UTC Athletic Hall of Fame member Jerry Ward from Evensville, Tenn., died on July 13 at age 82, and a memorial service will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. at First United Methodist Church in Dayton with a reception to follow at the Robinson Guest House. Ward spent his early years in Dayton and Cleveland, and then his family moved to Roane County, where he began an illustrious athletic career. He moved back to Rhea County during high school and starred for three years in football and basketball at Rhea Central. He led the state in scoring and was all-state in football in 1951, and then he chose the University of Chattanooga and coach Scrappy Moore from a number of football scholarship offers. He became a two-way starter referred to as "The Total Player," and as a halfback and defensive back he led the team in rushing, receiving, interceptions, punting and kick returns. He went on to counterintelligence service in the U.S. Army and to an impressive business career and spare time as a golfer.
Golf
* For the fifth straight school year, the Lee University men's golf team was honored as a Golf Coaches Association of America all-academic team. That requires a cumulative team grade point average of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, and Lee's Flames happened to be in the NCAA Division II top 10 for their club-swinging other course work. "I'm very proud of the year our guys had in the classroom," coach John Maupin said in a school release. "More than any other season it was a very good effort from top to bottom, and a strong majority of the team played a big role in helping us gain this recognition. We strive to be a well-balanced program."
Tennis
* Former Harding University standout Arielle Butler has joined the Covenant College tennis programs as the graduate assistant for coach John Hirte. "I am very excited to join the athletic staff at Covenant and to have the opportunity to work at such a beautiful campus," Butler said in a release from the NCAA Division III school on Lookout Mountain. "One of the things that drew me in about Covenant was the motto 'In all things Christ pre-eminent.' I hope to be an example of this motto to the tennis players and to keep furthering the success the program has already had." She is beginning work on a master's degree in sports administration from Belhaven University after graduating this spring from Harding, a Division II school that won the Great American Conference in 2014. She was a two-time All-GAC selection and totaled 58 career singles victories and 41 doubles wins. "She is an accomplished four-year collegiate player who has strong passions for player development, team tennis and discipleship," Hirte said. "I'm confident that her experience and enthusiasm for coaching and mentorship make her a great fit for our program."