Lee University won both the men's and women's championships as the Gulf South Conference track and field meet wrapped up Saturday in Rome, Georgia, and Christian Noble and Chloe Flora from the Cleveland school each was doubly honored as outstanding track athlete and outstanding overall athlete. Lee's Jeremiah McCain was the men's most outstanding freshman. Pulling away on the final day, the Lady Flames compiled 246.5 points to 173.8 for second-place Alabama-Huntsville while the Flames totaled 250.8 to 209.3 for Alabama-Huntsville. Flora led 1-2-3 Lee finishes in the women's 10,000- and 5000-meter runs and finished second in the 1500 to teammate Charlee Boxall, who also won the 3000 steeplechase with Becca Umbarger second. Amber Littlejohn won the 200 and 400, Brooke Long and Jordan Allison were first and second in the heptathlon (Allison with two event wins), Hannah Butolph won the high jump and Kayla Williams and Kristen Blevins were second and third in the 100 and third and fourth in the 200. The Lady Flames' 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams were runners-up. Lee won both men's relays, Noble and Casey Guthery were first and second in the 10k and 5k, Noble and Thomas Kelton were first and third in the steeplechase, McCain won both hurdles events, Justin Brooks won the 200 and 400, Josiah Brooks won the triple jump and was second in the 100 and third in the 200, Jared Herzog was second in the 1500 and Gari Garmendia was second in hammer throw. Lee's Teagan Lenox won the decathlon with four firsts, a second and three thirds, and Daniel Surman won the decathlon pole vault.
Fishing
» Buddy Gross of Chickamauga, Georgia, rose to fourth place at 62 pounds, 2 ounces in the FLW Tour bass tournament on Chickamauga Lake with his five-fish limit totaling 23-12 Saturday. The top 10 are in the final round out of the Dayton Boat Dock on Sunday, led by Michigan resident Ron Nelson (65-0) and Floridians Matt Greenblatt (64-2) and John Cox (62-9).
Softball
» The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's home game Saturday night against Southern Conference leader Samford was suspended with the host Mocs having just tied the score at 3 in the sixth inning. The teams will finish that game at 1 p.m. Sunday and then conclude the regular season with a doubleheader. Samford (21-27, 10-4) scored three runs in the first inning; UTC (31-13, 9-6) got two in the fifth. The Mocs will host the SoCon tournament starting Wednesday at Warner Park. The team appreciation dinner is Monday at 6 p.m. at White Oak United Methodist Church, and tickets cost $15 and will be available at today's games and at the door.
» Former Meigs County ace Ashley Rogers raised her freshman-season pitching record for Tennessee to 20-4 with a four-hitter Friday night in a 4-1 win over Texas A&M in Knoxville and three scoreless innings of relief in Saturday's 4-2 victory.
Baseball
» Top-seeded and nationally second-ranked Tennessee Wesleyan defeated No. 4 seed Reinhardt 8-3 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference baseball tournament Saturday in Kingsport. That made the Bulldogs (47-8) the Pool A winners and set up a winner-take-all game against No. 6 seed Union College for the title at 3 p.m. Monday. Union (27-22) beat No. 3 seed Truett McConnell 8-4. For Tennessee Wesleyan, Anthony Williams was 2-for-2 with a home run, a double, a sacrifice fly and a sacrifice bunt, Dan Fry also had two hits and two RBIs, Jhosmel Rodriquez homered and Braden Mosley was 2-for-3 and scored twice. Starting pitcher Cole Bellair allowed five hits and two unearned runs in 5 1/3 innings.
» Ridgeland High School standout Tanner Hill recently signed to continue his baseball career at Cleveland State. The 6-foot-2 Hill played multiple positions and batted .418 with seven homers, 26 RBIs and 12 stolen bases this season, and as a pitcher he had a 3.19 ERA and 48 strikeouts, according to a Cleveland State release. An all-state selection in 2018, he made the Georgia MaxPreps Top 100 list. "Tanner has had a great career at Ridgeland High School," Cougars coach Mike Policastro said in the release. "He is a strong kid that has power. We are excited about having him in our program."
General
» Covenant College tied for fifth place out of 18 schools in the final USA South Presidents Cup standings for the 2018-19 athletic year. Piedmont won with 133 points, 22 ahead of second-place Methodist, and Maryville and North Carolina Wesleyan tied for third with 88. Right behind those two at 86.5 were Covenant and Huntingdon, and Pfeiffer was seventh at 85. Covenant was fourth in the women's standings, eighth of 13 in the men's.