The king of the Wauhatchie Trail Race reclaimed his throne Saturday morning in the 6.7-mile age- and gender-handicapped event on the lower slopes of Lookout Mountain. Tim Ensign won for the 11th time but the first since 2014. And he and his wife, Barbara, earned their first set of Golden Antlers as the two-person family combo champs, giving Tim a sweep of the antlers awarded Saturday. “It’s been four long years in the wilderness. Now the universe is back in order,” said the 56-year-old former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga runner. His chip time was 44 minutes, 47.54 seconds, but adjusted for his age-group head start that was 37:17.54 from when the last group (men 25-29) began. Another former UTC standout, 42-year-old Rodney Stoker, was second in 37:47.79 after winning in 2017 and relegating Ensign to second. “He caught me right at the end last year,” Ensign said. “I consider Rodney one of the all-time great Mocs, and he’s running really well again, so I knew I would have to have a good day to beat him.” Barbara Ensign was 19th out of 80 finishers and the fifth female in 45:39.34. That group was led by Jennifer Huwe, 29, in seventh overall at 41:59.12 and 14-year-old Helen Webb in ninth at 42:25.64. John Arrowsmith, 17; Micaiah Allison, 19; Kevin Huwe, 31, and Lane Hollis, 16, were third through sixth overall in 39:11.04, 40:58.61, 41:02.75 and 41:49.04.
Basketball
» Abby Bertram’s collegiate career high of 32 points led the Lee University women’s team to a 72-61 Gulf South Conference home win Saturday against Valdosta State, and then the Lee men won 71-70 over NCAA Division II’s fifth-ranked and previously unbeaten Blazers (9-1, 2-1). Ryan Montgomery and Colton Blevins had 21 and 17 points and nine rebounds apiece for the Flames (5-5, 3-0), Montgomery on 10-of-11 shooting that included a putback slam following two Quay Kennedy 3-point baskets in bringing them back from a late eight-point deficit. Kennedy scored 12 points, and Cody Jones’ one-and-one free throws with 22 seconds to go put Lee up 71-68. Bertram was 6-of-6 on 3s for the Lady Flames (8-2, 3-0), who got 13 points and five assists from Nicky Widenski and four assists and three steals from Lindsey Roddy.
» James Mitchell was 7-of-9 from 3-point range while leading Covenant College to an 88-80 victory over visiting Oglethorpe. In addition to Mitchell’s 21 points, Mitchell Hollis scored 17 on 5-of-7 3-point shooting, Bailey Spragg made 10 of 12 free throws and totaled 16 points and 10 assists and Will Crumly contributed 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Scots (5-5). They were 15-of-26 on 3s, 17-of-20 on frees. Will Perry scored 26 points for the Stormy Petrels (5-5), and three teammates totaled 44.
» Covenant’s women lost 80-72 at Berea in a USA South game that featured 22 points and nine rebounds from Briana Lanham for the Kentucky school, which improved to 7-2, 4-0. For the Lady Scots (2-7, 0-3), Bekah Walter and Kaley Hallmark scored 17 and 14 points with three and four 3s, and Joanna Smith had 13 points and a team-high six rebounds.
» The Dalton State men’s team got even for the season Saturday with a 77-62 Southern States Athletic Conference win at Blue Mountain in Mississippi. Raheem England had 15 points with 11 rebounds, and Randy Bell and Sean Cranney scored 16 and 14 points for the Roadrunners (5-5, 2-2), who fell 14 points behind in the first half but took a 16-point lead with 6:41 to go in the game. Also for Dalton State, Aaron Burress and Sean Chislom scored 11 apiece and Igor Stokic came off the bench to grab 10 rebounds. Blue Mountain is 6-3, 0-3.
» Chattanooga State’s men are 6-6 after losing for the third time in a row and the fourth time in five games with Saturday’s 84-54 defeat by Cape Fear in Brunswick Community College’s Holiday Classic at Bolivia, North Carolina. Cape Fear is 10-2.
Academics
» Thirteen UTC athletes were among the students receiving degrees Saturday at the school’s 252nd commencement ceremony, and those included football All-American and Southern Conference defensive player of the year Isaiah Mack. His degree was in criminal justice. Also from football were C.J. Fritz and Cody Swabek in business, Tavon Lawson in psychology and DeJuan McQuarters and Bingo Morton in health and human performance. Other graduates were golfer Phillip Hickam (business), tennis players Samantha Caswell (nursing) and Tamri Chalaganidze (integrated studies), volleyball player Aly Ford (criminal justice) and runners/track and field athletes Richard Guiry (business), Haley Howell (early childhood development) and Briana Nelson (engineering). Ford, Guiry and Howell graduated with honors, and Caswell was a four-year all-conference honoree.