Fresh off the National Christian College Athletic Association Mid-East Region softball championship, Lee University learned Sunday that it will open play in the national tournament against one of its former Southern States Athletic Conference rivals. Lee (33-17) is seeded third and set to face sixth seed Southern Wesleyan (23-19) at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in Botetourt, Va. Both schools have moved to NCAA Division II and are in the transition phase, not yet eligible for postseason play at that level. Lee is completing its second year in the Gulf South Conference; SWU is a first-year member of Conference Carolinas, which also includes King University in Bristol, Tenn. At the 10-team NCCAA nationals, Judson (Ill.) is seeded first with Simpson (Calif.) second. Mississippi College from the GSC was the runner-up to Lee in the Mid-East but got an at-large bid and is seeded eighth. Lee third baseman Kaylie Drew was named the Mid-East player of the year, and Lady Flames teammates Lexie Dean, Amanda Lynn and Dominique Hannah joined her on the 15-player all-region team. So did Tennessee Temple's Raven Pope. Drew has a .420 batting average with 17 home runs, 14 doubles and 55 runs batted in.
Auto Racing
* Eric Riggins Jr. from Charlotte, N.C., won the United Sprint Car Series race Saturday night at North Georgia Speedway near Chatsworth. Riggins passed 11-time and defending series champion Terry Gray of Bartlett, Tenn., on lap 22 of the 30-lap main event, and Morgan Turpen from Cordova, Tenn., edged teammate Gray at the finish line for second place. Cherryville, N.C. residents Johnny Bridges and Lance Moss were fourth and fifth. Aubrey Black of Lookout Mountain, Ga., finished eighth.
Rowing
* The Girls Preparatory School crew team had the third- and sixth-place finishers in varsity 4s this past weekend at the Southeast Regional Championships on Lake Lanier in Georgia, and the GPS under-17 varsity 8 finished fourth. The regatta had 357 entries from 44 clubs and schools overall, from as far away as Miami, Fla. Delaney Swann, McKaylyn Fults, Maggie Crump, Katie Brandao and coxswain Katie Brown won their heat before finishing third, and the B boat of Emilie Krysa, Kaitlyn Crisp, Abby Glass, Avery Faires and cox Madison Spurling was third in its heat. Brandao, Neely Schermerhorn, Emma Rowell, Swann, Samantha Pickett, Ashley Rose Lynn, Hanna Hopkins and cox Anna Oglesby crewed the 8 boat.
Football
* "Can Football Survive the Head Trauma Epidemic?" That's the question fueling the discussion Friday from 1 to 3 p.m. at The Chattanoogan on Broad Street. It's a part of the Erlanger Neurology Conference open to the public, with special interest to coaches, athletic trainers and sports administrators, according to a news release. Medical experts from the Erlanger Health System, Siskin and Summit Physical Therapy will talk about sports concussion diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation issues, and the keynote speaker will be Dr. Thor Stein from the CTE Center and CTE Brain Bank of the Boston University School of Medicine. CTE Center research activities were featured on a PBS "Frontline" special in October 2013: "League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis." Call 653-5382 for tickets.
* The Chattanooga area landed eight eighth-grade players and 11th seventh-graders on the Tennessee teams of middle school football all-stars facing Kentucky players June 13 at Alcoa High School. The Tennessee all-stars will get to stay on the University of Tennessee campus beginning the morning of June 10. Former Volunteers and NFL players Todd Kelly and Chris Wampler are the head coaches. The area eighth-graders are Micaelous Elder from Cleveland, Sincer Quinn and Dre Taylor from Ooltewah, Brandon Rogers from Dalewood, Brendon Smith from East Hamilton, Cameron Stewart from McCallie, Lorenzo White from Hixson and Cameron Wynn from Notre Dame. The seventh-graders are Kameron Arrowood from Lake Forest, Jacob Bridgeman from Brown, B.J. Harris from Ooltewah, Migual Medina and Dylan Wright from Ringgold, Colt Sinor from Boyd-Buchanan and Landon Allen, Reshun Evans, Tim Mason Jr., Trevon Parks and Martavious Ryals from the CYA Chiefs.