Larkin Brown of Chattanooga and Girls Preparatory School is among the 59 girls and boys named Friday to USRowing's under-19 national team that will compete in the 2018 World Rowing Junior Championships next month in the Czech Republic. The event is set for Aug. 8-12 in the city of Racice. The 59 include 13 who were on the 2017 United States team that won three medals in the world regatta in Lithuania. Brown, a senior, was picked for the women's eight crew that also includes Jessica Mixon of Brentwood and athletes from Connecticut, New York, Florida, Illinois, Washington and California. They endured the rigors of selection camp June 16-July 9 in Connecticut, and Brown's eight-plus U.S. U23 intermediate team boat won the gold medal and her four-plus crew took silver in the club nationals this week in Camden, New York. She also was part of an eight-plus silver in elite/senior. "Simply put, she got there with hard work. She set a goal and went after it," GPS coach David Hall said in a school release. "I've witnessed significant development from her." The U.S. roster represents 19 states and Switzerland, with 14 rowers from California and 13 from Connecticut. Another Tennessean is Kristopher Fisher of Oak Ridge in men's double sculls.
Football
' The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga made Sam Herder's list this week for HeroSports.com of the "Best Traditions in the FCS." Herder slotted at No. 25 the UTC players' sing-along while the band plays the school's alma mater after home games. That tradition started during the 2009 season. "College football is unique in that there are so many special traditions and game-day rituals that mean so much to the teams, fans and alumni," Mocs coach Tom Arth said in a UTC release. "We are very proud of our school and all that our alumni have accomplished. Singing the Alma Mater after every game reminds us that we are a part of something so special and so much bigger than ourselves."
Golf
' Two-time Tennessee Girls' Junior Amateur golf champion Ashley Gilliam from Manchester fell just short of the semifinals of the 2018 U.S. Girls' Junior tournament at Pebble Beach, California. Gilliam, seeded 46th after stroke-play qualifying, completed a 2 and 1 win over No. 3 Brooke Seay of California in the morning Friday but then lost 4 and 3 to No. 6 seed Gina Kim in the last quarterfinal to start on the Poppy Hills course. Kim is a Duke University freshman from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and a former U.S. Junior Ryder Cup player. She now will play No. 2 seed Yealimi Noh of Concord, California, who won 7 and 5 over Colombia's Valery Plata. The other semifinal pits Lucy Li of Redwood Shores, California, the qualifying medalist the last two years, against Alexa Pano of Lake Worth, Florida. They were 5-and-4 and 4-and-3 winners in the quarterfinals.
Tennis
' Nos. 1, 3 and 4 seeds Lucas Plesky, Luke Plaisted and Nikolay Nikiforov won their men's open singles quarterfinals in the City Championships at Manker Patten, but Alejandro Medinilla repeatedly rallied and upset No. 2 Turner Voges in the last match Friday night, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5. Hayley Carter, Drew Hawkins and Marina Galey breezed into the women's open semifinals, joining Kayla Kelly who had a bye.
Fishing
' Bryan College anglers Thad Simerly and Ethan Shaw made a huge jump from 44th place to 11th in the second day of the Carhartt Bassmaster college nationals on Tenkiller Lake in Oklahoma. Their five fish Friday totaling 12 pounds, 3 ounces got them to 16-11 (after only two keepers Thursday) and into the top 12 going back on the lake today. Bethel University's Garrett Enders and Cody Huff padded their lead to 6-plus pounds with 15-10, all by 7:30 a.m., for a two-day total of 32-4. An Auburn duo was second at 26-2. But Tenkiller's 16-inch minimum for bass and temperatures exceeding 100 degrees took their toll. Bryan's Nathan Bell and Cole Sands finished 35th at 10-11.