The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team received nine of 11 first-place votes and is the league coaches’ preseason pick to win the Southern Conference, the SoCon announced Thursday. UTC forward Whitney Hood and guard Kayla Christopher made the coaches’ all-conference team. The preseason media poll will be released today. UTC had won 11 straight league titles heading into last season, but the Lady Mocs finished third behind champion Appalachian State and Samford. One reason the coaches might have picked UTC over the Mountaineers is that center Ashlen Dewart, one of ASU’s best players the past two seasons, has transferred to UTC. She won’t play this season, but another big post transfer, Faith Dupree from Tennessee, will be eligible in December. Davidson’s Sophia Alexandravicius was the coaches’ pick for player of the year.
Wrestling
• Southern Conference wrestling coaches have named UTC the team to beat in the 2011-12 season. Four of the league’s seven coaches gave UTC the nod over second-place Appalachian State. The Citadel was picked third, newcomers Gardner-Webb and Campbell fourth and fifth, VMI sixth and Davidson seventh. Southern Illinois-Edwardsville will join league competition for the 2012-13 season after completing its final probationary year in transitioning from the NCAA’s Division II ranks to Division I. The Mocs had four wrestlers named to the preseason all-conference team: Bucky Johnson (125), Dean Pavlou (149), Dan Waddell (157) and Niko Brown (197). UTC opens its season Nov. 4 at home against Old Dominion and will host the Southern Scuffle the week of New Year’s Day as well as the conference tournament on March 3.
Running
• GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Former Baylor School and University of Arkansas runner James Strang finished fourth in the men’s 10,000-meter run Thursday in the 1011 Pan American Games. Strang finished in 29 minutes, 51.93 seconds compared to fifth-place American Ryan Patrick Vail in 29:52.04. Brazil had the first- and third-place finishers, Marilson Santos and Giovani Dos Santos in 29:00.r4 and 29:51.71, with Mexico’s Juan Carlos Romero second in 29:41.