Mocs on the Mic

On the latest episode of Mocs on the Mic presented by SmartBank, host Chris Goforth caught up with new Southern Conference Commissioner Michael Cross.

Cross is the 10th commissioner of the Southern Conference and has nearly 30 years of athletic administrative experience. He came to the SoCon from Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics after previous stops at Penn State, Bradley, Princeton and Michigan.

A native of Hamburg, New York, Cross is a former basketball student-athlete and a two-time graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo, earning an undergraduate degree in economics in 1991 and a master’s degree in college counseling in 1993. He would go on to earn a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Michigan in 1999.

Cross and his wife, Jennifer, have two adult sons, Aidan and Nathan.

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On this episode of Mocs on the Mic presented by SmartBank, host Chris Goforth chats with Director of Volleyball Julie Torbett and the 2022 Southern Conference champion women’s soccer head coach Gavin McKinney to preview their teams’ 2023 seasons.

Soccer makes its return to Finley Stadium and kicks off action in an exhibition match on August 5. The season opens on the road on August 17 at SEC foe Vanderbilt and the Mocs home opener is August 31 against Austin Peay.

McKinney, a two-time SoCon Coach of the Year (2020 [21], 2022) begins his ninth season at the helm. He returns All-Conference first teamer and captain Mackenzie Smith, second team members Caroline Ekern, Clarissa Salinas and Birna Johannsdottir. Ekern and Salinas were joined on the All-Freshman team by Zoey Mize and Carolina Richvalsky who earned a spot on the SoCon All-Tournament Team.

Volleyball turns its attention to August 25-26 as the team prepares for their season-opening tournament in Atlanta. Before that, fans have a pair of opportunities to catch the Mocs at Maclellan Gymnasium at the annual Blue-Gold Scrimmage (August 17) and the team’s exhibition against Tennessee Tech (August 22).

Torbett is entering her second year at the helm of Chattanooga’s indoor volleyball team, coming off of a season in 2022 in which the Mocs finished 17-16 and reached the SoCon Tournament semifinals for the first time since 2016. Torbett’s 17 wins marked the most for a UTC head coach in their first season.

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We start the fifth season of Mocs on the Mic presented by SmartBank, with host Chris Goforth and Chattanooga Assistant Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Mark Wharton.

Wharton recaps the 2022-23 year and the accomplishments of the department. He was the winner of the Cushman & Wakefield Athletics Director of the Year Award given by NACA, one he attributes to the entire staff. Wharton, along with men’s assistant coach Ander Galfsky, also participated in the prestigious 2023 TopConnect Basketball Symposium, presented by Teamworks and INFLCR.

The pair discuss upgrades for the student-athletes as well as the fan experience across all sports. Listen in for updates on renovations to The McKenzie Arena and Frost Stadium.

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On this episode of Mocs on the Mic presented by SmartBank, host Chris Goforth talks with men’s golf head coach Blaine Woodruff on the Mocs’ historic season.

The Chattanooga Mocs men's golf team rose to national prominence again with a special 2022-23 season. The squad won four times as a group with two individual wins setting scoring records throughout the history books.

The final ranking of No. 41 is the highest the program has been rated since the end of 2012 (27). It also brings excitement to 2023-24 with the starting five back along with key reserves and a talented trio of new players.

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On the latest episode of Mocs on the Mic, host Chris Goforth meets up with cross country and track and field head coach Andy Meyer and Southern Conference champion Lesley Green. Green and Meyer look back to the dedication and preparation needed to accomplish a championship.

Lesley Green looks back on starting her career in track and field and what led her to Chattanooga. After redshirting the cross country season, she went on to earn a pair of all-conference finishes at the Southern Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships. As the year progressed, she got closer to her preferred distance, the 10,000 meter. Green outpaced the competition and claimed her first Southern Conference title with the win at the Outdoor Championships.

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It’s Southern Conference time for the Chattanooga Mocs softball team. Head coach Frank Reed and senior Emily Coltharp talk about the season and preview the league championships with host Chris Goforth.

