Dalton State College golfer and Ringgold resident Ben Rebne is one of five NAIA finalists for the honor of Jack Nicklaus national player of the year, which has been won three times by two past Roadrunners. The other 2019 finalists are from Lindsey Wilson, Keiser and Coastal Georgia (two). The winner will be announced May 30 and join the Nicklaus award recipients from the NCAA’s three divisions and the NJCAA for the Barbasol Shootout on June 1 at Ohio State for an exemption into the Barbasol Championship July 18-21 in Lexington, Kentucky. Rebne won three events, including the Southern States Athletic Conference tournament, and had five other top-10 finishes in his junior season, and he was the SSAC player of the year.
» The fourth-ranked Dalton State College women finished sixth in the NAIA national tournament at Lincoln Park Golf Course in Oklahoma City. They shot 301 Friday for a 72-hole 1,205 – one stroke behind Cumberlands and 15 behind third-place SCAD-Savannah. British Columbia won at 1,175; Keiser was second at 1,180. DSC’s Isabel Rijos tied for ninth individually at 292; Cameron Daniel and Hannah Gasaway shot 305 and 307.
» Bob Rice from Pikeville and former Tennessee Wesleyan coach Mike Poe, now of Kingsport, won in 19 holes as match play began Friday in the Tennessee Senior Four Ball at College Grove, but they lost 3 and 2 in the semifinals to suburban Memphis players Michael Albonetti and Phil Powers, the top seeds coming out of qualifying. Another Memphis-area duo, Buzz Fly and Tim Jackson, are the other finalists. Chattanooga’s Ronnie Law and Franklin’s Gary Pierce face a Brentwood pair for the Super Senior (65-older) title Saturday morning after winning in 20 holes over Nashville’s Mike Nixon and Germantown’s Larry Dupree.
Baseball
» Tennessee Wesleyan (52-9) is the No. 1 seed in the Avista NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho, and is scheduled to open play there at 6 p.m. EDT next Saturday against the winner of next Friday’s game between Indiana Tech and Bellevue (Nebraska), the Nos. 8 and 9 seeds.
Softball
» The NJCAA released the bracket Friday for its 16-team Division I tournament next week in St. George, Utah, and Chattanooga State (42-8) is seeded 11th and plays Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. EDT against sixth-seeded Temple (46-9) from central Texas. Temple is on a 14-game winning streak.
Running
» University of Tennessee at Chattanooga runner Mark Britt was among the 10 Southern Conference athletes announced Friday as recipients of the league’s $2,000 postgraduate scholarships for 2019. Britt will use his – the David Knight Scholarship – in UTC’s physical therapy doctorate program. Britt scored points in three SoCon cross country meets during his Mocs career and compiled a 3.917 grade point average as an exercise science major. A member of UTC’s Brock Scholars Program and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, he has put in hundreds of volunteer hours in community and school projects.
Soccer
» Rachel Lemay has finished her four years as a Covenant College soccer player and graduated this month, but she isn’t going anywhere. The 2018 USA South goalkeeper of the year and three-time all-conference first-team selection has been named the Lady Scots’ full-time assistant coach. “Having the opportunity to coach at Covenant College is a dream,” Lemay said in a school release. “I am excited to bring a knowledge of the game that I have developed from 18 years of playing competitive soccer. I have been greatly impacted by the coaches here at Covenant, and it is an honor to coach on a staff which has served me so faithfully for the last four years.” Said head coach Mark Duble: “She has an outstanding grasp of what it takes to consistently pursue excellence on and off the pitch here at Covenant. Her passion for the sport of soccer and this program, her love for the college as an institution and her love for her Savior all made the decision to bring her on a very easy one for me.”