February 8, 2008
North Carolina Wesleyan College, Rocky Mount, North Carolina 27804
SPORTS
3
With Speedy Lineup, Long’s Team Seeks Return to NCAAs
By Decree Sports Staff
Charlie Long enters this 11th year
as NCWC’s head baseball coach
with an overall record of 258-184-1
(.584). He’s led the Bishops to three
conference championships.
Last season, a year after winning
the conference tournament and earning
Chris Pecora Sports Information Photos
a trip to the NCAA Division III Final
Eight, Wesleyan finished 28-16 overall,
7-5 in the conference. It was elimi
nated by number-one seeded Methodist
in the conference tournament.
In late January, The Decree sports
staff conducted an e-main interview
with Long on his team’s prospects for
the coming season.
Q: First talk about the players you lost
to graduation.
A: Blake Rice, Ben Pearson, Nathan
West, and Mark Wooten graduated last
season. Blake and Ben were our number
1 and 2 starters on the mound and gave
us quality starts every time out. Nathan
and Mark were four-year starters in the
infield. Nathan set a school assist record
at short and Mark was a big force in the
middle of our lineup.
Q: Who are the key returnees from
last season?
A: Our key returnees are Matt Smith
and Chris Pecora. Chris and Matt are two
of the most talented players ever to come
through our program. Matt is on pace to
set the school record for hits in a career
Defensively, they bring a great deal of
speed and stability to our outfield. Our
outfield spots and second base are pretty
well locked down. Third base should
be decided early. We have a couple of
freshmen competing at short, and first
base is wide open. We have two very
good options behind the plate.
Q: Talk about the newcomers.
A: I am excited about our entire re
cruiting class. We have three left-handed
pitchers, Justin Diener, David Krasnow-
iecki, and Max Knowles, that give us
tremendous depth on the hill. We also
have depth in the outfield with Thomas
Sykes, Brad Taylor, Tony Whitehead,
and Daniel Moore. Justin Rahm, Andrew
Webb, and Jason Gay will also help us
in the infield, as well as Zach Alexander
The future looks really bright!!!
Q: How do you like your pitching
going into the season?
A: Our starters will be Ben Moore,
Kyle Robertson, Jon Lucas, Jonathan
Shearon, Doug Roenker, and Justin
Diener I think that we will do some
special things on the mound. As 1 stated
earlier, it will be impossible to replace
the consistency that Rice and Pearson
gave us each time that they went out;
however, as the freshmen mature, the
possibilities look promising.
Q: Who are the teams to beat in your
conference?
Hard Work Leads to Award
For NCWC Nose Tackle
By Jarad Brown
Decree Sports Writer
In a season full of firsts for the
Bishops football team, sopho
more nose tackle Leeron Boykin
added another one by garnering
All-American accolades for the
2007 football season.
An honorable mention
selection, the Warsaw native is
the first player in NCWC’s short
football history to receive the
award.
Boykin’s journey was the
result of hard work. “I mean,
it was running in 100 degree
weather with sweat dripping
down your face, and lifting so
hard in the spring I could barely
walk to class the next day,” said
Boykin. “To me, this award just
means that all of my struggles
and hard work have been paid
Frosh Forward Named
NCWC’s First Soccer
All-American in 20 Years
Freshman Marco Kirsch has been
selected a Division III All-American by
the National Soccer Coaches Associa
tion of America and D3Kicks.com.
Kirsch, a First Team All-Region
and All-Conference selection in 2007,
becomes the sixth Bishop in history to
gamer All-American accolades and the
first since 1988. He was one of five
Bishops to earn All-South honors and
became eligible for All-American status
as a First Team selection.
Kirsch put together a stellar year that
saw him net 15 goals, including six
game-winners, en route to USA South
Rookie of the Year and Third Team
All-American accolades. He finished
the season with the third most points in
NCWC season history with 44, while
his 14 assists placed him second among
season leaders.
(Article courtesy of Sports Information)
off. It’s seven months of hell
turned into heaven.”
The award means more to
Boykin than just a new trophy;
it’s vindication. It vindicates both
his mother and himself. “Off the
field she’s everything to me,” he
said. “She’s my inspiration, I play
for my mom.”
