Area sports notes: Jake Maples wins Choo Choo Invitational

Assorted Sports Equipment on Black
Assorted Sports Equipment on Black

Ending a highly competitive 2019 Chattanooga Choo Choo Invitational golf tournament with the only score below 69 on Wednesday, Jake Maples pulled away on the final day. But he had to catch up first. The Georgia Southern golfer from McDonough, Georgia, began the third round three strokes behind leader Jacob Arnett from Oglethorpe University but won by three at 10-under-par 206 with his 67 at Council Fire. That was the fifth 67 of the tournament; no score was lower. Ethan Hagood of Alabama-Birmingham shot a 71 for second at 209, and Arnett (75) tied another UAB player, Sam Goldasich, and Kyle Vance from Pennsylvania and Kansas State for third at 211. Vance and Goldasich each closed with a 70. Austin Peay's Austin Lancaster from Hendersonville had one of the day's two 69s and shared sixth place at 212 with Wisconsin's Cameron Frazier from Cincinnati and the University of Cincinnati's Clay Amlung from Louisville. Council Fire's own Ben Rebne, an NAIA All-American and Jack Nicklaus Award finalist at Dalton State, tied for 10th at 214, while Chattanoogan and UTC player Lake Johnson tied for 14th at 215 and Dalton High's Carter Pendley shared 16th at even-par 216. Johnson, who had the other 69 Wednesday, finished third in the Choo Choo last year. Lee University's Evan Spence from McCallie School tied for 19th this year with a 217.

» Dalton State's Sport Allmond and Sewanee's Gray Matthews, Tommy Oliver and Nic Vandeventer are Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholars for 2018-19, as the Golf Coaches Association of America announced Wednesday. Vandeventer, a Baylor School alumnus, graduated in May; the other three soon will begin their senior years. The honor requires at least junior academic status and a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or better on a 4.0 scale, plus a stroke average under 78 for NAIA players and 79 for NCAA Division III, with a minimum participation of 50% in the team's competitive rounds. High moral character counts, too. Allmond's GPA was above 3.7, his stroke average was 75.11, he won a tournament and had five top-10 finishes, and he received his conference's A.O. Duer Scholarship Award. Oliver's 2018-19 stroke average was 74.71; the other two Tigers had 75.95s.

» Nicole Adam of Pinehurst, North Carolina, was seeded 14th going into match play Wednesday at the U.S. Girls' Junior tournament in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, but she lost 3 and 1 to Anika Varma from India in the round of 64. Adams is the granddaughter of Red Bank residents Jim and Nancy Sims.

Tennis

» The United States Tennis Association is holding its Boys 18-under team national tournament Saturday through Tuesday at Chattanooga's Champions Club, and admission is free each day. Matches begin at 8:30 a.m. All 17 USTA sections will be represented by their elite juniors in competing for sectional supremacy: Caribbean, Eastern, Florida, Hawaii Pacific, Intermountain, Mid-Atlantic, Middle States, Midwest, Missouri Valley, New England, Northern, Northern California, Pacific Northwest, Southern California, Southern, Southwest and Texas. Local officials Eric Voges and Andrew Rogers will be the tournament directors.

Volleyball

» Lee University in NCAA Division II and Covenant College in Division III were among the 2018-19 recipients of the American Volleyball Coaches Association team academic awards for aggregate GPAs of at least 3.30. Lee's team GPA was 3.65. Covenant was inside the top 25 teams, its highest finish ever, in D-III GPAs. In addition to earning the AVCA award for the fourth time in their program's NCAA history, Covenant's Lady Scots won their fourth consecutive USA South regular-season division title and their fourth successive league sportsmanship award.

Baseball

» Sewanee received an American Baseball Coaches Association team academic excellence award for 2018-19, the Tigers' third year in a row to do so. It requires a 3.0 team GPA, and Sewanee's was 3.087 to cap its winningest season on the field.

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