Henderson 20th in NCAA meet and other sports news

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

On a day of extreme cold, wind and mud in Terre Haute, Ind., 18-year-old sophomore Teghan Henderson from Pickering, Ontario, gave one of the greatest performances in the impressive history of University of Tennessee at Chattanooga cross country. She finished 20th in the NCAA Division I national meet Saturday in 20 minutes, 23.8 seconds for the 6-kilometer course ravaged in the last week by a tornado, extensive rain and the men's race churning up the ground before the women ran. By making the top 40, the 56th-ranked Henderson had the fourth All-America time in Lady Mocs history, following Kathleen Turchin in 2004 and Shannon Wommack in 2004 and 2005. Wommack finished 25th as a junior and 19th as a senior. "It was miserably cold," UTC coach Bill Gautier said in a school release, referring to temperatures in the upper 20s and very low 30s. "Mud was up to the elbows. We duct-taped her shoes on to keep her from losing them." Later by phone he added, "This was a very special day. I'm in awe of what she did. She won't turn 19 until after Christmas." Despite her Canadian background, Henderson said she had "never raced in such cold weather. I never thawed out." About following her usual up-front strategy, she said, "I started out a little too fast, and about halfway I started to panic because my legs started to die. In the last 2K I got my second wind and was able to hold on." Down the stretch, she said, it was a comfort to realize "20 people could pass me and I'd still be an All-American."

• The Bryan College men's cross country team finished 10th in the NAIA national meet Saturday on the historic Rim Rock Farm course in Lawrence, Kan. The Lions' Anthony Simpson finished 15th in the 8-kilometer race in 24:55, earning All-America honors for the second year in a row while improving 12 spots from his 2012 finish. Connor Hatfield was 32nd in 25:12, missing All-America status by two seconds, and Alex Stephens and Jason McLeod also finished in under 26 minutes. "This was a tough race," Bryan coach Bryson Harper said in a school release. "The wind chill kept the temperature in the single digits, and there were three very steep hills, plus the rolling hills that made up the course. But these men did their jobs well. Anthony, Alex and Jason all wrapped up their last seasons in cross country today, and they did it very well."

Soccer

• Leah Fortune and Summer Lanter each scored three goals in the first half, Fortune also with three assists, as top-seeded host Lee University whipped No. 2 seed Campbellsville 7-0 in the National Christian College Athletic Association Mid-East Region final Saturday. Ode Fulutudilu assisted on Fortune's first goal at 4:32 and completed the scoring 6:11 into the second half from Kinsey Cichowitz's second assist for the Lady Flames (14-3-1), who will play in the NCCAA nationals Dec. 2-7 in Kissimmee, Fla. Danielle Ciabattone also had an assist as Lee outshot Campbellsville (11-6-2) 34-5.

• Martin Methodist scored early in each half and defeated visiting Bryan College 2-0 in an opening-round game Saturday in the NAIA men's soccer tournament. Shane Powell and Felix Kristofferson had the goals for the Pulaski team, which outshot the Lions (15-4) 23-7. Josh Oldroyd made five saves in defeat.

Volleyball

• Sonoraville High School's Kristi Vaughn signed scholarship papers this past week to continue her volleyball career at Armstrong Atlantic State University. The 5-foot-10 Class AAA all-state and Georgia Senior All-Star setter picked the Savannah, Ga., school, she said, "because of its excellent nursing program, the fact that it is in state and their volleyball team is one of the best [NCAA] Division II programs in the Southeast." The Pirates, in fact, are ranked No. 17 nationally after going 27-1 with no Peach Belt conference losses through the regular season. Vaughn, ranked first in her class, holds 12 Sonoraville volleyball records and was the Area 4-AAA most valuable player the last two seasons, when the Phoenix reached the state "Super Six." They won 30-plus matches and went to the state tournament each of her four seasons.

• Lee completed a 4-0 run to the NCCAA Mid-East Region volleyball championship by downing Victory 25-9, 25-14, 25-11 and beating Campbellsville 15-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-17 Saturday in Cleveland. Paula Martins had nine kills and Latrice Johnson and Lauren Williams added eight and seven against Victory, when Camil Martinez and Becky Bourne had 15 and 14 assists and Sarah Davis made 17 digs for Lee (20-8). Martins and Johnson had 18 and 16 kills and Williams contributed 12 against CU, while Martinez had 45 assists and Davis and Deborah Magalhaes had 14 and 11 digs.

• The Bryan College volleyball team's season ended Saturday with a 3-0 loss to Indiana Wesleyan in an NAIA tournament opening-round match in Dayton, Tenn. Set scores were 25-22, 25-22, 25-21. Carolyn Evans had 10 kills and Kara Stamper, Chelsea Breaden and Ashley Ferris added nine, eight and seven for Bryan (33-4), but three IWU players had 13 or 14. Taylor Fink had 36 assists and 11 digs and Corrie Walker and Rebecca Stroup had 11 and 10 digs for Bryan.

General

• The Chattanooga Quarterback Club will not have its usual Monday luncheon meeting this week, leading into the Thanksgiving holiday. The club will meet Dec. 2 at Finley Stadium, and the public is invited.

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