Blythe GoldenWith his second consecutive 6-under-par 66, former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga golfer Jonathan Hodge totaled 204 for 54 holes and won the SunTrust Tennessee State Open by three strokes Thursday at Foxland Harbor Golf & Country Club in Gallatin. Fellow ex-Moc Steven Fox - the 2014 winner - was in a four-way tie for second at 207, and Hunter Green from Rhea County was seventh at 209 with former Mocs Wes Gosselin and Derek Rende also in the top 10 at 211 and 212 and current Moc Lake Johson tied for 13th at 214. Hodge, who now lives in Knoxville, was fifth in the Web.com Tour event won last weekend by another former UTC standout, Stephan Jaeger.
- Caroline Moore became the first Lee University women's golfer to receive NCAA Division II All-America recognition when she was included Wednesday on the Women's Golf Coaches Association's honorable-mention list for the 2016-17 season. Moore, a junior, was first-team All-Gulf South Conference and paced the Lady Flames' seventh-place finish in the national tournament with a 16th-place 311. She had a 76 scoring average for the year. "She is very deserving," coach John Maupin said in a Lee release. "She's been a tireless worker since she got here, and she is always pushing to get better. Caroline is a great example of the type of person and player we want to have."
- Dalton State freshman Tia Teiniketo from Baylor School is tied for the individual lead and the Lady Roadrunners are in fourth place going into the final round today of the NAIA women's tournament in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Hit by rain again with the second round finally completed but the scheduled third round not begun at The Squire Course at PGA National, the tournament has been shortened to 54 holes. Fifth-ranked DSC is at 631, 11 shots behind leader Oklahoma City with USC-Beaufort at 623 and Embry-Riddle at 629. Teiniketo is at 150 with past All-Americans Caroline Griffin and Katie Dalton tied for 25th at 159 and Isabel Rijos at 163.
Track & Field
- Lee's Christian Noble was the top qualifier Thursday in the 3000-meter steeplechase at the Division II national outdoor track and field meet in Bradenton, Fla., and teammate Justin Brooks qualified third for Saturday's 400-meter final. Lee's Adrian Martin was 16th in the women's 100 preliminaries. The top eight advance. Noble finished in 8:55.34 in advancing to tonight's steeple final, and Brooks ran a 46.48-second 400.
Softball
- Chattanooga State's Blythe Golden accepted her recent election as TCCAA softball coach of the year with pride but deflected much of the credit. In a school release Thursday, she said it "was truly an honor and something of which I am very proud. I take a step back to reflect on why and how I was able to receive this award. Our team is the reason." She directed the Lady Tigers to a 44-13 record and to the region championship and NJCAA Division I tournament for the third time in four years, aided by assistants Jackie Baird, Brandon Carr and Jamie Carr. "I firmly believe that you are only as good as the people you surround yourself with," Golden continued, "and I am very lucky to have a coaching staff, college support system and players as good as ours here at Chattanooga State."
Baseball
- Lee senior Nathan Wierzgac has been voted the Division II All-South Region first-team catcher by the American Baseball Coaches Association, in conjunction with Rawlings, after being similarly honored by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Asssociation. He led the 2017 Flames regulars with a .360 batting average, 11 home runs, a .663 slugging percentage, a .425 on-base percentage, 39 RBIs, 39 runs and a .972 fielding rate.