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Sullivan East’s Willie Nichols shot a nine-over par 81 on Monday in the 1-AAA regional golf tournament in Morristown, Tenn. at The Country Club.

Posted by Brian T. Smith

BOYS
At par-72 The Country Club in Morristown, Tenn.
Team Scores – Jefferson County 303, Science Hill 305, Sullivan South 314, Cocke County 316, Dobyns-Bennett 324, Morristown East 329.
Note: Winning team advances to state
Individual Scores
Note: Top four individuals not on winning team advance to state.
Dobyns-Bennett – Alex Ratliff 80, Justin Harvey 77, Taylor Pate 85, Drew Daniels 83, Ross Ramsdale 84.
Science Hill – Dane Voss 75, Jared Songster 78, Michael Hembre 75, Matthew Love 81, Robert Treadway 77.
Sullivan South – Nick York 74, Nic Willis 78, Matt Washburn 77, Brandon Worley 89, Matt Bowers 85.
Cocke County – Jake Shelton 76, Zack Briggs 82, Seth Moore 76, Luke Ottinger 84, Trevor Marshall 82.
Jefferson County – Jordan Jennings 73, Logan Hance 75, Will Buie 77, Drew Jenkins 78, Jeremy Beachner 80.
Morristown East – Brandon Sexton 82, Corey Atkins 81, Alex Conway 81, Aaron Wilson 87, Dustin Williams 85.
Other – Willie Nichols (THS) 87, Curtis Vann (THS) 83, Jace Devault (THS) 89, Carlson Cox (VOL) 73, Lucas Armstrong (VOL) 79, Josh Henrichs (MW) 80, Anthony Damico (MW) 71, Aaron Moon (MW) 84, Blake Napier (MW) 80, Andrew Sawyer (MW) 88.

GIRLS
Team Scores – Jefferson County 140, Greeneville 156, Cocke County 170, Science Hill 210, Sullivan Central 212, Sullivan South 221.
Note: Winning team advances to state.
Individual Scores
Note: Top four individuals not on winning team advance to state.
Science Hill – Madison Alexander 91, Maci Whitson 119, Sophia Linville 149.
Sullivan Central – Chelsea Gammon 100, Brittany Rogers 112.
Sullivan South – Samantha Williams 107, Makensey Campbell 114.
Cocke County – Whitney Ball 88, Lexi Clevenger 82.
Jefferson County – Kristin Price 72, Kendall Martindale 68, Maria Stapleton 80.
Greeneville – Katy Hucherson 81, Paige Ramsey 75, Ashley Morris 87.
Other – Heather Saults (Crockett) 102, Aubrey Baker (D-B) 94, Linsey Bridwell (D-B) 143, Brittney Salyer (THS) 108, Courtney Conley (THS) 122, Kaitlyn Harville (Morristown East) 98, Erica Bruce (ME) 98, Alex Dickinson (MW) 106, Chelsea Leonard (MW) 119, Haley Lawson (Cherokee) 103.