His mother isn’t the only
source of inspiration on the field;
Lseron Boykin sports information Photo
much of his inspiration is inter
nal. “I came from the supposed
bad neighborhood and bad school
and my whole life people told me
I was never going to do anything,
and I feed off of that,” he said. “I
enjoy proving them wrong. Now
I’ve done something and that
can’t be taken away. It just proves
that the kids that are in the same
position I was in have a chance,
and don’t have to be stuck.”
Boykin recorded 29.5 tackles,
with 16 coming for a loss. Whil?
providing stout run defense for
the Bishops, he tied for the team
lead with four quarterback sacks
for a total of 32 yards. He broke
up one pass and recovered one
fumble.
A: There are no easy teams in our
league. The favorite of the coaches was
CNU. I personally like Averett because
they have a couple of lights-out pitchers.
Methodist will always be good because
they are the best coached team in our
league. Shenandoah gets better and better
every year and Ferrum is ranked number
20 in the country right now.
Matt Smith
Q: How important is it to win the
regular season conference title?
A: The regular season title is nice but
the big prize is the conference tourna
ment. If I have my choice, we will win
both; however the conference tournament
gets us in the NCAA playoffs without
any help from voters.
Q: What are the keys to success for
the season?
A: The keys to our success this season
will be health and forcing our style of
play on the opponent. Health is a key
because our #1 and # 2 starting pitchers
are coming off of injuries and you never
know when discomfort might reoccur.
Forcing our style on others will give us
success because of the constant pressure
it puts on the pitcher and the team’s
defense. If we disrupt a team’s rhythm
with our aggressive play, we will put a
bunch of runs on the board. Our style
will be aggressive and exciting. We have
six or seven athletes that can fly and we
will make every effort to make good use
of their talent. We will steal a lot and use
the hit and run to keep the defense on
their toes.
Q: After going to the Final Eight in
2006, last year must have been disap
pointing. What was your overall reaction
to last season? And what can your players
take from last year and apply to this
coming season?
A: Last year was disappointing to a
degree. Even though we played poorly,
we were still able to capture a share of
the league title. I was very proud of the
group, especially the seniors, who helped
us reach this goal. We had several health
issues that held us back last year and
lost focus at points in our season. I hope
that the team realized that we cannot
just show up and automatically win just
because we had gone to the Series the
year before. I am sure that we expected
the journey to be easier That is one thing
that I remember most about our teams
that went to the Series three years in a
row (1997-99). Each year, the determina
tion grew stronger and stronger 1 feel
some of that determination this year in
the juniors and seniors who got a taste of
the Series in 2006.
Women’s B-Ball Team Hopes to Improve
By Jade Johnson
Decree Sports Editor
The Battling Bishops Women’s
Basketball team hopes to improve on a
dismal start this season.
In a recent home game against the
Cougars of Averett University, the
Bishops dropped the ball in a 49-36
loss. Wesleyan’s record fell to 4-10.
Against Averett, Wesleyan led going
into the break, with most of its points
coming from forward, Cheyenne Hall.
Averett took control in the second
half, scoring 17 of its points off of 20
Wesleyan turnovers.
It was a game that saw four lead
changes, as well as 9-26 shooting by
the Bishops from the free throw line.
“If you look at the stats there is a
glaring problem, our free throws,” said
Coach John Brackett. ‘These percent
ages are unacceptable.”
In the recent Methodist game, the
Bishops shot just 20 percent in the first
half which led to a 36-20 half time defi
cit. While Guard Essence Chambers
has been the spark for the Bishops all
season, she was held scoreless in this
match-up.
Nicole Williams was the team’s
leading scorer with 17 points, a season
high for the sophomore guard. Fresh
man Gretchen Tobias managed to sink
10 points and grabbed 5 rebounds.
? t
■
Women's basketball team in
action against Averett Photo by Penrod
On January 26 at Greensboro
College, the Bishops struggled early
in the contest only to rally hard in the
second half with some quick jumpers
and a few key free throws.
The Lady Pride of GC held off
the attack to take a victory of 60-54.
Men’s Basketball Suffers Setback
Against Averett despite Early Lead
It took just three seconds to send a
Irenzied Everett Gymnasium crowd into
a silent state of disbelief.
With three ticks left on the clock,
North Carolina Wesleyan’s Trey Drake
ignited Bishop fans with a game-tying
jumper that was sure to send Wednesday
night’s USA South contest against
Averett University into overtime.
But fans were silenced when a foul
was called against Wesleyan on a
desperation three-pointer at the buzzer
AU’s Jonathan Rumley stepped to the
line and made his first attempt to give
the Cougars a 72-71 come-from-behind
win over the Bishops, who had jumped
to an early 24-point lead.
