Jacob Wheeler of Harrison and Wesley Strader of Spring City both made the top 12 of the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament at La Crosse, Wisconsin, and go back out on the upper Mississippi River for the final round today. Wheeler totaled 15 pounds with his five keeper bass Saturday for a three-day total of 45 pounds, nine ounces, and Strader was at 44-15 after weighing 14-0. Randall Tharp of Port St. Joe, Florida, led at 49-12, one ounce more than Aaron Martens of Leeds, Alabama, and four others also exceeded 48 pounds. The winner gets $100,000. Places 13th through 50th received $10,000 each, and John Murray of Spring City wound up 47th at 39-11.
Lacrosse
Megan Smith* Former Limestone College standout and team captain Megan Smith was hired quickly as the assistant coach for new Lee University women's lacrosse coach Derrel Martin. After helping Limestone to four Conference Carolinas regular-season championships, an NCAA Division II runner-up finish in 2013 and another national quarterfinals appearance in 2015, Smith stayed one year on the Saints coaching staff and then served one season as head coach at Converse College. She was an assistant at Chowan University last season. "She has a vast recruiting base and is one of the most positive people I've ever met," Lee athletic director Larry Carpenter said in the announcement release. "She and Coach Martin will complement each other well." Said Martin: "Coach Smith comes from a renowned lacrosse program at Limestone College. She enhanced coaching experience while at Chowan University, and she will be a great asset to the coaching team."
Soccer
* Tennessee Wesleyan University men's soccer coach Luke Winter announced Friday the hiring of former Bulldogs teammate and captain Billy Sparks as assistant coach. Sparks succeeds David Baisden, another former TWU captain who has joined the staff of ex-TWU coach Stephen Lyons at Carson-Newman. Sparks served two years as captain and was an all-conference selection three times before missing his senior season with an injury. He then was a graduate assistant for St. Andrews when the Knights went 17-2-1 and reached the final 16 in the NAIA tournament in 2014. From there he went as a graduate assistant to William Carey, which was 34-5-3 the past two seasons and made the NAIA quarterfinals both years. Sparks completed a master's degree in education this past February to go with two bachelor's degrees at TWU and a master's in business adminstration from St. Andrews. The native of Leicester, England, has playing experience in England and with the Knoxville Force FC and has worked in youth academies in Tennessee and Mississippi. "It's great to be back working with Billy," Winter said in an online post. "As a player he helped lead the team, and I know he will do the same again in this new role. He is bringing experience from the top level in the NAIA, and that is where together we want to take this program."
Golf
* Kingsport cousins Brandon Worley and Cayman Ratliff needed two extra holes to edge Knoxville brothers Mitch and Chip Thomas for the 2018 Tennessee Four-Ball championship Saturday at Tellico Village's Toqua Golf Club. Ratliff, a recent East Tennessee State graduate, ended the final match with a seven-foot birdie putt on the 20th hole. The winners were 15 under par as a team for the 20 holes, while Mitch Thomas shot a 61 for the regulation 18. His 30-foot putt on No. 17 squared the match.