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WEEKLYAPRIl 25-29, 2011

COLUMBUS, Ga—It wasn’t pretty but, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore overcame Lindenwood 2-1 to win the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Intercollegiate Team Championships (ITCs) and with it their second National Championship this season, claiming, un-equivocally, the title of best women’s col-lege bowling team in the land.

“I’m still trying to feel if this is real or not,” said head coach Sharon Brummell. Knowing that our team is the champions in both events, there’s no doubt anymore that we are the best team in the nation.”

Last weekend, UMES knocked off Vanderbilt to claim their second NCAA Women’s Bowling title and a week later hoisted the Kerm Helmer Cup at the In-tercollegiate Team Championships, best-ing a third place finish in 2008, the first time they won the NCAA title.

This is the Hawk’s first ITC title in their eighth appearance. They have par-ticipated every year since 2003 with the exception of 2007.

UMES’ Maria Rodriguez (Ibague To-lima, Colombia) barely converted the 3-6-9 spare in the final frame to beat Lin-

denwood, 164-158, in the deciding game. The Hawks dropped the opening game to the Lions, 182-156, before rallying back to win the second game, 189-183.

“When I let the spare shot go, I thought I missed it and had cost my team the ti-tle,” said Rodriguez, who narrowly made the spare by hitting the left side of the 3 pin and getting the 6 pin to fall into the 9 pin. I was too busy thinking about all the bad shots I’d made and how hard the lanes were. I’m just glad I made it.”

The final frames spelled doom for the Lions of Lindenwood. In game two they left an open in the eighth frame and Ang-gie Ramirez (Bogota, Colombia) made them pay by throwing a strike to give her Hawks the lead by seven pins. Kristina Frahm (Oswego, Ill.) and Rodriguez kept the Hawks in front for the game two win by both making 9-spares in the ninth and tenth frames respectively.

Game three saw them leave another open, this time in the ninth to keep

UMES’ hopes alive. Frahm doubled after Ramirez’s strike and Rodriguez’s spare clinched the win.

The Lady Hawks overcame three opens earlier in the game in the third, fourth and fifth frames but were offset by Lin-denwood opens in the first and second frames.

Rodriguez is just the second player in UMES history to earn an All-Tourna-ment Team honor at the ITCs. MaryEtta Lewis got a nod in 2006.

Central Florida’s Kara Bunting earned the tournament’s most valuable play-er honors, while Lindenwood’s Jenny Petzoldt was the runner-up. Danielle Merino of Adelphi, Amanda Greene of Lindenwood, Jenn Boisselle of Central Florida and Rodriguez rounded out the all-tournament team.

“Neither team bowled very well on the television lanes,” said Brummell. “But we persevered. Maria came through for us like she has all season and helped us to both national titles. I can’t believe it. It has been an exhausting season, but one well worth everything these young ladies put in.”

After the match Brummell reflected on her team’s accomplishment. “This will probably never happen again in college bowling, it is such a rare feat and some-thing our team and University can be very proud of.”

College Bowling itself it still some-what new to the NCAA, with the first

championship being held in 2004. There were just 65 schools over all three divi-sions competing this season. But just because it is in its eighth season with the NCAA doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a long reaching history. The USBC has been holding a national tournament for women’s college teams since 1975 and gives club teams, junior colleges, NAIA and NCAA schools the chance to com-pete nationally for its championship.

Some might argue that the 16-team field is even tougher to win because of the depth and broadness of players at the ITCs. One thing is for sure, because the competition is so fierce at the NCAA and ITC Championships, no one has ever won both in the same season. Until this year an NCAA team has not made the finals since they started a championship in 2004. In 2003, Central Missouri State, who has been in every NCAA Tourna-ment, won the ITC event.

Fresno State, meanwhile, defeated the top-ranked team in the country, Webber International, 2-0, to win the men’s title. Both championship matches will be tele-vised on ESPN2 on May 15 at 2 p.m. E.

The USBC ITC featured the top 16 men’s and top 16 women’s college bowl-ing teams in the country vying for na-tional titles. All 32 teams competed in best-of-seven, double-elimination match play in the Baker format Friday, after which the field was pared down to four in both the men’s and women’s divisions.

Last week, the Lady Eagles hoisted the Kerm Helmer Cup at the NCAA National Bowling Championship. This week they won the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships.

UMES CLAIM SECOND NATIONAL BOwLINg TITLE IN 2011UMES tops Lindenwood in final 2-1 to claim second National Title this season.

“We want another one. “We can do it, how many teams get a chance to win two national titles in one year, we want to say we did.”–UMES SophoMorE AnggiE rAMirEzCommENTS AfTEr wINNINg THE NCAA NATIoNAL CHAmpIoNSHIp LAST SATUrdAy.

SPRINg ChAMPIONShIP EDITION

AND THEN THERE WAS ONE: Jackson State Alum Trey Johnson is the ONLY HBCU alum participating in the 2011 NBA Playoffs. The 6-foot-5 guard led the NCAA in scoring as senior at JSU in 2007 and has slowly upped his scoring average over his four (abbreviated) seasons in the D-League from 11.8 PPG in 2007-08 to 20.7 the following year, 21.3 last season and his league-leading 25.5 scoring average this season before being called up by the Los Angeles Lakers.

BASEBALL, GOLF, SOFTBALL, TENNIS & TRACK

TEEING OFF: HBCUs will have three representatives at the Atlantic Region of the 2011 NCAA Division II Golf Men’s Golf Championships, Virginia State, Bluefield State and John M. Cole of Fayetteville State. The regional competitions will be conducted May 2-4.

2THE YARD wEEK oF APRIl 25TH CIAA SPRING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Rams Win 3 Titles in Return to Spring ChampionshipsBaseball

PeterSBUrG, Va—No. 3 Winston-Salem State worked itself all the way back from a first-round defeat to win the CIAA Baseball Championship, completing a re-markable comeback and improbable sea-son for the first-year program.

The Rams defeated No. 2 Saint Au-gustine’s College, 7-6 and 3-0, Saturday afternoon at Whaley-Colbert Field on the Virginia State University campus in the double-elimination tournament. With the win, Winston-Salem State earns the CIAA’s automatic qualifier spot to the At-lantic Region Tournament.

John Markley was named the tourna-ment’s MVP for his sensational pitching in both of Saturday’s contests. He reg-istered the save in the first game by re-cording the last two outs and then threw seven shutout innings for the game-two victory.

WSSU’s (30-19) Andrew Miller was a combined 5-for-9 with three RBIs which came across on what turned out to be the tournament-deciding hit. He also scored two runs.

Saint Augustine’s (36-18) had defeated WSSU, 3-2, in the tournament’s opening game on Thursday and had won its semi-final game on Friday over No. 1 Chowan to arrive to Championship Saturday un-scathed.

The Rams, meanwhile, needed to knock off No. 4 Virginia State on Thurs-day and Chowan on Friday to earn the right for a chance to knock off the Fal-cons twice.

In the first championship game, the Rams had banged out 15 hits and had what appeared to be a comfortable 7-2 edge entering the bottom of the ninth. After recording the first out, Jere Wilkins recorded the first of five-straight singles.

After plating four runners, Markley struck out Kevin White with the tying run on third and the winning run on sec-ond to force a second and deciding cham-pionship game.

Miller was 3-for-5 leading five Rams with multiple hits. Second baseman Jor-dan Graham had a game-high 3 RBIs including a two-run single in the second

inning for the game’s first runs. Tyler Hickernell pitched 8 1/3 innings, allow-ing six runs on 12 hits. He struck out four and walked three for the win.

