Area Sports Notes: Miss Basketball Rhyne Howard now on USA team

Bradley Central's Rhyne Howard, shown breaking loose for a shot in this year's Class AAA state tournament semifinals, has been selected for the 2018 USA U18 women's basketball team.
Bradley Central's Rhyne Howard, shown breaking loose for a shot in this year's Class AAA state tournament semifinals, has been selected for the 2018 USA U18 women's basketball team.
photo Rhyne Howard

Tennessee's Class AAA Miss Basketball from Bradley Central High School, Rhyne Howard, now is a Miss USA selection. Specifically, the 6-foot-2 Gatorade state player of the year and University of Kentucky signee is one of 12 players picked for the 2018 USA U18 women's team that will participate in the eight-team FIBA Americas tournament for four spots in the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup. There were 35 girls in the trial events for the squad coached by Louisville's Jeff Walz, and Howard is the only one chosen from Tennessee. The dozen include three recruits for national champion Notre Dame and two each for Connecticut and Baylor. Howard averaged 21.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.2 steals and 3.8 assists a game as a Bradley senior.

General

» Lee University soccer star Summer Lanter from Soddy-Daisy and track and field standout Josiah Brooks will represent the Cleveland school at the Gulf South Conference awards banquet Thursday in Pensacola Beach, Florida, as members of the GSC Top Ten list - five women, five men - for 2017-18. They already were Lee's female and male student-athletes of the year. Lanter is a repeat Top Ten honoree after also repeating as the GSC women's soccer player of year and being chosen most outstanding player in the league tournament, South Region player of the year and a second-team All-American. She also was Lee's Paul Conn female student-athlete of the year for all-around excellence and will graduate summa cum laude this year with a nursing degree. Brooks, who follows his twin Justin on the GSC men's list, was the most outstanding overall performer at the conference track meet and was a first-team All-American in the 200-meter dash and a second-teamer in triple jump. He is president of Lee's student-athletes' advisory committee for next year. "I am so proud of these student-athletes for earning this tremendous honor," athletic director Larry Carpenter said in a Lee release. "Summer finished a wonderful four-year career leading our team to three GSC regular-season championships and one tournament title. She was just as successful in the classroom and will make a huge impact in the nursing profession. Josiah is one of those special young men who happens to be an elite athlete. He performs well against the best athletes in the country, and he's the guy willing to help anyone in need. Like Summer he will do well after life at Lee."

Tennis

» University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's tennis coach Chad Camper announced Tuesday the addition of Ukrainian Anna Didkovskaya to his roster for 2018-19. She will join another Kiev resident, sophomore Bogdana Zaporzhets, with the Mocs. Didkovskaya won a national tournament in Kiev as a 16-year-old last August and made the doubles final in the same event. "Anna is a very solid player with a lot of room to grow," Camper said in a release. "She has some great weapons and experience that will allow us to continue our success. Anna will be a tough girl to beat on the court, and she will make everyone better on the team."

Volleyball

» Former Notre Dame High School volleyball and softball coach Robin Moore is the assistant coach for the new Chattanooga State volleyball program headed by longtime Hixson High and Loftis Middle School coach Janet Tate. Moore, an East Ridge native now living in Chickamauga, retired from teaching in 2015. Her volleyball coaching record since 1995 was 464-88 and included victories up to the state sectional level. "I am very excited and honored to be a part of Chattanooga State's inaugural volleyball team," Moore said in a release. "We are excited about the high quality of players that we have recruited so far and are looking forward to completing our roster with that same level of talent." The program is holding another tryout session Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon.

Track & Field

» Sewanee's Owen Legrone is a 2018 Google Cloud academic all-district selection for NCAA Division III men's track and field and cross country, as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America. A senior this past school year, Legrone led the cross country Tigers in all six of their 2017 meets, breaking the school 8k record in the NCAA region meet, and shone also in the indoor mile and outdoor 5000-meter run in track. He had a 4.05 grade point average while majoring in international and global studies and German.

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