Mark Ritchhart is the new softball coach for Bryan College.New University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's tennis coach Chuck Merzbacher and University of Minnesota junior Caitlyn Merzbacher won the USTA National Father-Daughter Grass Court Championship early this week at Chestnut Hill, Mass. The Merzbachers, who were one of the 5 seeds, began the Sunday-Tuesday event with 6-0, 6-0 and 6-2, 6-0 victories over unseeded pairs and then rallied for a 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 defeat of the No. 2 seeds in the quarterfinals. They beat the No. 4 seeds 6-2, 6-2 in a semifinal and finished with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over the No. 3 seeds.
Fishing
-Bryan College is the Cabela's School of the Year for bass fishing, and Jake Lee and Jacob Foutz from the small Dayton, Tenn., school grabbed the first-day lead Thursday in the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship on Lake Bemidji in Minnesota. Lee and Foutz weighed four fish, one short of the daily limit, but those totaled 16 pounds, 6 ounces. The second-place duo from Bemidji State caught 15-12 in gloomy, shifting weather. "The winds really blew out our areas and made it harder," Foutz said in a B.A.S.S. release, "but we should be able to duplicate the quality if it settles down some." Said Lee: "The caliber of fish in our area is just unreal, (but) the bites were about as slow as anything I've experienced in my life. Today was slow and painful, but it worked out." Two Bethel University teams are third and fourth at 14-12 and 14-11, and Tennessee Tech's Sam Carris and John Berry are ninth at 12-13. Bryan's Cole Sands with Nathan Bell and Matt Brown with D.J. Barber are tied for 32nd out of 89 boats.
Golf
-Clemson University golfer William Nottingham from Kingsport continues to lead the 102nd Tennessee State Amateur after Thursday's third round at Belle Meade Country Club in Nashville, but Cleveland resident David Watts shot a 68 and is only one shot back at 5-under-par 211. Nottingham had a 70, and John Swoboda of Mount Juliet is third at 212 after a 68 of his own. Sewanee's Tommy Oliver and Tullahoma's Jack Uselton are in a tie for 10th at 215. UTC golfers Andrew Weathers and Lake Johnson from Chattanoga are tied for 17th and 20th, respectively, at 217 and 218, and Chattanoogan Blake Maum is tied for 28th at 219.
Softball
-The new Bryan College softball head coach is Mark Ritchhart, who has spent the last two years trying to transform a perennially struggling program at Central Christian College in Kansas. He was used to success as a high school coach in Florida, where he followed a water-ski-performance career by being named Class 2A state coach of the year six times in 15 years, with three state titles and two runner-up teams. He was district coach of the year nine seasons in a row and started two softball travel programs that emphasized Christian values. One of his daughters played four years of college softball; another played for Ritchhart at Central Christian. "He has a wealth of experience as a coach, and his heart for furthering the gospel in the lives of his players speaks volumes about the work he will do here at Bryan as a discipler," athletic director Taylor Hasty said in a release. An Iowa native, Ritchhart played baseball for Northeast Missouri State. "I am extremely grateful to Bryan College, and my Lord," he said of his new job. " I pray our softball program will be known around the area and country by the way we conduct ourselves, exude excellence and produce outstanding young women."
Soccer
-UTC was picked to finish sixth out of the 10 Southern Conference women's soccer teams this season, according to the coaches' poll released Thursday. Three-time defending champion Samford got eight first-place votes and 81 total points, compared to 67 apiece for Furman and East Tennessee State. UNC Greensboro was fourth with 56, followed by Mercer with 50, UTC with 40, Western Carolina with 34, VMI with 22, The Citadel with 19 and Wofford with 14. Mercer defeated UTC's Mocs in the SoCon tournament quarterfinals last year. UTC's 2017 schedule begins a week from tonight at Finley Stadium, starting at 7 against Austin Peay. Admission is free.