Alexander wins Women's Open and other sports news

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

Jessica Alexander of Riverview, Fla., won the Golf Capital of Tennessee Women's Open golf tournament Saturday with a closing 1-over-par 73 at the Stonehenge Golf Club at Fairfield Glade near Crossville. Alexander's consistent 72-73-73 for a 218 gave her a two-shot win over Amanda Steinhagen of Oak Hill, Va., first-day leader Corinna Rees of Nashville and Katelyn Sepmoree of Austin, Texas. Another Austin resident, Bertine Strauss, was fifth at 221. Chattanooga teenager Blakesly Warren closed with a 72 and tied for 10th at 225. Chattanooga's Jordan Britt wound up at 230, and former Walker Valley player Avery George was at 236 with Ooltewah's Maddi Everts at 237.

• Dalton's David Noll Jr. and former Baylor School golfers Carlton Forrester and Keith Mitchell are among the 132 players competing Tuesday and Wednesday at Georgia's Capital City Club-Crabapple for five spots and two alternate positions in the 113th U.S. Amateur Championship being held next month in Brookline, Mass. Mitchell is a Chattanoogan; Forrester lives in Atlanta.

Boxing

• Ryan Martin from the Chattanooga Y-CAP boxing program won his 12th national championship recognized by a variety of organizations by stopping Daniel Pack of Huntsville, Ala., in the 141-pound open final at the National Bobby Hughes tournament presented by Ringside. The tournament ran Thursday and Friday in Johnson City, Tenn. Two of Martin's teammates coached by Andy Smith also won their weight classes: Kiwon Toney at 85 pounds with a decision of Donatae Bengimin from Cleveland, Ohio, and Tony Hartman at 80 pounds with a decision of Willie Blackmon of Dothan, Ala. It was Toney's second national title, Hartman's first.

Basketball

• Lee University men's basketball coach Tommy Brown recently announced four signees for the school's first year in NCAA Division II provisional play. They included Notre Dame High School guard Stedmon Ford, a Best of Preps first-teamer whose commitment to the Flames was reported in February. The Lee announcement release described Ford as "lightning quick, a great passer" and a recruit who "should play early during his career with the Flames." The other three recruits are junior transfers: Matt Clark from Flagler College in Florida, Jay Marquette from Owens Community College in Ohio and Tyquan Roberts from Louisburg College in North Carolina. Clark averaged 15.2 and 13.5 points in his two seasons of Division II play already, and he is the son of the University of Central Florida's all-time leading scorer and the brother of a Los Angeles Clippers develomental league player, according to the Lee release. The 6-foot-5, 215-pound Marquette shot 52 percent from 3-point range in his senior high school in Ohio and played both inside and out for the Owens team that went deep in the NJCAA national tournament. Louisburg also had a strong run in the juco nationals, and the 6-6, 220-pound Roberts averaged 7.5 points and five rebounds a game for the season.

Baseball

• Gordon Lee High School's Conner Coakley and Bay Wright signed scholarship papers Friday to play college baseball, according to coach Mike Dunfee. Coakley, a first-team Best of Preps outfield selection after hitting .439 with 13 doubles and 27 RBIs this season, signed with Cleveland State, while Wright, a second baseman who hit .387 with seven doubles and 25 RBIs, signed with Brunswick Community College in Bolivia, N.C. They were integral parts of the Trojans' run to the 2013 GHSA Class A championship series.

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