Tennessee Wesleyan wins AAC track title - and more Chattanooga region sports news

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

Tennessee Wesleyan won the Appalachian Athletic Conference men's track and field championship Thursday in Johnson City, and Milligan won the women's title. TWC's men under coach of the year Shawn Jakubowski totaled 69 points to 45 for runner-up Milligan, followed by Montreat and Union College at 30.5 each, Bryan at 21 and St. Andrews at 5. Bryan's Connor Hatfield broke the championship meet's record with a 9:25.70 finish in the 3000-meter steeplechase, with teammate Alex Stephens second and Wesleyan's Arnold Mutuse third, and TWC's Gabe Pendleton broke the high jump record with a 6-foot-4-inch leap with teammate Jeremy Davison second. Pendleton was the reigning AAC men's field athlete of the week, while TWC's Roderick Bowman and Beth Sexton were the track honorees for last week's performances. Sexton led a 1-2-3-4 finish for the second-place Lady Bulldogs in the 100-meter dash at the conference meet and a 1-2-3-5 in the 200 and was third in the long jump, and teammate LeighAnn McAfee won the shot put. Robbiccaa Williams was second in the 1500. Third-place Bryan's Sarah White was second in the 400 and the 800, and the Lady Lions' Jessica Stockton was third in the 5000 and started a winning 4x800 relay anchored by White. TWC won the women's 4x400. TWC's Avery Hubbard and Steven Dodd were first and second in the men's 100 and second and first in the 200, and teammates Deshawn McCleary and Tyler Mize were one-two in the 110 hurdles and third and first in the 400 hurdles, with McCleary second and Willie Thornhill third in the long jump and McCleary third in the triple jump. Jacob Simmons and Bowman were second in the 800 and 5000, respectively. Bryan's Anthony Simpson was the 10,000 runner-up, and the Lions' Joshua Vega and Stephens were third in the 400 and 1500, and Stephens anchored the first-place 4x400 relay.

• The 46th running of the Chickamauga Chase will be this Saturday morning in the national battlefield park. It's the oldest continuously held event on the Chattanooga Track Club calendar, and it includes 15- and 5-kilometer competitive races starting at 8:30 a.m. just below Wilder Tower plus a 2.4-mile scenic walk and a kiddie K. Packet pickup today at Outdoor Chattanooga in Coolidge Park from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. also includes a chance to register for $30 for each of the two main races, $18 for the walk, $13 for the kiddie K and $5 for babies in strollers. Race-day registration at the park will begin at 7 a.m. and cost $35, $25, $15 and $5.

Baseball

• Chattanooga State and pitcher Zach Thompson won 5-1 Thursday in the opener of its weekend TCCAA baseball series at Cleveland State. Thompson allowed seven hits in his nine innings, allowing the run in the fifth when Chris Caffrey singled, took second on a wild pitch and scored on a Janson Roberson single for the Cougars (24-20, 11-14), who got two hits from Keith Buckhault. Jay Rhoten singled in a run in the first inning and homered in the third for the Tigers (24-13, 15-10), and Alec Meadows doubled in a run in the seventh ahead of Sheldon Brogden's RBI single in the ninth. Brogden was 2-for-5 with two RBIs, Brandon Day matched Rhoten at 2-for-4 and Jean Paul Rodriguez scored twice for Chattanooga State.

Softball

• Nationally fifth-ranked Chattanooga State won 11-0 twice in TCCAA softball Thursday at Columbia State, as Shelby Willard (20-0) pitched a five-inning two-hitter and Sharlene Godoy (15-4) allowed five hits in seven innings. Elyse Ferguson had four hits in the doubleheader with a two-run homer and a two-run triple for the Lady Tigers (45-5, 30-4). Izzy McCurry was 2-for-3 with a two-run home run and an RBI single in the first game, when Lindsey Stickrod was 2-for-2 with an RBI double, Courtney Crawford was 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs and Katy Richardson was 2-for-3 with an RBI. In game two, Emily Dagnan was 3-for-4 with a homer, Khadija Neely had a three-run homer and a single and Kelsey Thomas and Baylee Williams each was 2-for-3.

• Cleveland State edged Southwest Tennessee 3-2 in eight innings and lost 8-6 in their TCCAA softball doubleheader Thursday in Cleveland. Ida Watson was the winning pitcher in game one, and Leslie Nunnelly singled and scored for the Lady Cougars' second run and singled in Tori Roberts, who had doubled, with the winning score. A Nunnelly triple following a two-run double by Sara O'Rear gave Cleveland State (20-26, 15-19) a 6-5 lead in the sixth inning of the rematch, but Kelsey Knight singled in the tying run and Alex Stanford added a two-run hit for Southwest (11-41, 5-29) in the seventh. Dallas Chipman hit a three-run double for the visitors in the fifth.

• North Murray High School senior Sarah Silvers committed recently to continue her softball career at Covenant College. She played catcher and middle infielder her first two years of high school and then became an outfielder, and she hits from both sides of the plate. She has a 3.44 grade point average and was drawn to Covenant's academic reputation, specifically its pre-law program, and Christian atmosphere. "Covenant stood out among the other schools because of their long history of keeping Christ preeminent," she said, adding that she was looking forward to four years of instruction and mentoring from Lady Scots coach Sara Russell.

Golf

• Marion County High School's Lucas Coffelt recently signed a letter of intent to continue his golf career at Bryan College in Dayton. Coffelt also is a strong student and was captain of the Marion basketball team. "We are excited about adding a talented young golfer like Lucas to our team," Lions coach Peter Bollant said in a Bryan release. "His power and discipline give him the key ingredients to do well. We are even more excited about adding a young man with the kind of character and potential for leadership that Lucas has."

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