The Mocs are the No. 6 seed and will take on No. 3 Furman in the opening round. UTC has won 15 Southern Conference Tournament titles including in 2022 in thrilling comeback fashion.

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On this episode of Mocs on the Mic presented by SmartBank, host Chris Goforth takes a dive into recapping the men's and women's successful tennis seasons with men's head coach Chuck Merzbacher and junior Peyton Gatti along with women's head coach Chad Camper.

The men's tennis team is coming off a historic 2023 campaign in which the squad won its first regular season Southern Conference title in program history. The Mocs, who finished 18-7 overall, made its first Southern Conference Tournament title match appearance since 2006 before eventually finishing as runner-ups in the event held at Champions CLub in town last week. The 18 wins are the most since 2005.

Junior Peyton Gatti was a key contributor for the team this season and was tabbed an All-Southern Conference First Team honoree at the No. 1 doubles postion. Gatti provided a thrilling 7-5, 7-5 comeback victory in the SoCon Tournament semifinals to clinch the team's 4-2 win over No. 5 Furman and punch its ticket to the championship match.

Coach Camper led the Chattanooga women's team to an ITA National Ranking earlier in the 2023 campaign, peaking at No. 70, before finishing the season with a 14-8 overall record. The team saw All-SoCon selections in Jessie Young, Caroline Gibbens, Lucia Garrigues-Melendez and Rozalie Dohnalova.

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On this episode of Mocs on the Mic presented by SmartBank, softball head coach Frank Reed can’t wait to get back to Frost Stadium. He and host Chris Goforth talk about this important move and what to expect. Hear what he has to say about the season and what’s to come.

Frost Stadium underwent renovations this year and the Mocs have played on nearly Warner Park Field #3 for the season. Now the team gets to go back to their home field for this weekend’s series against UNCG. New turf, new lights, updated press box.

Coach Reed claimed his 700th win as head coach of the Mocs this season. He will be honored prior to Saturday’s game. He has reached 712 so far and is 12 away from 1,200 career victories.

Chattanooga is hosting the 2023 Southern Conference Softball Championships May 10-13 at Frost Stadium.

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On the latest episode of Mocs on the Mic presented by SmartBank, host Chris Goforth introduces new football coaches Zeb Speir and D.J. Knox.

Speir, from Sylva, N.C., is the son of former Western Carolina head coach Mark Speir. He graduated Magna Cum Laude in three-and-a-half years from Appalachian State in 2018 where he was quarterback. The Mountaineers were three-time Sun Belt Conference Champs in his time and four-time Bowl winners.

Knox, a native of Fairburn, Ga., is a 2018 graduate of Purdue University where he was team captain and All-Big Ten Honorable Mention. He led the Boilermakers in rushing in 2018 and had nine touchdowns. Over his career, he tallied 2,360 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns.

Get to know the new coaches and where they’ve been before moving to the Scenic City and what drew them here.

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On the latest episode of Mocs on the Mic presented by SmartBank, host Chris Goforth goes into the “Way Back Machine” to talk with 2022 Hall of Famers Steven Kocsis (cross country/track) and Jonathan Hodge (men’s golf).

Jonathan Hodge – Men’s Golf – 2006-09 

Jonathan Hodge was a two-time Southern Conference Player of the Year in 2007 and 2008. He graduated with a school-record 71.41 scoring average, a mark that is now ranks second. He was a second team All-American as a junior when he had a school-record three wins in the season. Hodge was in the top 20 in the world amateur rankings during his career at UTC and guided the group to three consecutive Southern Conference team titles. He was also a member of the SoCon 100th Anniversary Team. 

Steven Kocsis – Cross Country/Track & Field - 2001-05 

A two-time Southern Conference Cross Country and Indoor Track Runner of the Year, Steven Kocsis is one of the most decorated student-athletes from the men’s program. He led the Mocs to SoCon titles as the individual champion in 2003 and 2004. He also won five titles in Indoor track and four more in Outdoor competition. He was the SoCon Indoor Athlete of the Year in 2004 and 2005 and the Outdoor Athlete of the Year in 2004. All totaled, he won 13 All-SoCon honors in cross country and track and field in his career and was a member of the SoCon 100th Anniversary Team.

