The TCCAA/NJCAA Region VII basketball tournaments will begin Friday at Cleveland State with the host Cougars in one of two first-day men's games. They will face Jackson State at 6 p.m. after the Volunteer State and Dyersburg State women play at 2 and the Roane State and Vol State men meet at 4. The Lady Cougars meet Motlow at 6 p.m. Saturday, followed by Chattanooga State's women against Southwest Tennessee at 8, and Chatt State's men play Dyersburg at 4 p.m. Sunday. The finals are Tuesday at 2 and 4 p.m. Tickets cost $7 per day.
Track & Field
» Hixson resident and Baylor School alumna Selena Popp of Samford University was named Wednesday the Southern Conference's most outstanding female field performer for the third indoor track and field season in a row. That followed the senior's second consecutive "most outstanding athlete" honor at the conference indoor meet this past weekend, when she won the pentathlon and high jump for the third straight year and anchored the winning 4x400-meter relay.
Swimming & Diving
» Sewanee junior Noel Whitlock is the Southern Athletic Association women's diver of the year after winning both the 1- and 3-meter events at the recent conference meet. Gabby Acker joined her from the Tigers on the All-SAA women's swimming and diving first team, and Kate Mabry and diver Paisley Simmons made the second team. Whitlock and Simmons will compete this weekend in an NCAA diving regional at Grinnell College in Iowa. Lee Haber made the All-SAA men's first team and James Hoyt and Jed Henrichsen were second-team selections from Sewanee; Anthony Carbone and Carl Failing received honorable mention.
Softball
» Lee University beat visiting Shorter 15-0 and 7-3 in softball Wednesday. Shonna Penney pitched a five-inning four-hitter in the first game, when Abby McKinney was 3-for-3 with a home run, a double, three runs scored and two batted in and Taylor De Adder was 2-for-2 with two walks and matched Kiley Longmire with three RBIs. Lily Hatcher and Kayla Louie each scored three runs. McKinney homered again in game two, plating two runs, and Longmire was 2-for-3 with Louie and Hatcher each going 2-for-4, Hatcher with a triple. De Adder threw a five-hitter.
» Covenant College won 5-2 and 12-0 at Sewanee with Sarah Huskey pitching a five-inning no-hitter and the Lady Scots (2-3) scoring 11 runs with two outs in the first inning of game two. Aileen Hill was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and Shelby Ralston was 2-for-2 with two RBIs in that game, when Faith Manning was 2-for-2 and scored twice, and Madyson Gibbins and Erika Mast were 4-for-5 and 4-for-8 in the doubleheader. Covenant pitchers Carsyn Stone and Lauren Kierpa allowed only three hits in the first game; two were homers by Rachel Hoffman and Peri Prestwood.
» Bryan lost 3-2 and won 2-1 against visiting Talladega. Hannah O'Shields and Shannon White had RBI hits for the Lady Lions (3-7) in the first two innings of their loss. Madison Owens and Olivia Johnson pitched a combined five-hitter in game two, when Kimberly McKernie had an RBI walk and Heidi Smith scored the decisive run after being hit by a pitch, moving around on a two-out O'Shields single and a relay error.
» Tennessee Wesleyan is 5-1 after beating Asbury 8-1 and 6-4 on Tuesday and defeating Bluefield 9-4 and 3-2 on Wednesday, the last game with all three runs in the final inning. Briana Muller was 3-for-3 with four RBIs and Baylee Sutton tripled and doubled and scored three times in the first win over Bluefield, and Mackenzie Jackson was 4-for-7 in the doubleheader. Cheyenne Strong pitched a three-hitter with 13 strikeouts and was rewarded in the seventh when Muller singled, Sivan Palacios doubled, Malyssa Jeter reached base on a bunt, Courtney Calkins got Muller home with a fielder's choice, Olivia Housewright hit a tying single and Jocelyn Cantrell pinch-hit a winning sacrifice fly.
Baseball
» The 12th-ranked Tennessee Wesleyan baseball team is 13-2 after beating No. 14 Campbellsville 4-1 and 5-1 in an NAIA doubleheader Tuesday in Athens. Aloysius Cruz and Jhosmel Rodriquez (2-for-3) homered for the Bulldogs in the first game, when Cole Bellair, Irving Martin, Gavin Roberson and Jack Granath combined to pitch a two-hitter. Adrian Marquez and Tyler Reichenborn homered in the rematch.
» No. 15 Bryan won 11-5 at Martin Methodist (10-3) on Tuesday with three hits and three RBIs from Tyler Scott, three runs for Lake Burris, a two-run triple by Marcus Catalano and two hits, two runs and an RBI from Wade Weinburger. The Lions are 11-4.
Tennis
» Lee had the Gulf South Conference women's tennis freshman of the week for the third time in a row, but this time it was Lisa Kirr from Germany. Kirr was 2-0 in singles last week, at No. 4 and No. 3, and teamed with Lauren Trammell for a 6-0 doubles victory.