WSSU Fhuo by OanM
Oam
The Rami
beat-up oh
Skippentburg
on Saturday.
a
Almost Doesn't Count
Rams want championship this season
BY CRAIG T. GREENLEE
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Pleased, but hardly satisfied.
Winston-Salem State whipped
Shippensburg (Pa.) 37-14 in the sec
ond round of the NCAA Division II
football playoffs last Saturday. And
while the Rams do have cause to cel
ebrate, there;s still no reason to get
overly excited.
Why not?
Every player on the WSSU roster
knows that there's so much more to
accomplish.
The Rams victory marked the first
time that a black college football team
has ever won a postseason game in
back-to-back seasons. That's impor
tant to note because black colleges
are typically one-and-done in the
football playoffs.
Winston-Salem State, ranked No.
2 nationally, looks to keep its postsea
son hopes alive when it faces Indiana
University (Pa.) in the quarterfinals at
Bowman Gray Stadium on Saturday
(noon kickoff).
Middle linebacker Carlos Fields
realizes dial dwelling on last year
isn't going to help WSSU win the
grand prize - a national champi
onship. The Rams came close a year
ago in reaching the semifinals. But a
deflating home loss to Wayne State
(Mich.) kept them out of the champi
onship game and wrecked their title
plans.
"None of us are thinking about
what happened last year," said Fields,
who recorded a team-high eight tack
les vs. Shippensburg. "Yes, we almost
got it done, but now it's another sea
son. It's important for us to keep
moving forward. To get what we're
after, we have to do more (than last
year). That's why we're not worrying
about history."
Shackle factor 'D'
Any concerns about Winston
Salem State's ability to handle a high
scoring offense were answered last
Saturday. Shippensburg averaged
49.6 points
and 550.8
total offen
sive yards a
game. The
Rams
defense,
however,
went into
padlock
mode and
forced five
turnovers. In
the process,
they limited
the Red Raiders to 280 total yards and
a pair of touchdowns.
"Our offense feeds off of our
defense," said WSSU defensive end
Justin Wilkerson. "They get momen
tum when we force turnovers and
when we stop the other team's
offense with three-and-outs."
Even though Shippensburg put
points on the board, one could reason
ably argue that the Rams defense
pitched a shut-out. The Red Raiders
scored when linebacker Brian
Somber picked off WSSU quarter
back Anthony Carrothers' pass and
ran it bade 63 yards. In the late stages
of the first half, Blair Brook returned
a kickoff 86 yards and Shippensburg
scored three plays later.
"When I look at the stat sheet and
see that Shippensburg ran 78 plays
and had 280 yards, that's pretty
good," said Winston-Salem State
Coach Connell Maynor. "If our
defense can play better than that, I'd
like to see it."
IUP vs. WSSU
Both teams play swarming, suffo
cating defense, so don't expect a
high-scoring game. Most likely, the
final outcome will hinge on
turnovers, special teams and field
position.
Indiana relies on a time-consum
ing ground game that features Harvey
Tuck and De'Antwan Williams, who
have combined to rush for 2,866
yards and 25 touchdowns. IUP has an
efficient passing game with Mike Box
(1,215 yards and 12 touchdowns),
who has thrown only two intercep
tions.
Winston-Salem State has enough
offensive balance (Carrotbers,
Maurice Lewis, Jameze Massey and
Jahuann Butler) to pose problems for
IUP. Yet, it's crucial that the Rams
avoid ' turnovers and protect
Carrothers, a Grambling transfer who
played well last week as a stand-in for
starting quarterback Kameron Smith.
The Crimson Hawks, who allow
11.85 points per game, rank among
the national leaders in scoring
defense and they have a ferocious
pass rush (34 sacks). IUP's defense,
however, is not invincible.
May nor
Synchronized swimming championships coming to G'boro
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
The Greensboro Aquatic Center
will host USA Synchro's 2013
SwimOutlet.com U.S. National
Synchronized Swimming
Championships from April 9-13.
More than 200 swimmers from 30
teams across the country are
expected to take part.
"We're really looking forward
to returning to Greensboro," said
Terry Harper, executive director of
USA Synchro. "The city and the
facility engaged the entire commu
nity for our Olympic Trials last
year. They do an outstanding job."
USA Synchro was established
as a nonprofit organization in
1977, and is the United States's
national governing body for syn
chronized swimming.
Spectators have been awed by
the grace and power of synchro
nized swimming since the incep
tion of the sport in die early 1900s.
The inaugural synchronized
swimming U.S. National
Championships were held in 1946,
just one year after the Amateur
Athletic Union (AAU) first recog
nized the sport. A few years later,
the 19SS Pan American Games
included synchronized swimming
events, and the World Aquatic
Championships soon followed.
