No. 1-ranked Oklahoma City shot a 276 on Thursday and moved into first place at 848, but No. 2-ranked Dalton State remained second at 856, tied with Coastal Georgia, three rounds into the NAIA men's golf tournament at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill. DSC's S.M. Lee, the NAIA's reigning Jack Nicklaus Award winner and a finalist again, stretched his individual lead to five strokes at 203 with a 66. Chase Cole was tied for 28th at 217 with P.J. Shields, Dalton Johnson and Ben Rebne at 221, 222 and 223. Lee and Shields were honored by the Golf Coaches Association of America as NAIA PING All-South Region players.
Fishing
» Jacob Wheeler of Harrison finished the first round of the Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest with a sixth-place total of 17 pounds, 4 ounces Thursday on Lake Travis. Ray Hanselman Jr. of Del Rio, Texas, took the lead with 21-15, including one bass that weighed 7-9. John Murray and Wesley Strader of Spring City, Tenn., were 23rd with 13-11 and tied for 61st with 10-3, respectively.
» Andy Morgan of Dayton is in a three-way tie for eighth place at 17-14 after the first day of the FLW Tour bass tournament on Kentucky Lake. Leader Randy Haynes of Ripley, Miss., weighed a whopping total of 26-3 for his five-fish limit. Buddy Gross of Chickamauga, Ga., was tied for 34th at 14-7.
Ooltewah High School's Anna Maria Novelli, second from left, and Sakari Pack, second from right, recently became the first signees for the new Chattanooga State volleyball program headed by Janet Tate, right. Assistant coach Robin Moore is at left.
Sidney KillingsworthVolleyball
» Janet Tate went to a long-strong local high school program for her first three recruits for the new Chattanooga State volleyball program she's coaching. Ooltewah seniors Sakari Pack and Anna Maria Novelli signed together, and then former Lady Owls standout Sidney Killingsworth joined the Lady Tigers. The 6-foot-2 Killingsworth signed out of high school with Lincoln Memorial in NCAA Division II, after being a Best of Preps selection and the District 5-AAA co-MVP. Pack played three years for Amory (Miss.) High before transferring to Ooltewah and lettering one year as a middle blocker and right side hitter for coach Elaine Peigen. She also has played for the Scenic City Volleyball Club and Georgia Adrenaline 2018. She has a 3.35 grade point average while Novelli's is 3.7. Novelli has five years in the sport.
Baseball
» Lee University senior outfielder Jordan Howard was named Thursday to the NCAA Division II All-South Region second team by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. The switch-hitting Howard, who made the All-Gulf South Conference first team, batted .322 this season with 13 home runs, 11 doubles and 44 RBIs. His on-base percentage was .408. Howard had five hits, two home runs and six RBIs in Lee's four games in the GSC tournament, with a three-run homer in the 7-6 championship loss to Mississippi College.
Basketball
» The Lee men's basketball program announced Thursday another signee for 2018-19: Tennessee District 8-AAA player of the year Quadarious "Quay" Kennedy from Columbia Central High School. A 6-foot-6 wing, he averaged 21 points and eight rebounds in his senior season. "We've been recruiting Quay for a year, and he just keeps improving each time we see him," Flames coach Bubba Smith said in a Lee release. "Quay is a big wing who can play and guard multiple positions. He has gone from 6-foot-3 to 6-foot-6 this past year and may still be growing. We love his skill set and how it fits into our style of play."
» Tyner Academy's Keniah Watkins has signed scholarship papers to continue her basketball career with Columbia (S.C.) International University, according to Lady Rams coach Katrich Williams. Watkins chose CIU over Freed-Hardeman and Maryville College in her home state.
Tennis
» Sewanee No. 1 singles player Jack Gray and Clementina Davila, both of whom are included in the NCAA Division III individual national tournament next week in Claremont, Calif., received special Atlantic-South Region honors Thursday from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Gray, a junior from Chattanooga and Baylor School, was designated the region's men's player to watch; Davila, from Mexico City, was the women's most improved senior after being the player to watch a year ago. After going 10-8 in singles and 12-10 in doubles in 2017, she is 15-3 in singles and 19-7 in doubles this year and is ranked 38th in singles and 14th in doubles with Catherine Owen by the ITA. Gray, 12-6 in singles with four wins over ranked opponents, began the season unranked regionally but now is No. 3 in singles in the Atlantic-South.
Lacrosse
» Sewanee junior defender Grace Fulton was named Thursday for the second year in a row to the Division III All-West Region first team by the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association, according to a school release. The All-SAA first-teamer totaled 74 ground balls and forced 40 turnovers as the Tigers went 12-6. She collected 10 grounders in one game.
» McCallie and Soddy-Daisy are playing for high school state lacrosse championships this weekend at Nolensville High School in Middle Tennessee. Soddy-Daisy plays for the TSLA Club Division II title tonight at 9 EDT against the Murfreesboro Lacrosse Club, a 12-3 victim of the 13-1 Trojans during the season. The Soddy-Daisy program is in its eighth year but never previously reached a state final, whereas McCallie has multiple Varsity Division I appearances but no title since 2015. In a rematch of last year's title game, the Blue Tornado will play Memphis University School at 9 p.m. EDT Saturday. Club Division I and Varsity Division II finals will precede that. The Club D-II final also would have been on Saturday, but that's Soddy-Daisy's graduation day.