University of Tennessee at Chattanooga runners Keeley Stewart, Paul Stuart and Emily Drouin were runners-up Saturday as the Southern Conference outdoor track and field meet began at Birmingham, Ala., giving them all-conference recognition. Stewart and Stuart were second in the 10,000-meter races, and freshman Drouin was second in the women’s 3000 steeplechase. Anna Kate Chance was sixth in the 10k, and the Mocs’ John Gilpin was seventh in the men’s steeple. Twelve UTC athletes qualified for finals today: Rebecca Greenwall, Maddison Melchionna and Hannah Chamblin in the women’s 800; Amanda Cotter and Jessica York in the 1500; Kiaana Howard in the 400; Austin Casassa in the men’s 1500; Marquis Carter in the 800; Jacob Noorbergen in the 200; Iman Isang in the 110 hurdles; Drake Watson in the 400 hurdles, and DeQuantez Sandifer in the pole vault.
* Sewanee’s Ridge Davis, Amiel Emerson and Amy Lee won events in the Southern Athletic Association track and field meet Friday and Saturday in Memphis, and Tigers earned 12 All-SAA recognitions overall. Davis won in men’s javelin and Emerson in the 800-meter run, and they were on the second-place 4×400 relay team with Zach Abeles and Alec Hill. Hill was second to Emerson in the 800. Lee was first in the women’s 1500 and third in the 800, while Amy Nelson was second in the hammer throw and third in the discus. Sewanee’s Tyler Fishback was second in high jump.
* Carson-Newman sophomore T.J. Davis from Ooltewah finished fifth in the men’s long jump Friday at the prestigious Penn Relays with a personal-best leap of 7.27 meters. That was 0.09 meters longer than his first-place jump in the South Atlantic Conference meet the previous week, and he was the top-finishing NCAA Division II jumper at Philadelphia. “To be in an environment where 39,000 people are watching the best in the nation compete, it is amazing to think our sophomore was not just able to hold his own but show he is elite,” CNU coach David Needs said. “When you beat all the jumpers from the Big Ten, Big 12 and the SEC, he has shown our staff he is ready to make the next step.”
Softball
* UTC’s weekend SoCon softball series at Mercer has become a tripleheader today, starting at noon. It already had been changed to begin with one game Saturday evening, but thunderstorms in the Macon area forced another postponement. Mocs coach Frank Reed will be the speaker for the Chattanooga Quarterback Club’s noon luncheon meeting Monday at Finley Stadium, and the public is invited. Attendance costs $10 with a meal, $4 without.