After guiding the Dalton State Roadrunners to a 29-5 record, the No. 3 national ranking in NAIA Division I and to the quarterfinals of the national tournament, Tony Ingle has been named the 2017 winner of the Don Meyer Award as the top basketball coach in the NAIA. The award is named for the late longtime Lipscomb University and Northern State coach, who had a 923-324 career record and coached at Lipscomb the two highest scoring players in college basketball history, John Pierce and Philip Hutcheson. "What a tremendous honor for Tony, our basketball team and Dalton State," interim athletic director Jon Jaudon said in a school release. "We are blessed to have one of the finest basketball coaches, at any level, in the country." Dalton State won the 2015 NAIA championship in the school's first year of eligibility and is 106-24 under Ingle, who won an NCAA Division II title at Kennesaw State University and was a Division I head coach at KSU and Brigham Young. He grew up in the Dalton area and played for Dalton State when it was a national junior college power. "Coach Ingle has done just about everything in his coaching career. He truly is one of the legends of the profession," CollegeInsider.com's Angela Lento wrote.
Tennis
- Wesley Cash of Chattanooga has reached the singles quartefinals and doubles semifinals in the USTA National Men's 60 Hard Court Championship at Rancho Mirage, Calif. He and Mark Vines of Naples, Fla., who won multiple national 55 titles together, are seeded No. 1 and facing third-seeded Leonard Wofford and Paul Wuff from Oregon today after a bye and two straight-sets wins. Thursday they won 6-3, 6-2 over a duo from Connecticut. Vines also is seeded No. 1 in singles, and he and Cash each has had a bye and three straight-sets wins in that competition, where they could meet for the championship. Cash hasn't played as much singles in nationals the past few years and is a No. 9 seed, but Thursday he won 6-4, 6-3 over No. 2 seed Ross Persons of Houston. The Manker Patten teaching pro faces Timothy Garcia of Santa Fe, N.M., another 9 seed, in the quarterfinals.
Golf
- Lee University's Haverly Harrold was chosen the Gulf South Conference women's golf freshman of the month for March. She began the month as the medalist in the Las Vegas Desert Classic in Nipton, Calif., and added two 10th-place individual finishes. She has a 77.71 scoring average. "She has made great strides from the fall to the spring," Lee coach John Maupin said in a school release, "and I'm happy for her to see that hard work pay off with this honor."
Softball
- Senior third baseman Jordan Brett from Covenant made the All-USA South West Division softball first team for 2017, and freshman Madyson Gibbins was a second-team choice. The league's all-sportsmanship team included Covenant freshman Hannah Talley and Piedmont's Rayven Lawrence from Trion High School. Brett is a three-time All-USAS honoree. Going into the league tournament, she leads the Lady Scots with a .405 batting average, eight home runs, 34 RBIs and 31 runs scored. Every hit she gets is a new school career record. Gibbins is batting .337 with nine RBIs and 16 runs and leads the team with 12 stolen bases.
- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga pitching coach Michelle LaCourse will be the guest speaker for a game-day breakfast Saturday at 8:30 a.m. at Wally's Restaurant on McCallie Avenue. It is hosted by the Lady Moc RBI Club and open to the public, and reservations are not needed. LaCourse, a former UTC pitching and hitting standout, is guiding an all-freshman staff that has been beset by adversity this season. The Mocs host Western Carolina in a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. Saturday and a single game beginning at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Fishing
- John Murray from Spring City, Tenn., is tied for 13th place after the first day of the Bassmaster Elite tournament at Toledo Bend in Louisiana. His five keepers totaled 17 points, 13 ounces. The leader is Jacob Wheeler of Indianapolis at 25-1, and Gerald Swindle of Guntersville, Ala., is tied for 11th at 18-3.