Former Northwest Whitfield High School and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga running standout Dee Goodwin is the new Dalton State women's cross country and track and field coach. She succeeds Margie Bruner, who resigned on Feb. 1. The Roadrunners will compete March 17-18 in the Emory Invitational in Atlanta. "It was an honor to be the first director of cross country at Dalton State," Bruner said in a DSC release. "I think Dee will be an excellent coach for the women's teams. She has a wealth of experience and knowledge." Goodwin was All-Southern Conference four times in cross country for UTC and won the SoCon 10,000-meter title in track in 1987. Her school record in that event stood for 10 years, and in 2003 she became the first female runner inducted into the UTC hall of fame. She continues to run competitively. "I look forward to developing young student-athletes and building on the success of the coaches that began cross country and track at Dalton State," she said. "Dee Goodwin is a well-known member of the Dalton-Whitfield County running and education community," interim athletic director Jon Jaudon said. "We are fortunate to have a decorated athlete with decades of coaching experience available and willing to step in. Our student-athletes have had the good fortune of being led by one of the most competitive, humble, graceful and kind human beings in Coach Bruner. Her leadership will continue to influence those students she coached for a lifetime."
- The UTC women's track and field team will compete Saturday and Sunday in the SoCon indoor meet in Johnson City, Tenn.
Softball
- For the second weekend in a row, the UTC softball team is hosting a tournament at Warner Park. This one is the Frost Classic, and the pitching-strapped young Mocs will face Fairleigh Dickinson and Northwestern (La.) State today, Western Michigan and UT-Martin on Saturday and Saint Louis at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, all at Jim Frost Stadium. The tournament is set to include 15 games. Northwestern State is coached by Donald Pickett, UTC coach Frank Reed's former assistant with Chattanooga State and the Mocs.
- Tennessee Wesleyan won 8-7 and lost 6-5 in NAIA softball Thursday at the University of the Cumberlands. Alyssa King and Baylee Sutton each hit a three-run home run and Sutton, Laken Collier, Mackenzie Jackson and Briana Muller each was 2-for-4 in the first game for the Lady Bulldogs (4-4). They jumped to a 5-0 lead two innings into game two, when Sutton was 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI, King was 2-for-4 with an RBI and Makenzie Hopkins was 2-for-4 and scored a run.
Baseball
- Tennessee Wesleyan lost 8-5 at Georgia Gwinnett in an NAIA top-five baseball showdown Wednesday at Lawrenceville, Ga. Collin Ridout's three-run home run in the top of the third inning gave Wesleyan (6-6) a brief 4-0 lead, and Pedro Barrios was 2 -for-4 with an RBI and a run. TWU was No. 4 in the NAIA preseason poll, Gwinnett No. 5, after both had 50-win seasons in 2016. Marcus McCorkle was 2-for-4 with a triple, three RBIs and two runs for the Grizzlies (10-4).
- Tom Glavine, Gabe Kapler and Tony La Russa will be the 2017 inductees in the Southern League Hall of Fame, the league that includes the Chattanooga Lookouts announced last week. La Russa as a manager and Glavine as a pitcher, most notably with the Atlanta Braves, already are in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., but before their many years of major league glory came success in the Class AA Southern League. La Russa was part of three SL championships, as a player and a manager, and Glavine was 11-6 with a 3.41 earned run average with the 1986 Greenville (S.C.) Braves. Kapler was the overall minor league player of the year and SL All-Star MVP in 1998, when he was with the Jacksonville Suns and hit 28 home runs, scored 113 runs and set still-standing Southern League single-season records with 146 RBIs, 81 extra-base hits, 319 total bases and 47 doubles.
Golf
- Four-time state qualifier and three-time district champion Ali Barker of Hixson High School has signed a letter of intent to continue her golf career at Milligan College, an NAIA school just outside Johnson City. Barker qualified twice in recent years for the CDGA Junior Tour Championship at The Honors Course and had numerous top-three finishes in Tennessee Golf Association junior events, including two Masters Division victories, and she won the Edward R. Jones Award at the Rarity Bay Championship. "We have followed Ali for the past few years and have been impressed with her golf game and progress," Milligan coach Tony Wallingford said in a school release. "She is a competitor, has a great work ethic and possesses a real passion for golf." She plans to major in pre-physical therapy.
- The Reeders Cup men's tournament hosted by Covenant College is making a return today and Saturday at Lookout Mountain Golf Club. The first round is set to start at 1:30 p.m. with Covenant, Bryan, Sewanee and Bob Jones teams and extra individuals also from the three area schools. The last time there was a full Reeder Cup field was 2012.
Tennis
- The UTC men's tennis team goes outdoors today in hosting Troy at the Champions Club at 2 p.m., and the UTC women play Saturday at noon EST at Jacksonville State and host Middle Tennessee State at 1 p.m. Sunday at Baylor School.