Gibby Gilbert III of Ooltewah finished second by a stroke to fellow Tennessean Cliff Kresge in the Sunbelt Senior Tour golf tournament this past weekend in Lewiston, New York. Kingsport's Kresge shot 134 (68-66) at Hickory Stick Golf Club while Gilbert went 68-67 for a 135 and $5,000. Kresge received $10,000. Three others who opened with 68s closed with 68s and a 69. Gilbert has five SST victories in eight seasons. The tour returns to Hickory Stick this Sunday for a summer scramble of two-man teams.
* Defending champion Colette Murray, Miranda Rich and Lindsey Hollis each shot 76 for the first-round lead Monday in the Chattanooga Women's Amateur Championship at WindStone Golf Club. Mary Melissa Manuel was fourth at 78 in the championship flight of the open division, which played from the green tees, followed by Macall Miller, Ryann McCuistion and Kathy Vaughn with 79s. The leaders in flight two were Kylan Nash at 82 and Barb Monaghan at 85, and the flight-three leaders were Sharon Powell at 93 and Regina Hong at 95. Darlene Werhnyak grabbed an eight-shot edge in the senior division with her 75 from the red tees. Next in the seniors' championship flight was Carlene Ryon at 83, trailed by Debbie Durham and Jeanie Reedy at 87 and Leslie Nelson at 90. Flight two was headed by Angie Burt at 91 and Deedee Raulston at 92, while the flight-three leaders were Kathy Larison at 98 and Lynn Heck and Sylvia Friedl at 99. The seniors return to action Wednesday, while the open division plays again today as well as Wednesday.
* Union University golfer Jordan Botwinick from the Memphis area shot a 7-under-par 65 for a two-stroke lead Monday in the first of two rounds of stroke-play qualifying in the Tennessee Match Play Championship at Council Fire Golf Club. He had six birdies in a 30 for the front nine and ended the day two strokes ahead of Tennessee Tech sophomore Bracton Womack of McMinnville. Defending champion Chase Roswall of Bristol and the University of Tennessee - and a former Baylor School standout - was third at 68 with 20-time TGA tournament winner Tim Jackson of Williston tied for fourth at 69 with Cookeville's Lee Maxwell and Knoxville's Trey Poteet. UT-Chattanooga player Oliver Simonsen from Ooltewah was in a trio tied for seventh at 70, and Ben Rebne from Ringgold and Dalton State was tied for 10th at 71. Local golfers Steve Johnson and Jack Smith were in the group tied for 16th at 72, and the nine at 73 included area residents Matt McKenney, Jeff Greeson, Matt Crowder, Jack Uselton and Jacob Uehlein. After today's round, 16 players will move on to match play Wednesday. The semifinal and final matches are set for Thursday.
Volleyball
* UTC was announced Monday as a recipient of the American Volleyball Coaches Association team award for academic excellence. Coach Travis Filar's Mocs were among 163 NCAA Division I teams honored after compiling an aggregate grade point average of 3.602 in the fall semester and a 3.515 this spring, led by Megan Kaufman's 4.0 each semester. The AVCA team award requires a 3.30 on a 4.0 scale for the school year.
Diving
* Grace Hogue of the Signal Mountain diving team scored 231.15 points in the Junior Olympic girls' 16-18 age group to lead all participants in the Chattanooga Diving League's 2018 city meet Sunday at the Baylor School natatorium, and Stuart Heights' Sara Francis Crawford and Signal Mountain's Dylon Green won the 14-15 titles with 183.25 and 182.62 points. Other age-group winners were Rowan Fitzsimmons, Jane Murphy, Sarah Griffith, Liam Arnold, Alyssa Carlton, Dakota Deering, Cooper Newsome and Matilda Pethecky in Junior Olympic and Skyla Duncan, Jackson Schurr, Maddie Campbell, Asa Hedrick and Harper Arnold in Future Champions. Synchronized winners were Fitzsimmons with Sig Brown and Griffith with Lyla Schenck. Griffith, 9, and Hogue, 17, will be in San Antonio for the AAU nationals Friday through July 27.