Nelms takes third in State Mid-Am and other sports news

Philip Lee of Nashville shot his third consecutive round in the 60s and won the 26th annual Tennessee Mid-Amateur Championship with a 54-hole 204 Saturday at GreyStone Golf Club in Dickson. Lee's 69 gave him a two-stroke win over second-round co-leader Craig Smith of Nashville. Josh Nelms, who grew up in the Chattanooga area, was third at 209, one ahead of six-time champion Tim Jackson of Germantown. Another Chattanooga native, Nick Blakely, tied for sixth at 217.

• Lee University's Madison Alexander is tied for 12th individually after shooting a 75 Saturday in the first round of the Lander Lady Bearcat Invitational golf tournament, and teammates Courtney Shelton and Bernadette Little share 21st with 77s, but the Lady Flames are eighth at 312 in the 18-team tournament. Flagler has a seven-stroke lead at 294.

Tennis

• UTC sophomore tennis player Kayla Jones plays today in the main-draw singles final and, with Katie Polk, in the draw No. 2 doubles final of the UTC Steve Baras Fall Classic, and the Lady Mocs' Kaylene Chadwell, Alexa Flynn, Alison Storie and Jovana Pecovski won Singles 1, 2, 4 and 5 consolation-bracket matches Saturday. Two UTC men reached main-draw semifinals. Freshman Derrick Brown lost Saturday to Lipscomb's Daniel Hernandez, 6-4, 6-2, after beating No. 2 seed Austin Ackers of Samford in his second Singles 2 division match Friday. Mocs sophomore Gino Delavalle was the 4 seed in Singles 4 and also won twice Friday, then lost 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to Samford's Trey Carter on Saturday. UTC's Pavels Grigorjevs in Singles 1 and Luke Saunders in Singles 3 won consolation-bracket matches Saturday, and Grigorjevs with Jorge Varon, John Peacey with Saunders and Austin Boaz with Marcos Morelli won doubles consolations. Brown and Drew Wendel lost 8-2 in a Doubles 3 consolation to Lee University's Richard Gamble and Daniel Hardesty. The Lady Mocs' Jones beat UAB's Rachel Daniell 6-2, 6-1 in a Singles 1 semfinal and plays Murray State's Andrea Eskauriatza today for the championship. Jones and Polk face the top-seeded duo of Saioa Oscoz and Melina Poffo from Eastern Kentucky after beating Murray's Eleonore and Verginie Tchakarova 8-3 on Saturday. Flynn and Chadwell won a Doubles 1 consolation match, and Storie and Claire Mulyadi won a Doubles 3 consolation contest.

Soccer

• Junior Hudson Brock's hat trick led the Covenant College men's soccer team to a 5-0 USA South win Saturday at LaGrange. Junior Ian Meredith assisted on the first two scores, by Brock and sophomore Noah Wiersema, and Brock made it 3-0 at halftime with an assist by junior Joel Friesen. Two other juniors collaborated on the last goal for the Scots (6-3-2, 2-1), David Huertas scoring from Danny Knight.

• The Covenant women's soccer team lost 2-1 at home to Meredith (6-1-4, 4-0-1), which got second-half scores from Meredith McCarty and Meghan Ingram on Danielle Lee assists. Ruth Terry converted an Andrea Hunt assist in the 15th minute for the Lady Scots (5-6, 3-1), who outshot the visitors 9-4 in the final half and 11-9 for the game.

• Bryan College won 1-0 in men's soccer and lost 1-0 in the women's game Saturday in an AAC doubleheader at Montreat. Daniel Branley netted a Zach McCown assist in the first half for the Lions (7-1, 5-0). Stephanie Gagnon made eight saves for the Bryan women (3-4-1, 0-3-1), who were outshot 24-2. Tennessee Wesleyan's women (4-5, 2-1) lost 6-3 in an AAC match at Columbia (S.C.) College.

• GPS alumna and Ooltewah resident Nicole McKinney is tied for second on the Lincoln Memorial women's soccer team with three goals and eight points. She's a junior midfielder for the Lady Railsplitters, who are 4-2-1 overall and 3-1 in the South Atlantic Conference after Saturday's 3-1 loss at Lenoir-Rhyne.

Volleyball

• UTC volleyball coach Travis Filar will be the guest speaker for the Chattanooga Quarterback Club's noon luncheon meeting Monday at Finley Stadium, and the public is invited. Filar's Mocs began the Southern Conference part of their schedule this weekend. Attendance costs $10 with a meal, $4 without.

Softball

• The Lady Moc RBI Club is hosting a college softball tournament this Friday through Sunday at Warner Park as a fundraiser for UTC's fastpitch program. The Lady Mocs are scheduled for seven games in the event: Friday at 5 p.m. against Cleveland State and at 7 against Chattanooga State; Saturday against Roane State at 10 a.m., Shorter University at noon and Bryan College at 4 p.m.; and Sunday against Gadsden State at 2 p.m. and Tennessee State at 4. Admission costs $5 each day.

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