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The Mocs are dancing!! The Chattanooga women basketball team makes its 16th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since 2017.

Mocs on the Mic presented by SmartBank host Chris Goforth sits with UTC head coach Shawn Poppie as he makes his first trip into March Madness against his former team. Poppie was an assistant coach for Kenny Brooks at Virginia Tech for six seasons, associate head coach for his last three.

Chattanooga pounced through the SoCon Tournament, winning each game by double digits. Raven Thompson was named the SoCon Tournament Most Outstanding Player and joined on the All-Tournament teams by Addie Grace Porter and Yazz Wazeerud-Din on the First Team and Abbey Cornelius on Second Team.

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On this episode of Mocs on the Mic presented by SmartBank, host Chris Goforth talks with wrestlilng head coach Kyle Ruschell and National Qualifiers Brayden Palmer and Matthew Waddell.

The pair, along with Rocky Jordan, qualified for the NCAA Championships beginning March 16 and runs through the 18th in Tulsa, Okla.

Brayden Palmer, the 18 seed, opens against No. 15 Zach Redding from Iowa State. A win would likely setup a Southern Scuffle rematch with No. 2 Oklahoma State's Daton Fix who got past Palmer in the championship bout on Jan. 2 in McKenzie Arena.

Rocky Jordan is the 10 seed at 174. His first opponent is Drexel's Mickey O'Malley who is seeded 23rd. He also has a potential rematch in his half of the draw although they'll both have to reach the final four to see it come together. That's with No. 11 Nelson Brands who Jordan defeated 3-1 in the December dual in the Roundhouse.

Matthew Waddell comes in at No. 30. He'll matchup with No. 3 Aaron Brooks from Penn State. His half of the draw includes Clarion's Will Feldkamp (W, Fall), Campbell's Caleb Hopkins (W, Dec.) and Illinois' Dylan Connell (L, Dec.).

The top eight finishers in each of the 10 weight classes will be crowned All-American.

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On this episode of Mocs on the Mic presented by SmartBank host Chris Goforth talks with the Mocs head coaches as UTC makes its way to the Southern Conference Championships this weekend in Asheville, N.C.

Women’s head coach Shawn Poppie looks forward to his team’s chances in the SoCon Tournament as the No. 2 seed in his first season. UTC will take on Furman for the fourth time in five years. The Mocs finished the season 17-12 overall, 10 more wins than the previous year, and 9-5 in the conference, tied with ETSU. Chattanooga swept the Bucs in the regular season to secure the No. 2 seed.

The men's team enters the Southern Conference Championships as the No. 7 seed after finishing the regular season with a 15-16 overall record and a 7-11 mark inside SoCon play. The Mocs will face head coach Dan Earl’s former team, No. 10 VMI.

The women’s game tips off at 3:00 p.m. Thursday and the men’s game will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Follow all the action online at GoMocs.com for live stats, streaming audio and video.

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On this episode of Mocs on the Mic presented by SmartBank, former Chattanooga football player McClendon Curtis talks with host Chris Goforth about his post-UTC career opportunities.

Mocs highly decorated lineman McClendon accepted an invitation to play in the Reese’s Senior Bowl. He and Goforth talk about his experience in Mobile, Ala., and what he learned about himself. Curtis showed off his talents in multiple positions along the offensive line and impressed the scouts with his versatility.

The pair look forward to his chances at the NFL Combine and look back on his time at Chattanooga and his journey to a possible career in professional football.

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On this episode of Mocs on the Mic presented by SmartBank, host Chris Goforth talks with Rusty Wright, head coach of the Chattanooga Mocs football program.

Wright discusses the 2023 Signing Class with 23 coming on board this coming year. Eleven are already on campus which leads to the second part of the discussion...spring practice.

The Mocs are off to an early start this year with drills already underway. In fact, the group completes the cycle with a spring showcase on March 10 at 7 p.m., at Finley Stadium (free admission).

