Lee University freshman Emileigh Swafford from Meigs County was the National Christian College Athletic Association women's basketball student-athlete of the week after scoring 23 points in a win over West Florida and adding 25 in a final-seconds loss to Valdosta State. Swafford leads the 12-6 Lady Flames with 15.6 points per game and also is averaging 4.1 rebounds.
Baseball
* Hagen Wilkey was 3-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and two runs and Wright Hackett was 3-for-5 with two doubles and three runs scored as Cleveland State Community College began its baseball season Tuesday with a 7-2 win at Roane State, and then Michael Dike pitched five innings of a seven-inning two-hitter and struck out eight Raiders as the Cougars completed a doubleheader sweep with a 6-0 victory. Janson Roberson's three-run double highlighted a four-run second inning for Cleveland State in the second game. Chris Caffrey was 2-for-4 with two RBIs in the opener, when Kegan Frederick pitched five shutout innings, allowing three hits.
Soccer
* The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's soccer program is trying a McDouble. Danny McBride has been hired as an assistant for new coach Gavin McKinney. McBride played for seven years in two Scottish premier league academies and then from 2007 to 2010 for King University, which won two Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament titles in that time and went to the NAIA nationals in 2008. An NCCAA Scholar-Athlete and first-team All-American, he served King as an assistant coach and most recently worked with the men's program at Eastern Florida State College, which went 13-3-1 last season and reached the NJCAA Region 10 final. McBride also has worked with the FC Dallas TRI as the head coach and academy site director."I have gotten to know him over the last several years, and he is exactly what we are looking for to help take the program forward," McKinney said in a UTC release. "He is a tireless recruiter who has built great relationships with players and coaches throughout the state. Danny also brings a great deal of knowledge of the game and will do an excellent job developing our players."
Softball
* East Hamilton catcher Emma Brooks signed scholarship papers Tuesday morning to play college softball for Tennessee Temple. Brooks, who hit four home runs and five doubles for the Lady Hurricanes in the 2014 season, is known more for her leadership and defense, including how she handles pitchers. She made Temple coach Randy Crawford's Ooltewah Middle School varsity as a sixth-grader before East Hamilton opened the next year and he lost her. "She was a pretty good catcher even then," he said Tuesday. Now she plays for Norma Nelson, who assisted Crawford in softball and basketball for years at OMS and whom he assisted at Ooltewah High for five years. "It's exciting to get a girl that Norma has coached -- and one from a Hamilton County school," Crawford said. "Emma is very sharp, and her maturity level is high." Brooks has a 3.5 grade point average and said she has "worked hard for that." She said also that she talked to Chattanooga State, Georgia Highlands and Wingate University but "loved all the people" at Temple. "Everybody there made me feel at home, even though I didn't know any of them. Even if they weren't moving campuses, I'd be perfectly happy there," she said. Crawford said he was helped by Brooks' friendship with one of his fall signees, Baylee Sutton of North Murray.
Golf
* Three Dalton State women's golfers -- juniors Erika Wardzinski and Julia McQuilken and freshman Caroline Griffin -- will be in the field Saturday at the Lady Bulldog Individual Championships on the University of Georgia course in Athens. Other schools represented will be Auburn, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Coastal Carolina, Mercer, Samford, UNC Greensboro and Youngstown State. Wardzinski won the Chick-fil-A Invitational last spring and McQuilken was third in Coastal Georgia's tournament. "We are excited to get the spring season under way. This will be a great opportunity to complete against top-notch Division I golfers, including several SEC schools," DSC coach Jim McGrew said in a school release.