BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Chattanooga Football Club trailed for the first time this season but avoided a first loss and clinched the National Premier Soccer League Southeast Division championship Saturday night by edging Pumas FC 3-2 at Lawson Field. Chris Ochieng, Luis Salazar and Phil Beene scored goals and Joshua Scott and Sasha Viatrov had assists for Chattanooga FC (5-0-2), which assured itself a playoff semifinal appearance July 29 in Madison, Ala. CFC hosts Rocket City United at 7 p.m. Saturday at Finley Stadium.
golf
* SAVANNAH, Ga. – David Noll Jr. of Dalton lost his five-stroke lead Saturday in the 89th Georgia Amateur golf tournament at The Landings Club, Deer Creek Course, but the 2003 champion remains in contention to win again today. He is in a three-way tie for second place, two shots behind Savannah’s Doug Hanzel. The Landings Club member shot a 2-under-par 70 and is at 212 for 54 holes. Noll bogeyed the second hole and double-bogeyed the par-3 eighth, where Hanzel got a birdie, and Noll also bogeyed Nos. 10 and 12 on the way to a 77. “I just couldn’t hole a putt all day,” Noll said. “I was striking the ball great, finding fairways, but just couldn’t make a putt.” Hudson Keener of Dalton is tied for 15th at 220. Will Snipes of Rocky Face is at 232.
* Fourteen local golfers are set to tee off today from 2 to 2:40 p.m. at the Champions Club at Hampton Creek to set up Monday’s opening round of matches for the Chattanooga Women’s Amateur open division. Another 23 already are paired in three flights for first-round matches Monday in the senior division. The tournament runs through Wednesday.
Triathlons
* KNOXVILLE – Former Baylor School all-state baseball player Chase Riemer won the men’s 16-19 age group in the Westside Y Tri sprint triathlon Saturday. His time of 42 minutes, 12 seconds for the 200-yard swim in the Westside YMCA pool, a 12-kilometer bicycle ride and a 4k run also was better than anyone had in the 20-24 age group.
* The Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon goes off this morning in stages with a 1.5-kilometer swim in the Tennessee River, a 42k bicycle ride and a 10k run. Individual registration was cut off June 18 for the event Competitor Magazine voted the 2009 Best Of Competitor for the Southeast Region. It serves as USA Triathlon’s Southeast Regional championship and as a qualifier for USAT’s national age-group championships Sept. 25 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Softball
* Two Nashville-area teams that won National Softball Association state girls’ fastpitch championships last weekend in Chattanooga are coached by Tonia Trussell Martin and her husband, Millard. Tonia is the daughter of Danny Trussell, whose Country Place Illusions were a Chattanooga and regional youth power until his death from a brain tumor in 1992, and she calls the program she started in 2007 the Tennessee lllusions. Tonia coaches the 14-under Illusions and Millard coaches the 12s, both of whom will represent the state in the NSA “A” East World Series being held July 25-Aug. 1 in Charlotte, N.C. The 12s went undefeated in the state tournament. They also have a 10-under Tennessee Illusions team. Tonia’s uncle Mike Trussell runs the Country Place Restaurant on Shallowford Road near Hamilton Place mall, and another uncle, Terry, runs Choo Choo Barbecue. “My dream was to one day coach with my dad, but we never got that opportunity,” Tonia said this past week. “After my mom passed away in 2004, I told my husband that I wanted to bring back the Illusions name in Dad’s memory. My husband used to tournament bass fish about 40 weekends out of the year, so he has basically given that up for us to coach these teams.”