Volleyball player Rachel Harper from Chattanooga and Boyd-Buchanan School was honored as Carson-Newman University's overall female athlete of the year. Football running back Andy Hibbett was the male honoree, and track and field's Randall Freeman from Ooltewah was the male scholar-athlete of the year with his 3.87 grade point average. Harper surpassed 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs and totaled 136 aces, fourth most in program history, in her four-year Lady Eagles career and led the South Atlantic Conference last season in kills and points per set. Volleyball also was CNU's team of the year, led by Harper, setter Kristen Pickett from Cleveland and All-American Jenna Wilson, and Pickett was honored for female performance of the year with her 49 assists and 19 digs in a victory that ended Wingate's 55-match SAC win streak. Freeman and GPS graduate Tiana Mills were the highest point winners in track, T.J. Davis from Ooltewah received the award for outstanding field events, and Jessica Morgan from Ooltewah won for best defense and Hayley Burnette from Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe for most improved in softball. Goose Manning from Ooltewah got the leadership award for football.
Baseball/Softball
* Covenant College won both the baseball and softball sportsmanship awards in the USA South conference and shared the 2014-15 overall sportsmanship trophy with Mary Baldwin College.
* Ooltewah pitcher Cameron Baltimore signed scholarship papers at her high school Tuesday and will continue her softball career at Cleveland State Community College. Baltimore said she was invited to a recruiting camp earlier this year and liked what Lady Cougars coach Katie Willingham had to offer. "I like the facilities and everything," Baltimore said. "Everybody was so nice, especially Coach Katie." Baltimore is part of a Lady Owls pitching staff that helped the team to a 32-8 record heading into today's play in the District 5-AAA tournament. "She hits her spots well," Ooltewah coach Jon Massey said of his senior right-hander. "She's not going to strike out a whole lot. She lets her defense play for her. She's very consistent throwing the ball. She works hard and wants to win as much as anybody. I think Cleveland State is getting a good one." Baltimore said she plans to major in nursing.
Auto Racing
* Eddie Caheely from LaFayette won the $3,000 top prize in the Super Pro class last Saturday night at the Brainerd Optimist Drag Strip. The class had more than 100 entries. Caheely, a former IHRA world class champion, won with a 5.37-second run on a 5.34 dial in his 426-cubic-inch Ford-powered 1934 Ford roadster. Jerry Wilson was second with a 4.77 burst on a 4.75 dial in a Chevy dragster. Joe Rampley from Gainesville, Ga., was the Quick 16 winner in a 1992 Chevy Cavalier, with Tyler Caheely second, and Marty Goldsmith of Ringgold in a 1974 Plymouth and Brody Kittle of Henagar, Ala., in a 1995 Chevy pickup were first and second in the Foot Brake class. Jake Clayton was the Heads-up Junior Dragster winner with Tyler Dennis second, and Mattie Keener and Chloe Keener were the top two in Junior Dragster. Kevin Roden of Cleveland had the meet's low elapsed time (4.44 seconds) and top speed (156.50 mph). Club spokesman Red Harris said that time was the fastest ever recorded in a bracket race car.
Running
* Former Chattanoogan Tyler Underwood ran the recent London Marathon in 2 hours, 26 minutes, 27 seconds -- which was 10 minutes better than his previous best time for 26.2 miles in the New York City Marathon of 2013. Underwood, 28, played tennis at Ooltewah High School and ran his first marathon as a University of Tennessee student in more than four hours at Nashville. He now lives and teaches in Encinitas, Calif., just north of San Diego.