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Athletics News
- Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2006 inducted
- Marchant named Academic All-District
- 2007 a historic year for men’s golf program
Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2006 inducted
An offensive and defensive football stalwart, a wrestling All-America and one of the most decorated female track and field athletes in school history recently joined other past Mocs greats in The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Athletics Hall of Fame.
Football running back and return specialist Tony Ball, linebacker Glen Richardson, wrestler Bret Gustafson and track and field athlete Tyleana Hanner were inducted into the Hall of Fame Friday at a dinner at the Chattanooga Golf and Country Club..
“To be recognized as a Hall of Fame recipient at your alma mater is a unique and special honor,” UTC Director of Athletics Rick Hart said. “These individuals certainly made a mark in their respective sports and are deserving of this recognition.”
Ball set numerous school kickoff return records during his career from 1977-1980. His career average of 26.0 yards per return ranks second on the UTC charts, and his career yardage total of 1,304 yards is fifth-best in UTC history. He set the school single-season record of 37.7 yards per return in 1977, a mark which would rank second in the Southern Conference record book.
A member of the Chattanooga Times Free Press UC/UTC All-Century Team, Ball was a member of three straight SoCon Championship teams. He is currently an assistant football coach at the University of Georgia.
Richardson was a dominating defensive player at UTC from 1981 to 1985. He remains the school’s career leader in tackles with 522 and is one of only two UTC players to record over 500 in a career. He owned the single-season tackle record of 183 until 2003 but still ranks second on that list.
A team captain in 1985, the linebacker was an All-SoCon selection in 1983, 1984 and 1985. He earned the program’s Scrappy Moore Award as the team’s Most Valuable Player in both 1984 and 1985 and was a member of the Chattanooga Times Free Press UC/UTC All-Century Team. A member of the SoCon Co-Championship squad in 1984, he led the Mocs to their only NCAA Division I-AA playoff appearance in 1984.
Gustafson has the rare distinction of being the only wrestler in school history to win four SoCon individual titles and earn All-America status.
Gustafson wrestled his way to All-America accolades in 1991, finishing fifth at the NCAA Championships at 177 pounds. He is also one of only three UTC wrestlers to win four SoCon titles, capturing three straight crowns at 177 pounds in 1990, 1991 and 1992. He was the 167-pound conference winner in 1988 and helped the Mocs to four straight SoCon team titles.
Hanner was the Most Outstanding Performer of both the 2001 Southern Conference Indoor and Outdoor Championship meets. During her career, she won 10 SoCon titles with nine runner-up finishes. She set 11 school records and earned All-SoCon status 29 times. Incredibly, she compiled 254.5 career points in SoCon championship meets and set the league record with 52 points at the 2000 Outdoor Championships.
Receiving the Joe Morrison Award was former head football coach Buddy Nix , who served as the Mocs’ head football coach from 1984 to 1992. In the National Football League, Nix serves as Assistant General Manager and Director of Player Personnel for the San Diego Chargers.
The Morrison Award is given to the UTC constituent who has achieved notable life accomplishments, and Nix’s Chargers produced the NFL’s top regular-season record this past season. Nix guided UTC to a SoCon title in his first year with the Mocs and led the squad to the NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs.
The Gordon Davenport Award is presented to an individual who has shown outstanding commitment to UTC Athletics, and one would be hard-pressed to find anyone matching Pam Henry’s credentials. The TVA business analyst works as a student-athlete tutor in UTC’s Athletics Academic Services area and volunteers several hours a week in the Sports Information Office as a staff assistant.
Henry has served as president of the Mocs Club and is currently the membership director of the school’s booster organization. She is a member of the Board of Executive Directors of the Chattanooga Quarterback Club, has held all but one leadership position in the Mocs Club, has been a member of the UTC Athletics Board and the recent Athletics Director Search Committee and is a current member of the Alumni Leadership Council.
Current UTC distance runner Lanni Marchant received the Scrappy Moore Award, given to the student-athlete who demonstrates success with integrity through academic achievement and community service.
The SoCon Female Runner of the Year for the 2006 Cross Country season, Marchant led the Lady Mocs to the SoCon team title. She placed second at the NCAA Regionals, earning an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships. Marchant was named the 2007 Southern Conference Female Athlete of the Year at the SoCon’s Annual Honors Dinner. She is the second consecutive UTC female track athlete to earn the award; Shannon Wommack was the 2006 winner.
Marchant, a Dean’s List student, recorded a perfect 4.0 grade point average last semester while still finding time for countless community service projects both in Chattanooga and back home in Canada.
The Hall of Fame Class of 2006 and the three special award winners were also honored at a halftime ceremony at the men’s basketball game against UNC Greensboro.
Marchant named Academic All-District
The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDa) has announced Chattanooga distance runner, Lanni Marchant, was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV First Team. As a First-Team member, she is automatically nominated for All-America honors.
The London, Ontario native was named the 2007 Southern Conference Female Athlete of the Year on May 30 at the SoCon's annual awards dinner in Hilton Head. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from UTC in May in Economics/Pre-Law and was accepted to the University of Ottawa where she plans to attend Law School.
“Lanni has excelled in every area of her collegiate career here at UTC,” Athletics Director Rick Hart said. “To be recognized for her accomplishments by our league’s Athletics Directors is an extremely special honor, and I couldn’t be more proud of the manner in which she has represented our University and our athletics program. It is certainly a well-deserved accolade.”
