Buddy Gross is netting a monster haul in the Walmart FLW Tour bass tournament at Pickwick Lake, as the rookie pro from Ringgold is at 69 pounds, 7 ounces after his third-day total Saturday of 22-12. Michael Neal of Dayton remains second at 54-12, and Wesley Strader of Spring City is seventh at 43-12 as the top 10 hit the lake for the final round today. Dayton’s Andy Morgan moved up to 11th at 42-15 and got $12,000.
Golf
* Emily McLennan ended her UTC golf career by tying for 29th place in the NCAA Shoal Creek Regional. She shot a 79 Saturday and totaled 231 for the 54 holes. Middle Tennessee’s Avery George from Walker Valley also ended at 231, and Baylor graduate Blakesly Warren tied for 47th at 234, while her Tennessee team finished fifth and advanced to the national event.
* Evan Ball from Benton, Tenn., and Tennessee Wesleyan was the AAC men’s golf medalist and player of the year, and teammate Zak Acuff was second-team all-conference. Acuff and Bryan’s Nick Scully were Champions of Character selections. Bryan’s Krista Reinhardt made the five-player All-AAC women’s team, and TWC senior Kinsley Vincent was a second-teamer and a Champions of Character choice. Two other Character picks were Elizabeth Albert of Bryan and Reinhardt’s Jocelyn Blair from Chatsworth, Ga.
Baseball/Softball
* Lee University lost 11-7 to top-seeded West Florida in the Gulf South baseball tournament Saturday at Pensacola, Fla., on the Argonauts’ second grand slam in three innings. The walk-off slam was by Justin Ambrosino, after sixth seed Lee (30-17) erased a 7-1 deficit created by Alex Greene’s four-run shot. Trenton Hill was 3-for-5 with a tying two-run single in the top of the ninth, and M.J. Brown had two hits and two RBIs for the Flames, who play today against fifth seed Alabama-Huntsville, a 7-2 loser to No. 2 seed Delta State. Ben Holland and Nathan Wierzgac each was 2-for-4 with an RBI, Holland scoring twice.
* The TCCAA and NJCAA Region 7 diamond tournaments begin with play-in games today at Columbia State, and Cleveland State will face Roane State in the first softball game at 3 p.m. EDT. The winner will meet Walters State at 1 Monday, followed by Chattanooga State against Volunteer State. Motlow opens the baseball event against Vol State at 1 EDT today. Monday, Cleveland State meets Jackson State at 2 and Chattanooga State takes on Columbia State at 8.
Track & Field
* Rachel Lawhorn of Tennessee Wesleyan was this year’s most outstanding AAC women’s field athlete after winning league championships in shot put, discus and javelin, and Leah Chance (two titles), Alexandria Johnson, Els Hooijdonk, Justina Jones, Robbiccaa Williams, Kyra McCray and Brenna Kusch joined her from the Lady Bulldogs on the All-AAC track and field team. Sarah White, Veronica Hayes, Jessica Stockton and Hannah Schroeder made it from Bryan. TWC was the men’s champion and had four first places and 10 individuals totaling 18 All-AAC performances, including the 110- and 400-meter hurdles titles and a 4×400 relay win for Chaz Hawkins. Bryce Choate, Jacob Simmons, Edra Gipson, Cadarius Harris, Will Vineyard, Jeremy Davis, Jake Morgenstern, Saheed Oyeshile and Dakota Ackerman were the others. Bryan’s Tyler Boone won the 5000.
Lacrosse
* Abby Fortner of Gatlinburg-Pittman High School became Lee University’s first lacrosse recruit this past week. Fortner, who also plays tennis, has blossomed in two years of lacrosse, making the all-region first team as a senior. Fortner told The Mountain Press she was “back and forth between several different colleges” but ultimately picked Lee’s new program over Montreat because “I just feel Lee is where I need to be. I love the campus and the atmosphere there.” The Lady Flames will debut in the 2017 spring semester. “We are so excited to have Abby join our team for our first season,” recently hired coach Addie Wadley told the Sevierville newspaper. “She is an incredible defender and a real leader and will be a real force when it comes to protecting our goal.”
General
* Georgia Northwestern enshrined the fifth and sixth Bobcat Athletics Hall of Fame members this past week: former basketball guard Kyle Wilson from Armuchee and student life coordinator Dione Waddington, a longtime school employee who was among the early voices for starting a sports program. “She was so supportive, even though a lot of it would need to be paid for out of her budget, and that would continue for several years,” basketball coach and athletic director David Stephenson said at the banquet. Wilson was Stephenson’s first official signee. He averaged 18.3 points a game in 2010-11 and is the Bobcats’ No. 2 career scorer.