From staff reports
Catawba was picked fourth in the SAC preseason football poll that was released on Monday.
Catawba was 6-5 last season.
Lenoir-Rhyne was picked by the head coaches to win the SAC championship. The Bears, 11-1 last season, collected six first-place votes and 55 points from the panel.
Carson-Newman is the preseason No. 2 after closing out the 2014 campaign at 7-3 overall and 5-2 in SAC play.
The SAC season gets underway on Thursday, Sept. 3, with Carson-Newman and Lenoir-Rhyne in action. The rest of the teams kick off on Saturday, Sept. 5.

Team (first-place votes) Points
1. Lenoir-Rhyne (6) 55
2. Carson-Newman (2) 51
3. Newberry 39
4. Catawba 37
5. Tusculum 30
6. Mars Hill 27
Wingate 27
8. Brevard 14

Intimidators shelled

Asheville had two six-run innings and routed the Kannapolis Intimidators 23-3 — yes, 23-3 — on Monday in Kannapolis.
Roberto Ramos, Max White and Jairo Rosario homered for the Tourists. Yonathan Daza had five of the Tourists’ 19 hits. Dom Nunez drove in five runs.
Kannapolis starter Luis Martinez (4-10) was knocked out in the third inning.
For Kannapolis (55-51), Michael Suiter and Alexander Simon had two hits each. Suiter extended his hitting streak to 13 games and had a two-run single.
Kannapolis is 1-8 against the Tourists (54-52), a Colorado Rockies farm team.
Pro baseball
The Chicago White Sox have recalled 2011 Kannapolis Intimidators outfielder Trayce Thompson to the major league roster.
Thompson is batting .260 with 23 doubles, four triples, 13 home runs, and 39 RBIs in 104 games with Charlotte.
Thompson, 24, played in Kannapolis in 2010 and 2011 after being drafted by the White Sox in the second round in 2009.
Thompson’s brother, Klay, is a standout for the NBA champion Golden State Warriors.

Youth track and field

The Hurley YMCA Warriors track and field team is competing this week in the AAU Junior Olympic National Championships in Norfolk, Va.
Day 1 results
3000 meters
Boys (11)
46th: Nate Shaffer: 13:45.07
Boys (12)
34th: Noah Julian: 12:01.16
200 meter hurdles
Boys (14)
6th: Jalen Houston: 25.98.
Houston advanced to the finals on Tuesday.
66th: Max Morgan: 31.48
800 meters
Girls (13)
59th: Leah Cressler: 2:39.26 (personal best time)
Girls (14)
76th: Aubree Cain: 2:55.18
Women (17-18)
73rd: Julianna Evans: 2:56.59 (personal best time)
Discus
Boys (13)
41st: Jaxon Evans: 71 feet, 5 inches

Local golf
Warrior won 8-4 against Piney Point in a PGA Junior League regional match.
Competing for Warrior were Andrew Coward, Hank Robins, Mitch Jeter, McGwire Owen, Kirsten Bowers, Shayne Burleson, Will Fowler, Jackson Lowder, Ben Childress and Parker Emerson.