Falcons Joe Pierce and Wilkins each re-corded 3-for-4 games while Pierce had a team-high two RBIs including a single in the ninth to get the Falcons with 7-5.

In the second game, Andrew Miller delivered a two RBI single in the first to give the Rams a lead they would not re-linquish. Miller was 3-for-4 in the game. Markley, after earning the save in the first game, pitched seven scoreless innings and allowed just three hits. Brice Riven-bark closed out the game’s final innings and gave up just one hit for the save.

GolfFOrt Lee, Va—Virginia Union’s

Mason Simpson shot a final-round 70 Thursday to win the 2011 CIAA Men’s Golf Championship individual title while Virginia State took home the team title with a two-day total of 603.

Simpson came into the final round two shots behind the first-round leader Mike Swope of Virginia State, but his final-round 70 was enough to overtake Swope to win the title by four strokes. Simpson was the only golfer under par for the tournament while Swope finished with a one-over par, 145.

Virginia State followed up its opening round 301 with a final-round 302 to win

the team title by 14 strokes over Winston-Salem State who shot a two-day total 617.

Fayetteville State finished in third place with a two-day score of 645 (322-323) while Chowan finished fourth (650, 319-331) and Virginia Union came in fifth (693, 345-348). Livingstone pulled in the sixth-place finish (699, 349-350) followed by St. Augustine’s in seventh (723, 368-355), Elizabeth City State in eighth (756, 394-362), Johnson C. Smith in ninth (768, 394-374) and St. Paul’s in 10th (918, 471-447).

SoftballettriCk, Va—ViHer team still down

by two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Winston-Salem State head coach LaTanya Hilliard-Gray pulled her team over and had one simple point to make.

“This is what we do,” she said.And with that, in the midst what

looked like an improbable comeback, the Rams made that improbable a real-ity, scoring five runs in their last at-bat to stun Chowan 7-6 and win the 2011 CIAA Softball Championship on Saturday.

With three runs in and the bases still loaded with two outs, Candace Spinks hit a rocket toward Chowan shortstop Fahren Munro. The sharp grounder got by Munro for an error and bounded into left-center field, allowing two runs to score, including the game-winner.

“All we had to do was believe the way I

believe in them,” said Hilliard-Gray.Only moments earlier, Alex Allen ap-

peared to have come up with her second eighth inning, game-winning hit of the day. She had slapped a single to right field to score the go-ahead run, sparking a four-run rally as Chowan (34-19) took what seemed like an insurmountable 6-2 lead to the bottom half of the inning af-ter using six hits and two Winston-Salem State errors to take control.

But the Rams (29-11) quickly put run-ners on first and second with one out against Chowan’s third pitcher of the game, Lacey Wilderboer. And Winston-Salem State’s Kayla Woodbury made things interesting with a two-run double to left-center field to make it 6-4.

After giving up a single to Latoya Lynch, Chowan made another pitching change, bringing in Amber Matthews, who, with runners on second and third, loaded the bases after a walk to Britney Cato on four pitches.

The Rams kept the pressure on, and Shantel Haskins’ ground ball to second base was mishandled, allowing another run to score to trim the deficit to just one, 6-5.

Matthews retired Hope Billings with a strikeout for the second out, but Spinks delivered the game-winning run.

Winston-Salem State moved through the tournament bracket unbeaten, in-cluding a 5-3 come-from-behind victory over Chowan on Friday. But it appeared as though the championship round was headed to a second game until the Rams’ fireworks in the eighth.

Chowan led three times in the game, getting an RBI single in the second in-ning on Wildeboer’s double. Winston-Salem State tied the game in the top of the third on Haskins’’s infield single, but Chowan responded with another run driven in by Wildeboer in the top of the sixth to take a 2-1 lead.

Again, though, the Rams came back, tying the game on Tanaya Pettus’ bases-loaded single in the bottom half of the inning.

But that was all the Rams could get, de-spite having the bases full with no outs.

Chowan came up with a dazzling short-stop-to-home-to third double play, then relief pitcher Allie Kolezynski ended the threat by retiring Woodbury.

Still, Winston-Salem State found a way.Tournament MVP Brittany Lane

earned her fourth win of the tournament weekend, allowing six runs – four earned – on 15 hits.

Matthews was hung with the loss; the lone run charged to her was unearned.

Haskins and Lynch each had three hits while Pettus and Woodbury had two apiece for Winston-Salem State, which banged out 15 hits.

Tricia Gorman, the nation’s top run-producer, had three hits and two RBI while Wildeboer did the same. Megan Wade, Liz Hipple and Liz Sill each had a pair of hits for Chowan.

“We practice to win,” said Hilliard-Gray. That’s why we’re used to winning.”

TennisMen

PeterSBUrG, Va—Shaw won its sev-

enth straight CIAA Men’s Tennis Cham-pionship with a 5-0 win over Winston-Salem State in a match played at Virginia State Saturday night.

Shaw opened the match strong, tak-ing the number two and three doubles. At two, Kalada Kienka and CIAA Rookie of the Year Daniel Vasquez downed Chris Jeter and Creighton Jones 8-2, and at three, CIAA Most Valuable Player Carlos Guarin downed Max Glodde and Nick John 8-2.

The battle came at number one dou-bles - a spot where WSSU had been domi-nant all year, defeating Shaw in both of their regular season matchups. This time, Shaw’s Ataide Suca and Gabriel Nicotra came out on top over Brian Coxton and Ian Hunter 8-4.

Kienka, Shaw’s number three single, returned the first singles score with a 6-0, 6-1 win over WSSU’s Hunter. Vasquez then cemented the shut out with a 6-2,6-1 win over Glodde. The remaining match-es were unfinished.

Shaw finishes their season with a 24-1 record and the number one ranking in the Atlantic Region.

WomenIt was a match for the ages when the

Winston-Salem State Lady Rams (27-1) took a 5-4 win over the Shaw Lady Bears to with the 2011 CIAA Women’s Ten-nis Championship, Saturday afternoon at the Virginia State University Tennis Complex. The match, which took nearly four hours, featured a titanic battle be-tween the two top women’s tennis teams in the CIAA.

In the end, it came down to the number four singles, which went into a tiebreaker in the third set before the outcome was de-cided. With the first CIAA championship in school history hanging on the outcome of her singles match, WSSU sophomore Kalin Jarvis dug deep to take the 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) win. Neither competitor showed an ounce of quit as Jarvis battled her way to the victory.

“I had a lot of pressure on me, but I just had to take my time and play my game,” Jarvis said following the victory. “I just had to play like I practiced. I think I got

caught up in everybody cheering and I just had to remember to keep the balls on the court.”

With a player absent, Shaw forfeited both the third doubles and sixth singles slot before play even began in the best-of-nine match. Shaw’s number one doubles team of Aline Ferreira and Vimbai Mawi-sire had an easy time defeating WSSU sophomores Kayla Carter and Jarvis 8-2. But at second doubles, in a match that had all the spectators on the edge of their seats, WSSU sophomores Sloane Holmes and Bianka Locklear were pushed to the brink by Lolia Kienka and Evan Okafor, eking out an 8-6 win.

In singles play, Winston-Salem State’s number five, Dominique Lindsay, brought in an early 6-0, 6-1 win over De-siree Bell, giving Winston-Salem a 4-1 lead and putting them one point from victory. However, Shaw’s Ferreira was the next to report - with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Locklear to pull the Lady Bears within two. Soon after, Shaw’s Mawisire report-ed her 6-3, 6-1 victory over Carter, cutting WSSU’s lead to one with two matches still on the court.

