Former local high school and UTC golf star Jordan Britt.Chattanooga's Jordan Britt shot a 4-under-par 68 Friday at Stonehenge Golf Club near Crossville and is tied for second at 141, one stroke behind defending champion Karlin Beck of Montgomery, Ala., after two rounds of the Golf Capital of Tennessee Women's Open Championship. Also at 141 is Laura Restrepo of Louisville, Ky. Blakesly Warren of Chattanooga is seventh and the second amateur at 145, and Manchester's Jenna Burris is tied for 15th at 149. Participants represent 19 states and Canada. Maggie Scott of Charleston and Jean Craft of Crossville are first and second at 158 and 163 in the inaugural senior division, with Cleveland residents Kay McDaniel and Linda Mullins fifth and seventh.
- Fresh off his Chattanooga Choo Choo Invitational victory Wednesday at Council Fire, Ole Miss senior golfer Ben Wolcott of Burns, Tenn., earned the No. 1 seed Friday for match play in the Tennessee Match Play Championship at Bear Trace at Harrison Bay. Wolcott shot a 9-under-par 135 (65-70) and will face Keoni Vidrine (144) of Delano in the round of 16 this morning. The round of 16 also includes Lake Johnson (141) and Brooks Thomas (144) of Chattanooga and UTC and Evan Ball (142) of Benton and Tennessee Wesleyan, Vidrine's alma mater. Johnson will play Ball. Tim Jackson of Germantown is the Senior Match Play top seed after a 137. Neil Spitalny of Chattanooga earned the No. 2 spot with a 140 but withdrew, and Mel Mendenhall (142) of Ooltewah, Scott Patton (143) and Tom Baird (146) of Signal Mountain, Richard Keene (144) and Harry Hill (147) of Chattanooga and Bob Rice (147) of Pikeville are among those playing today.
General
- Garrett Ballard Rowland has been hired as Lee University's first full-time strength coach. He has a bachelor's degree in exercise science from Ole Miss and a master's from West Florida, where he worked from 2014 through this past spring as a strength and conditioning graduate assistant. A Memphis native who worked as an intern at Memphis and Ole Miss, he was an assistant coach at Missouri Southern State before going to UWF. "We are excited to welcome Garrett," Lee athletic director Larry Carpenter said in a release Friday. "We contracted the services out for several years and had success, but with our move to NCAA Division II it was time to bring someone on board to further enhance our program. Garrett has worked with some of the best coaches in the country and brings some fresh ideas to help our student-athletes."
Swimming
- It has been a sizzling summer for former and current members of the McCallie/GPS Aquatics program, led by Sean Ryan (McCallie class of 2010) preparing for the open-water 10k in the Olympic Games at Rio de Janeiro. Jake Marcum and Luke Massey will be in the USA Swimming Junior Nationals in Minneapolis after setting two McCallie/GPS Aquatics records each, Marcum in the 100 and 200 backstroke and Massey in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Marcum is the nation's sixth-ranked 15-year-old boy in the 200 back. Jon Pat Ransom, Ethan Bevill, David Horne and Max Ransom will be in the USA Swimming Futures meet in Atlanta, Jon Pat after having set team standards in the 200 and 400 individual medleys. He is headed to Drexel University, while Susanna LaRochelle is headed to North Carolina after breaking the McCallie/GPS senior girls' 200 back record. And eight members of the program were selected for the Southeastern Swimming Zone all-star team that will compete in Cary, N.C.: Gabriel Johnson in senior boys, Jillian Cantrell in senior girls, Reece Gallagher in 13-14 boys, Grayson Payne and Emma Scruggs in 13-14 girls, Sam Powe and Jacob McDaniel in 11-12 boys and Ellie Taliaferro in 11-12 girls. McCallie/GPS age-group records were set by Payne (50 freestyle, 100 free, 100 back), Scruggs (200 back), Taliaferro (50 free, 100 free, 50 butterfly) and Powe (50 free), and Payne, Scruggs and Johnson qualified for both the USA Swimming Futures and the NCSA Junior Nationals.