The ETSU women’s soccer team kicks off its regular-season campaign tonight and the Tri-Cities region is well-represented on the roster.
Six athletes from the area populate the 2026 roster for the Bucs.
Here’s a look at the locals on the ETSU roster.
Addison Yelton (R-Jr., Johnson City): The daughter of current ETSU assistant Matt Yelton heads into her second campaign as starting keeper for the Bucs. She had eight shutouts last season, second in the Southern Conference, and helped ETSU set a team single-season record for the fewest goals conceded at home. Her 0.841 goals against average (GAA) in 2025 led the SoCon, helping her earn second-team all-league honors. Before coming to ETSU, Yelton, who played her high school career at The Baylor School, spent a season apiece at Ole Miss and Tennessee.
Kassie Estep (Jr., Jonesborough/Daniel Boone) took over as the starting center back in early September of 2025. In ETSU’s final 13 games, she played 1,141 of 1,170 possible minutes.
Megan Burleson (R-Jr., Johnson City/Science Hill): Burleson played sparingly last year and heads into her fourth campaign at ETSU with one career goal. Burleson holds the career scoring record at Science Hill, although current Hilltopper senior Brenna Overbay is on the cusp of breaking that mark before the 2026 high-school girls season even begins.
Ava Flanary (So., Kingsport/Dobyns-Bennett): A prolific goal scorer for the Lady Indians in high school, Flanary is listed as a defender on the 2026 ETSU roster.
Hannah Dawson (R-So., Johnson City/Science Hill): Dawson logged 243 total minutes in 16 games as a redshirt freshman in 2025, all as a reserve.
Ary Patterson (So., Johnson City/Tennessee High) played sparingly as a true freshman, logging 70 total minutes across six appearances as a forward off the bench. She racked up 103 goals and 252 points for the Lady Vikings, leading them to the state tournament in 2024.
ETSU isn’t the only Division I women’s soccer program with representation from the Tri-Cities.
Cayden Norris (Jr., Johnson City/Science Hill) is back for a third year at Tennessee, where she started all 19 matches for the Lady Vols last season. Norris had a 79.3% save percentage in 2025, with nine clean sheets. Tennessee plays its first match of the 2026 campaign Thursday, at home against Rutgers.
Gabrielle Gullett (Fr., Johnson City/Science Hill) is on the roster for Gardner-Webb. The Runnin’ Bulldogs have a new coach, Samantha Thomsit, who engineered a significant turnaround at Division II Spring Hill College.
Other College Sports
We covered some of the local athletes preparing to play Division I football this season, but here’s a rundown of athletes competing in D-I in some of the other fall sports:
Volleyball
Makayla Bays (Jr., Gate City) is back at ETSU after helping the Bucs reach the NCAA Tournament and earning Southern Conference Player of the Year honors in the process. Bays has 612 kills through her first two college seasons, with 444 of them coming in 2025.
Cross Country
Jenna Hutchins (Sr., Johnson City/Science Hill) has put together an elite career at BYU. Hutchins, who runs both cross country and track at BYU, has some serious exploits in track. She ran the 1,200 meter leg on the distance medley relay team that won the NCAA Indoor National Championship in that race in 2025. She placed eighth in the 10,000 meter run in the NCAA National Championships in 2026, and sixth in that same race in 2024. Before starting her college career, Hutchins was a two-time Tennessee Gatorade Athlete of the Year, set state records in the mile (4:43) and 1,600 (4:44), and holds the national junior high record (9:49) in the 3,200.
Women’s Golf
A pair of Dobyns-Bennett alums, junior McKenzie Hauk and freshman Aliezar Robinson, are part of the ETSU program. Hauk, after transferring in from Emory & Henry prior to the 2025-26 season, shot a career-best 67. She played 24 rounds, 13 of which she shot 5-over or lower.
Men’s Soccer
Sam McGee (Sr., Johnson City/University High) is a goalkeeper on the ETSU roster. He has yet to appear in a match at the college level.
One final note, in college baseball, where Jackson Berry (Science Hill/Walters State) is headed to Queens University in the Atlantic Sun Conference to continue his career.
PRO
Baseball
Rangers CF Evan Carter (Elizabethton) continues to struggle at the plate. Carter (.193 AVG, .622 OPS, 8 HR, 31 RBI, 14 SB) has gone eight straight games without a hit going into Wednesday’s game against the Angels.
OF Gavin Cross (Bristol/Tennessee High/Virginia Tech) has found his hitting groove. Playing for the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate in Omaha, where he was named International League Player of the Week for July 20-26, Cross has kept swinging a solid bat in August, batting .286 with an .855 OPS through his first six games of the month. Cross had a robust slash line of .337 AVG/.361 OBP/.696 OPS for the month of July.
RHP Hunter Stratton (Bristol/Sullivan East) is now part of the San Diego Padres. He got dealt there from the Pittsburgh Pirates in one of the many MLB trade deadline deals. Stratton (3-4, 2 SV, 3.12 ERA, 1.38 WHIP) has moved around quite a bit this year, his 10th of pro ball, starting out with the Braves, then getting traded to the Pirates, and now the Padres. The Padres assigned Stratton to their Triple-A El Paso affiliate, where he has thrown two innings – both scoreless – with two hits, a walk, and a strikeout.
A couple of former ETSU players are winding down their 2026 season in the minors, which conclude at the end of the month. SS Cody Miller (.197 AVG, .669 OPS, 14 HR, 65 RBI, 48 SB) has spent the entire campaign with the Rome Emperors. That’s the Braves’ High-A affiliate. 1B Cameron Sisneros (.241 AVG, .778 OPS, 9 HR, 55 RBI, 4 SB), who was traded from the Cubs to the Astros earlier this season, has struggled at the plate for the Astros’ Double-A Corpus Christi team, posting a slash of .204/.346 OBP/.333 SLG.
SS/RHP Josh Owens (Johnson City/Providence Academy) wrapped up the 2026 season with the Rangers’ rookie-level Arizona Complex League team. On the mound, Owens went 0-2 with a 3.48 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. He made 12 appearances, with seven starts. At the plate, Owens batted .255 with an .814 OPS, nine home runs, 36 RBIs, and six stolen bases.
Football
The first full week of the NFL preseason is coming, and here’s when and where you can see players with ties to the region in action:
TE James Mitchell (Union/Virginia Tech/Detroit Lions) – at Cincinnati, 8/13, 7 PM
LB Jaden Keller (Bristol/Tennessee High/Virginia Tech/New York Jets) – vs. Tampa Bay, 8/14, 7 PM
RB Jacob Saylors (ETSU/Detroit Lions) – at Cincinnati, 8/13, 7 PM
OL Parker Hughes (Elizabethton/Middle Tennessee/Jacksonville Jaguars) – at New Orleans, 8/15, 4 PM
TE Nate Adkins (ETSU/South Carolina/Denver Broncos) – at Atlanta, 8/14, 7 PM. Adkins has missed practice time as of late, however, with an undisclosed injury.