At the number one singles, Kienka de-feated Holmes 6-3, 6-3, tying the match at 4-4. On court four, the fourth singles were playing into the third set - and then in a third-set tiebreaker to determine the match. In the end, WSSU’s Jarvis handed Okafor the 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) defeat to give Winston-Salem State their first CIAA women’s tennis title.

The conference championship caps a whirlwind year for Winston-Salem State women’s tennis as the team made the transition from NCAA Division I to Divi-sion II and had a coaching change. The 2011 title is the first under WSSU tennis coach John Martin.

“I think that everything happened for the betterment of the program,” Jarvis added. “We’re definitely a stronger pro-gram and we expect to keep winning. I’m just a sophomore so I expect two more.”

The Lady Bears finish their season with a 17-8 mark, while the Lady Rams move into the NCAA Tournament with a 27-1 overall record.

mike Swope led Virginia State to a 2011 CIAA golf Championship.

2011 CIAA Baseball Champions, winston-Salem State University.

3THE YARD wEEK oF APRIl 25TH GOLF

aUGUSta, Ga—For the second consec-utive year, the Maroon Tigers of More-house College have won the Southern In-tercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Golf Classic. The team shot a low score of 312 in the final round today at the Jones Creek Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia to claim the crown. For the classic, More-house shot a team total of 935.

The Maroon Tigers were led by Olaju-won Ajanaku who finished the three-day event with a total score of 224, just eight strokes above par. Ajanaku, who shot rounds of 75, 72, and 77 respectively, was named the classic’s most valuable player. In addition, he was named to the all-tournament team, named first team all-conference, and was selected as the SIAC Player of the Year.Teammates Bryan McElderry, Thaddaeus Hill and Earl Cooper joined Ajanaku with their selection to the all-tournament team. McElderry and Hill shot identical scores of 235 for the tournament while Cooper finished with a score of 242. The golfers finished third, fourth, and fifth on the leader board. Morehouse’s Bruce Cousin finished the tournament in seventh place with a score of 246 and was selected sec-ond team all-conference.

Morehouse Head Coach Bill Lewis was named SIAC Coach of the Year and the Maroon Tigers also won the all-academic team award with a combined grade point

average (gpa) of 3.72. Hill, a business ad-ministration major, was named to the all-academic team with a 3.51 gpa. He was joined on the all-academic team by Malcolm Parrish, a business administra-tion major with a 3.94 gpa.

Tigers of Benedict finished second in this year’s classic with a team score of 999. Benedict’s Anthony Wik finished second on the leader board with a tour-nament score of 232, just eight strokes behind Ajanaku. Wik was named first team all-tournament and all-conference and the business administration student was also named to the all-academic team with a 3.3 gpa.

The Tigers also got a strong tourna-ment showing from Jordan Buchanan. The freshman finished the classic with the sixth lowest score (244). He was named second team all-conference and SIAC Freshman of the Year. Teammate Eddie Smith, III finished the tournament with an overall score of 255 (11th) and was also named second team all-conference.

The Thorobreds of Kentucky State University finished third in the clas-sic. With rounds of 352, 346, and 338, the team total of 1,036 outpaced Paine College and LeMoyne-Owen College for the third place finish. Josh Jackson was the team’s low scorer with a total of 248 strokes over the three days. He was named second team all-conference.

For the Lions of Paine College, their fourth place finished was highlighted by the play of Lucus Gunn and Jordan Bai-ley. Gunn shot a score of 247 and Bailey scored 255 in tournament play. Finishing eighth and 10th respectively, they both were named second team all-conference.

Morehouse Tigers takes 2011 SIAC Golf Title

2011 ALL-SIAC GOLF TEAm

ALL-CONFERENCEfirst Team

olajuwon Ajanaku, MorehouseAnthony wik, BenedictBryan mcElderry, MorehouseThaddaeus Hill, MorehouseEarl Cooper, Morehouse

Second Team

Jordan Buchanan, BenedictBruce Cousin, MorehouseLucus gunn, PaineJosh Jackson, Kentucky StateJordan Bailey, Paine Eddie Smith III, Benedict

Player of the MVPolajuwon Ajanaku, Morehouse

Freshman of the YearJordan Buchanan, Benedict

ALL-TOURNAmENT TEAmolajuwon Ajanaku, MorehouseAnthony wik, BenedictEarl Cooper, Morehouse Bryan mcElderry, MorehouseThaddaeus Hill, Morehouse

Tournament MVPolajuwon Ajanaku, Morehouse

Coach of the YearBill Lewis, Morehouse

ALL-ACADEmIC TEAmmalcolm parrish, MorehouseBusiness Administration, 3.94 GPA

Thaddaeus Hill, MorehouseBusiness Administration, 3.51 GPA

Anthony wik, BenedictBusiness Administration, 3.3 GPA

ALL-ACADEMiC TEAM AWArDMorehouse, 3.72 Combined GPA

2011 SIAC golf Classic Champions, morehouse College

aLexandria, La—Jackson State took all the drama out of the team race for the 2011 SWAC Men’s Golf Tournament title from the onset. The Tigers cruised to a 24-stroke victory Wednesday giving head coach Eddie Payton his 23rd title. The “Story”line of the day was Alabama A&M’s Bradley Story, who shot a 6-under 66 on the final day and came back from six shots down to win individual medalist honors at even par 216 for the three days at Links on the Bayou Golf Course.

Story’s improbable comeback included nine birdies and a red-hot 32 on the front nine. He trailed second-round leader Clay Myers of JSU by six shots heading into the final round. Myers carded a 75 on Wednesday to finish in fourth place in-dividually. Story posted his 66 nearly an hour before the final groups played the final holes and made it stand.

Texas Southern’s Dominique Worthen and Alabama State’s John Montgomery actually were tied with Story standing on the 18th tee, but bogeyed and double-bogeyed the final hole, respectively, to finish at 217 (+1) and 218 (+2). Mont-gomery won the SWAC medalist honors two years ago as a freshman at this same course.

Jackson State’s Josh McCormick, play-ing separate from the team competition as an individual, provided the highlight of round three acing the 179-yard 14th hole. He finished tied for 15th overall.

The team competition provided little drama on the final day. Jackson State doubled its 12-stroke lead it held over Alabama State entering the day and were never seriously threatened

With winds gusting to near 40 miles per hour at Links on the Bayou Golf

Course, Alabama State freshman Amelie Buhl was as steady as a seasoned veteran and led the Hornets to their first South-western Athletic Conference title in wom-en’s golf.

Buhl was the only player to break 40 on the back nine, firing an even-par 36 to distance herself and the Hornets from Jackson State, which finished six shots behind Alabama State. Buhl capped the championship with a dramatic 30-foot par putt on the final hole to seal the vic-tory. She won the individual title by seven shots over teammate Aileen Meredith.

Jackson State opened the day with a one-shot lead over Alabama State in de-fense of the Tigers’ 2010 title. Defending medalist Jennifer Sells finished fifth over-all in defense of her medalist title.