After almost 40 years of concerted
effort, synchronized swimming
was at last included in the Olympic
r Games in 1984, with the United
States winning the first solo and
duet Olympic gold medals.
The GAC hosted the U.S.
Synchronized Swimming 2012
Olympic Team Trials last
November, and in August of 2011,
the U.S. Synchronized Swimming
National Team participated in the
Greensboro Aquatic Center's rib
bon-cutting ceremonies.
LI?A
SYNCHRO
Middle school boys hear from Aggies
Photo by KovtnL Donty
Aggies running back Chauncty Burgess poses with AUen Middle School
students.
- i ? ' 1
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Eighteen members of the North
Carolina A&T football team spoke to
male students at Allen Middle
School in Greensboro during "Meet
the Aggies Day" on Monday, Nov.
17.
The players talked about being
student-athletes and also addressed
topics such as manhood. Many of
them shared personal testimonials
about what led them to where they
are now.
Junior safety Travis Crosby, for
example, told the boys that he had to
make the right, but difficult, decision
to focus on his grades and athletics
instead of hanging out with friends
and doing the wrong things. Senior
defensive end Tony Mashburn told
the students how he made the effort
to stay away from being academical
ly ineligible. Now, he is on track to
earn his degree.
i_
ACC
honors
for Deacs
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Wake Forest juniors Michael Campanaro and
Nikita Whitlock each earned All
ACC second team honors, while
freshman punter Alexander Kinal
earned honorable mention honors.
Campanaro, a 5-11 wide
receiver from Clarksville, Md.,
had a tremendous season despite
missing two and a half games with
a broken hand. Campanaro caught
79 passes for 763 yards and six
touchdowns. His average of 7.9
catches per game is the second
best average in ACC history
behind Torry Holt, who had a 8.00
catches per game in 1998 at NC
State. Campanaro tied the school
record with three touchdown
receptions in the win over Boston
College and also tied the ACC
record for most catches in a game
with 16. He has caught at least
one pass in each of the last 22
games he's played.
Whitlock, a Wylie, Texas
native, earns his second team All
ACC honors for the second
straight season. Like Campanaro,
he missed two games due to injury
but still finished with 51 tackles
and 5.5 tackles for loss. His three
sacks also ranked third on the
squad.
Kinal made his Demon Deacon
debut this season a memorable
one. A native of Adelaide, South Australia, Kinal
punted an ACC-record 95 times, breaking the old
mark of 90 set by Dan DeArmas of Maryland in 1991.
He finished with an average of 40.7 yards per punt and
downed 28 punts inside the 20, which is the most by a
Demon Deacon since 2001.
L1H JJ
Whitlock
r ,1
Klnal
WSSU's Howell
spends time at U.S.
Olympics headquarters
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Evanna Howell, a senior sport management major at
Winston-Salem State University (WSSU), was one of IS
college students from across the nation selected to partic
ipate in the 2012 F.L.A.M.E. Program sponsored by the
United States Olympic Committee.
F.L.A.M.E. (Finding Leaders Among Minorities
Everywhere) was held in October at the U.S. Olympic
Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. It provides
students with an in-depth look at the Olympic Movement
and personal explo
ration of the Olympic
ideals of excellent*,
friendship and
respect.
"It was certainly
an eye-opening expe
rience," Howell
said. "The stories we
heard were inspira
tional and seeing
how the movement is
really like a family
was awesome. They
kept telling us that
once an Olympian
you are always
Olympian, never a
former or past partic
ipant."
The five-day pro
gram allows the stu
dents to reside and
eat alongside U.S.
Olympians.
Evanna Howell with DarUmyon
Crockett, a Judo Paralympian
and Bronze medalisti at the
2012 London Games.
Paralympians and hopefuls. While the students selected
have already demonstrated a pursuit of excellence, they
are provided the opportunity to further their personal and
professional growth through unique seminars and wo&
shops with athletes as well as USOC and National
Government Body leaders.
"We were able to have one-on-one conversations with
athletes and with chief officers of the Olympics and the
various sports," Howell said. "Everyone is just so passion
ate about being there. They were even passionate about
just coming to talk to us."
While Howell said while the entire program was
remarkable, hearing and meeting Teresa Edwards was cer
tainly a highlight. Edwards, a five-time Olympic medalist
in basketball, was chef de mission (head of mission) of the
2012 U.S. Olympic Ifeam.
"I was so impressed with die dedication of the ath
letes," she said. "One of the fencers lives at the Draining
Center and cams his room and board by giving tours. Not
only did he give us a tour of the center, but he gave us a
fencing demonstration. Then, we were able to put on all
the equipment and try it"
Howell, a Chancellor's Scholar, plans to cam an MBA
after her undergraduate work is completed. Her ultimate
goal is to work for an NBA team and eventually owning
her own event planning business that works with athletes
and athletic teams.
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