Mansfield third in State Amateur
Chattanooga’s Trent Mansfield shot a 2-under-par 70 and tied for third place Tuesday in the first round of the 2018 Tennessee Amateur golf tournament at Spring Creek Ranch in Collierville. Cookeville’s Lee Maxwell took the lead with a 68, one stroke ahead of Kingsport’s William Nottingham, and Nashville’s Ryan Terry and Philip Lee and Memphis resident Ross Redmont joined Mansfield at 70. Tommy Oliver of Sewane tied for 17th at 73, and David Watts of Benton shared 25th at 74.
› Tullahoma High School senior Ashley Gilliam from Manchester made the match-play round of 64 in the U.S. Women’s Amateur by tying for 15th at 139 (7168) in stroke-play qualifying Monday and Tuesday at The Golf Club of Tennessee in Kingston Springs. Last month Gilliam won the Tennessee Girls’ Junior for the second year in a row, by 14 strokes this time. She has committed to Mississippi State.
VOLLEYBALL
› Former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga volleyball standout Lauren Gainer Barr was announced Tuesday as an official volunteer assistant coach for the program. She worked with the Mocs last year as volunteer of student-athlete development. Barr’s 2012-15 playing career included the Southern Conference regular-season championship in 2015. She played beach volleyball in the spring of 2017 for North Florida. “Lauren was a four-year starter for us as a middle blocker, was instrumental in the building of our team culture as essentially a four-year captain and was part of our first full recruiting class that when they were seniors won the (league) championship,” head coach Travis Filar said in UTC’s release. Barr set the Mocs’ single-season record for block assists with 103 in 2014 and is second all-time with 283 for her career, plus fifth in total blocks with 344. “Being able to shift Lauren into a coaching role this upcoming season, one where she can teach and mentor more on a daily basis, is huge for our team and for the continued strengthening of our Chattanooga volleyball family and its culture,” Filar said. The Mocs open their season on Aug. 24 against Belmont in the Tennessee Invitational in Knoxville.
GENERAL
› The 11th year of UTC’s radio talk show hosted by “Voice of the Mocs” Jim Reynolds will begin next Tuesday at a new location, Puckett’s Grocery & Restaurant at 1041 West Aquarium Way. “Chat With the Mocs” presented by Bud Light will air each Tuesday from 7 to 8 p.m. on 96.1 FM, but fans are encouraged to go to Puckett’s and be part of the scene. UTC vice chancellor and athletic director Mark Wharton will be Reynolds’ special guest the first week, and football coach Tom Arth will begin his appearances on Aug. 21.
SOFTBALL
› Led by tournament most valuable player Tripp Hess and all-state center fielder Austin Parkison, the King’s Men slowpitch team from Lookout Valley Baptist repeated its ISA Church state championship this past weekend in Murfreesboro. The King’s Men went 5-0 and won the Upper Ministry Division again, and just as in 2017 two of the teams they beat in pool play went on to win the tournament’s other divisions. The King’s Men defeated Trinity of Murfreesboro 26-18 in their bracket semifinal and edged God’s Army — a U.S. Army-based ministry team — 12-11 in the title game when Chris Sislo
singled in player-manager Garrett Reagan.
Hess was 16-for-19 (.842) in the tourney, while Kris Durham was 13-for-16 (.813), Stephen Graham 15-for-19 (.789), Nate Durham 14-for-18 (.778), Trampas Brackett 15-for20 (.750), Reagan 14-for-19 (.737) and Parkison 14-for-20 (.700). The league version of the team sponsored by Rex Elmore Jr., with Danny Stancil as coach, completed a 14-0 run to the Chattanooga Sports Leagues summer-season title with a 17-7 win Monday night over Brothers in Christ in the A Division tournament final, after topping Clear Creek Church of Christ 22-16. The King’s Men went 40-1 in league play for the whole year. White Oak Baptist downed Rehoboth Baptist 15-11 in the summer season’s B Division final.