The Bishops have now lost three
conference games in a row since an im
pressive 123-88 victory over Christopher
Newport on January 12. Its record stands
at 1-4 in the conference, 8-9 overall.
An Averett win looked to be out of
the question early in the game as the
Cougars missed their first 19 attempts
from the floor Wesleyan’s tenacious
defense caused several AU turnovers
and missed shots, while the Bishops
were scoring at will.
Led by the hot shooting of sophomore
Jarmel Arrington, Wesleyan raced out to
a 27-3 lead at the 10:45 mark. Arrington
scored 15 points in the half, knocking
down 3-of-5 three-point attempts.
But the Cougars got on track midway
through the period. Cory McDaniel
converted AU’s first field goal with
10:04 remaining, and Ayerett went on to
out-score Wesleyan 21-8 over the next
10 minutes of play. NCWC took a 35-24
lead into intermission.
The second half saw the Bishops up
their lead to 17 points at 44-27 on a lay
up by Buddy Williams with 16:26 left
in regulation. Wesleyan maintained a
double-digit lead for most of the period
and led by 11 at 64-53 at the 6:06 mark.
Two McDaniel free throws pulled AU to
within nine, and the ensuing 15-4 run by
the Cougars tied the game at 68-68 with
1:11 remaining.
Arrington made l-of-2 free
throws with 43 ticks left to put the
Bishops back on top 69-68, but Rumley
answered with a lay-up less than 20
seconds later to give the Cougars their
first lead of the contest. A Rumley free
throw with nine seconds left set the
stage for Drake’s game-tying 12-footer
But Wesleyan’s excitement was
stifled when Rumley got the in-bounds
pass, took a few dribbles past half-court,
and after a pair of head faikes, launched
a desperation three pointer from the
right side. Then a wave of disbelief
rushed through the crowd as the official
blew his whistle to call a foul as time
expired. Rumley made his first free-
throw to complete the comeback.
The Cougars shot 50 percent from
the floor in the second half and made 21
free throws to the Bishops’ 12.
Arrington led the Bishops with a
game-high 23 points and team-high
eight rebounds. Senior Jarvis Cobb
tallied 16 points, while Lenny Hall had
10 points and four assists.
’ (Article courtesy of Sports Information)
Chambers led all scorers with 17 points
for the game, Williams added 10 and
Hall pulled down 11 rebounds.
Brackett stated that the team has
been playing “very ugly basketball” as
of late.
Even with Brackett’s concerns,
players seem optimistic about the
future. Williams thinks the team needs
to “get more consistent with rebounds
and free throws.”
Chambers feels that her play may be
the boost that the Bishops have been
looking for “If I keep doing well on
free throws, making my lay ups and
playing off principles (fundamental
basketball) we will improve.”
Expanded Intramurals
Offered in Spring
James Randolph
Decree Assistant Editor
In an interview last semester.
Intramural Program Director Alex
Langley reflected on the success of
his past programs and discussed plans
for new events in the current spring
semester including a weekend softball
tournament, a 5-on-5 basketball
tournament, 4-on-4 flag football, and
even a kayaking trip.
“I want the spring semester to be
bigger [and] better,” said Langley
who jumped out the gates by initiat
ing several activities just days after
the students and faculty returned from
the winter break. “My goal is to give
the students something to do [and]
something to get excited about.”
Now weeks into the spring
semester, the intramurals director
has already started several programs
including instructed workouts (group
fitness program) on Monday and
Thursday from 5:30pm-6:30pm and a
volleyball league.
•Langley has scheduled the first
basketball match for the week follow
ing spring break.
The kayaking trip which Langley
has all but completely finalized is
expected to have spots open for 30
students. Other than that, there is a
softball tournament which is still be
ing planned, the billiards tournament,
and perhaps even a weight-lifting
event.
Of course, Langley is not quite yet
out of ideas and has other plans he
has yet to pencil in on his calendar
that is all but filled up; he even
encourages students to pass on ideas.
He said “I’m always looking for
new things; if you have something
you want to do or anything you’re
interested in trying, let me know...my
door is open.”
February 22nd is National
Recreational Sports and Fitness day.
Langley expects to facilitate some
group fitness event to commemorate
the holiday including a T-Shirt
give-away.
(See pg 4 for schedule information)