Bryan College senior Jonathan Houghton is the first Appalachian Athletic Conference men's soccer defensive player of the week this season, and sophomore teammate Pierce Kiembi is the AAC offensive honoree. Bryan, ranked 11th in the NAIA preseason poll, won its season opener 2-0 Saturday at 24th-ranked Cumberlands, and Houghton assisted Kiembi on the first goal and scored the second himself -- on a spectacular shot -- while helping secure a shutout at the other end of the field. Kiemi, a transfer from Shorter, was playing as a Lion for the first time.
- The Tennessee Temple University soccer teams both lost Monday in a doubleheader against Montreat at Camp Jordan Park, 7-3 in the men's game and 6-0 in the women's. That made both sets of Crusaders 0-2. The men's team trailed 3-1 at halftime but were tied with 20 minutes left to play. Temple's goals were by freshmen Grant Carpenter and Zeke Nunez and sophomore Chris White. The TTU teams return to Camp Jordan today for games against Reinhardt, beginning with the women's match at 1 p.m.
Golf
- MACON, Ga. -- David Noll Jr. of Dalton was the medalist by two strokes with a 6-under-par 66 at The Brickyard at Riverside in Monday's 18-hole qualifier for the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship being played Sept. 17-22 at Shadow Hawk Golf Club in Richmond, Texas. Former Signal Mountain resident and Baylor School standout Michael Morrison of Roswell, Ga., got the seventh and final qualifying spot with a 72 and then a par in a playoff with Robbie Cotten of Brewton, Ala., who became the first alternate. There was a five-way playoff for the second alternate position.
Running
- Lee University senior Maggie Opelt won the Lee Invitational season-opening cross country meet this past Saturday, leading the Lady Flames to the team title in the four-school event. Two of the also-rans, Southern Wesleyan and Emmanuel, are members of Lee's conference. "The results show that we are at least No. 2 in the SSAC behind powerhouse Shorter University," Lee coach Don Jayroe said. "Maggie ran a very good time for this early in the season." That time was 19 minutes, 18 seconds for the 5 kilometers. Young teammates Ashley Matthews (21:02), Cayce Bryan (21:54) and Sarah Harper (21:58) were fourth through sixth, and Emily Carden was 10th. The Lee men also won, led by senior Mike Walker's 26:58 runner-up finish in the 8k race to former Flame Hilary Cheruiyot, now of Tennessee Wesleyan. Cheruiyot ran a 26:50. Emmanuel was second and TWC third in the five-team field, and Lee's Said Ahmed was fourth individually in 27:48. Jayroe echoed his comments about the Lady Flames in praising the Flames' young runners and the team's apparent second-best status compared to Shorter.
Baseball
- The Chattanooga Cyclones K fall baseball team went 3-1 in the Southern Wood Bat Troy University Invitational Tournament this past weekend. Brent Smith got the pitching win in relief in a 6-3 defeat of the Wiregrass Cardinals 18s, and Logan Baldwin had two hits and two RBIs and Cody Rhinehart scored twice. Dakota Hudson and McClain Bachus combined to shut out Greenwave Baseball in a 5-0 victory that included two hits, a run and an RBI each from Smith and Rhinehart and a double and run scored for Sheldon Brogden. Rhinehart batted in four runs with three hits and Lee Gibson had two hits, two RBIs and four runs in an 8-5 win over the Collegiate A's, with Chris Caffrey getting the pitching victory. Hudson had the Cyclones' hit in a 4-0 loss to Viper Baseball. The younger Cyclones S team went 2-2 with Drew Williams, Gabriel Rich and Nick Chambers leading the hitting, Brandon Dycus and Jared Ryan notching pitching wins and Davis Culpepper and Chambers recording saves.