Looking back on the 2011-2012 year in Wilson County prep sports, it's hard to imagine a senior athlete going out with a bigger bang than Mt. Juliet High's Caleb Chowbay.

The Belmont basketball signee enjoyed tremendous success in three varsity sports, a feat almost unheard of in today's era of athletic specialization.

The first Division I signee for the Mt. Juliet boys' basketball program since the legendary Tom Marshall back in the early 1950's, Chowbay could have had his pick of scholarship in either football or baseball had he chosen those paths.

LEBANON -- He calls himself, "just a Southern boy," but Don Shirey, the recently appointed new general manager at Five Oaks Golf and Country Club, has much more in his bag than being just a Southerner from Ft. Payne, Ala.

Shirey, a professional golfer for some 17 years, 12 of which were spent on the PGA tour, was recently selected for the management post at Five Oaks by Troon, an international golf course, private club, and resort management company based in Scottsdale, Ariz. Troon, the number one ranked management company in the industry, began its role at Five Oaks about two weeks ago.

It’s been a little over two weeks since Cumberland University began renovations at Nokes-Lasater Field in preparation for making the former home of the Blue Devils their own in time for the 2012 college football season.

Moving briskly, CU employees, student-athletes and private contractors have swarmed over the 46-year old facility cleaning, digging, painting, mowing and in general giving the 5,000-seat stadium a new look.

“Our people are locked in,” said Cumberland athletic director Ron Pavan, “Coach (Dewayne) Alexander, his coaches and players are over there every day. Folks can just drive by and see some of the changes from the street.”

NASHVILLE - The TranSouth Athletic Conference sports information directors have voted Cumberland University SID Jo Jo Freeman as the 2012 TranSouth Sports Information Director of the Year. The conference instituted the award in 2006 to recognize the efforts of sports information directors in promoting the teams of the TranSouth.

Freeman, who just completed his fourth year serving as the SID at Cumberland University, has assisted the conference in several roles. For the last two seasons Freeman has served as the TranSouth Sport SID for Tennis. His contributions included several historical research projects for use across the conference. Freeman has served in the role of host for several conference events, providing sports information work for those events.

TranSouth SID of the Year History
2012 Jo Jo Freeman, Cumberland University
2011 Steven Aldridge, Union University
2010 Steven Aldridge, Union University
2009 Steven Aldridge, Union University
2008 Gregory Ruff, Trevecca Nazarene
2007 Steven Aldridge, Union University
2006 Steven Aldridge, Union University

The third annual Lebanon Masonic Lodge Charity Golf Tournament will be held Saturday, June 23 at Pine Creek Golf Course in Mt. Juliet with an 8 a.m. shotgun start.

Cost is $320 for a four-man scramble team which includes 18 holes of tournament golf, cart, a bucket of balls on the practice range, lunch and door prizes. Each player is asked to bring a canned food item which will go to the Wilson County Community Help Center.

A hole-in-one contest will include a $10,000 cash prize, a flat screen TV, a set of Callaway Big Bertha irons and much more. Hole sponsorships are still available at $125 each.

For more information, visit the website www.lebanon98.com or call Jim McCandless at 615-829-2029 or Todd Petty at 630-306-9009.