Jackson State, Alabama State win SWAC Golf Championships

INDIVIDUAL HONORSMedalistBradley Story, Alabama A&MAmelie Buhl, Alabama State

Low Freshman MedalistJustin Stills, Jackson State Amelie Buhl, Alabama State

Coach of the YearEddie payton, Jackson State gary grandison, Alabama State

FIRST TEAm ALL-SWACmen

Bradley Story, Alabama A&Mdominique worthen, Texas SouthernJohn montgomery, Alabama StateClay myers, Jackson StateJustin Stills, Jackson State

women

Amelie Buhl, Alabama StateAileen meredith, Alabama StateErica payton, Jackson StateJennifer Sells, Jackson StateCami Stith, Jackson State

SECOND TEAm ALL-SWACmen

maurice Jefferies, Jackson StateJonathan Coleman, Jackson StateScott Benson, Alabama Stategregory robinson, Arkansas-Pine Bluffmichael Bradham, Prairie View A&M

women

Shanequa Valentine, Prairie View A&Mpeni Sanjoto, Prairie View A&Mdanielle robinson, Alabama StateTyler Lawrence, Texas SouthernJessica williams, Alabama State

ANOTHER TITLE: The 2011 SWAC Women’s Golf Champion Alabama State Lady Hornets added another title to the mantle Sunday, winning the 17th National Women’s Collegiate Golf Classic at Stone Mountain Golf Course. The Lady Hornets finished with a 671 score in the 36-hole event, holding off a strong charge from second place South Carolina State (678). Hampton (690) finished third. The Lady Hornets will play in its first ever NCAA Tournament May 5-7 in Daytona Beach, FL.

2011 All-SwAC first Team

4THE YARD wEEK oF APRIl 25TH TENNIS

Men SCSU 4, Florida A&M 2

raLeiGh—The South Carolina State University Bulldogs won the 2011 MEAC Men’s Tennis Championship title on Sunday afternoon at the Millbrook Ten-nis Courts in Raleigh NC. The title was the fourth consecutive and ninth overall for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs won two matches to secure the doubles point. 2011 MEAC Men’s Tennis Player of the Year Dmytro Kovalevych and Aton Protsenko secured the victory against Florida A&M’s Mau-rice Wamukowa and Temeure Asafu-Ad-jaye, 8-4 in the number two spot.

Aiding in the doubles win for SCSU, the duo of Artemiy Nikitin and David Grund topped Michael Moore and Levan Clark, 9-8, at the number three spot to take the lead 1-0.

The Bulldogs secured wins at the one and two singles positions for the 3-0 advantage. Florida A&M rallied back to make the score 3-1 with a win as Takura Happy topped Gabriel Meana in two sets 6-3, 6-1 at the number one singles posi-tion.

Temura Asafu-Adjaye would keep FAMU’s rally going as he topped Grund in the number six position 6-3, 6-4.

With the score at 3-2, Kovalevych clinched the championship win for the Bulldogs at the number two position competing in two sets (6-4, 7-5) to defeat Clark. He earned Outstanding Performer honors after finishing 3-0 in singles play and 2-0 in doubles.

Women SCSU 4, Howard 0

The South Carolina State Univer-sity Lady Bulldogs won the 2011 MEAC Women’s Tennis Championship title on Sunday at the Millbrook Tennis Courts in Raleigh NC. The title was the seventh consecutive and eighth overall for the Lady Bulldogs.

In doubles action, 2011 MEAC Wom-en’s Player of the Year Daria Sekerina and

Maria Cracuin topped Howard’s Katelyn Stokes and Michelle Brown, 8-4, at the number one position earning the Lady Bulldogs’ first doubles victory of the day.

The number three doubles tandem of Alyssa Works and Anne Akhimien of Howard evened the score at one game apiece defeating SCSU’s AKilah James and Laura Bosneag, 8-4.

Battling for the final doubles victory, Lady Bison Brittney Morgan and Brooke Hawthorne and SCSU’s Shuaila Jad and Sabrina Mendez were tied eight-all. The two teams went point for point in the tiebreaker until SCSU scored the final two points to win 8-6 and clinch the final doubles point at the number two spot.

Up 1-0 heading into singles play, SCSU tallied wins at the number two and five singles positions to gain a 3-0 advantage over the Lady Bison. At the number two singles spot, SCSU’s Jad defeated How-ard’s Morgan in two sets 6-1, 6-3. Men-dez aided the Lady Bulldogs’ with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Works at the number five singles position.

The Lady Bulldogs’ captured the 2011 women’s tournament title at the number three singles position with 2011 MEAC Rookie of the Year AKilah James defeat-ing Michelle Brown of Howard 7-5, 6-1.

Shuaila James was named outstand-ing performer while head coach Hardeep Judge was name Outstanding Coach.

Jad recorded a 2-0 record at the num-ber two singles position and a 3-0 mark in doubles play.

Head coach Hardeep Judge received the seventh Men’s and Women’s Tennis Outstanding Coach accolade of his ca-reer.

South Carolina State sweep MEAC Tennis

2011 ALL-TOURNAmENT TEAmOutstanding PerformerDmytro Kovalevych, South Carolina StateSuhaila Jad, South Carolina State

Outstanding Coachhardeep Judge, South Carolina State

DOUBLESNumber one

gabriel meana and peteris Vinogradous South Carolina State [Men]

daria Sekerina and maria Craicun South Carolina State [Women]

Number Two

Anton prtsenko and dmytro Kovalevych South Carolina State [Men]

Suhaila Jad and Sabrina mendez South Carolina State [Women]

Number Three

david grund and Artemit NikitinSouth Caroina State [Men]

Alyssa works and Anne Akhimien Howard [Women] SINGLESmen

1. Tekura Happy, Florida A&M2. dmytro Kovalevych, South Carolina State3. Anton prtsenko, South Carolina State4. peteris Vinogradous, South Carolina State5. Artemit Nikitin, South Carolina State6. michael moore, Florida A&M

women

1. daria Sekerina, South Carolina State2. Suhaila Jad, South Carolina State3. AKilah James, South Carolina StateT4. Brooke Hawthorne, HowardT4. maria Craciun, South Carolina State5. Sabrina mendez, South Carolina State6. Laura Bosneag, South Carolina State

2011 ALL-TOURNAmENT TEAmOutstanding PerformerMichael Thomas, MorehouseMunashe Makuni, Clark Atlanta

Outstanding CoachTerry Alexander, Morehouse Autumn Williams, Clark Atlanta

DOUBLESmen

Noah Terry and michael Thomas Morehouse

Ivan Irazabal and david Torres Stillman

Andrew Belk and Brandon pringle Fort Valley State

women

Chade Scott and yonelle Aromin Fort Valley State

Brionne Bachus and Cydney reid Clark Atlanta

deAndra reasonover and Jessica Carswell Benedict SINGLESmen

1. Tekura Happy, Florida A&M2. dmytro Kovalevych, South Carolina State3. Anton prtsenko, South Carolina State4. peteris Vinogradous, South Carolina State5. Artemit Nikitin, South Carolina State6. michael moore, Florida A&M

women

munashe makuni, Clark Atlanta Keva palmer, Clark Atlanta Chade Scott, Fort Valley Stateroberta robinson, Fort Valley StatedeAndra reasonover, BenedictSheneka Knight, Tuskegee

Men Morehouse 5, Stillman 4

raLeiGh—The #2 seed Maroon Tigers captured their third consecutive SIAC tennis title, in a tense and dramatic vic-tory over #1 Seed Stillman College.

Tied 4-4 going into the final match, the best-of-nine contest could not have been closer, in the battle between the top two teams who had split wins in the reg-ular season. But in the deciding match, Morehouse’s No. 6 singles player Jordan Bailey demolished Stillman’s Ryan Lin-coln, 6-0, 6-1.

Following the hotly-contested match, Morehouse teammates and fans stormed the court in a joyous celebration, and treated head coach Terry Alexander and team captain Tory Martin to a Gatorade shower.

Morehouse junior Michael Thomas, who won all of his singles and doubles matches throughout the tournament, was named the Tournament Most Valu-able Player.

Head Coach Terry Alexander was again named Outstanding Coach of the Tournament.

