Chattanooga's Wesley Cash now has won five USTA men's 55 doubles national championships in a row. After earning a "golden slam" with Mark Vines of Virginia last year, Cash won the first leg of another slam Saturday with Michael Tammen of Portland, Ore. They beat Paul Hoffstein of Merion Station, Pa., and Ken Koelling of Marion, Miss., 6-3, 6-1 in the final of the indoor nationals. Tammen doubled up by beating Koelling 6-4, 7-5 in the 55 singles final.
• The 15th-ranked Sewanee women's tennis team won 5-4 over No. 16 Washington and Lee in NCAA Division III tournament play Saturday at Emory University in Atlanta and advanced to a third-round match at 4 p.m. today. Sewanee (19-5) won all three doubles matches but fell behind 4-3 before Annie Veron completed a 7-6, 6-2 win at No. 4 singles and Lindsey Liles took a dramatic 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (9-7) victory at No. 3.
• Diana Narino from Bogota, Colombia, is transferring to Dalton State College from Reinhardt University to continue her tennis career. She played No. 1 singles and doubles for the Waleska, Ga., school. "She will be an asset to this program from day one," said Michel Bates, one of the coaches of one of DSC's new sports. "Bringing in a player like Diana, with proven college match experience, is invaluable to our program," added the other Roadrunners tennis coach, Zach Rogers.
Baseball
• The Lee University baseball program has become a perennial threat in the NAIA World Series, and the Flames have one last shot at winning the event before leaving the association after completing a breeze through the Cleveland Regional they hosted. Nationally third-ranked Lee (49-10) beat Avila 14-0 on Saturday as Corey Davis went 4-for-4 with two doubles, three RBIs and three runs scored and Danny Canela homered and drove in four runs. Brady Renner was 4-for-5 with three runs, Josh Silver was 3-for-6, Brandon Rader was 2-for-5 with two RBIs and Karsten Strieby also had two RBIs for the Flames. Clint Terry (10-1) and three relievers combined on a nine-inning five-hitter.
• Defending NAIA champion and eighth-ranked Tennessee Wesleyan was extended to a second championship game in the Kingsport opening series by a 6-3 loss Saturday to Missouri Baptist, which the Bulldogs had edged 6-5 on Friday. The teams will meet again at noon Monday to determine who goes to Lewiston, Idaho, for the World Series. Josh McCray and Jake Stone each had two hits and an RBI and Logan Dalton was 2-for-4 with a double for Wesleyan (45-17) in Saturday's game. Ryan Gunhouse was 4-for-5, Patrick Johnson was 2-for-3 with three runs and Pier Olivier-Dostaler and Joseph Taylor each drove in two runs for Missouri Baptist (34-12), which beat Springfield-Benedictine 8-4 in the losers-bracket final.
• Covenant College's strong showing in the National Christian College Athletic Association Mid-East Region baseball tournament ended Saturday with a 15-5 loss to tournament host Trevecca Nazarene in Nashville. David Lockwood was 2-for-2 with a triple, a double, two RBIs and two runs scored and Sterling Whitt was 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs also for Covenant (28-15), and Perry Rigby had the other RBI with a triple. The Scots scored three runs in the first inning and led 4-0 before Trevecca (35-21) scored eight in the second.
Golf
• James White of Chattanooga, Robert Jacks of Hixson, Justin Jolly of Tunnel Hill, Brandon Parrish of Chatsworth, Robson Copenhaver of Scottsboro and Jordan Bethune of Fort Payne are among the 130 golfers scheduled to play Monday at Marietta Country Club in Kennesaw, Ga., for eight spots and two alternate positions in sectional qualifying for this year's U.S. Open Championship. Another 18-hole qualifier for the same number of sectional berths is set for Tuesday at Atlanta National in Alpharetta, with Blake Maum of Chattanooga, Sung Back of Rossville, David Noll Jr. of Dalton and Chase Jones, Colby Hipp and Tyler Mitchell of Chatsworth among the 131 entered.
• Chattanooga's LPGA Tour member, Brooke Pancake, and Logan Chaney of Scottsboro, Ala., are among the 78 players scheduled for 36-hole U.S. Women's Open sectional qualifying Monday at Druid Hills Golf Club in Atlanta. They will play for eight berths and two alternate spots in the national tournament June 27-30 at Sebonak Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y. The field includes golfers from Vermont to California and from China, Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Australia, Chile, Argentina, Canada, England, France and Norway.
Running
• The Dalton State College cross country program added Northwest Whitfield twins Brody and Parker Cook in a signing ceremony this past week. They will join Isaac Pacheco from North Murray, his older brother Rafael Pacheco and Bradley Central's Paul Patterson on the new Roadrunners team coached by Margie Bruner and Andy Meyer. "Every team needs a heart and soul. I believe Brody and Parker will be the heart and soul of our very first team," Meyer said in a DSC release. Said Bruner: "They will push each other and our other runners to be even better. They are quality runners and quality young men." Northwest coach Tom Sell said his departing Bruins "are great kids, excellent athletes, and they will be successful." Brody reached the state track meet as a 2-miler, and Parker made it to the sectional. Their sister Jordi is a basketball standout at Georgia Southern.
• Patrick Hall won the King of the Mountain four-mile road race Saturday on Lookout Mountain in 21 minutes, 38 seconds. He was 14 seconds ahead of Geno Phillips, and Dean Thompson (22:53), Joshua Maughon (23:31) and Ryan Shrum (23:59) completed the top five. Jessica Marlier was sixth overall and the women's winner in 24:57. Debbie Vannoy was her runner-up and 15th overall.
Staff Reports