With six players finishing in the top 10, two of them not even counting toward the team score, the Dalton State College women's golfers rolled to a 23-stroke victory Monday and Tuesday in the seven-school Thomas University Fall Invitational in Valdosta, Georgia. Ranked fourth in the NAIA, coach Jim McGrew's Lady Roadrunners built a 21-shot margin with their first-round 299 and wound up at 609. No. 13 Southeastern was second at 632 on the Kinderlou Forest course. DSC's Isabel Rijos tied for second on the leaderboard at 150, and Megan Donahue was fourth at 151 with Haejin Choe tied for fifth at 152. Cameron Daniel and first-day leader Sydney Hermann shared seventh with 153s, Katelyn Skiffen tied for ninth at 154 and Hannah Gasaway tied for 16th. Freshmen Donahue and Hermann led all the participants who played as individuals.
* University of Tennessee at Chattanooga sophomore Esme Hamilton was chosen as both the Southern Conference's women's golfer of the week and the league's overall General Shale student-athlete of the week. She led the first round with a 65 and finished third at 205 in the Princess Anne Invitational at Virginia Beach, and she is an environmental studies major with a 4.0 GPA. The 65 set a program record; the 205 tied one.
* Led by Michael Olmsted's ninth-place 141 (69-72) and Tommy Oliver's 14th-sharing 142 (74-68), Division III's 23rd-ranked Sewanee men finished eighth out of 18 teams this week in the Royal Lakes Fall Invitational in Flowery Branch, Georgia. Oliver led the field with 13 birdies. Zack Russell shot 145 for the Tigers, who totaled 579; No. 13 Hampden-Sydney won with a 559. Covenant was 18th at 630, led by Nathan Hawkins' 148.
Football
* UTC running back Ailym Ford received STATS national freshman of the week honorable mention for the third time this season after rushing for 116 yards and a touchdown in last Saturday's 34-17 win at Mercer. His 32 carries were the most in a game by a Moc since Terrell Robinson's 32 against Furman in 2011. Ford leads all Football Championship Subdivision freshmen with 92.8 rushing yards per game.
Volleyball
* UTC lost 3-0 at Mercer in SoCon play Wednesday, by the set scores of 25-22, 29-27, 25-20. Dani Szczepanski had nine kills with a .400 attack percentage for the Mocs (5-12, 0-4), while Maddie Halsey had 24 assists and Megan Kaufman led in digs with 11 and served three aces.
* Cleveland State took TCCAA leader and reigning champion Walters State (14-5, 4-0) to four sets before falling Tuesday night, 25-11, 22-25, 25-17, 25-13. Stephanie Burke had 13 kills, Sydney Allen 29 assists and Lydia Martin 28 digs for the Lady Cougars (8-11, 1-2), who got eight kills from Aly Grace Lemons and 13 digs from Katlyn Knight.
Soccer
* Last year's Lee University women's soccer team reached the NCAA Division II national semifinals and a No. 4 final ranking, and now those Lady Flames have been honored with a United Soccer Coaches team academic award for their aggregate 3.64 GPA. The minimum is 3.0.
* Brad Spooner's fifth-minute goal from a Haaris Hussain assist stood up for a 1-0 Bryan College home win Wednesday against Reinhardt in Appalachian Athletic Conference men's soccer. The Lions (5-4-2, 5-1-1) led Reinhardt (5-5-1, 4-2-1) 12-5 in shots and 6-1 in shots on goal and got a one-save shutout from Igor Espleter. The Reinhardt women (7-5-1, 5-2-1) won 2-0 despite six saves by Caragan Treola for the Lady Lions (7-6, 6-2). The Lady Eagles had margins of 19-5 in shots, 9-3 in shots on goal and 9-2 in corner kicks.
Running
* Dalton State freshman Kathryn Vradenburgh already is the Southern States Athletic Conference women's cross country runner of the week for the fourth time in her rookie season. This week's honor is for her 22nd-place 5-kilometer finish of 18:46 in the Blue division of the massive Live in Louisville Classic. That time is a personal best.
Fishing
* Bryan College anglers won three of six sessions and had three other top-five fish in the recent two-day Bass Pro Shops Big Bass Bash presented by Berkley on Kentucky Lake. More than 300 collegians took part in the competition to bring in the biggest bass, and each time period was won with a 4-plus-pounder. Bryan had 10 top-10s in all, led by Rob Lindsey (4.85 lbs.) and Mason Cizek (4.84) with first-day session bests and Bennett Kudder with a second (4.66) to Lindsey and a day-two session first (4.20). Bryan's Justin Botts had a third (4.08) and an eighth, Cole Sands a fifth (4.34), Bailey Fain an eighth and Griffin Heffington and Lindsey 10ths.
Contact Ron Bush at rbush@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6291.