June 13, 1985
Page B2
SPORTSWEEK
Roundups,
columns and
Sports Beat
Twin City boxing has bad
By DAVID BULLA
Chronicle Sports Editor
Unwinding
Kent Hardee ponders future of beleaguered boxing program; an overworked Hardee (six fights in
six months) has not decided whether to go through with his next fight, scheduled for next Friday
in Atiantic City, N.J. (photo by James Parker).
The tornado that touched down in East Winston
last week didn’t leave the community a disaster
area.
But it was if the violent storm carried some force
with it that wrecked havoc on the community’s box
ing programs.
Indeed, that force scored a technical knockout in
what must rank as one of the worst weeks for Twin
City boxing in recent memory.
To put it mildly, the times are not good for
Winston-Salem boxing.
Two weeks ago the Patterson Avenue YMCA
closed its doors. The boxing program there has not
been invited to the new Winston Lake Family YM
CA.
Norman Joyner, the executive director at
Winston Lake, suspended all “special interest”
programs until the fall, when a decision will be
made on which of these programs will be maintain
ed. He wants to concentrate on implementing core
programs in the new facility’s first summer.
Joyner, who transferred to Winston-Salem from
Los Angeles, will give each “special interest” pro
gram the chance to show it merits
the Winston Lake YMCA. Program
their worthiness by showing that Ht
sustained and foster good relations »||
munity.
Until the Winston Lake YMCA niakt
on such activities as boxing, the olt
Avenue program exists out in the stren
No Place To Train
will
This brings us to the reason Winstoj,'
ing took it on the chin last week.
Because Coach James Ford,
venerable Austin Benjamin two
place to train his boxers, the old Pattai
program was unable to send one of itsbi
Greg Boykin - to the American
regional in Atlanta last weekend, Sinci
shut its doors. Ford has had his
at Hanes Park.
“1 can understand Coach Ford
put Greg in there green,” said KentH®
duct of the Patterson Y program who
College Notebook
By DAVID BULLA
Chronicle Sports Editor
The Hampton University men
and St. Augustine’s women
repeated as winners of the Cen
tral Intercollegiate Athletic
Association All-Sports Trophies.
Norfolk State finished second
in both competitions.
The Hampton men totaled 165
points, Norfolk had 152, J.C.
■ Smith 136, Virginia State 136 and
Winston-Salem State 125.
The St. Augustine’s women
outdistanced Norfolk State 95-88
to take the title for the third con
secutive year. The Falcons won
four sports, including indoor and
outdoor track and field, cross
country and volleyball. Hampton
was third with 82. J.C. Smith had
74 points, Shaw 64 and Winston-
Salem State 60.
St. Augustine’s Harvey
Heartley was selected as the
ClAA Athletic Difector of the
Year by his peers. The Falcons, in
addition to the four women’s
titles, won the men’s indoor and
outdoor track and the cross coun
try championships.
“My winning is not as much
my doing as the fact we’ve got a
good, solid program with good
athletes,” said Heartley, who
also won the award last year.
“The fact that the administration
and the athletic department have
worked together over a long
period of time has resulted in our
success. They know what it takes
to win regionally and
nationally.”
St. Augustine’s women cap
tured the NCAA Division II in
door track and field during the
winter. It was the first national ti
tle under Heartley, but there have
been many top-four finishes in
track, basketball and volleyball.
For example, the Falcon men
finished third and the women
fourth in the outdoor track
championships last month,
Heartley is also the coach of
the men’s basketball team, which
was in the Division II finals last
year. St. Augustine’s lost to Cen
tral Missouri State 81-77.
batted in for a Brave team that
posted a 23-14 record and cap
tured the division championship.
Grambling State dominated
the all-conference selections. The
Tigers, who posted a 36-16-1
record and were eliminated by
Texas 4-3 in 12 innings in the
NCAA Division I playoffs, plac
ed seven players on the squad, in
cluding Eric Taylor, Juan
McWilliams, Darryl Blanks, Ira
TieuI, Leonard Webster, Gary
Eave and Martin Foley.
Also on the team was Earl
Sanders, a sophomore at Jackson
State who is the SWAC’s best pro
prospect for next June’s free-
agent draft. Tim Stargeil of
Southern and James Harris of
Alcorn round out the team.
Women’s Conference
Six Southeastern colleges have
formed the New South Women’s
Conference.
The league, which becomes the
11th female-only Division I con
ference, consists of Florida
A&M, Central Florida, Stetson,
Georgia Southern, Georgia State
and Mercer.
