University of Tennessee at Chattanooga runners Patrick O'Brien and John Gilpin made the CoSIDA Capital One Academic all-district team for NCAA Division I cross country and track and field, and Carson-Newman's Randall Freeman from Ooltewah is a Division II academic all-district selection for the second year in a row. Freeman was a Capital One Academic All-American for football, and now he has a chance for track and field All-American status as the South Atlantic Conference field athlete of the year, an all-region athlete in four field events and a recent CNU graphic design graduate with a 3.88 grade point average. O'Brien, a Collegedale Academy alumnus from Chattanooga, just graduated from UTC with a 4.0 GPA as a chemistry and physics major and the 2015 Dayle May award as the Mocs senior athlete with the highest GPA. Gilpin, from Nashville, graduated in December but continued competing for the Mocs through outdoor track season and won the 3000-meter steeplechase in the Auburn Classic and the 1500-meter run at Western Carolina's meet and began the winning distance medley relay at East Tennessee State's meet. He won the Chattanooga Chase on Sunday.
Auto Racing
* Kevin Rodden from Cleveland won the Super Pro class Saturday night at the Brainerd Optimist Drag Strip. The owner of K&R Performance Co. won on a 5.85-second burst on a 5.85 dial in his 1972 Chevrolet Vega powered by a 426 small-block engine. Kevin Pass from Dallas, Ga., was second, and Cynthia Warnock of Chattanooga was third with a 4.62 run on a 4.61 dial. Stan Curvin won the Foot Brake class with an 8.97 run on an 8.97 dial in his 1985 Dodge pickup, and Steve Holloway was second. Rick Murry won the Pro Mod class with a 4.03 run at 161 mph in a super-charged 1957 Chevy Corvette, with Bill Clanton second in 4.16 in a 1940 Willys. Kaleb Winters was the Junior Dragster winner with Mattie Keener second.
Basketball
* Katy Phillips is going on from basketball at Ridgeland High School to playing for Georgia Northwestern Technical College. Phillips was the Walker County girls' player of the year as a junior, when she averaged 10-plus points, six-plus assists, five-plus rebounds and three-plus steals a game, and she made the county "dream team" again this past season when she averaged 6.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and more than three assists and three steals a game from her point guard position. Lady Panthers coach Ryan Pipes said GNTC "is getting a girl that works hard every day. She's a leader." He said she could flourish for the Lady Bobcats as "a creating point guard." GNTC coach David Stephenson called her "just a great pickup" for his team. "She gives us a true point guard and someone gritty and tough that wll do whatever she needs to do as a player," he said, noting also her high grade point average and "great character."
Softball
* Shorter University shortstop Kendall Johnson from Gordon Lee hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning, but it left the Lady Hawks still two runs short as North Georgia won 7-5 in the late game Sunday and completed a doubleheader sweep in the NCAA Division II national softball tournament semifinals in Oklahoma City. North Georgia completed a 54-8 season Monday with a 5-0 defeat of Utah's Dixie State behind a two-hitter from pitcher Courtney Poole (47-4), the NFCA player of the year. In the last game for Shorter (43-17), Ericka Bynum from Ringgold singled in a run in the sixth inning, giving her six RBIs for four tournament games. Kalei Kimbrell from Gordon Lee pitched the last four innings and gave up three hits and four runs, but all four were unearned. Maddie Bray (15-10) from Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe was the losing pitcher in the 8-2 game, when Johnson and Bynum had RBI hits and Bynum was 2-for-3.