In addition to the previously reported record-setting 50-meter backstroke victory for Baylor School junior Kimberlee John Williams last week in the Central American and Caribbean Swimming Championships at Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, she and five other Baylor Swim Club athletes totaled 18 finishes of eighth or better.
Williams, representing Trinidad and Tobago, won another gold medal in the 15-17 girls' 100 backstroke and a silver in the 100 butterfly and was fourth in the 100 freestyle, fifth in the 200 free and eighth in the 50 free. Senior Ashley Yearwood from Bermuda was second in the 50 fly and sixth in the 50 free, while Bria Deveaux from the Bahamas was fourth in the 50 fly, fifth in the 50 free and sixth in the 100 fly.
In the boys' 15-17 age group, recent Baylor graduate Evante Gibson from the Bahamas was third in the 50 breaststroke, fifth in the 100 breast and seventh in the 50 fly, and Matthew Chen from Jamaica was fourth in the 50 breast and seventh in the 100 breast. In the 18-over age group, recent graduate Nicole Yearwood from Bermuda was sixth in the 100 back and seventh in the 200 free.
The CCCAN meet was the final qualifier for the World Junior Swimming Championships in late August in Lima, Peru, and Williams, Gibson, Deveaux and the younger Yearwood all qualified. Baylor also has some possibilities to represent the United States in Peru, with Christian Carbone, Spencer Rowe, Ashley Vance and Kristen Vredeveld competing in the U.S. nationals in early August at Stanford. Rowe (Georgia) and Vance (Ohio State) are about to begin college careers.
TRACK & FIELD
The Chattanooga Jets Track Club had 40 boys and girls qualify for 45 individual events and eight relays at the AAU Junior Olympic Games in New Orleans from the Area 5 qualifier meet last week in Knoxville. The national meet will run July 30-Aug. 6. The Jets' LaQuisha Jackson won the 17-18 girls' 100-meter dash and anchored the first-place 4x100 relay, and Alexis Wilson in 13-year-old girls won the 100 and 200. Alex Trotter and Myles Patton in 14-year-old boys and Makenzie Ethridge and Jamee Ward in 14s girls each won an event and helped in a 4x100 victory. Other Jets winning individual events at the University of Tennessee were Jerome Morgan in 13s boys, Malika Reviere and Kayla Hayes in 12s girls, Kimbra Dunning in 10s girls and Jadyn White in 8-under girls.
BASEBALL
The Chattanooga Cyclones P baseball team went 6-0 in winning the Southern Wood Bat World Series this past weekend at Lee University, Cleveland State and AT&T Field. The Cyclones' James Fowlkes had three hits and three RBIs in an opening 7-6 victory over Chattanooga South, when Matt Allen got the pitching win and Ryan Johnson the save. Brent Smith was the winning pitcher in a 19-1 thrashing of Atlanta Sportstech, when Zach McKelvey had three hits, two RBIs and two runs and Sheldon Brogden and Kenzie Goins each had two hits, three runs and an RBI. Fowlkes' three hits and an RBI, Jeff Burke's two hits and two RBIs and T.J. Binder's two-run hit backed up Bobby Towne's pitching in a 9-2 defeat of the Bradley Bombers, and Burke got the win and Johnson another save in a 4-2 win over the Jefferson Patriots, when Randall Coley and Fowlkes had RBI hits. Johnson got the win and Burke had the winning hit to complete a two-run seventh-inning rally for a 6-5 semifinal win over the Desert Eagles, and then the Cyclones beat the Ringgold Tigers 6-1 for the title behind the pitching of Patrick Parris and Goins with Fowlkes smashing a three-run home run and Drew Toth and Towne adding RBI hits. The Tigers went 5-1 in the tournament. The Chattanooga Baseball Club's 15-under team went 5-1 in the 16-under division, losing 2-0 in the final to the Knoxville Thunder and pitcher Jordan Lane.
The 16-under Chattanooga South baseball team went 4-0 and won the Fourth of July Wood Bat Classic this past weekend in Boynton. Chattanooga South outscored its opponents 36-4 with two shutout wins. Chase Spurgeon pitched one of those with 11 strikeouts against the Ringgold Tigers, and Drew Williams threw a complete game against the LFO Warriors and batted .500 with three doubles and two triples in the tournament. Ryan Crowden, Zach Thompson, Tyler Phillips and Jackson McClain also pitched well, and Phillips batted .444. Jared Davenport hit .700, Tanner Ungos hit .556 and scored seven runs, Zach Crumley hit .500 with three doubles and six RBIs, Will Purnell hit .462 with five runs, and Raunel Perez hit .429.
BASKETBALL
KNOXVILLE - The Knoxville News Sentinel is reporting today that former University of Tennessee associate head men's basketball coach Tony Jones is being hired for the vacant boys' basketball position at Alcoa High School.