S.C. State Signees
South Carolina State has sign
ed a pair of North Carolinians to
track scholarships.
They are Rodney Harris of
Durham and Tonya Filmore of
Charlotte. Both specialize in the
400-meter run.
Bulldogs Set Record
SWAC Baseball
Infielder Jesse Jackson of
Alcorn State heads the
Southwestern Athletic Con
ference all-conference baseball
team.
Jackson, a freshman from New
Orleans, batted .458 in 118 at-
bats for the Eastern Division
champions. The second baseman
had 14 extra-base hits and 25 runs
The Alabama A&M women set
an NCAA Division II record in
the 400-meter relay at the recent
outdoor nationals at California
State-Los Angeles.
Cherylann Bourne, Cefornia
Polk, Fredricka Wright and Dan-
nette Young were timed in 44.93,
which is 0.09 seconds faster than
their previous best.
Young ran a 22.85 in the 200,
which would have been a Divi
sion II record were it not for a
following wind.
Happily, she later ran a 22.92,
which was good enough for the
record. It broke the old standard
of 22.97, set by Sherri Howard of
Cal State-L.A.
The Bulldogs finished third in
Please see page B8
Please see page B4
Hampton, St. Augustine’s
capture all-sports awards
Catch Me If You Can
Giant third baseman Carlos Gregory, left, squeezes a pop fly
in a Twin City Little League game at Rupert Bell Park Satur
day; teammate Tyrone Leach, right, scores and sees how
another teammate fares at third base. See resultsofi
City games in the Local Sports roundup on pageBij
by James Parker).
The Sports Column
Wflson attempted changes as Florida A&M
By BARRY COOPER
Syndicated Columnist
You may not have heard of Roosevelt
Wilson, the athletic director at Florida
A&M. After all, athletic directors never get
credit for anything. Blame, yes. Credit, no.
At black colleges, athletic administrators
perform a thankless job. They deal with a
demanding public and with resources so
small that the task of fielding sports teams
never can be done right.
Wilson knows what it is like to buck those
odds. That’s one of the reasons he’s throw
ing in the towel. He is one tough fighter who
has decided he’s had enough.
The Rattlers’ former boss was perhaps the
most controversial athletic director in the
history of black college sports. Sure, that’s a
strong statement, but it is fitting because
Wilson made strong stands.
It was Wilson who guided the Rattlefs
through their painful withdrawal from the
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. It was
Wilson who defiantly announced that the
Rattlers would stop playing arch-rival
Bethune-Cookman College in football. It
was Wilson who refused to back down when
the Florida Board of Regents, which governs
the state’s colleges, tried to tell him how to
run FAMU’s athletics.
Wilson may have often stood on shaky
ground, but he was always a genuine rock of
“Whether he made good
decisions or bad,
whether he was compas
sionate or determined,
Wilson tried to make
things happen. ”
determination. He defended what he
thought was right for FAMU. If the public
didn’t like that, well then, the public could
go take a leap.
But now Wilson has quit. Hoorays may go
up in some MEAC towns. That league wants
FAMU back, and league Commissioner Ken
Free saw Wilson as one big stumbling block.
The obstacle has been moved.
There may also be some applause in
Daytona Beach, Fla., where Bethune-
Cookman College is located. Wilson dealt
B-CC a tough hand each year in football
game negotiations, but now he will no longer
sit at the war table. It is unlikely the next
Rattler athletic director will be so tough.
Throughout black college sports, Wilson
was known as a no-nonsense administrator
who would battle tooth and nail for every
advantage. Some people didn’t like that.
especially those who have
since handshake agreements wei(|
schedule a contest.
1 he world of business is notw
anymore, however, and Wilsi®
that as soon as he took office fi*
People’s resistance to changes*
ideas is one of the frustratW
behind. ,
Florida A&M, and indeed alkl
lege athletics, will miss Wilson,
made good decisions or bad, win
compassionate or determined,
to make things happen.
He tried to bring about chanS*'
that clings to tradition. He I
historically black school into tbt
of intercollegiate athletics. It **
Wilson found a hostile cons®
that he could not buck. The c®
feet of the endless battles t
toll. Some even think Wilson |
longer, healthier life now
that*
from the FAMU pressure cooW
That is apparently what WiW
ed to do - get out from
Florida A&M will miss him.
Wilson’s departure is anothei
Rattlers’ athletic program.
SevK
ago, FAMU President Waite*
was firmly committed to athld®
Please see pago
Bi