AJGA returns to WindStone
The American Junior Golf Association will be back at WindStone Golf Club this coming week for the Evitt Foundation RTC Junior All-Star tournament. The 54-hole event, one of 15 this year in the ACDS Junior All-Star Series, runs Tuesday through Thursday after a practice round Monday. This is the 14th consecutive year for the AJGA at WindStone, and the 78 players are from 17 states and five foreign countries: Canada, China, Japan, South Korea and Singapore. There are 28 players from Georgia — including Bennett McNabb from Ringgold and Tucker Windham from Fort Oglethorpe in the boys’ division — plus Joe Carter from Chattanooga, Harrison Davis from Fort Payne, Ala. Hannah Nall and Kyndall Shamblin from Cleveland are in the 22-player girls’ division.
› Former Baylor School and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga standout — and now two-time winner on the Web.com Tour — Stephen Jaeger will be among the 36 participants in a 36-hole U.S. Open sectional qualifier Monday at Hawks Ridge Golf Club in Ball Ground, Ga. They will be playing for two spots and two alternate positions in the 117th U.S. Open set for June 15-18 at Erin Hills in Wisconsin.
› The U.S. Women’s Open 36-hole sectional qualifier Monday at The Legends at Chateau Elan in Braselton, Ga., includes UTC’s Megan Woods, Tennessee’s Blakesly Warren from Chattanooga, Lipscomb’s Samantha Griffith from Ooltewah, Walker Valley graduate Avery George, now of Perry, Ga., and former St. Andrew’s-Sewanee golfer Jenna Burris from Manchester, Tenn. George and Burris played together at Middle Tennessee State. The field of 77 will be playing for two spots and two alternate positions in the July 13-16 national event at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J.
BASKETBALL
› Kyanna Kendrick recently became the first East Ridge High School player to join the women’s basketball program at Georgia Northwestern Technical College. “I’ve been playing basketball since I was 9 years old. When I met with Coach (David) Stephenson, I was really happy and I really want to play for them,” Kendrick said in a GNTC release. “I think it will be a great opportunity. … (GNTC) has a great nursing program, and that’s what I want to major in.” Stephenson noted that East Ridge coach LeBron Williams has northwest Georgia ties — he went to Ridgeland High — and has “really reached out to help us and his kids.” Williams said Kendrick is “an amazing young lady who is vey academically driven. She’s very coachable and a great student … and she always has a smile on her face. Plus, she’s a good player, too. She’s a great defender. She’s long, has great rebounding skills and a really nice 3-point shot. She’s got a good all-around game, and I think she will be a good small forward for them.” Stephenson added that “I think you’ll see us pressing a lot more next year, and Kyanna will be a big part of that.”
› Brian Emerson is coming from Williams College in Massachusetts to assist new head coach Mick Hedgepeth with the Sewanee men’s basketball team, the school announced Friday. Williams has gone 53-29 since Emerson arrived for the 2014-15 season, including 23-9 and a trip to the NCAA Division III semifinals in 2016-17. Emerson previously served as an assistant for an MIT team that was 20-9 and went to the national tournament. He played at Williams, where he received a degree in psychology while his teams went 93-22 with two final-four appearances and a national-runner-up finish. “I am thrilled to announce Brian as our new assistant coach,” Hedgepeth said in the Sewanee posting. “Through his experience at Williams and MIT, he is well-versed in the model of Division III athletics and all that it represents. Working with Brian for two years at Williams, I saw firsthand the contribution he made to the basketball program as well as the surrounding community.” Hedgepeth, a former Belmont standout player, was on the Ephs staff before coming to Sewanee as an assistant last year.