Henry Moyo has resigned after nine years as the Lee University men’s soccer coach and 12 years with the Cleveland school’s program. He was a Flames assistant and the women’s coach for three years before taking over the Flames, with whom he made four NAIA national tournament appearances and compiled a 110-67-10 record. His 2005 team went 20-5. Moyo, who has had at least eight players go on to professional leagues – including NAIA national player of the year Ricardo Pierre-Louis and Stanley Nyazamba in the same ESPN Super-draft – said he will be stepping into a “professional environment with pro players. It’s a tall order. Professional soccer players are different and their training needs are different, but I enjoy those kinds of challenges.” Dr. Paul Conn, Lee’s president, called Moyo “a class act” and said “there is no finer individual anywhere, and we have all enjoyed working with him.” Conn said he personally would choose the search committee, headed by athletic director Larry Carpenter, to determine Moyo’s successor. Said Carpenter: “Although we will miss Henry on the sidelines, we are excited about the new opportunity he shared with us. With the success our athletic department has enjoyed over the past several years [including the last three NAIA women’s soccer titles], we feel this opening will create a lot of interest throughout the country.”
* Carson-Newman College senior midfielder Morgan Gruenenfelder made the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Division II women’s All-America third team for the second year in a row. Just the third Lady Eagle to receive All-America recognition in multiple years, she is the only Tennessee resident on the three NSCAA teams. She had 10 goals and five assists this season.
Basketball
* The Chattanooga State women’s basketball team prepared for Saturday’s showdown with Cleveland State by defeating visiting Gadsden State on Thursday, 70-60. April Woodard scored 30 points with five 3-pointers, Hiydaayah Williams scored 15 and Jasmain Carey and Chasity Welch had 11 rebounds each for the Lady Tigers (9-1). Marie McAbee led Gadsden (7-4) with 19 points. Chattanooga State, which is tied for the next spot outside the NJCAA Division I women’s Top 25, hosts the seventh-ranked Lady Cougars (11-0) at 2 p.m. Saturday in the first game of a TCCAA doubleheader.
* Piedmont College won two basketball games Thursday night at Covenant, beating the Lady Scots 64-41 and downing the Scots 71-54. Jessie Blankenship had 12 points and 10 rebounds and Kiaira Cooper scored 10 points for Covenant’s women, and Sam Bowman led the Scots with 12 points and seven rebounds while Chase Foster had 10 points. Michael Ross scored 20 points, Tracey Gardner grabbed 13 rebounds and Will Skaggs had nine assists for Piedmont.