In doubles play, Morehouse took two of the three matches. The Maroon Tigers duo of Michael Cutrer and Jordan Bailey defeated Stillman’s team of brothers, Jef-frey and Felipe Farias, 8-6. Morehouse got its second doubles win, when Michael Thomas and Noah Terry paired to defeat Ryan Lincoln and Anes Hrjnic, 8-1.

The Stillman Tigers rebounded in the final doubles match, as the No. 1 team of Ivan Irazabal and David Torres defeated Morehouse’s All-SIAC and No. 1 team of Tory Martin and Mario Ecung, 8-6.

In singles, Stillman forged ahead 3-2, when Torres bested DeWayne Dixon in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, and Felipe Farias out-dueled Ecung, 7-5, 6-2.

Morehouse pulled even at 3-3, when Thomas defeated Hrjnic, 6-2, 6-4.

In one of the most hard-fought and entertaining matches of the champion-ship, Morehouse inched ahead, 4-3, after

Martin out-lasted Irazabal, for a 7-5, 6-7 (9-7), 6-3 win. The Morehouse lead was short-lived, however, as Jeffrey Farias de-feated Michael Cutrer, 6-4, 6-0, to tie the teams at four wins each, setting up the decisive match.

Women CAU 5, Fort Valley State 2

The Lady Panthers of Clark Atlanta University claimed the SIAC women’s tennis title with a 5-2 win over the Lady Wildcats of Fort Valley State University Saturday. The conference title is the first for CAU since the 2007 season.

“We stayed poised and fought all the way through,” said the 2011 SIAC Coach of the Year Autumn Williams. “I am over-whelmed and elated that we made it hap-pen.

The tone of the match was set in dou-bles play as the Lady Panthers took a 2-1 lead. CAU’s Munashe Makuni and Ivory Conley took the number one doubles match with an 8-3 win over FVSU’s Ro-berta Robinson and Chelsea Spear. The Lady Wildcats won the number two dou-bles as the team of Yonelle Aromin and Chade Scott defeated Keva Palmer and Kasey Dawson, 8-6. CAU rallied to take the final doubles match as Cydney Reid and Brioone Bachus beat Chantelle Chil-

es and Briana Pettiford, 8-4. After dropping her doubles match,

Palmer reflected on her own advice she gave to the team to fight for it and go hard. The lead widened for CAU after the first two singles matches. Makuni defeat-ed Aromin 6-0, 6-0 and Palmer beat Rob-inson by the same score to give the Lady Panthers a 4-1 edge. The Lady Wildcats drew closer in the third singles match when FVSU’s Scott defeated Conley, 6-2, 6-2. The Lady Panthers claimed the 2011 crown when Brionne Bachus defeated Briana Pettiford, 6-2, 6-1.

“It is an amazing feeling. As a team, we deserved it because we worked really hard,” Makuni added. “We took it to an-other level.”

Makuni, the 2011 SIAC Player of the Year, received the tournament’s Most Valuable Player honors while Coach Wil-liams was named Coach of the Tourna-ment. Palmer, CAU’s team captain, was also named the to the All-Tournament team in singles and the doubles tandem of Brionne Bachus and Cydney Reid also received All-Tournament honors.

“My team is awesome, my coach is awesome and this feeling is awesome,” Palmer said. “I felt like we really wanted it, didn’t take it for granted and played hard.”

Morehouse, Clark Atlanta claim SIAC Tennis Championships

morehouse wins it’s third straight Tennis championship while Clark Atlanta wins its first title since 2007.

5THE YARD wEEK oF APRIl 25TH

Falcons, Lady Golden Bulls win CIAA TitlesTRACK & FIELD

PeterSBUrG, Va—For the 14th con-secutive season, and 28th time in the last 29 years, the CIAA Men’s Track and Field Championship belongs to the Falcons of Saint Augustine’s College. They accumu-lated 176.5 points over the two-day event. Johnson C. Smith University finished in second place with 119 points. Winston-Salem State University came in third, scoring 106 total points.

On the women’s side, the Lady Golden Bulls of Johnson C. Smith University won their first CIAA Championship. They to-taled 153 points. Winston-Salem State University accumulated 129 points. Saint Augustine’s (105.5 points) finished in third place on the women’s side.

The Falcons dominated the jumping and sprinting events, leading to the vic-tory. Men’s Field MVP Orolando Duffus won the men’s long with a jump of 7.44m and the men’s triple jump with a leap of 14.98m. Christopher Copeland took the men’s high jump (2.16m).

The Falcons recorded an NCAA pro-visional qualifying time of 40.36s in the 400m relay to win that event. They also won the 1600m relay in a time of 3:07.70s. Ramon Gittens (SAC) won the 100m dash in an NCAA provisional time of 10.59s. Gittens also took the men’s 200m dash, with a time of 21.23s. Jason Boyd of Saint Augustine’s College won the 110m hurdles with a time of 14.14s.

Male track MVP Leford Green of John-son C. Smith University ran 46.61s in the men’s 400m dash to take first. He also won the 400m hurdles, running 52.51s. Jamin Gallman of Bowie State Univer-sity won the men’s 800m run in 1:53.56s. Bryan Aycoth of Livingstone College won the men’s javelin with a toss of 60.27m.

In other event finals, Andrew Chebii of Winston-Salem State University won the men’s 1500m run with a time of 4:05.85s.

He also took the men’s 5000m run in a time of 16:14.07s. With a jump of 3.56m, St. Paul’s College’s Fred Boone won the men’s pole vault. Winning each the men’s shot put and discus was Randale Watson of Johnson C. Smith University. He threw 15.21m in the shot put and 48.12m in the discus.

The Johnson C. Smith Women also re-lied on stellar performances in the short events to take the team title.

Women’s Track MVP Shermain Wil-liams (Johnson C. Smith University) won the 100m hurdles in an NCAA Division II qualifying time of 13.42. The Lady Golden Bulls also took the women’s 400m relay in an NCAA qualifying time of 45.61s. Danielle Williams of the Lady Golden Bulls won the 100m dash with a time of 12.02s. Danielle Williams of Johnson C. Smith won the women’s long jump (5.69m).

Co-Women’s Field MVP’s were Dedric-ka Thomas of Winston-Salem State Uni-versity and Brelyn Finley of Bowie State University. Thomas took the women’s triple jump (12.08m). Finley won the women’s shot put with a toss of 12.74m. Winston-Salem State’s Brittney Killebrew took the women’s 1500m run in a time of 5:04.65s. In the women’s discus, Bowie State’s Lakeshia Carney won with a throw of 43.11m.

Katherine Tokarski of Saint Augus-tine’s College won the women’s javelin with a throw of 34.21m. Shayla Szabo of Virginia State University won the wom-en’s 3000m run in a time of 11:06.96s. Si-erra Clayton of Virginia State University won the women’s 800m run with a time of 2:19.75s. Saint Augustine’s College April London won the women’s 400m hurdles (1:01.62).

Virginia State’s Samantha Edwards took both the 200m dash and 400m

dash titles. She ran 24.21s and 53.25s, respectively. Saint Augustine’s College’s Andrea Powell won the women’s high jump (1.65m). The Lady Falcons took the 1600m relay with a time of 3:46.99s.

BaLtiMOre–The University of the District of Columbia Firebirds Women’s Track Team registered a major break-through during last weekend’s Morgan State Legacy Meet when its women’s 4x400m relay team ran 1:51.70 to win their heat, convincingly, in Baltimore, Maryland.

