Jurick, Sturdivant join RailRunners and other sports news

Former East Ridge, Chattanooga State and Oklahoma State big man Philip Jurick is one of four new players signed by the Chattanooga RailRunners professional basketball team. The others announced Thursday by team owner Paul "Showtime" Gaffney were 5-foot-10 former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga point guard Kevin Bridgewaters, 6-7 former Brainerd, Walters State and Texas Southern forward Fred Sturdivant and 6-8 Isaiah Kirk from Tennessee Wesleyan, Gaffney's alma mater. Jurick, a shot-blocking and rebounding specialist, is 6-10. "These guys are key pieces for us solving the puzzle of winning the title," Gaffney said in a release. The RailRunners are 5-2 in their first year in the Central Basketball Association but have lost two of their last three games. They are tied for first play with the Nashville Storm, who will host them at 9 p.m. EDT Saturday. The Fort Wayne Flite, who are right behind the leaders, visit the Runners on Sunday at the Rossville Athletic Center.

Tennis

• "It took almost all day, but we beat German," Chattanooga's Wesley Cash said Thursday evening from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and the 2014 International Tennis Federation Seniors World Championships. "We finished at 6:30." He was talking about the men's 55 division (Austria Cup). Cash and Mark Vines from Lynchburg, Va., decided the 2-1 team victory with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 win that included two third-set service breaks. Mike Tammen, who was Cash's partner in the Wednesday win over Switzerland, won 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 in singles after learning that his 93-year-old father died Thursday morning. The U.S. men's 55s take a 3-0 round-robin record into today's match with Mexico, which on Thursday defeated the Great Britain team that beat the Americans in 2013. Girls Preparatory School coach Sue Bartlett went to 3-0 in doubles with Anne Clark for Great Britain in the women's 55s (Maureen Connolly Cup) with their 6-2, 6-1 win against Canada on Wednesday and a win by default in their team's 3-0 defeat of France on Thursday.

Volleyball

• Boyd-Buchanan volleyball player Kristen Reynolds has accepted a scholarship offer from Cedarville (Ohio) University. The Lady Jackets compete in NCAA Division II and have won the Great Midwest Athletic Conference each of the last two seasons. Reynolds connected with the school through a website and took visits in late January and in March, when she practiced with the team. "All of the players were supportive of me," Reynolds said. "They were super welcoming. It's the right-sized school I wanted to go to, and I wanted to go to a Christian school." Reynolds is a two-time all-state selection and was chosen most valuable player last year of both the District 5-A regular season and tournament. Playing all the way around and splitting time at the net as a setter and hitter, she totaled 478 assists, 279 kills, 259 digs and served 100 aces. "She's been playing on the varsity team since she was in eighth grade," said Ashley Rose, whose Boyd-Buchanan teams have advanced to the state tournament in her two years as head coach. "She's matured on the court every year. As a setter she's in a position to be a leader on the floor. Anything I've ever asked her to do she's done, and done it well. Wanting to play in college was her number one goal. She's done that for herself by working hard. She's earned her scholarship, rightfully." Reynolds plans to major in nursing.

Softball

• Bryan College will play this morning against sixth-seeded St. Andrews in the losers-bracket final of the Appalachian Athletic Conference softball tournament in Kingsport, Tenn., after beating third-seeded Virginia Intermont 8-4 on Becca Zimmerman's ninth-inning grand slam in Thursday's first game and downing second seed Milligan 9-4 in the day's last contest. Zimmerman was 3-for-4 against VI (27-20) for the fourth-seeded Lady Lions (28-21), and Olivia Gore doubled twice while Heather Daniel was 2-for-4 and Heidi Daniel was 1-for-2 with a home run and three walks and matched Katie Vaughn's two runs scored. Against Milligan (22-17), Mariam Wood homered twice and drove in five runs, Katelyn Bowen was 3-for-3 with a homer, Heidi Daniel was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Gore also was 2-for-4. Reinhardt (40-8) edged St. Andrews 6-4 and is set for the tournament final.

• Sara Kelley from Ooltewah was 3-for-4 and scored a run, but her Carson-Newman softball team lost 4-3 to Anderson in the South Atlantic Conference tournament Thursday at Harrogate, Tenn., and must try to fight through the losers bracket. Kelley and fellow senior Caitlyn Lance from Ridgeland High School received All-SAC honorable mention; CNU shortstop Kelli Hensley was the player of the year.

Golf

• Chattanooga-area golfers Tom Baird and Tim Burns made the eight-team match-play field in the Tennessee Senior Four-Ball Championship with a 144 total Wednesday and Thursday at Lenoir City's WindRiver course. They play today against defending champions Steve Golliher of Knoxville and Danny Green of Jackson, who led the stroke play by three shots with a 136. Jess Voorhies of Winchester made the Super-Senior semifinals with partner Gary Pierce of Franklin; they tied for second in stroke play with a 143, six shots behind Nashville's Mike Nixon and Mike Patton.

• Former Soddy-Daisy golfer Jessica Cathey of Austin Peay tied for eighth with a 231 in the Ohio Valley Conference women's tournament that ended Wednesday at the Robert Trent Jones course at Muscle Shoals, Ala., and Tennessee Tech's Maddi Everts from Notre Dame shared 11th place at 233.

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