There will be a new champion of the Brainerd Invitational golf tournament today, and the final round begins with a lot of contenders for the distinction. In the absence of 2016 winner Mikey Feher at Brainerd Golf Course, three players are tied for first place and 10 others are within three strokes of them. Ben Rebne, Jeff Greeson and Richard Keene are the open division leaders at 67, and Taylor Lewis, Chris Hall, Trent Mansfield, Dee Arnold and Matt Hadden are only a shot behind. Greg Bankston, Sport Allmond and Steve Johnson shot 69s Saturday, and Alexander Riddle and Joe Markham carded 70s. Michael Bridges, Ricky Honeycutt, Jeremy Lawson and David Watts opened with 71s, and Matt Crowder, Dylan Lillard, Dustin Gill and Shonn Weldon had 72s. The senior division also has a crowd at the top, although Tim Crawford and Mike Bennett co-lead by two with 68s. Jim Schreiner, Johnny Pierce and Ronnie Law shot 70s, and Tom Baird and defending senior champion Mitch Hufstetler are at 71.
- If the girls' golfers competing in the 2017 Matt Cunningham Preview hosted by Baylor School are to top what happened last year, good luck. They're going to need it. This year's two-day tournament is scheduled to start Monday at 1 p.m., and Tuesday's play is set for at 9 a.m. The boys again will play at Black Creek and the girls return to Sweetens Cove, where Coffee County's Ashley Gilliam last year made a hole-in-one on the closing No. 9 hole to give her team a one-stroke win over Rossview. Earlier in the day, Clarksville's McKinley Cunningham had aced the same hole and fellow freshman Sadie Pan of Rossview duplicated the feat on the next swing. Clarksville and Rossview are again in the girls' field of nine teams overall. Twelve teams make up the boys' field. McCallie, GPS and Signal Mountain's boys and girls are the local teams competing along with Baylor's teams. Baylor's boys last season finished runner-up to returning champion Memphis University School.
Shooting Sports
- The Str8 Shooters team representing Sequatchie County, Sale Creek and Soddy-Daisy high schools and home-schoolers had considerable success in Tennessee Scholastic Clay Target Program regional and state competition this year. The Str8 Shooters numbered 17 and had six coaches headed by Brian Weas. Eli Christman, who is about to start his college shooting career at Martin Methodist and has earned a spot on the United States junior team for the World Championships in Russia in early September, was second in the sporting clays varsity boys' division of the TNSCTP state in Nashville, where Madelynn Weas was third in varsity girls' skeet, Mason Weas won boys' junior varsity sporting clays (after sweeping the skeet, sporting clays and trap titles at the East regionals) and those Weases plus Colton Weas, Christman and Tucker Griffin got the highest overall team award combining all three disciplines. Brae Booker won girls' intermediate advance skeet, and Blythe Booker won highest overall in IA sporting clays and combined and was third in skeet (after winning skeet and sporting clays at regionals). Colton Weas had won varsity skeet and sporting clays regional titles, while Madelynn Weas and Emily Price were first and third in sporting clays and second and third in skeet and Price was second in trap. Also at the regionals, Griffin was second and McClaine Flory third in boys' JV trap, Flory and Daniel Colloms were second and third in JV sporting clays, Scott Bowers II was second in JV skeet, Jacob Sullivan was first in intermediate entry sporting clays and second in IE skeet, and Trey Thacker was third in boys' IA skeet.
Volleyball
- Georgia Northwestern Technical College released its 2017 volleyball schedule this past week, and new coach Amber Weaver's Lady Bobcats will open it by hosting a tournament for the first time. That's the Rumble in Rossville set for Aug. 25-26 at the Rossville Athletic Center, and it will include the first-ever matches for Cleveland State. Other participants will be Hiwassee, Welch and The Crown colleges. GNTC will play Aug. 29 at Johnson University in Knoxville and Sept. 9 with Welch at Judson College. The Lady Bobcats will host Covenant's junior varsity on Sept. 11, Judson on Sept. 21, Bryan's JV on Sept. 28 and Toccoa Falls on Sept. 30. October will be filled with road trips except for an Oct. 21 home tri-match against Pensacola Christian and Andrew; area visits will be to Bryan on Oct. 2, Covenant on Oct. 9, Cleveland State on Oct. 19 and Hiwassee on Oct. 23.