University of Tennessee at Chattanooga running back Ailym Ford finished fifth in the Jerry Rice Award voting for the Football Championship Subdivision national freshman of the year. North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance was the winner, announced Wednesday, with 116 first-place votes and 691 points, compared to 395 with 14 firsts for Albany QB Jeff Undercuffler. Southern Illinois running back Javon Williams Jr. was third at 243 (six firsts), Richmond linebacker Tristan Wheeler was fourth at 143 (no firsts) and Ford got 132 with five firsts. He ran for 1,081 yards and nine touchdowns in 10 games, and his 108.1 per game led all FCS freshmen.
Soccer
* Lee University senior Riley Engels from Signal Mountain was named to the United Soccer Coaches’ NCAA Division II women’s All-South Region first team for 2019, and Lee sophomore Avery Engels and junior Riley Henry made the second team. The Engels sisters earlier received D2CCA all-region honors. Henry and Riley Engels each scored seven goals this season, and Henry had six assists. Avery was a key defender for a team that registered 14 shutouts and allowed only 17 goals in 22 matches, and she also had five goals and an assist.
Track & Field
* Lee’s Christian Noble and Charlee Boxall were the Gulf South Conference track performers of the week and Daniel Surman was the men’s field honoree for their success in the Birmingham Icebreaker last weekend in Alabama. Noble won the men’s 3000-meter run in a school- and meet-record time of 8:10, Boxall also set a Lee record (10:02) with a 19-second victory in the women’s 3k, and Surman won the pole vault by over a foot with another Flames record (4.45 meters).