UTC senior wrestler John Lampe was selected as the Southern Conference student-athlete of the week for his 184-pound championship in the Wolfpack Open last Sunday at Raleigh, N.C., and his 3.97 grade point average. Lampe won three matches in the tournament. He follows volleyball player Catherine Chason as back-to-back winners from UTC of the prestigious league award.
‘ Covenant College received two of the four team sportsmanship awards for the USA South’s fall sports. The Lookout Mountain school was honored for men’s soccer and volleyball. The Covenant volleyball team also was the league champion.
Volleyball
‘ Lee University volleyball opponents may think they’re seeing double the next four years. Lee signed 6-foot-2 twins Sara Elizabeth and Mary Katherine Givhan from Gurley, Ala., to join the Lady Flames in 2016. Mary Katherine is a middle blocker and Sara Beth a right side hitter who have been playing for the Rocket City Volleyball club in Huntsville while attending Providence Classical School. “We have been in contact with the girls for over a year,” Lee coach Andrea Hudson said in a school release. “They are exactly the type of athletes we are looking for. Both are dynamic front-row players and are also great academic students.”
Softball
‘ Howard University softball coach Lauren McCoy sees Ooltewah High School pitcher Monica Thompson as a help to a program with rising expectations. Thompson said she favored Howard because the Washington, D.C., school didn’t match expectations. “That was my last official visit (Oct. 2-4), and it was totally different than I thought it was,” she said Monday at a ceremony for her scholarship signing. “It’s real old and downtown, but it has a lot of new things. And the players were all nice.” Kentucky State, Texas Southern, Union University, Agnes Scott and Columbia State were other programs she considered. Thompson was 5-2 for the Ooltewah team that went 40-10 and finished third in the state last spring, with 20 strikeouts in 28 innings, and she batted .412. Lady Owls coach Jon Massey envisions a bigger role for her this season. “She’s a big, strong girl – very athletic – and she throws the ball very hard,” Massey said. “She’s been taking lessons from Lacey Paris, and Lacey said she’s really making progress. She’s working on a changeup to go with her fastball, screwball and curveball. She works hard – not just on the field but inside the school, and she’s one of the nicest kids you’ll find.” Thompson has a 3.64 GPA and plans to major in pre-med or a related field such as biology. Howard’s academic reputation was another plus for her.
Golf
‘ Bill Sharpe II from Albany, Ga., is the latest men’s golf signee for Lee University. He said in a Lee release that he picked the Flames over Texas State, Marshall and Valdosta State because of “the coaches, the program’s commitment level, the campus. It just felt right.” Sharpe has had many top-five finishes in junior tour events and was fourth in the 2015 AJGA E-Z-GO Vaught Taylor Championship. “We definitely feel like we are getting one of the best players in the state of Georgia,” Flames coach John Maupin said. “Bill has proven himself against top competition many times, and he has the type of game that will translate very well to the next level.”
Basketball
‘ Corey McDonald scored 19 points and Jordan Bowling and Marcel Hawkins double-doubled with 18 and 13 points and 11 rebounds apiece as the Dalton State men’s team (5-2) avenged one of its two losses by edging Campbellsville 66-63 on Tuesday.
‘ Led by Cheyenne Shaver’s 22 points and eight rebounds, the Bryan College women rose to 9-0 with an 84-74 AAC overtime win Tuesday at Tennessee Wesleyan, but Brandon Cole’s 33 points and 12 rebounds weren’t enough for the Bryan men. TWC won 90-89 with 28 points and 10 rebounds from Leland Robinson and 14 and 11 from Devante Jenkins.