University of Tennessee at Chattanooga running back Ailym Ford finished fifth in the Jerry Rice Award voting for the Football Championship Subdivision national freshman of the year. North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance was the winner, announced Wednesday, with 116 first-place votes and 691 points, compared to 395 with 14 firsts for Albany QB Jeff Undercuffler. Southern Illinois running back Javon Williams Jr. was third at 243 (six firsts), Richmond linebacker Tristan Wheeler was fourth at 143 (no firsts) and Ford got 132 with five firsts. He ran for 1,081 yards and nine touchdowns in 10 games, and his 108.1 per game led all FCS freshmen.
Soccer
* Lee University senior Riley Engels from Signal Mountain was named to the United Soccer Coaches' NCAA Division II women's All-South Region first team for 2019, and Lee sophomore Avery Engels and junior Riley Henry made the second team. The Engels sisters earlier received D2CCA all-region honors. Henry and Riley Engels each scored seven goals this season, and Henry had six assists. Avery was a key defender for a team that registered 14 shutouts and allowed only 17 goals in 22 matches, and she also had five goals and an assist.
Track & Field
* Lee's Christian Noble and Charlee Boxall were the Gulf South Conference track performers of the week and Daniel Surman was the men's field honoree for their success in the Birmingham Icebreaker last weekend in Alabama. Noble won the men's 3000-meter run in a school- and meet-record time of 8:10, Boxall also set a Lee record (10:02) with a 19-second victory in the women's 3k, and Surman won the pole vault by over a foot with another Flames record (4.45 meters).
Basketball
* Lee's nationally fifth-ranked basketball Lady Flames rose to 10-0 with a 75-61 home win Wednesday over Lander (4-3). Maddie Long scored 17 points and Nicky Widenski had 12 plus four assists for Lee, while Taylor Boggess and Haley Schubert scored 11 each. The Lee men beat Campbellsville-Harrodsburg 94-72 as Jayce Willingham scored 29 points on 10-of-11 shooting, 5-of-5 on 3-pointers. Beyuan Hendricks and Kentrell Evans added 14 and 12 points and Josh Lowe and Parker Suedekum each had 11 for the Flames (6-3). Lowe and Quay Kennedy had 10 and eight rebounds. Evans added five assists, and Hendricks and Kennedy each had four.
* The Bryan women moved up a spot to 17th in the NAIA Division II poll and are 12-0, 9-0 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference, after a 97-55 romp at Kentucky Christian. Junior Karli Combs was 7-of-8 on 3s, scored 23 points and reached 1,008 for her Bryan career, and Kaitlynn Hennessee had 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Deandra Luna, the reigning AAC and Tennessee Sports Writers Association player of the week, also had five assists. The Lady Lions were 21-of-33 on 3s. Bryan lost the men's game 81-78 but got 20 points from Brandon Thomas, 14 from Keaton Dotson and 12 on 6-of-7 shooting from Austin Douglas. KJ Hawkins had five assists.
* Dalton State College moved up two places to No. 19 in the NAIA Division I men's basketball rankings this week, and Wednesday night the Roadrunners improved to 9-1 with a 71-61 with at Life (9-3), which is two slots out of the Top 25. Kevon Tucker scored 31 points with four 3-point baskets and Randy Bell had 15 points for DSC. Sean Cranney made four steals.
* Tennessee Wesleyan University defeated the visiting Point women 73-60 but lost 99-95 to the Point men in an AAC doubleheader. Jordan Wright had 22 points with four 3s and Savannah Atkins and Kaitlyn Strange scored 13 and 10 for TWU's Lady Bulldogs (4-6, 4-4). Leaders for the Bulldogs (5-6, 3-6) were Lorenzo Gatling with 6-of-8 3-point shooting and 24 points, Ty Patterson with 23 points, nine rebounds and five assists and Dominique Oggs with 18 points, four 3s and seven rebounds. Bryant Bernard scored 14 points.
* Britnay Gore had 24 points and 12 rebounds and Charisma Barner had 20 points, 16 rebounds and five assists as the Cleveland State women downed the Covenant junior varsity 96-29 on Lookout Mountain. Kyeshia Dalton contributed 13 points, eight rebounds and six steals and Asjah Harrell had seven assists for the Lady Cougars (6-5), who got 12 and 11 points from Kaitlyn Goodman and Za'kkria Robinson and 10 plus five assists and four steals from Cassidy Nihoff.
* The Sewanee men lost 107-99 in two overtimes - after trailing 42-24 at halftime - Tuesday night at Johnson University (9-5) in Knoxville. Senior Adrian Thomas bettered his career high for the second game in a row with 41 points, including 36 after halftime, and Joey Knox scored 16 with four 3s for Sewanee (7-3). Jordan Warlick had 13 points and eight rebounds and Ryan Starr had 11 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three steals. The Sewanee women's scheduled home game with Wesleyan (Georgia) was postponed for weather concerns.
* The Covenant women's varsity lost 56-53 Tuesday at home to Bob Jones. The 4-6 visitors' Madison Shupe hit a 3-point shot with one second to go, and Delaney Edwards led them with 14 points, 12 rebounds and four steals. Cosette Kirsch had 13 points and seven assists for Covenant (3-7), while Margo Koby totaled 11 points and nine rebounds and Ruthie Moore had 15 rebounds (eight offensive) and four assists.
Swimming
* The Baylor Swim Club began the Speedo Winter Junior Championships-East meet Wednesday in Atlanta with a seventh-place finish in the girls' 4x50-yard medley relay from Ellie Waldrep, Lillie Boggs, Jewel Gordon and Logan Watson-Brown. The event includes more than 100 clubs and 500-plus swimmers, including BSC boys Alex Borisov and Will Tippett.
Fishing
* The Bryan College duo of Trevor St. John from LaFollette, Tennessee, and Bailey Fain from Lenoir City won the fourth annual Brandon Card High School and College B.A.S.S. tournament last Saturday on Norris Lake near St. John's home. Three other Bryan boats were fifth (Jake Lee/Mason Cizek), ninth (Cole Sands/Conner DiMauro) and 12th (Christian Wright/Rob Lindsey) out of 40 teams. St. John and Fain's five-bass limit totaled an event-record 14.35 pounds. "It meant a lot to me to win this event because it's my hometown," St. John said. "I learned how to fish on this lake. To win in front of my family and friends feels amazing."
Contact Ron Bush at rbush@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6291.