The team of sophomore Callister Jones (Marketing-Ft. Washington, MD), Two-time All-American junior Kaneesha Hol-lis (Criminal Justice-Centreville, MD), All-American junior Latoya Allen (Social Work-Washington, DC) and Three-time All-American senior Saleena Green (Mar-keting-Kingston, Jamaica) ended up 5th

overall in a field of 18 teams (highest fin-isher among DII schools). The Team held its own among the Meets participants, the majority of whom came from NCAA Division I schools.

With a blistering 3rd leg from Latoya Allen, the Firebirds went from 4th to 2nd, and then had a dominating anchor leg from Saleena Green to win their heat by over 1 second. This time of 1:51.70 is not too far off the NCAA Division 2 pro-visional qualifying time of 1:50.0.

Head Track Coach Alton McKenzie was pleased with his team’s performance stating, “We finally got decent weather and a chance to run fast and the 4x400M team took full advantage of the oppor-tunity. Not only did we run 10 seconds faster than we’d run this season, we com-peted very hard in doing so (thereby win-ning our heat with strong legs from all four young ladies). We still have room

for improvement so I believe they have a chance to put it all together and run faster during this season.”

Freshman Areial Clark continued to excel in the Women’s Shot Put, finishing 9th (12.10M) in a field of 26 throwers.

The Firebirds will head to Philadel-phia, Pennsylvania on April 28, to partici-pate in the venerable Penn Relays.

taLLahaSSee, FL–Don’t let his name fool you. There’s nothing angelic about first-year Florida A&M men’s track and field coach Wayne Angel’s coaching style.

And he makes no apologies for his de-manding approach.

With his accomplishments as a track athlete at the University of Illinois and in the military and his record of coaching success at Tennessee-Martin, Illinois, Iowa and Wichita State, none are necessary.

Angel was a two-time Big Ten Cham-pion as a member of the University of Illi-nois 4x400-meter relay team. He was also a three-time gold medalist at the World Military Games and still holds the Armed Forces record in the 400-meter hurdles.

He produced 30 Big Ten Champions as coach at Illinois, 17 All-Americans, 17 NCAA qualifiers, two Olympic Trials par-ticipants, a Canadian National champion and an Olympian.

“I push the envelope,’’ Angel says.Angel says he sees no reason that

he can’t have similar success by push-ing the envelope with the Florida A&M men’s track program, once one of the crown jewels of Rattler athletics and syn-onymous with speed and winning under long-time coach Bobby Lang.

“I’m mindful of the tradition,’’ Angel says. “We want to get back to that stage where we have the reputation for being one of best in the MEAC.’’

Angel took over the Rattlers program

in August 2010 and didn’t have the ben-efit of a recruiting class. Still he says the program has made in roads with the holdover team members.

Sophomore Shuaib Winters won the MEAC Cross Country Championship last fall, setting a course record and per-sonal best time of 24:31.30 in the process, and Leon Hunt won the long jump title at the MEAC Indoor Championships.

Angel says his expectation for the outdoor season is for the Rattlers to im-prove on their performance of a year ago when they finished seventh in the MEAC Championships.

“We’re making baby steps,’’ Angel says. “Those things mean a lot. If I can take youngsters like (Winters and Hunt) and get 3-4 more we can be knocking on the door. I hope that within the third year that we’re where we need to be in terms of battling for the championship.”

Given the fact that Florida, along with California and Texas, is among the top three states for producing high school track athletes, Angel anticipates being able to recruit well. But he realizes that challenging for supremacy in the confer-ence will be a monumental challenge.

“This is a tough conference,’’ he says. “Many teams are shaking and baking. It’s not a conference where you can come in and rest. You have to be about your busi-ness. These coaches don’t play. You have to do your job. We want to do better than we did last year, be respectable and com-petitive. We’re not looking for a quick fix. We’re looking for stability, growth and a championship.’’

Angel says he is optimistic that the Rattlers will continue to make strides during the outdoor season because of the way team members have bought into his coaching philosophy of pushing them to do things better than they’ve ever done

them before.“There are no free lunches, especially

when you’re trying to be the best,’’ he says. “The training is very tough. I push the athletes to a level they’ve never been to. I call it inoculation to pain. They’ve got to feel what it is to get to a situation and be afraid to run. You find out if they want to do it. I tell them if you come to practice to have fun, you can’t be in my practice. Time is precious.’’

Angel is from a military family -- five of his six brothers, his father, grandfather and several of his uncles served in the armed forces - and his approach to train-ing is a by-product of his military back-ground. He spent 10 years in the United States Army - six as an enlisted man in the Military Police and four as Infantry Of-ficer. He was also an Airborne Ranger and a distinguished honors graduate of the Army’s Air Assault School.

“I was always in a disciplined environ-ment,’’ he says. “Leadership played a big part in my development.’’

Angel says Col. Jesse Lipscomb, his coach in the military, pushed his discipline and training intensity to a higher level.

“I was just an average athlete,’’ Angel says. “He taught me I could be whoever I wanted to be and run with anybody. He worked the devil out of me. I owe my drive and desire to him. He shaped my philosophy and work ethic.’’

Angel says he was pleasantly surprised that not a single athlete quit the team de-spite his demanding ways.

“I knew some had never trained at this level,’’ he says. “They had to do a self-analysis why they were part of the pro-gram. They had to realize there is a cost. After the first 3-4 weeks I knew I had a good group. They were willing to do what it takes.

St. Augustine’s men’s outdoor Track team wins it’s 14th straight CIAA Championship.

FAST TRACK: The 2011 SWAC Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Championships are set to begin Friday, April 29, and will continue through Sunday, May 1. The three-day event will be held at Tad Gormley Stadium in New Orleans, LA. The Grambling State men and Alabama State women look to successfully defend their conference titles. It would be the sixth in the past seven years for the Tigers, while the Lady Hornets are seeking their sixth overall.

PENN RELAYS: The 2011 Penn Relays begin this Thursday on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. 24 HBCU’s will participate including Cheyney, St. Augustine’s, Fort Valley State, Lincoln (Pa) and Norfolk State.

6THE YARD wEEK oF APRIl 25TH BASEBALL

Wildcats Dominate Coppin State, 24-1 in Series SweepdaytOna BeaCh, FL—The Wildcats

wrapped up the series on Saturday with the double-header versus Coppin State, taking care of business in game one with an 11-run eruption in the third inning to dominate with a 15-1 win over the Eagles. In the second half of the double-header, the Wildcats controlled the pace throughout, putting up steady hitting and holding onto a no-hitter into the final frame. The `Cats completed the sweep with a two-hitter, 9-0 win in the fi-nal game, moving to 12-0 in 2011 MEAC play.

“We made the necessary adjustments at the plate, like we’ve been talking about as a team,” said Head Coach Mervyl Me-lendez of the day’s outcomes, “and I was very happy about that. We had timely hit-ting, and you’ve got to give our guys a lot of credit for that.”

In the first game of the day, the Eagles challenged the Wildcats early, but B-CU got moving quickly on offense and domi-nated the day from that point forward.

The first run for the Wildcats came in the first as CSU pitcher Ricky Ferri threw around the zone against Peter O’Brien, walking the Wildcats’ catcher with bases loaded, bringing in Alejandro Sanchez.

In the bottom of the third, Ryan Dur-rence fired a zinger up the middle, which caught Ferri right below the knee, but he remained in the game and on the mound.

In that same inning, Emmanuel Cas-tro crossed the plate as Ferri hit B-CU’s Nick Johnson with bases loaded. With bases loaded and no outs, left fielder DJ Leonard capitalized on the situation and got the Wildcat offensive assault going, hitting a two-RBI single right up the middle. Brashad Johnson followed up with a single through the left side for an RBI. Matt Wright grabbed two more for the Wildcats with a two-RBI double down the right field line. Sanchez hit an

RBI single to shallow left field and then Matt Wright scored on a wild pitch to add to an already notable lead for the `Cats.

