
* The Chattanooga-based Fury '04 select softball team won its first seven games and finished third in the 2015 Premier Girls Fastpitch national tournament in Huntington Beach, Calif. That was the highest finish ever for the Fury organization in PGF nationals and left the team 107-15 starting with the fall 2014 season, including a Fall World Series title in Birmingham and a 2015 Tennessee state championship. The Fury, coached by Michael Langston and Troy Calloway with assistance from Jerrod Ferrell and Nathan Farrow, did well in California despite the potentially crushing broken tibia suffered by leadoff batter Neely Taylor from Arkansas a week before the 32-team tournament. They lost 8-7 to the champion Diamond Sports Hotshots from Houston after trailing 8-3 going into their last at-bat. Other Fury '04 players are Jill Caldwell, Aspen Calloway, Brionna Condon, Allie Farrow, Kiya Ferrell, Raven Jones, Emma Langston, Jadyn Laneaux, Taylor Malvin, Caydra Parker, Madeline Stone and Ace Strickland.
Soccer
* The Premier Soccer Academy under-16 Los Guapos, who train at Red Bank High School, won their age division at the Premier Nike Select Cup this past weekend in Atlanta. Los Guapos, coached by Pedro Kozak, lost their opener 2-0 to the GSA 00 Black but won 7-0 over the Southern Soccer Academy Chelsea 00B Select Black 2 and 5-1 over AFC Lightning '00 Select. GSA 00 Black also went 2-1 in the tournament but had a 8-5 goal differential compared to Los Guapos' 12-3.
Basketball/Volleyball
* Georgia Northwestern Technical College will hold tryouts Aug. 19 at 6 p.m. for women's volleyball and Aug. 25 and 27 for its basketball teams, 6-7:30 p.m. for the women and 7:30-9 for the men, all at the Rossville Athletic Center. Full-time GNTC students with college sports eligibility can try out. For more information, contact basketball coach and athletic director David Stephenson at dstephenson@gntc.edu or 706-764-3814.