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On this episode of Mocs on the Mic presented by SmartBank, host Chris Goforth talks with softball head coach Frank Reed on the season and updates on Frost Stadium.

The Mocs were picked to finish third in the SoCon by the league coaches, but that didn’t stop a slew of preseason awards for the Mocs. Senior Emily Coltharp was named the Southern Conference Preseason Player of the Year. She earned the honor in 2021 as well. She is joined on the all-conference first team by fellow senior Brooke Parrott. Juniors Kendall Forsythe, Kailey Snell and Adison Keylon were all named to the second team.

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On this episode of Mocs on the Mic presented by SmartBank, host Chris Goforth takes a dive into the volleyball programs with Julie Torbett (Director of Volleyball) and Darin Van Horn (Head Beach Volleyball Coach) to gain an update inside each program.

The indoor volleyball team is coming off highly-successful 2022 fall season in which the team finished with its first winning season since 2016 behind a 17-16 overall record. The team advanced to the SoCon Tournament semifinals also for the first time since 2016. Torbett's 17 wins were the most for a UTC head coach in their first season.

The beach volleyball team will kick off action in the 2023 spring season on February 25-26 with a weekend full of matches in Hattiesburg, Miss., at Southern Miss. Van Horn has led the team to a 12-6 record inside Ohio Valley Conference play in the program's first two seasons as a sponsored sport at the NCAA Division I level.

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On this episode of Mocs on the Mic presented by SmartBank, host Chris Goforth sits down with men's head tennis coach Chuck Merzbacher and women's head tennis coach Chad Camper to discuss the start of the 2023 spring campaign.

The women's tennis team is off to a 2-0 start for the fourth-straight season after picking up season-opening road wins at UNC Asheville and WKU in the early stages of the spring season.

The men's program kicked off its spring slate with a battle in Tuscaloosa against SEC-power Alabama last week. Both team's are set to make their home debuts this weekend (January 28-29).

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On this episode of Mocs on the Mic presented by SmartBank, host Chris Goforth takes us back with Hall of Fame inductees Meg Glass and Lacey Swarthout.

Meg Glass Bandy was the MVP of the 1991 Southern Conference Women’s Tennis Tournament and a three-time SoCon singles champion. She is one of nine individuals in SoCon history to win three or more singles titles in a career and was a member of the SoCon 100th Anniversary Team. She also won two SoCon doubles titles and was a two-time All-SoCon honoree. Glass helped the Mocs to SoCon team championship in 1988, 1990 and 1991. As a senior in 1991, she won both No. 2 singles and doubles, guiding the team to a 23-1 overall record. Chattanooga was 31-4 her junior year when she won trophies at No. 3 singles and doubles. As a freshman in 1988, she won the No. 6 singles crown at the SoCon Tournament. She was also a member of the 1987 SoCon Volleyball Tournament Champions.  

Lacey Swarthout Paris was a two-time Southern Conference Pitcher of the Year in 2004 and 2005. She won 30 games in 2005 and 28 games in 2004, both are still the top two marks for a season in school history. A two-time All-SoCon honoree, she was also on the All-Region team in 2004. Her 41 appearances in 2004 are still a SoCon single-season record, while her 75 complete games are a school record. She helped the Mocs to the 2004 SoCon regular season and tournament titles and an appearance in the NCAA Regionals. She was also a member of the SoCon 100th Anniversary Team. 

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On this week’s episode of Mocs on the Mic presented by SmartBank, host Chris Goforth talks with Mocs head coach Kyle Ruschell about the upcoming Southern Scuffle.

Coming up January 1-2 is the 2023 Southern Scuffle, presented by Compound Sportswear. One of the toughest in-season collegiate tournaments in the nation, the Scuffle field includes nearly 20 All-Americans, three national champions and top-10 competitors at every weight. Oklahoma State, Missouri, Iowa State, Stanford, Minnesota, Duke, Maryland and many more join the Mocs on the mat In McKenzie Arena. Tickets are on sale now on GoMocs.com. 

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