Still in the third, following a Coppin State pitching change, Durrence got a three-run jack to left center on the first pitch, wrapping up a six-hit, 11-run in-ning for the Wildcats, which made it 12-0 in B-CU’s favor.

With a comfortable lead and another game still on the slate, Coach Melendez made some adjustments to the lineup starting in the fourth. Stepping in as a pinch hitter in the fourth, Cesar Rivera hit an RBI single to shallow left field.

The Eagles put up their lone run of the game in the sixth, scoring on a single through the left side.

With the Wildcats continuing to

switch up lineups, Josh Johnson picked up an RBI double to right field in the sixth, and then was batted in by Cesar Rivera’s single to right, extending the B-CU lead to 15-1, where the cats would finalize it after shutting CSU down in the seventh.

Scott Garner (5-2) earned the win on the mound with no runs on two hits, with two strikeouts in four innings. In Garners innings, the Wildcats recorded seven groundouts, including two he fielded.

Leading the charge offensively, Ryan Durrence hit 2-3 with three RBI, while scoring twice himself. Coming in late in the game, Cesar Rivera hit 2-2 with two RBI. Alejandro Sanchez was also steady at the plate, with 2-4 hitting and an RBI, while crossing the plate twice. In all, eight different Wildcats picked up hits.

In game three, the Wildcats got back to work quickly in the second game of the day, proving tough on defense and putting up early runs to distance them-selves from the Eagles.

Nick Johnson batted in the first run of the second game, in the second in-ning, as his RBI double to left sent Em-manuel Castro home. On the very next pitch, Matt Wright hit a high ball along the left field line, picking up a triple for an RBI. A CSU error on a failed pickoff of DJ Leonard allowed Wright to score, but another error on the same play gave Leonard his own opportunity to cross the plate, wrapping up the inning with B-CU leading 4-0.

In the third, the Cats came back for more, starting with Emmanuel Castro on an RBI single through the left side. Wright fired a double right up the mid-dle to Ryan Durrence home for the six-run lead.

Wright added another for the ̀ Cats on a sac fly in the fifth.

Peter O’Brien put out his shot for the weekend, with a two run homer to left center, making it a 9-0 lead in the sixth.

B-CU’s Patrick Goelz (5-3) picked up the win and hung on to a no-hitter until the top of the seventh, when the Eagles made a couple of tough plays for hits. Pitching the complete game, Goelz tal-lied up eight strikeouts with two walks and maintained the shutout.

Demonstrating the multi-headed threat that is B-CU, Matt Wright took charge in the second game of the day, go-ing 2-3 with three RBI. Nick Johnson also batted well, going 3-4 with an RBI, while Emmanuel Castro hit 2-2 with an RBI.

With the two wins on Saturday, the Wildcats (25-19) completed the sweep of Coppin State, 3-0, and move to 12-0 in 2011 MEAC play. The wins also extend the winning streak against conference schools to 39 games.

Across the weekend series, B-CU out-scored Coppin State 40-7, and the Wild-cats have outscored MEAC opponents 135-50 in 2011.

Southern 7, Jackson State 5

BatOn rOUGe—n the top of the ninth inning on a warm, humid Saturday af-ternoon, Southern pitcher Cody Hall trotted to the mound at Lee-Hines Field, looking for his second save in as many days against rival Jackson State.

Hall needed only two pitches to get it, securing a 7-5 victory and a two-game sweep of the Tigers.

But for him, personally, those two pitches might have been the most mean-ingful of the season.

They were the first two pitches his ma-ternal grandmother, Pansy Jackson, had seen Hall throw in 10 years.

A native of Savannah, Ga., Hall moved

to Baton Rouge just before he entered seventh grade, and Jackson, 66, hadn’t seen her grandson pitch since then.

In the meantime, she was busy fight-ing to stay alive. About three years ago, Jackson had a vicious bout with breast cancer, which, after time and treatment, went into remission.

“She had to fight her way through chemo, but she never let it get her down,” said Hall, a senior right-hander. “She came down here last night and made it in time (for Saturday’s game).”

Hall closed the game after Southern (23-15) took an early five-run lead and rode the arm of freshman right-hander Jose De Leon (6-0), who gave up two runs in seven innings, giving the Jaguars the quality start they were looking for.

“That’s the kind of thing you need — somebody like Jose going out and get-ting the job done,” SU coach Roger Ca-

dor said. “He was able to give us seven innings today, and we needed all of the innings he gave to make things work.”

De Leon struck out eight batters and walked only two, but he also had to dance out of trouble on a few occasions. He gave up four hits in the fourth inning, but JSU (20-20) managed only one run, thanks in part to some sparkling defen-sive plays from infielders Adrian Lopez and DeMario Ellis.

In his seventh and final inning, De Leon also showed signs of fatigue. With two outs, he served up a double, a walk and a single, then hit the Tigers’ next bat-ter, Charles Epperson.

Stephen Curtis scored on a wild pitch, but it was the only run JSU scored that inning off De Leon, who got cleanup hit-ter Desmond Russell to pop out.

De Leon also walked the first batter he faced Saturday.

“I just had to shake it off and get the next guy,” he said. “I was in a little bit of a mess, but I fought back and I got through it. ... I’ve been working hard for this, and now the hard work is paying off.”

Jackson State starter Chris Wingard (1-2) wasn’t as successful Saturday. He hit two batters, threw another wild pitch and gave up four early runs. JSU coach Omar Johnson pulled Wingard after he failed to get an out in the third inning.

Ellis, Frazier Hall and B.J. Rowry had two hits apiece for the Jaguars, who had a 6-0 lead after four innings and took a 7-2 lead into the eighth.

Still, Cador said his team probably should have scored more often than it did.

SU was 4-for-12 with runners in scor-ing position, but it left the bases loaded in the fourth and stranded 11 runners overall.

“We could’ve busted the game open,” Cador said.

Southern has stranded 103 runners in its past 11 games.

The Jaguars also struggled to finish off JSU on Sunday. Kyle Wahl, the team’s regular closer, allowed one run in the eighth inning and two more in the top of the ninth as the Tigers pulled to within two runs.

With two outs, they had a runner on second base and No. 6 hitter Danny Be-tancourt, the potential tying run, at the plate.

That’s when Cody Hall came in to get the final out. He threw two pitches his grandmother probably won’t soon for-get.

“Pretty cool,” he said.For Hall and his family, it certainly

was.

SPARTANS SHOOTING BLANKS: Matt McClain and Elliot Gardner hurled complete game shutouts in Delaware State’s double-header sweep of Norfolk State at Marty Miller Field this afternoon. The Hornets won the opener 1-0 behind McClain’s three-hit gem, while Gardner tossed a four-hitter in DSU’s 5-0 victory in the nightcap.

LUCKY?: Alcorn State’s Antolin Morales smashed a grand slam homerun in the bottom of the eighth inning to power the Braves to an 11-4 SWAC win over and a weekend sweep oF Alabama A&M Sunday at Alcorn State, MS.

The win was ASU’s seventh in a row and gives the Braves a 16-4 SWAC East division record.

Bethune’s patrick goelz tallied up eight strikeouts and maintained a shoutout in the wildcats win over

Coppin St. goelz was also named mEAC pitcher of the week for a second straight week.

Jackson State’s Kendall Logan gets back to first base safely as Southern’s fraizer Hall can’t make a play.