She was honored at UTC’s annual Hall of Fame dinner with the 2007 A.C. "Scrappy" Moore award given to the student-athlete who demonstrates success with integrity through academic achievement and community service. Last year, she was the recipient of the Dayle Maye award given to the senior with the highest cumulative GPA.
Marchant was named the 2006 Southern Conference women's cross country Runner of the Year winning the top spot at the league championships. She led the Lady Mocs to a one-point win over Appalachian State as Chattanooga claimed its fourth title in school history. She was runner-up at the NCAA South Region Championships and qualified for the Cross Country National Championships where she placed 76th out of 253 runners.
Marchant earned an NCAA Indoor Track provisional qualification in the 5000 meter run at the Notre Dame Meyo Invitational and won the event at the league championships. She was a five-time Runner of the Week in 2006-07 and a three-time SoCon TIAA-CREF Student-Athlete of the Week. Marchant was named to the conference's Fall and Winter All-Academic Teams this year and is one of 80 student-athletes named to UTC’s Dean’s List with a perfect 4.0 in the spring semester.
The senior distance runner claimed titles in both the 5000 and 10,000 meters at the SoCon outdoor championships in Boone, N.C. She broke a 17-year-old SoCon record in the 10,000 meter run by more than one minute at 35:06.53, forty-eight seconds behind her NCAA provisional qualifying time (34:18.67) in the event at Stanford. She earned an automatic qualification to the NCAA Mideast Regional in the 5000 meters as league champ, and was awarded an at-large bid in the 10,000 meters, where she ranks 22nd out of 27 runners.
Her list of community involvement is difficult to match. She annually participates in administrating local road races, volunteers as an assistant coach at an elementary school and volunteers her time at the Ronald McDonald House, with the Big Brothers-Big Sisters program and with campus cleanups and food drives. She is also a member of UTC’s International Student Organization, the Political Science Club, the Economic Club and the Pre-Law Club and tutors fellow UTC student-athletes.Last season at the NCAA championships, Marchant earned an at-large bid in the 10,000 meters and placed 14th in the finals. She recently competed at the NCAAs in Sacramento, California. After qualifying at Stanford with a time of 34:18.67, Marchant battled injuries and closed out her collegiate career at the NCAA Track and Field Division I Championships, placing 24th in the 10,000 meter race with a time of 35:25.94.
2007 a historic year for men’s golf program
The year 2007 was a banner year for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s golf team, as the Mocs won four team titles, including the Southern Conference Championship, and advanced to the NCAA Regional Championship for the first time.
After three top-five finishes in five fall events, the Mocs were primed for a good run entering the spring portion of the schedule. It did not take long for the Mocs to emerge as a favorite for the Southern Conference title.
The Mocs came from behind in the final round to claim a one stroke win over Tulsa in the Rio Pinar Intercollegiate in mid-February and followed that with another win one week later at the Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate. It was only the second time in school history that the Mocs had claimed back-to-back tournaments.
In late March, the Mocs broke the school record for victories in a season by winning for a third time. Led by freshman Derek Rende’s school record 63, the Mocs posted the lowest 18-hole score in team history with an 11-under par 277 to coast to a win at the University of South Alabama Spring Golf Classic. Rende’s 63 carried him to the individual win, making him the second freshman in school history to win an individual title. It marked just the second time the Mocs had won both the individual and team titles at an event.
The Mocs were the prohibitive favorite entering the Southern Conference Championships, a position they had never enjoyed in the program’s 30-year history. Ranked among the national top-40 for the first time, the pressure was on the Mocs to deliver the school’s first NCAA postseason appearance. Although Chattanooga won the Southern Conference crown in 1987, there was no NCAA postseason for the SoCon champ at the time.
The Mocs came through, leading the tournament wire-to-wire en route to end a 20-year drought and claim the school’s second Southern Conference championship with a nine-stroke win. The victory assured the Mocs of the school’s first NCAA Regional bid.
In a final tune-up before the NCAAs, the squad finished ahead of four Top-25 teams with a fourth-place finish at the Linger Longer Invitational.
The Mocs were seeded 13th in the 27-team field at the NCAA East Regional played at The Golf Club of Georgia. The top 10 teams would advance to the NCAA Championships. The first day of the tournament ended with the Mocs in 11th place and in position to contend for a championship berth. The final two rounds were not as kind, and the team finished 19th to end the season.
The Mocs enjoyed their share of postseason honors, placing three players on the All-Southern Conference team. Senior Bryce Ledford and sophomore Jonathan Hodge were named to the team for the second time, while freshman Derek Rende also made the squad.
Hodge was also selected as the Southern Conference Player of the Year, the first time a Chattanooga player has earned the honor. Hodge’s stroke average of 72.7 led the Southern Conference. He produced seven top-10 finishes and was runner-up at the SoCon Championship. Rende was the league’s Freshman of the Year also becoming the first UTC player to claim the accolade. Rende had the team’s second lowest stroke average after the SoCon Championships and was the only freshman in the league to win a tournament.
Chattanooga head coach Mark Guhne was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year. In his two years at the helm, the Mocs have won five team titles and two individual wins. They have had five players honored as All-Conference and have risen from 105th to 41st in the national rankings while claiming the program’s first SoCon title in 20 years.
With both the SoCon Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year returning in 2007-08, combined with a strong recruiting class, it shouldn’t be 20 years before Chattanooga claims another conference crown.
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