Sewanee duo receive NCAA postgrad grants

Friday, January 1, 1904

Sewanee senior swimmers and biochemistry majors Sara Neil from Decatur, Ala., and Phillip Link from Atlanta have been awarded NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships, the 28th and 29th in the school's history. The grants are for $7,500. Neil, who has a 3.93 cumulative grade point average on a 4.0 scale, will use hers at the University of Tennessee's College of Pharmacy. She holds six school and Southern Athletic Association records. Link, who has a 3.49 GPA and is president of the Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Society chapter on campus, plans to go to medical school. He holds three SAA and school records and was an All-American in the 100 and 200 breaststroke events in 2011-12. "I feel that these two have influenced our men's and women's programs far beyond what we might normally see from even gifted student-athletes," Sewanee swim coach Max Obermiller said in a school release. "To balance their rigorous biochemistry majors and put the hours in the pool to achieve national-caliber times is rare. To do this while encouraging their fellow student-athletes and bringing the love of the sport into sharp focus on a daily basis is truly inspiring."

Golf

• Lee University's Florian Loutre's 9-under-par medalist performance for 54 holes last week in the Southern States Athletic Conference tournament got him named the NAIA national men's golfer of the week. The freshman from Le Mans, France, had rounds of 70, 67 and 70 in leading the Flames to the championship of the 11-team tournament at Lagoon Park in Montgomery, Ala. "I'm happy for Florian because he's been through a lot of adversity this year, and I know it's been a struggle at times," Lee coach John Maupin said in a school release. "He showed his ability this week, though." The Flames will play in the NAIA national tournament May 14-17 at Creekside Golf Club in Salem, Ore.

Baseball

• Lee University began its Southern States Athletic Conference baseball series at Cleveland, Ga., with a 12-1 win over Truett-McConnell on Thursday. Myles Smith (9-3) and David Eskew combined to pitch a four-hitter while the Flames (41-10, 22-5) were totaling 18 hits. Josh Silver was 4-for-5, Corey Davis and Mark Silva each was 3-for-6 and Brandon Rader had three RBIs for Lee, which got home runs from Rader, Cameron Brewster, Derrick Pitts and Davis.

Softball

• With Maddie Monroe from Calhoun, Ga., pitching a five-hitter with six strikeouts, top-seeded Reinhardt University eliminated seventh seed Bryan College from the Appalachian Athletic Conference softball tournament in Kingsport, Tenn., with a 9-1 win Thursday. The run off Monroe (23-1) was unearned. Alexis Chumbler and Katie Blair each was 3-for-4 with three and two RBIs and Kandi Gates hit a three-run homer for Reinhardt (39-5). Courtney Combs was 2-for-2 for Bryan (22-24). Union College eliminated Tennessee Wesleyan (23-18) by winning 10-9 in eight innings.

• University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball hitting coach Lindsey Ubran will be the guest speaker for the UTC Mocs Club's last "Breakfast With the Coach" this school year at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at Wally's Restaurant on McCallie Avenue. It is open to the public and reservations are not required. The Lady Mocs (26-21, 10-8 SoCon) will be hosting Samford (13-31, 5-13) in a Saturday doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. at Jim Frost Stadium and the home finale at 2 p.m. Sunday following a ceremony honoring seniors Sara Poteat, Ninjja Suetsugu and Kasey Tydingco. Sunday also is UTC's "Girl Scouts Sports-A-Thon" starting at noon with $20 covering game admission, a meal, give-aways and drills and tips on different sports from Lady Mocs athletes and coaches. That also is open to the public.

Lacrosse

• Girls Preparatory School juniors Raygan Hall, Katie Morgan and Rachel West will be on the Tennessee team in the US Lacrosse Women's National Tournament to be held May 25-26 at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. They tried out in a series of drills and scrimmages last weekend in Memphis.