JOHN OUBRE/THE ADVOCATE

7TWO-MINUTE WARNINGTHE YARD wEEK oF APRIl 25TH

Top-Seeded Southern, Alcorn State win SWAC Tennis TitleWomen Southern 4, Alcorn St. 3

aLexandria, La—Southern main-tained its stronghold on the SWAC Women’s Tennis Championship with a 4-3 win over Alcorn State in Sunday’s title match at Alexandria City Park Ten-nis Complex.

The SWAC title was the second straight and the sixth in nine years for the Lady Jaguars.

After capturing the doubles point, Southern put the match away with sin-gles wins from Demetria Woods at No. 3, Jo’Vonna Gaines at No. 5 and Lois Alexis at No. 6.

But the Lady Braves pushed the Jag-uars hard. Daria Rudd won No. 4 singles for Alcorn State and Arielle Buchmann had a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles. The Braves tied the match at 3-3 when Ker-sten Vanem took down SWAC Player of the Year Carlista Mohammed at No. 1 singles, 6-3, 6-3. Woods’ 7-5, 6-1 win over Merilin Tipp required an extra point in the first set.

Men Alcorn St. 4, Jackson St. 2

Top-seeded Alcorn State held on for a 4-2 win over third-seeded Jackson State in the SWAC Men’s Tennis Championship Sunday afternoon at Alexandria City Park Tennis Complex.

A dramatic three-set win by Alexandr Lidzar at the No. 2 spot and a hard-fought win at No. 6 singles spelled the difference for the Braves, who won its sixth SWAC men’s title with the victory.

Alcorn State won the doubles point and jumped out to a 2-0 lead after post-ing a win at No. 4 singles. JSU rallied and won the No. 3 and No. 5 singles spots to even the score at 2-2, but Yanick-Shear-ron Williams gave ASU a 3-2 lead with

his 7-5, 6-2 win over Nicholas Crawford at No. 6 singles. Lidzar sealed the match for the Braves with a three-set victory over Navaneetha Baskaran at the No. 2 spot.

The NCAA Tennis Championships be-gin May 13 at campus sites to be deter-mined. Alcorn State Braves and the Lady Jaguars of Southern earned the SWAC’s automatic tournament bids.

waShinGtOn, dC—The University of the District of Columbia Men’s Ten-

nis program reached a significant level of success yesterday when Coach Dickie Mahaffey was named the East Coast Conference Coach of the Year and Fresh-man, Miguel Uzcatequi (Electrical Engi-neering Major-Valencia,Venezuela) won the league’s Rookie of the Year Award. The 13 and 5 season (4-2 in the ECC) was an eleven win turnaround for UDC from 2009-10. Mahaffey and Uzcatequi were not the only Firebirds honored as the year came to a close.

Tomas Gajdusek (Jr. Finance Major-

Prague,Czech Republic) made the East Coast Conference Men’s Tennis All-Con-ference First Team along with teammate Bruno Reich (Jr.Business Mgmt.Major-Rio de Janeiro,Brazil). Gajdusek was a strong #1 for UDC all year and Reich won the Rookie of the Week in the con-ference twice during the season.

Uzcatequi and fellow frosh, Carlos Quiroga (Electrical Engineering Major-Valencia,Venezuela) made the ECC Sec-ond Team. Quiroga was ECC Rookie of the Week twice during 2010-11. Miguel

Uzcatequi, besides getting league-wide Rookie Honors was a one time Player of the Week as well as one time Rookie of the Week. He added to his impressive initial campaign with a 13 and 3 record in both third flight singles play and doubles play. Miguel was also the ITA East Regional Men’s B Draw Champion in his first year as a Firebird. Coach Ma-haffey on Uzcatequi’s year: “ Miguel has established himself as one of the tough-est competitors in the East Region. I am looking forward to having him back and

building on this success.”Dickie Mahaffey is in his second year as

head coach of Men’s and Women’s Ten-nis at the University. His strong recruit-ing efforts have brought the Firebirds an impressive two year rise in the East Coast Conference, as well as a No.4 ranking in the East Region of Divsion II Men’s Ten-nis. Mahafffey is a 1995 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and furthered his studies at Georgetown University in Financial and Managerial Accounting. He was hired by Director of Athletics, Patricia Thomas in 2009, coming from Georgetown where he was the assistant tennis coach there for three years.

Mahaffey noted on the occasion of his award: “It’s an honor to be named by your peers. Ultimately it is a testament to the accomplishments and hard work of the team.” About the season past he added: “To say that I am pleased with how the season turned out would be an understatement. Our goal was to go and compete as hard as we could and finish with a winning record. To have our only two NCAA Division II loses come against #26 Queens College (NY) and be ranked #4 in the East Region is truly something to be proud of.”

BaseballGreenSBOrO—An era in North Caro-

lina A&T baseball will come to an end this summer. Effective July 31, Keith Shumate will no longer be the head base-ball coach at N.C. A&T. Shumate offered his resignation to Director of Athletics Earl Hilton on Tuesday.

“This is certainly a sad day for North Carolina A&T Athletics. We’re losing a great baseball coach and an even greater human being from our staff,” said Hil-ton. “While we hate to see him depart, we

support Keith’s decision. He has a fantas-tic knowledge of the game, and we have certainly benefited from it over the years. We wish him all the best in his future en-deavors.”

Shumate came to N.C. A&T in 1997. The year before Shumate’s arrival, the Aggies went 4-45. In 15 seasons under Shumate, the Aggies broke the school record for wins six times, including last season’s 31 wins that earned the program its first ever 30-win season.

“I am extremely grateful to the players, coaches, fans, alumni, administration and colleagues with whom I worked for over the past 15 years,” said Shumate. “I felt strongly that God sent me here when no one wanted the leadership of a strug-gling baseball program. My time here has been one of service while we built a pro-gram.”

Shumate leaves behind a remarkable legacy. In 2005, he led the baseball pro-gram to its only MEAC Championship with a 10-9 win over Norfolk State. The MEAC title game has featured the Aggies 4 out of the last 6 years.

Rebuilding the program became pos-sible because of Shumate’s ability to recruit outstanding players. Shumate has coached 11 players who have signed professional baseball contracts. Five of those players were drafted in the Major League Baseball Draft. Shumate has also coached three All-Americans, three Lou-isville Slugger Freshman All-Americans and 17 different players have earned first-team All-MEAC honors under him.

Two different players earned MEAC Player of the Year honors, and in 2010 Esterlin Paulino won MEAC Pitcher of the Year and Kelvin Freeman earned MEAC Rookie of the Year. Shumate cur-rently has 294 career wins.

fAmU’s Lady rattlers won their last home game this semester against fort Valley State University.

ADAM LAU/THE BATON ROUGE ADVOCATE

Most Valuable PerformerAnton Krutkin, Alcorn StateJo’Vanna gaines, Southern

Coach of the YearAnthony Dodgen, Alcorn State

men

winfried weinbeer, Alcorn StateVishesh Bhatia, Jackson StateJose Luque, Jackson StateJoshua donaldson, Alabama StateEduardo Luque, Arkansas-Pine Bluff

women

Lois Lexis, SouthernKersten Vanem, Alcorn StateArielle Buchmann, Alcorn StateBrittany Harrell, Prairie View A&MKesica Jayaoalan, Jackson StateALL-TOURNAmENT TEAm

TSU CONTACTED ABOUT HEAD COACH: Eastern Michigan contacted Texas South-ern University athletics director Charles McClelland to let him know of the Eagles’ interest in Tigers basketball coach Tony Harvey. Eastern Michigan is looking for a new head coach after firing Charles Ramsey. Harvey was named SWAC Coach of the Year after leading TSU to the SWAC regular season championship this past season and a spot in the NIT.