The Honors Course head professional Henrik Simonsen earned the top honor at the Chattanooga Chapter of the Tennessee PGA banquet this week. He was the chapter's golf professional of the year. Sean Rice of the Honors got the assistant of the year award. Lamar Mills of Cleveland Country Club won the Bill Strausbaugh Award, Bruce Etter of Chattanooga Golf & Country Club won teacher of the year and Jeff Craig of WindStone won the Horton Smith and Growth of the Game honors. Adam Campbell of Lookout Mountain won the junior golf leader award, Simonsen was the top private merchandiser and Keith Burdette of Bear Trace at Harrison Bay was the top public merchandiser. Tom Squires of PING Golf was the top sales representative.
Basketball
* The Lee University basketball teams were swept their Gulf South Conference doubleheader Wednesday at Valdosta State. The Lee men lost 75-70, and the Lady Flames were edged 65-62. Chad Lee led the Lee me with 18 points while Cory Billingsly had 16 and Elgrin Wilson added 10 off the bench, but Valdosta State was led by James Spencer's 24 points and seven rebounds. In the women's game, Erin Walsh led all scorers with 22 points, and Shelby Brown had 17 points and nine rebounds for the Lady Flames, but Valdosta state broke a 35-35 halftime tie with April Thomas scoring 20 to get the win.
* Emory University won 72-59 in NCAA Division III men's basketball Wednesday night at Covenant College. The Scots (1-7) led the No. 9 Eagles 36-33 at the half, before letting the game slip away down the stretch. Colton McGriff scored 14 points to lead Covenant, and Chris Boyd had 10 points in the loss. Alex Foster led Emory with 24 points.
* The Central Basketball Association that includes the Chattanooga Rail Runners announced early Wednesday morning that it officially has expanded to nine teams for the 2015 regular season that runs from March 28 to May 10. The Rail Runners were the winningest team in the 2014 regular season and reached the playoff semifinals. With a new league name and management structure after its inaugural season, the CBA has added the Indianapolis Briks, the Mississippi Eagles and the Springfield Sentinels and will be playing by International Basketball Federation rules. Besides the Rail Runners, returning teams are the Bowling Green Hornets, Fort Wayne Flite, Memphis Soul Kings, Peoria Panthers and reigning champion Middle Tennessee Storm. The top eight will advance to the postseason. The league's regular-season schedule is set to be released on Dec. 16.
Swimming
* East Hamilton senior Sarah Beth Moore signed scholarship papers Wednesday to continue her swimming career at Asbury University, a private Christian school in Wilmore, Ky. Moore, who specializes in the butterfly and backstroke, also competes for the McCallie/GPS Aquatics year-round program. "I am very excited about Sarah Beth joining the women's swimming program," Asbury coach Alex Keyser said in a release. "She has a lot of talent and potential in the water and is going to excel. ... Her heart for Jesus is contagious, and she will be a great fit for Asbury." Brenau and Mars Hill were Moore's other top choices; in fact, she thought she would be picking Brenau until she made her visit to Asbury in early September. "I fell immediately in love with the campus," she said. "It's in kind of a secluded area but is close to a city, Lexington. I love the coaches and the aspect of Christian values the team has." Moore has raised money for an orphanage in the Dominican Republic, and she has helped coach the Chattanooga Penguins (special needs children) swim team.
Staff Reports