For the second year in a row, only one thing kept Rodney Stoker from being the masters winner of the Turkey Trot 8k road race on Thanksgiving morning: He was the overall victor instead. The 42-year-old Stoker, a former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga standout and Bryan College coach now on staff at McCallie School, even beat his 2017 time by 43 seconds with his finish in 26 minutes, 35 seconds, with Kevin Huwe of Hixson (26:44) pushing him until the end. Huwe's wife, Jennifer, was the women's winner and 25th overall out of 656 finishers in 32:04. Morgan Olson was the female runner-up and 36th overall in 34:07. Nicholas McCormick was third overall in 27:39, and Thomas Porter, Adam Veron, Daniel Goetz, Adler Brininger and Ryan McGinnis also beat 29 minutes for the virtually 5-mile distance. Robert Binkley (12th overall) and Janis Kelman earned masters honors for the best 40-older times.
' After his 25-second 10k victory in the NCAA Division II South Region meet last week, Lee University's Christian Noble not surprisingly was proclaimed the region's male athlete of the year by the national track and cross country coaches association.
Softball
' UTC announced four November signees for softball this week, and the group is very much a sister act. Cascade High School pitcher Brooke Sudduth from Wartrace, Tennessee, joins her sibling Bailey with coach Frank Reed's Mocs, and two of the other newcomers are middle infielders Janessa and Jenice Casanas from Coral Reef High and the Diamond Dusters club program in Miami. The other new UTC recruit is outfielder Kendall Andrews from Murfreesboro. Andrews has batted .428 in her three seasons at Blackman High, with 11 home runs, 25 doubles and 58 RBIs in 264 at-bats and 41 stolen bases in 52 tries. "She is a strong outfielder with a great bat and strong arm," Reed said in a UTC release. The 5-foot-8 Sudduth takes a 68-18 career pitching record into her senior season at Cascade, with a 0.80 earned run average, 903 strikeouts in 557 innings and a .408 batting average, 21 homers and 102 RBIs in 287 at-bats. "Brooke is a strong pitcher and also a very well-developed hitter," Reed said. Janessa Casanas made the All-Dade 9A-7A first team in 2017, when she hit .413 with 20 steals and 27 runs scored, and her sister received honorable mention and hit two homers in a regional quarterfinal win. "Jenice and Janessa bring us a lot of enthusiasm, hustle on the field and a lot of spark, which we were looking for to rounding out the infield," Reed said.