Swimmer Myra Creighton and rower Susan BeVille Forker are being inducted into the Girls Preparatory School Athletic Hall of Fame at a luncheon today as part of Alumnae Weekend.
Creighton (class of 1981) won 50- and 100-yard freestyle state championships and set school records and was part of a five-girl team that finished third in the state her senior year. That included a victory in the 400 free relay. She went on to 50 and 100 school records at Vanderbilt as well, plus two record-setting relays and All-America status.
She graduated from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1991 and is a partner with Fisher & Phillips LLP in Atlanta. Forker (2001) was a US Rowing Youth national singles champion and Stotesbury Cup singles champion as a senior, after a junior year in which she helped win eight gold medals with the U.S. Junior National team in the Can-Am-Mex regatta in Yucatan. Her Stanford varsity 8 team was the Pac-10 champion and third-place NCAA finisher in her sophomore year, and she made the All-West Region second team in 2005. She earned a master's degree in hydrogeology from Stanford and is a geologist and project manager for a California environmental consulting company.
Golf
- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior Emily McLennan was the Southern Conference women's golfer of the month for March. She was golfer of the week twice during the month, when she shared medalist honors at Kiawah Island and was the runner-up at Hilton Head. She leads the SoCon with a 72.97 stroke average. UTC plays Sunday through Tuesday in the SoCon tournament in Savannah, Ga.
Soccer
Karla MartinezKarla Martinez signed Wednesday with the Lady Bulldogs, following teammate Samantha Green. Like Green, Martinez had visited and worked out with the Athens team in the fall, and she and TWC coach Naomi Kolarov wanted to make it a four-year connection from the start. Martinez committed about a month ago.
"I really like her. She's quick; she's smart; she moves off the ball and creates space for herself," Kolarov said.
"She played a little bit of everywhere, but we mainly used her on offense, at midfield and striker," Hixson coach Jeff Dean said. "She works as well without the ball as with the ball at her feet. She's an extremely smart player and student."
Martinez will be the first member of her family to go to college, so the question was whether she would play soccer, too.
"I'm excited to have the full college experience," she said. "When I was little I wanted to be like a dancer. I didn't start playing soccer till I was about 11, but it's in the family."
Softball
- Gordon Lee High School and ProStar Fastpitch softball pitcher and first baseman Madison Collier has committed to sign with Carson-Newman for the 2017 recruiting class.
ProStar founder Steve Chattin said Collier has an assortment of quality pitches, including a remarkable curveball and a 64-mph fastball. "I believe Madison has been one of the undiscovered gems in the 2017 class and the North Georgia area," Chattin said. "Not many pitchers truly possess a 64-plus-mph pitch as a high school senior. It would not surprise me if she goes to Carson-Newman and becomes a Division II All-American." Collier has a 3.9 grade point average, and her Gordon Lee team is a reigning state champion coached by Dana Mull. "I have been looking for the right fit academically and athletically, and I loved the campus, the girls I met and the coaching staff," Collier said in the ProStar release. "It is a relief to get this decision out of the way before I begin my senior year of high school."
- The Young Harris College softball team that Lee University swept in a Wednesday doubleheader is ranked No. 18 in NCAA Division II. Lee won 10-2 and 5-4.
Baseball
- The Bryan College baseball team, ranked 15th in the NAIA, won 6-2 Wednesday at NCCAA member Toccoa Falls. Langston Calhoun was 4-for-5 with two doubles, Justin Morhardt and Andrew Urbistondo had two hits each and Jesus Astudillo had a two-run double for the Lions (29-9). Hunter Tipton pitched the first four innings, allowing three hits and two unearned runs, and Zane Glass and Jared Breazeale each added two scoreless innings.
- Covenant College began its weekend USA South home baseball series against Piedmont with a 5-2 win Thursday that featured seven strong innings from pitcher Matt Reitz. He allowed both runs in the first and then retired 18 of 19 batters. Trenton Nobles hit a two-out two-run triple in the third inning for the Scots (19-14, 8-7), and Caleb Bloye added a two-run single in the fifth. Forrest Hunter was 3-for-4 and scored twice.