The annual 5K for FCA road race returns this year to its traditional Labor Day date, after a few years on the preceding Saturday. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes fundraiser is based at the Chattanooga State campus and begins at 8:30 a.m. Monday, with a junior marathon 1-mile leg and a Kiddie K to follow. Race-day registration will begin at 6:30 a.m., but runners can sign up before that at www.chattanoogafca.org or at the Front Runner Athletics store on Hixson Pike. Front Runner owner Chad Varga is the race director. “What a great way for the families in our area who love running and love the FCA to start Labor Day. Get a good run in to start the holiday, and the barbecue or burgers will taste better later in the day,” he said in a release Wednesday. “This is a really fast track as well, as we have had many runners attain personal records at the FCA race through the years.”
* The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s cross country team was picked by league coaches to finish second to Furman again in the Southern Conference this fall, while the UTC men were picked eighth out of 10 teams. Furman got the maximum nine first-place votes in each poll after winning both SoCon titles each of the last six years. UTC was the Paladins coach’s choice for first in the women’s poll; SoCon meet (Nov. 2) host East Tennessee State got that vote and was second in the men’s balloting, with Samford third in both. All-conference Mackenzie Jones leads the female Mocs’ six returners. The UTC teams will open their season Friday morning in the Tennessee Duals at Knoxville.
* Lee University’s Gulf South Conference favorites are 14th (women) and 16th (men) in the national coaches association’s preseason cross country Top 25 polls for NCAA Division II. Both repeated as No. 1 in the South Region. “We know this is just speculation for what the rankers feel we can accomplish for the upcoming year,” coach Caleb Morgan said in a Lee release Wednesday, while acknowledging that both teams have even more depth than usual. “We have a very talented group with a lot of new faces. As always, our biggest challenges this season will be learning to fight for each other and managing expectation.”
Soccer
* Chloe Rootes scored two goals in the first 19 minutes and the Tennessee Wesleyan women’s soccer team won 4-0 Wednesday at Dalton State. Julia Ruiz Vargas had a goal and an assist and Cynthia Venzor added the fourth goal for TWU (1-1), which had a margin of 9-1 in shots on goal. Lauren Teal got the shutout.