Former Lee stars now assistants and other sports news

Milica Krsmanovic is replacing another former Lee University volleyball All-American, Bruna Langner, as an assistant coach with her old program headed by Andrea and Kevin Hudson. Langner is the head coach of the new Dalton State program.

Similarly, Chris Hennessey is a new Lee women's soccer assistant stepping in for a fellow former Lee men's standout, Chris Walker, who has become the women's head coach at North Alabama in the Cleveland school's new NCAA Division II conference, the Gulf South.

And Paul Furey has brought in Eric Kwame Appiah and Diego Gustin to help him with the men's soccer team. Bosnia native Krsmanovic earned an M.B.A. degree while serving as a graduate assistant at Southern Arkansas, another D-II program. She was the Southern States Athletic Conference player of the year and a third-team NAIA All-American as a Lady Flames senior.

"We are very privileged to have Milica back working with our volleyball program," Andrea Hudson said in a school release. "Her volleyball knowledge is exceptional in both hitting and setting, and her work ethic is amazing." Hennessey, a native of Manchester, England, was a 2006-09 Flames defender who has spent the last three-plus years as an instructor at All-Pro Soccer in New England and director of coaching for Central Maine United.

"When Chris left to take the job at North Alabama, I knew we would have a very difficult job in replacing him," Lady Flames coach Matt Yelton said. "Walker was an integral part of our program. ... We looked at several strong candidates and after completing the process felt that Chris was the perfect fit for what we were looking for. He is very energetic and hard-working, and his knowledge of the game will be a great addition to our team."

Kwame, who's from Ghana, played for Furey at Mount Vernon Nazarene and anchored a defense that had 15 shutouts in 2009, when he made the all-national-tournament team.

Peru native Gustin was a goalkeeper and captain of the 2012 Mercyhurst College team that reached the NCAA Division II national semifinals. He will be working on his M.B.A. the next two years while helping particularly with keepers and in promotions and game analysis, Furey said.

Golf

• Lee University's Matt Emery and Hunter Vest followed up their NAIA men's golf All-American status by being named to PING All-America teams by the Golf Coaches Association of America. Both just completed their junior seasons. Emery, from Franklin, Tenn., by way of Middle Tennessee State University, was a PING second-team NAIA pick after earning first-team acclaim from the NAIA coaches. Vest, from Walker Valley High School, was an NAIA coaches' second-teamer and a PING NAIA third-teamer.

• Marcus Byrd of Dunwoody won the 2013 Georgia Junior Championship boys' golf tournament Wednesday at The Farm in Rocky Face. Closing with a 74, he shot 1-under-par 215 for 54 holes and beat Atlanta's Jack Larkin Jr., Griffin's Tye Waller and Alpharetta's Ryan Stachler by a stroke. The highest area finisher was Wyatt Larkin of Morganton, tying for ninth at 226. Dalton's Allen Behr shared 17th at 228, and Rocky Face's Tucker Snipes tied for 30th at 232.

Football

• Single-game tickets for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football game on Nov. 23 at Alabama have gone on sale to UTC Mocs Club members and season-ticket holders. Club members who don't have season tickets can buy as many as six tickets for the game in Tuscaloosa, and season-ticket owners can buy up to the number of tickets they have per home game. Someone can join the Mocs Club starter level for $75 (see the club link at www.gomocs.com), or a season-ticket package can be arranged by calling 266-MOCS (6627).

Softball

• Chattanooga State's softball team was one of the NJCAA all-academic teams for 2012-13, for having a collective grade point average of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale. The Lady Tigers' GPA was 3.14. Chattanooga State is holding its Hall of Fame induction dinner Friday evening at the Walden Club.

Running

• The Market Street Miracle Mile will be contested Saturday morning in a series of 10 heats starting from 7:45 with wheelchairs to 10 by gender and age group. The Chattanooga Track Club's "shortest, fastest and flattest race" benefits the Children's Hospital Foundation. Online registration at Active.com will be supplemented at Outdoor Chattanooga from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday and on-site Saturday in the Tennessee Aquarium area.

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