Around the Region: Led by Christian Noble, Lee wins Gulf South cross country titles

Assorted Sports Equipment on Black
Assorted Sports Equipment on Black

Lee University won both Gulf South Conference cross country team titles Saturday at Danville, Ala., and the Flames' Christian Noble was the 8-kilometer individual winner by 12-plus seconds in 24:31.26. Teammates Seth Eagleson and Harold Smith were fourth and ninth, and Caleb Eagleson was 12th with Ben Gilman 15th as Lee totaled 41 points to 70 for runner-up Alabama-Huntsville. The Lady Flames beat second-place UAH 54-67 in the 5k with Emily Buwalda third in 18:00.66, Amy Carpenter ninth and Becca Umbarger, Audrey Smith and Charlee Boxall 13th, 14th and 15th. Lee's Caleb Morgan was voted the GSC men's and women's coach of the year.

Volleyball

-The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga lost 3-2 at UNC Greensboro on Saturday. The set scores were 28-26, 23-25, 20-25, 25-20, 18-16. Ally Ford had 21 kills and 15 digs and Eden Murray and Dani Szczepanski added 13 and 10 kills for UTC (12-12, 5-5 Southern Conference), while Madison Bergren had 33 assists and 15 digs, Lauren Greenspoon 20 assists, Megan Kaufman 25 digs and Emily Plumlee nine block assists.

-Covenant has a school-record 10 wins in a row after beating Huntingdon 3-0 and the host school 3-1 in USA South matches Saturday at Agnes Scott. The Lady Scots (18-7, 11-0) clinched their third consecutive regular-season division title. In the 25-23, 25-13, 25-22 win they got 25 assists and four aces from Schuyler Moore, 10 kills from Ginny Moore, 17 digs from Emily Moore and seven kills from Chloe Storm. Emily had 25 digs, Ginny 16 kills and 13 digs and Schuyler 30 assists and 13 digs in the later 25-13, 25-19, 24-26, 25-13 victory, when Hannah Harris had 13 kills, Jessica Seehorn eight kills and Allie Jakes three block solos and three block assists.

-Destiny Stewart's 22 kills (on .528 hitting) and 15 digs led Sewanee's 3-1 SAA volleyball win (23-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-22) at Oglethorpe. Also for the Tigers (11-11, 5-8), Constance Connolly and Anna Wilson had 24 assists apiece and 15 and 10 digs, Olivia Nichols had 12 kills and 12 digs, Caroline Owens added eight kills and Peyton Parent had 14 digs with nine assists.

-Mariah Dunlop had 10 kills and four aces as Bryan College beat visiting Truett McConnell 3-0 (25-18, 29-27, 25-16) in an Appalachian Athletic Conference match. Anna Owens and Brooke Stowell downed nine and seven kills and Sidney Pierce had 20 assists for the Lady Lions (6-19, 5-10), while Veronica Salas added 12 assists and Kristen Parrish had 15 digs.

-Setter Savannah Wilbanks from Sonoraville High School had 34 assists in Brenau's 3-0 (25-22, 19-25, 25-20, 25-20) AAC win at Tennessee Wesleyan. Sydney Ritten had 12 kills and Avery Hilliard had eight for TWU (6-19, 2-13), while Tia Madden had 18 assists and five aces, Gabi Catt 14 assists and four aces and Kailyn Lillie 11 digs.

Soccer

-Charlie Clarke's 17th goal of the season gave Bryan College a 1-0 NAIA soccer win at fifth-ranked Georgia Gwinnett on Saturday. Clarke scored from a takeaway and a lead pass by Brad Spooner in the 74th minute, and goalkeeper Alex Horton made seven saves as the Lions (12-5) were outshot 16-5 by the host Grizzlies (9-2-1).

-Addy Cronan scored the first three goals and assisted on the fourth, by Lizzy Hightower, as Covenant beat Wesleyan (Ga.) 4-0 in USA South women's soccer. Kyra Duble also had an assist for the Lady Scots (10-6, 5-2), the West's No. 3 seed in the league tournament. The Covenant men (7-11-1, 3-6-1) won 2-1 in overtime at William Peace with two goals by Josh Brower, his winning header at 103:42 assisted by Isaac Johnson, and seven saves by Jonathan Crossman.

-Sewanee ended its soccer regular seasons Saturday with a 5-0 women's loss and a 2-0 men's defeat at Centre, whose teams are undefeated in SAA play. The Sewanee men are 8-7, 4-3; the women 5-7-2, 3-2-1.

Tennis

-UTC sophomore Niklas Gerdes reached today's consolation singles semifinals in the ITA Ohio Valley Regionals in Knoxville with two wins Saturday: 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (9) over Indiana's Andrew Redding and 7-6 (2), 6-2 over MTSU's Luis Morillo Diaz.

Field Hockey

-Emily Sloan scored very early in each half and Virginia Barry and Alex Hornsby scored in between as Sewanee beat visiting Hendrix 4-1 in SAA field hockey Saturday. The Tigers (7-4, 3-0) had a 35-7 margin in shots.

General

-UTC athletic director Mark Wharton will be the guest speaker for the Chattanooga Quarterback Club's noon luncheon meeting Monday at Finley Stadium, and the public is invited. Attendance costs $12 with a meal, $4 without.

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