Posted by Brian T. Smith
High School Sports

Think the pressure of winning a second straight Group AA title is going to get to Blacksburg’s Courtney Ellenbogen?
Not a chance. Not when you’ve rubbed shoulders with the best women golfers in the world and come within one shot of possibly playing the third round of the U.S. Women’s Open with Annika Sorenstam.
Ellenbogen sits three shots out of the lead in Bluefield after a first round 72 Monday which included a two-shot penalty for hitting from an improper tee box on the front nine.
“The tees were just a little bit apart and I hit off the wrong one,” she said. “I wasn’t paying attention. It wasn’t a good mistake, but you have to keep playing or you’ll really screw up the round.”
That mistake would unnerve most golfers to the point where they would fall out of contention. Not Ellenbogen, who has plenty of reference points for those rare tough times.
For instance, this summer, when after advancing out of sectionals to reach the U.S. Women’s Open, Ellenbogen shot a more-than-respectable 5-over par over 36 holes, missing the cut by one shot.
“That was pretty tough,” she said. “There’s always strokes out there you’d [like] to take back that would have made the difference. I still feel like I represented myself well.”
Sorenstam made the cut on the number, meaning had Ellenbogen also made the third round, she could have played with Sorenstam. At the very least, the 16-year old high school junior can boast of nearly matching the 36-hole score of her sport’s most recognizable player.
“It was good to play with some of the best players in the world,” Ellenbogen said. “It helped my mindset of shooting low scores.”
Ellenbogen may not defend her state title tomorrow, but the odds are if someone wins it, they’ll have to earn it.
After all, if you’ve stood up to a USGA-prepared course, why crumble when you’re playing for a state title?
Chip Shots
While the Fincastle Country Club course earned respect for its tight fairways and fast greens, event organizers scored a clear double bogey when they forced players to pay $7 for the privilege of going through a buffet line.
It’s one thing to make fans, coaches or even media members shell out money to shuffle through a buffet. It’s ludricrous to make the players, who are the reason you’re putting on the event in the first place, dip into their wallets.
One player was so astounded by being asked for $7 that he just threw down his plate and walked away. Golf is supposed to be a gentleman’s sport, but it’s hard to blame him for that outburst.
It should be pointed out that at least four other prep tournaments, including the Group A Tournament in Botetourt County, set up buffets for players, officials and media and didn’t feel the need to charge for the privilege of eating.
Wonder if Fincastle would charge Tiger Woods if he wanted a quick bite between nines? 

Posted by The Continuous News Desk
High School Sports

For three weeks, Tennessee’s football team has been a bunch of bums, unworthy of carrying on the program’s great tradition.
But in the span of 8 1/2 hours Saturday, the Volunteers’ 59-20 loss Sept. 15 at Florida has almost been forgotten. Now, the focus is again on the present and what can be accomplished.
Amazing how one excellent game and a second straight Florida loss can change the outlook.
UT’s 35-14 woodshed job of Georgia, combined with the Gators’ epic 28-24 defeat at gritty LSU, now leaves the Vols in control of their East Division destiny.
Granted, there are few easy games in the SEC, but the orange-clad team which cavorted up and down Neyland Stadium for 3 hours and 16 minutes Saturday sure looks a lot more capable than those guys who missed tackles and gave up long kick returns as though they were a dime a dozen during September.
“You can go home and the wife will treat you differently,” quipped defensive coordinator John Chavis.
It was Chavis’ unit which set the tone with five 3-and-outs in the first half. Georgia’s dull game plan helped, but the Vols finally played like a typical SEC defense, stopping the run and hassling the opposing quarterback.
“I think the defense played pretty good,” reserve linebacker Ellix Wilson said. “We had fun.”
It’s been said that few coaches circle the wagons quite like Tennessee’s Phillip Fulmer. That was proven again Saturday when the embattled leader had his team ready to play their best game in his most critical game since the 1998 national championship game.
A loss would have dropped the Vols to 0-2 in the East and heated up Fulmer’s seat to even more uncomfortable readings. 
Now, UT, South Carolina and Kentucky are the East’s only one-loss teams and the Vols still have games with both remaining.
One game is an 8 percent sample size in a college football season, but if UT goes from here to nine or 10 wins and a good bowl game, it’ll be easy to find the season’s turning point. 

Posted by The Continuous News Desk
College Sports

The two small colleges in Southwest Virginia continued their impressive seasons on Saturday afternoon.
The University of Virginia’s College at Wise, ranked 11th in the latest NAIA national poll, moved to 5-1 with a 49-28 victory over Campbellsville, Ky. Senior running back Ra’Shad Morgan rushed for 191 yards and scored four touchdowns to lead Wise.
Meanwhile, Emory & Henry improved to 4-1 with a homecoming win over Hampden-Sydney. 

Posted by Tim Hayes
College Sports