CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Lee University announced this week that it officially has added men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track to its menu of varsity sports. That will make a total of 17. With a solid cross country program already in place and developing, the track program is beginning without sprints or field events. It will include distance running from 400 meters to marathon. “In three short years, Coach [Don] Jayroe has our cross country teams competing for conference championships and qualifying for NAIA national meets,” Lee athletic director Larry Carpenter said in a school release. “This is due to hard work on his part and gifted runners coming to Lee and buying into his coaching philosophy. The addition of indoor and outdoor track will enable us to keep the cross country offseason conditioning more diverse and enjoyable. It will also help us recruit students who excel in track.” Three Lee runners qualified individually for seven events in NAIA track nationals last year, and the Lady Flames’ Anna Hrushka earned All-American status with a third-place finish in the indoor mile. “When I came here over three years ago,” Jayroe said, “our runners became year-round runners. This allowed us to compete with other competitive programs, not only in our conference but on the national level.”
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga cross country teams both won Friday evening in their season-opening PowerAde Invitational meet on Moccasin Bend. The UTC men’s team had 21 points and five top-eight finishers in the 5-kilometer race, compared to 38 points for second-place Kennesaw State, 83 for Austin Peay, 100 for Alabama, 125 for Lipscomb, 133 for Alabama-Huntsville and 183 for Covenant College. The Lady Mocs edged Middle Tennessee State 41-43 in the 2-mile race, with Lipscomb third at 91, UAH at 109, Kennesaw at 111, Peay at 153, Covenant at 208 and Tennessee State at 229. MTSU’s Festus Chemaoi won the men’s race in 15 minutes, 12 seconds, but since the Blue Raiders had only four finishers, UTC’s Emmanuel Kirwa was the low point man at 15:19, four seconds ahead of KSU’s Nathan Haskins. The Mocs’ Nathan Wanuch, Lucas Cotter, Joshue Vasquez and David Moore were third, fourth, fifth and eighth in points. Covenant’s Jonathan Preg was 21st in points. KSU’s Mackenzie Howe was the women’s winner in 11:01 with UTC’s Anneli Uys second in 11:24 and MTSU’s Deanna Brasz third in 11:27. The Lady Mocs’ Tara Geitema, Shelley Taylor and Kathryn Stuart were fifth, seventh and 10th.
Swimming
The McCallie School swim team wound up ranked in a tie for eighth among independent schools in the United States for the 2009-10 season, according to the latest edition of Swimming World Magazine. That is the second highest rank ever for the Blue Tornado, who were seventh in the publication’s listings for 2000-01. The Baylor School girls’ team was ranked No. 5 among independent schools and sixth in the combined public/private school rankings, after being No. 1 among independents along with the Baylor boys for 2008-09. The Lady Raiders also were first in the national combined rankings last year. This year’s Baylor girls won the state championship while the McCallie and Baylor boys were second and third behind Montgomery Bell Academy, which made Swimming World’s top three for independents. “It’s kind of a fitting end for the group of seniors that we graduated,” said McCallie coach Stan Corcoran. “I’ve worked with most of them in [the Scenic City Aquatic Club] since they were 8 or 9 years of age. This is a great way to send them out and a good way to end the decade.”
Baylor Swim Club members Kristen Vredeveld in 13-14 girls and Sam McHugh in 13-14 boys, Chris Butler in 11-12 boys and Thomas Porter in 9-10 boys made the 2009-10 Southeastern Swimming Long Course Age Group All-Star team for Sept. 1, 2009 to Aug. 31, 2010. Only long-course (meters) times were included in the criteria.
Golf
Nick Ray of Cohutta, Eric Sharp of Dalton, Randy Bowman of Summerville and three-time champion Brent Sizemore of Calhoun are among the 72 championship flight entrants in the 22nd annual Georgia Public Links golf tournament today and Sunday at BridgeMill Athletic Club in Canton. The tournament for amateurs who belong to GSGA clubs open for public play – and who have not held privileges this year at any club not permitting public play – also includes first and second flights and 115 golfers in all. Sizemore won titles in 1998, 1999 and 2007.
A qualifying session for the Unum Long Drive Competition being held Oct. 5 in conjunction with the Chattanooga Classic Nationwide Tour golf tournament at Black Creek Club is set for today at Bear Trace at Harrison Bay, beginning at 6 p.m.