Lady Flames win GSC soccer title
Sisters and former Soddy-Daisy High School standouts Summer and Anna Lanter led the Lee University women’s soccer program to its first Gulf South Conference title with a 1-0 win against Mississippi College on Sunday in Montgomery, Ala. The Lady Flames (16-4) had beaten West Georgia 1-0 and Valdosta State 5-1 in tournament matches to reach the final, and the lone goal Sunday came in the 21st minute when Anna’s shot went off the hands of Mississippi (15-3-1) goalkeeper Andrea McDonald and Summer sent the deflection into the net. Haley Gribler made two saves to earn the shutout in goal as Lee outshot the Choctaws 9-7 overall and 3-2 on goal. Summer, a senior and two-time GSC player of the year, was named the tournament’s MVP. Joining her on the all-tournament team were Lee’s Suzanne Arant, Katie Cloud and Meagan Newman. The Lady Flames have qualified for the NCAA tournament each of their three seasons with NCAA postseason eligibility. The full field will be announced today.
RUNNING
› Tennessee Wesleyan University finished third in both races in the Appalachian Athletic Conference cross country meet Saturday in Canton, Ga., and senior Sarah Kate Gartman from Chattanooga led Milligan to the women’s team title with a second-place finish in the 5-kilometer event. The Wesleyan men closely followed champion Reinhardt (56) and Milligan (59) with 69 points in the 8k, as Jonas Simon and John Gould came in fifth and eighth and TJ Tupps, Cody Demalavez and Antonio Alejos were 12th, 20th and 24th. Bryan’s Brady Smith was 23rd, and Cory Aulich from Soddy-Daisy was Milligan’s eighth finisher but 27th overall. Bryan was eighth out of the 11 men’s teams. Gartman was the first of five Lady Buffs in the top seven. TWU’s Lady Bulldogs were a distant third, with 97 points compared to 24 for Milligan and 37 for SCAD-Atlanta, but had a 51-point cushion on fourth-place Truett McConnell as Hannah Rhodes finished 13th, Hailey Polillo 17th, Rosa Cisneros 20th, Bailey Condone 21st and Hailey Coudriet 26th.
BASKETBALL
› Hunter Simpson had 19 points, eight rebounds, four steals, two blocks and an assist as the Tennessee Wesleyan women lost 71-57 Sunday at Indiana University East in Richmond, Ind. The game was part of the First Bank Richmond Classic, which included a 70-53 loss for the Lady Bulldogs on Saturday. IU East, ranked No. 12 in NAIA Division II, beat Indiana Wesleyan University 76-66 that day. On Sunday, Kaitlin Simon added 10 points and five rebounds off the bench for Tennessee Wesleyan, with Gina Dick chipping in seven points and four assists as the Lady Bulldogs shot just 18-for-62 from the field, including 3-for-16 from behind the 3-point line.
› Despite 19 points and nine rebounds from Tyler Phillips, the Georgia Northwestern men’s team lost 100-70 to Florida National University in the Trinity Baptist Classic on Saturday in Jacksonville, Fla. Bryce Waters scored 14 points and Kolbi Suttles and Davantae Kimble added 11 each for the Bobcats (1-2).
SOFTBALL
› Moe’s Southwest Grill in Fort Oglethorpe is hosting a “meet the team” fundraiser for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball Mocs from 4 to 8 Thursday night. Players and coaches will be present to interact with diners, and Moe’s will donate part of its proceeds that evening to the team.
TENNIS
› Chattanooga’s Wesley Cash, a teaching pro at Manker Patten, helped the United States win bronze in the World ITF team competition for men 60 and older last week, and now he’s in the individual portion of World ITF play in Miami. Cash beat Switzerland’s No. 1 player 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 on Saturday, but he has defaulted out of singles competition because of a sore knee. However, he will continue in doubles, and on Sunday he and Danny Waldman of Washington, D.C., won 6-2, 6-3 over a duo from Mexico.