Dalton State College interim men’s basketball coach Alex Ireland will remain in that role through the 2018-19 season, the school announced. He took over when national-championship coach Tony Ingle retired on Aug. 1. “What a luxury to stay in house as we transition the leadership of our basketball program,” DSC athletic director Jon Jaudon said in Wednesday’s release. “Alex played a critical role in our program over the past 12 months.” That included recruiting all 10 of the new players, Jaudon explained. “We are very fortunate to have someone with the vision and talents Alex brings to our athletes and college,” school president Margaret Venable said. Ireland previously was an assistant at UT-Martin and Alcorn State.
Swimming
* Longtime local swimmer and coach Skip Brannen died Monday night, and a celebration of his life has been set for Sept. 7 at 6 p.m. at First Christian Church on McCallie Avenue. Visitation will be from 4 to 6. Brannen, 68, was a vice president of the Greater Chattanooga Sports Hall of Fame and one of the coaches with the McCallie/GPS Aquatics program and the Chattanooga Golf & Country Club summer swim team. He competed in the first Chattanooga Area Swim League championships, was Baylor’s head coach right out of college and even after beginning a business career coached for the Chattanooga YMCA AAU team and Notre Dame, among other contributions to the sport. He also finished in the top eight in masters nationals several times and served the past dozen years as one of the lead boat captains in local open-water competitions.
Tennis
* The fourth-seeded doubles duo of Chattanooga’s Wesley Cash and Mark Vines of Naples, Florida, lost Wednesday in the 60-over men’s quarterfinals of the International Tennis Federation Senior World Individual Championships in Ulm, Germany. They fell 3-6, 6-3, (11-9) to Stephen Alger of Great Britain and Alan Rasmussen of Denmark. Three-set doubles wins by Cash and Vines decided semifinals and finals victories for the United States 60s men in the World Team Championships last week in Ulm.
Golf
* Jenna Burris of Manchester and Middle Tennessee State teammate Hanley Long were 18 holes away from their third Tennessee Women’s Four-Ball title in four years after the second round Wednesday of the 2018 tournament in Gallatin. They combined for a 12-under-par 60, including an eagle by Burris, for a five-shot first-flight lead Tuesday at Foxland Harbor and added a 64 in round two, but sisters Caroline and Catherine Caudill of Clarksville closed to within two with a 61. Manchester sisters Savannah Quick and Ashley Gilliam were third at 130, and Blakesly Warren from Chattanooga and University of Tennessee teammate Teleri Hughes were fifth at 133. UTC coach Colette Murray and Amy Long were seventh at 137, and fellow Chattanoogans Ryan Kopet and Georgia McCravey were eighth at 139.
Soccer
* The Dalton State men’s soccer team began its season Tuesday with a 1-0 victory over North Greenville at Tigerville, South Carolina. Freshman Frank Herrera scored in the 69th minute and sophomore goalkeeper Samuel Fraire made seven saves for the Roadrunners, who play Friday at Emory.
Volleyball
* Cleveland State opened its volleyball season Wednesday with a 3-1 win at Hiwassee. Set scores were 25-23, 25-14, 24-26, 25-18.
Baseball
* Dean Stone, who pitched for the Chattanooga Lookouts in 1953 and went on to an eight-year major league baseball career, died Tuesday at the age of 88 in Moline, Illinois. Stone, a left-hander, was a regular in the Lookouts’ starting rotation and went 8-10 before being called up to the Washington Senators and making his big-league debut late in the 1953 season. He was the winning pitcher in the 1954 All-Star Game and pitched also for the Red Sox, the Cardinals, the Colt 45s, the White Sox and the Orioles.