Covenant softball coach Aubrie CarmackFormer Covenant College assistant coach Aubrie "Brie" Carmack is returning to the Lookout Mountain school to head the softball program. She has been an NCAA Division I assistant the past three years at Bucknell and Southeast Missouri State. At Division III member Covenant she succeeds Christine Core Engbers, who recently became the head coach at a Division II school, Lincoln University in Missouri, after directing school-record 22- and 23-win seasons in 2017 and 2018. "I am very excited to return to Covenant College," Carmack said in a school release. "The softball program has been moving in the right direction, and I am enthusiastic for the future. God keeps bringing my journey back to Covenant, and I am looking forward to seeing what he has in store." Carmack played at Jacksonville University and began her coaching career as a student assistant there in 2011. She was part of a school-record 44 victories that season and then worked as a graduate assistant for two seasons at Eastern Illinois, which won the Ohio Valley Conference in 2013. This past season with her on staff at Southeast Missouri, the Redhawks won 33 games - the most for that OVC program since 1998. "During Brie's tenure as an assistant coach I was consistently impressed with her work here," Covenant athletic director Tim Sceggel said. "Now that she has grown in her softball knowledge at the Division I level over the past few years, I'm excited that she is returning to campus to use that knowledge and experience for the benefit of our student-athletes, while most importantly using her gifts to invest in their spiritual and academic development."
* Three Chattanooga-area ninth-graders - Arts & Sciences' Lauryn Dean and Amiah Rivers and Ooltewah's Kayla Hunt - are part of the Softball Elite Development Invitational program that began Friday and runs through Tuesday at Historic Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida. It is operated by Major League Baseball and USA Softball and includes about 90 "top-level softball players from diverse backgrounds" in a spring-training-like setting, according to a program release. The instructors are "elite coaches and players," including Olympic gold medalists Jennie Finch and Jenny Topping and other former and current national team members.
Golf
* Ben Rebne enhanced an impressive recent pattern by shooting a 10-under-par 62 Friday in the opening round of the 2018 Chattanooga Men's Metro Amateur tournament at Moccasin Bend Golf Club. The Dalton State College golfer from Ringgold is 23 under par for the first rounds of the last three Men's Metros. He took a four-shot lead in this one over Trent Mansfield and David Watts with Matt Crowder fourth at 67, Gavin Roberson and Phil Spitalny at 68 and seven at 69: Tucker Windham, Cody Godfrey, Sheldon McKnight, Shonn Weldon, Winston Brown, Matt Hadden and Taylor Lewis. The open division continues through Sunday, but the senior and super senior divisions are set to end today. Reigning seniors champion Mitch Hufstetler paced the 55-and-older group Friday with a 67, three strokes better than second-place Bob Rice, while Stewart Lawwill, Tim Crawford, Patten Smith and Scott Patton carded 71s. Mike Jenkins and Neil Spitalny led the tightly bunched super seniors with 72s. Joe Scruggs and 2017 champion Ronnie Law shot 73s.
* The 97th Georgia Amateur Championship runs Thursday through Sunday at Athens Country Club, and the entrants list includes 2003 and 2011 champion David Noll Jr., Vance Embry and Davis Smith of Dalton, Mike Nance of Calhoun, Beck Burnette of Blairsville and Lee University golfer Scott Odell of Claxton.