Simone BusbyUniversity of Evansville senior goalkeeper Simone Busby from Girls Preparatory School in Chattanooga will play for the Guyana women's national soccer team in CONCACAF qualifying Aug. 21-25. She was impressive in a training camp in July in Guyana, which will be in Group 2 with Haiti and host country St. Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean zone eliminations toward the CONCACAF final round Jan. 21-31 in the United States. "It is an honor for me to represent such a great country," Busby said in an Evansville release. "As a team we are trying to bring recognition to Guyana and women's soccer because it is not very established yet. It is exciting for me to be able to compete at a women's national level." Said Evansville coach Krista McKendree: "Simone has a fantastic opportunity that most players could only dream about. The chance to play for a national team is something she will cherish forever." A multisport standout at GPS, Busby has started three years for the Purple Aces and holds program career records for most shutouts (20) and goals-against average (0.71). She and the team set another program standard with a stretch last year of 631 minutes, 57 seconds without allowing a goal.
* With only three starters returning from the team that finished second in the regular season and won the USA South tournament in 2014, the Covenant College men still got two first-place votes and tied for third with North Carolina Wesleyan in the coaches' 2015 preseason poll, behind favorite Methodist and Greensboro College. The Covenant women were picked sixth out of 13 teams. Mark Duble is beginning his 22nd year as Lady Scots coach, and Nathan Pifer is starting his seventh with the men; both are former Covenant standouts. Former Tennessee Wesleyan star Pepe Fernandez is beginning his 25th year as coach of both Maryville teams, and his women are picked to win their league while his guys are picked fifth.
Auto Racing
* The Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series will run tonight at I-75 Raceway in Sweetwater and Saturday night at 411 Motor Speedway in Seymour, Tenn., and veteran racer Ronnie Johnson of Chattanooga is the series leader after six races - by two points over Tyler Crowder of Lamont, Fla. The Sweetwater track also will have its Sportsman, B-Hobby and Four Cylinder classes racing tonight, with usual Thunder cars allowed in B-Hobby and Front Wheel Drive entries permitted in Four Cyclinder. Pit gates will open at 4 p.m. and the grandstands at 5, with "hot laps" projected to start at 7:15. Grandstand admission is $12 for adults, $5 for ages 6-12, while tier parking is $15 and $10 and pit passes are $30 and $15.
Volleyball
* The Covenant College volleyball team was picked to finish second in the South Division and fourth overall in the USA South this season. Third-year head coach Joanna Ehman has guided the Lady Scots to the league tournament final four each of the last two years, and the 2014 team finished second and totaled 27 victories. Two-time defending champion Maryville was picked No. 1 overall with Meredith second and Averett third.
* Dalton State was picked fourth out of nine teams in the Southern States Athletic Conference volleyball coaches' preseason poll. Coach Bruna Langner's Roadrunners were tournament semifinalists in their first year of postseason eligibility last year. Coastal Georgia and Mobile were picked to repeat in first and second place with Faulkner third.