Athletics Programs at Battle Ground Academy

Even before she was walking, Keaton Mitchell donned the gold and blue colors of Battle Ground Academy. She grew up a BGA Wildcat.

BGA advanced to a fourth consecutive state soccer championship match with a 5-0 win over Boyd Buchanan at Baylor School. 

The first weekend of November, BGA senior Bella Bugg will hit the links in support of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, The Snedeker Foundation, and the American Junior Golf Association’s ACE Grant program. Joining other junior golfers from around the state, Bugg will play in the AJGA’s fourth annual Tennessee Cup, a two-day Ryder Cup-style event.

The Battle Ground Academy girls’ soccer team earned a fourth consecutive Division II-A State Final Four berth on Saturday with a 5-2 win over Evangelical Christian School on Saturday.

The Wildcats, the state champions in 2019 and 2020 and runners-up from last season, will face Boyd Buchanan on Thursday at Baylor in Chattanooga in the state semifinals.

The Battle Ground Academy volleyball team captured a second consecutive Division II-A state championship with a 25-19, 25-19, 25-19 sweep of Goodpasture in the state final.

Battle Ground Academy produced two individual state champions at the 2022 Division II-A State Golf Tournament Tuesday. 

Senior Bella Bugg finished with an even par 140 through two days of play at the Sevierville Golf Club to win the overall girls’ title, while fellow senior Eliot Brashear clinched the boys’ championship by winning a playoff against Christian Academy of Knoxville’s Cooper Russell. 

Besides the pair of individual winners, both the boys’ and girls’ teams earned runner-up finishes.

BGA Volleyball beat PCA last night in three sets in the district final match to capture their fourth Division II-A Middle Region District 3 championship title in a row. BGA will face the No. 4 seed from District 4 at home in the regional quarterfinal match on Monday.

Addison Atkins isn’t as covered in sand as she normally is playing volleyball, but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t been competing as hard as ever.

The Battle Ground Academy senior re-joined the Wildcats indoors instead of her preferred beach volleyball, and has made an immediate impact on last year’s Division II-A state champions.

In a field where they were at least 10 years everyone’s junior, Bella Bugg (Franklin) and Isabella Johnson (Murfreesboro) did not flinch and became the youngest team to ever win the Tennessee Golf Association’s Women’s Four-Ball.

They did it in historic fashion with the lowest 36-hole total in championship play with a 14-under-par 128 at Tennessee Golf Trail at Montgomery Bell. They beat the next best team by ten strokes and were the only team in the Championship division to record two under-par rounds.

“Eva has certainly grown into a dominant threat on the offensive side of the ball,” BGA soccer coach Jan Morrissey said. “Her strength, speed and scoring ability will be a challenge for any team we’ll face this season.”

As the high school volleyball season enters its second week, BGA is ranked in the Top 10 in the Nashville area's first volleyball poll. 

It's been a long road for Battle Ground Academy alum Chico Bennett Jr. to find himself back on a Virginia football field. 

With the addition of five signees, Battle Ground Academy now has 14 graduating seniors who are committed to playing athletics in college. The May 5 signings included:

Brett Brown – Football – University of Missouri
Ryan Casimier - Baseball – University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Xavier Hylton – Football – Harding University
Daniel Morra – Football – Ohio Wesleyan University
Zion Morris – Football – Sewanee: University of the South

BGA swimming legend Chas Morton '89 was recently featured by Swimming World Magazine.  Highlights include his early years training with the Nashville Aquatic Club, achievements as an age-group phenom, being named three times to the USA Swimming National Team roster, and a team captain at Stanford. 

BGA Head Varsity Girls Basketball Coach Myles Thrash has been voted TSSAA District 3 Coach of the Year by his coaching peers for the third consecutive year and first as a coach at BGA.

Two BGA seniors signed letters of intent on December 17 to continue playing sports in college next year.  Jessi Meghreblian will play beach volleyball at Eckerd College and Kennedy Price will play women's soccer at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.  

Join us in congratulating Jessi and Kennedy!
 

Join us in congratulating senior Lindsay Phelps, this week's Kerr & Co. Realty's Athlete of the Week. Lindsay is a member of BGA's Cross Country team, was named an All-Region runner in 9th, 10th, and 12 grades, and placed 24th in this year's State competition.

Join us in congratulating Kennedy Price '22 who has been selected as the latest John Maher Builders Scholar-Athlete for 2021-22. Price has committed to play college soccer at the University of Tennessee. She is the daughter of Dawn and Derek Price of Franklin. 

BGA Middle School math teacher and girls basketball coach Mandy Nowlin was recently inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. Nowlin considers basketball a significant part of her life. Her father coached it, and she and her brother played it for as long as she can remember. She uses her love of the game to coach BGA middle schoolers, teaching them the game and the qualities she has learned through the game.

This weekend, Bella Bugg ‘23 will hit the links in support of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, The Snedeker Foundation, and the American Junior Golf Association’s ACE Grant program. Joining 23 junior golfers from around the state, Bugg will play in the AJGA’s third annual Tennessee Cup, a two-day Ryder Cup-style event.

BGA's Boy's Cross Country team completed their season with the highest team finish in program history at the TSSAA State Cross Country Championship securing State-Runner-Up honors in Division DII-A.

Congratulations to senior Sean Williams for being named a a Mr. Football semifinalist. The Tennessee Titans Mr. Football Awards will be presented on December 7 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville to the top football players in nine classifications of the TSSAA. This is the 37th year the Mr. Football Awards have been presented to the Tennessee's best high school football players. 

Join us in congratulating Wrenne French '17 who has been named Second Team All-SEC in Women's Soccer at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville where she is an anchor for the Tennessee back line. While at BGA, Wrenne helped lead the Lady Wildcats to a state title in 2014, was a member of the National Honors Society, and Digamma. 

BGA's varsity volleyball team defeated Concord Christian 3-0 to win the program’s first state Championship! Congratulations to the players, Coach Alvarez, Coach Carlisle, and staff!