Veteran fastpitch player and coach Steve Jaecks has been promoted to head coach of the Cleveland State softball program after three years assisting Katie Willingham. She recently left after nine seasons to accompany her husband on a job move out of the area. The Lady Cougars finished second in the 2018 state/region tournament and made the top four again this spring. "I enjoyed working with Katie, and I'm excited to be the head coach," said Jaecks, who previously served 12 years as athletic director and eight seasons as the lead softball assistant coach at Chattanooga State, capped by the national championship in 2012. He then served three years on the staff at NCAA Division I member East Carolina, the last one as interim head coach. A graduate of Loma Linda University in California, Jaecks earned a master's degree at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Before getting into college coaching, he played men's fastpitch at the top local level for 25 years, playing several positions for longtime power McKee and winning multiple league batting titles and most valuable player awards. He's 64.
David McKinleyBasketball
* UTC men's basketball coach Lamont Paris filled the opening on his on-court staff by promoting David McKinley to assistant coach. McKinley, who was director of basketball operations last season, replaces Aaron Fuss, who took an assistant's job at Kent State in June. McKinley is an Ohio University graduate and worked there as a graduate assistant before becoming a video coordinator at Wright State before joining UTC in 2017. "David is an extremely hard worker," Paris said in a UTC release Monday. "He epitomizes what our program is about in how we handle our business. He's very loyal and detail-oriented, and he did an outstanding job in his role our first two seasons. David's worked his way up through the ranks. He does a great job relating to the guys and is extremely organized. He's extremely excited about the opportunity, so I anticipate he'll do a great job." McKinley joins Tanner Bronson and Eddie Shannon with Paris on the Mocs bench for the upcoming season.
Pickleball
* Ooltewah resident Katie Dyer qualified for the 2020 pickleball national tournament in Indian Wells, California, by winning the mixed 5.0 division gold medal this past weekend at the Great Lakes Regional in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Her partner was Rick Witsken from Indiana. Dyer also earned a silver medal in 5.0 women's doubles with Kassandra Gehrke from Wisconsin.