Mocs' Kirwa, Cole 2nd, 3rd in SoCon

Sunday, April 22, 2012

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's Emmanuel Kirwa and Mark Cole finished second and third in the 10,000-meter run as the Southern Conference outdoor track and field meet opened Saturday. Their all-conference times were 31:43.81 and 31:46.70. UTC's Keeley Stewart was 10th in the women's 10k, and the Mocs' Nathan Wanuch was sixth in the 3000 steeplechase. Dezerick Frazier in the 400 dash and Blake Olson in the 400 hurdles qualified for finals today.

• Bryan College freshman Bryson Lillard won both men's hurdles events at the Appalachian Athletic Conference track and field meet Friday at Johnson City, Tenn., and three teammates also won races. The Lions finished second to Milligan as a team, and the Bryan women tied for third. Lillard set a school record with his 110-meter hurdles win in 15.27 seconds, and he won the 400 hurdles in 56.62. The Lions' Jason McLeod (3:58.98), Bryson Harper and Alex Stephens were 1-2-3 in the 1500-meter run, and Harper won the 800 in 1:55.53 with Stephens third and McLeod fourth. Freshmen Connor Hatfield (15:22.80), Madison Yates and Anders Clarke were first, third and fourth in the 5000, and classmate Chris Pineda was fifth in the 400 and 800. Bryan's Alyssia Lindsay was third in the women's 1500 and fourth in the 5000, and Andrea Spencer was third in the 800.

• SEWANEE, Tenn. - Sewanee had the top five finishers, led by Cara Martin, in the women's 3000-meter race Saturday at the Sewanee Mountain Laurel Invitational track and field meet, and Hudson Robb and Clay Bond were first and second with Tyler Wilcox fifth in the men's 1500. Josh Hirawaka gave the hosts a 110 hurdles victory, and Justin Taylor won the shot put and discus, his latter throw of 40.8 meters winning by more than 3 meters. Sewanee's Amy Nelson won the women's hammer throw, and Arden Jones and Jourdan Cooney were second and third in women's pole vault. Willow Smith, Izzy Harrison, Zoe Dubin and Ashley Block were second through fifth behind Martin, and Faith Spencer was fourth in the 400.

Tennis

• CHARLESTON, S.C. - Top-seeded UNC Greensboro defeated the UTC women's tennis team 4-0 in the semifinals of the SoCon tournament Saturday. Jenna Nurik and Claire Mulyadi won 8-4 at No. 3 doubles for fifth-seeded UTC (16-6), but the Spartans (17-5) won the doubles point and the first three singles matches that ended. UTC's Emily Hangstefer pushed hers to three sets. No. 2 seed and three-time defending champion College of Charleston (23-5) beat Furman 5-0.

Basketball

• East Hamilton's Airyelle Belle signed basketball scholarship papers Friday with Martin Methodist College in Pulaski, Tenn. As a senior, Belle played in 32 games with 17 starts and averaged 5.2 points per game for the Lady Hurricanes, who won the District 6-AA tournament and advanced as far as a state sectional. East Hamilton coach Derek Morris said Belle didn't start playing basketball year-round until after she got to high school. "I think they're getting a player who's far from her peak," Morris said. "She's one of those who, if she was a sophomore or junior now, a lot of bigger schools would've been after her. I think they're getting themselves a great kid and someone who can be a good basketball player."

• Livingston Academy's 6-foot-9 center, Logan Ramsey, recently signed to play basketball for Lee University in 2012-13. Ramsey, the fifth member of his immediate family to score at least 930 career points for Livingston, surpassed 1,000 on Feb. 7 of this year and averaged 15 points, 12 rebounds and two blocked shots a game this past season. He was the District 8-AA most valuable player and a first-team All-Upper Cumberland selection and also made the district and region all-tournament teams. "He's big, strong and has good hands," Lee coach Tommy Brown said in a school release. "He's a [dairy] farm boy who is not afraid of work, and he has a certain toughness that I really like. He came in and worked out against some of our big guys and never backed off, but at the same time Logan can step out and shoot the 3. ... He's also a good student."

Football

• Harmon Field in Dalton will be the site as former football players from Dalton and Ringgold high schools get together for an alumni game Saturday night at 7:30. The game was originally planned for Ringgold's renovated Don Patterson Field, but ongoing construction, according to coach and athletic director Robert Akins, forced a change of venue. David Gann will coach the Ringgold squad, while Bill Mayo will head the ex-Catamounts. Tickets will go on sale Monday at each school.

Lacrosse

• SEWANEE, Tenn. - The Sewanee women's lacrosse team finished its regular season Saturday with an 18-8 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference win over Millsaps. Mallory Grimm scored three goals on three shots for the Tigers (10-5, 4-1), and Molly Arnold, Page Carpenter, Olivia Vietor, Sally Anne Greenwood, Meg Welton and Caitlin-Jean Juricic added two goals each. Sewanee will host the SCAC tournament next weekend.

• ROME, Ga. - Shorter University beat Tennessee Wesleyan 13-8 in the third-place game Saturday of the National Women's Lacrosse League tournament hosted by Shorter. Whitney Dixe had three goals and two assists and Rachel Skinner also scored three goals for Shorter, and Taylor Moody made 12 saves. Michelle Scannell and Tess Sasse scored two goals each for TWC; Nicolette Dungee had 11 saves.