SportsWeek
February 20, 2014
History-making win
for Parkland girls
BY CRAKJ T. GREENLfcfc
FOR THE CHRONICLE
It's been nearly two weeks since the
Parkland girls' track team made school his
tory by winning the Class 4-A state indoor
championship. It marked the first time that
the school's girls' squad had won a state title
in any sport. The afterglow of victory is still
very evident.
"I'm still taking it all in," said Coach
Antwan Hughes. "I'm so proud of the ladies
and their accomplishment. They've worked
so hard since training started in September
and they deserved to win. All along. I've
been telling them
that they are tne
best team in the
state. Maybe now
they'll believe
me, and hopefully
this will carry
over in every
competition we're
in from now until
the end of the out
door season. We
want to keep rid
ing that momen
tum."
Hughes
Even though
the Mustangs failed to win an individual
title, their group effort proved to be too
much to handle for powerhouse Raleigh
Wakefield, this year's runner-up. On a cham
pionship Saturday, Parkland got the maxi
mum out of its eight athletes. In nine events,
six Mustangs either matched or surpassed
their previous personal bests.
In the track events. Ebony Williams led
the way with second place finishes in the 55
hurdles (8.13) and 300 (39.77). Ratlin
Sherman was third in the 300 (39.83) and
Erin Morrison placed fourth in the 500
(1:16.89).
Strong performances in the jumping
events gave Parkland a decisive advantage in
the chase for the championship trophy. 11a
Mumford finished second in the triple jump
(36-10 Vi) and fourth in the long jump (17
10 y*) while teammates Nateja Hale (35-10
'/S in the triple jump) and Sherman (5-2 in
the high jump) both posted fifth-place finish
es.
Hughes was not surprised with the
Mustangs' showing in the jumps.
"For those on the outside looking in, it
probably came as a shock," said Hughes.
"But that was part of the master plan. Tyrone
Holman (an assistant who coaches hurdles
and jumps) and 1 have talked about that all
season. We felt that if we could do well in
the jumps, it would be the key for us to win
the state. We knew they could do it and they
delivered."
The final tally of points at the state meet
had Parkland edging Wakefield 51 -49 for the
top spot. However, had it not been for a con
troversial call involving the Mustangs in the
4x400 relay, the margin of victory would've
been greater than two points. Parkland fin
*?5 4
ished second in that race behind Wakefield,
but was disqualified.
According to Hughes, officials ruled that
after crossing the finish line, anchor runner
Morrison showed poor sportsmanship when
she threw the baton to the track, supposedly
in anger because Parkland didn't win.
Hughes acknowledged that Morrison did
lose control of the baton, but it was not
intentional.
"The baton just slipped out of her hand,"
said Hughes. "Erin doesn't carry herself in
that manner. She works hard, she's a dedicat
ed athlete and she respects the sport."
Submitted Photo
(Front row, from left) Nateja Hale, Miaysha Bryant and Myshale Spigner with (back
row) Erin Morrison, Ila Mumford, Katlin Sherman, Taniya Rhyne and Ebony
Williams.
j
Salem's Taylor
helps Spirits
dominate
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
The four seniors on the Salem
College Basketball Team were hon
ored Feb. 5 during halftime of the
team's home game against Bennett
College.
The Spirits won the game - the
last home
game of the ^?i
season, -
easily, top
ping the
Belles 111
34. LaSashia
Connelly,
Jasmine
S h a b a z z ,
S a t a v i a
Taylor and
Tiffany
Wildgoose
have had dis
Taylor
tinguished careers at Salem and
helped the team to a 19-4 record this
season.
Taylor was on fire during the
game, scoring 29 points with eight
rebounds, two blocks, three steals
and an assist. Her performance
helped her claim Great South
Athletic Conference Women's
Basketball Player of the Week hon
ors Feb. 3-9.
During'Salem's Feb. 8 85-45
win over Agnes Scott, the Chicago
native went 11-23 from the field and
ended up tallying up 31 points, 11
rebounds, four blocks and two
assists. Taylor continued her superb
play in the Spirits' 84-35 win over
Wesleyan College on Feb. 9. She
scored 30 points just in the first half.
She had 12 rebounds, three blocks,
three steals and an assist in 24 min
utes of competition.
Aggie bowlers ranked 17th in the nation
AAT Pholo
The women
of the nation
ally-ranked
North
Carolina
A&T Bowling
team.
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
The North Carolina A&T bowling team
moved up three spots in the National Ten Pin
Coaches Association poll. The Aggies are
ranked 17th in the nation after going 18-10
between the recent poll and the last poll
released in December.
"Moving up in the rankings is a great feel
ing," head coach James Williams said. "But
again it is just a byproduct of the hard work
the ladies have been putting in and their
understanding of what it is going to take to
maintain their goals."
The Aggies (47-20 overall) were previ
ously ranked 20th in the last poll but they've
been on the move in their last few tourna
ments, taking down some top-ranked teams.
At the Wildcat Invitational in DeLand,
Fla. last weekend, A&T defeated No.l
Arkansas State 952-902. The Aggies also
captured a 984-932 win over No. 15
McKendree. A&T posted the best record at
the tournament by going 10-3 and finished in
third.
In their first tournament of 2014, A&T
competed at the Kutztown Invitational, where
they claimed victories over then-ranked No. 9
Kutztown (1014-966), No. 18 Monmouth
(937-931) and No. 13 Adelphi (803-762).
A&T will host the Aggie Master's
Challenge on Feb. 21-23.
Kids turn in solid performances at rec center
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
The first two weeks of action in Hanes
Hosiery Community Center youth basket
ball action was action-packed.
In the first week of 11-15-year-olds
play, the Heat beat the Nuggets 33-30.
Caleb Burgess led the Heat with 19 points.
Russell Bradley. BJ Mars, Malaci Stowe,
Brendan Adams and Jordan Timmons also
scored. The Nuggets were greatly aided by
Tywan Brown's 15 points. Harry Capizzi,
Dequan Miller, Bryson Reynolds and
Darrius Williams also scored for the
Nuggets.
The Magic beat the Bulls 34-28. Magic
standouts Will Simons dropped 9 points and
Dimaggio Wilson had 8 points. Elijah
Banks. Denaja Fraser. Kendnck Harrison.
Josiah Banks. Aaron Potter and Janea Penn
also scored for the Magic. The Bulls' con- .
tributors were Shamod Samuels, Dre
Leonard, Darion Johnson and Andrew
Gordon.
The Celtics beat the Spurs 42-34.
Peyton Bennett, Tzion Jones, Shaun
Blakeney, Chase Walters, Ben Clasy, Zach
Gibson and Dorian Stone all scored for the
Celtics. Jon Deathridge contributed 15
points to the Spurs' effort. Quan Gatewood,
Ryan Davenport and "tyra Merritt also
scored for the Spurs.
In Week 2, the Nuggets beat the Celtics
43-41, the Magic beat the Heat 45-43 and
the Spurs beat the Bulls 37-31.
In Week 3 of 6-10-year-olds play, the
Wolfpack fell to the Deacons 20-27. The
Deacons' advantage was a strong defense
from Cameron McMillan, Ryan Johnson,
Jaden Jackson, Christian Reynolds and
Kemar Hinson and points scored by Jerelle
Cohen, Laytion Davis, Darren Pegues,
Clalum Davis and Dennis Timmons.
Wolfpack contributors include Jahvaree
Ritzie-Pouncey, Marcus Barossr -Johnson,
Isaiah Crowell, Judah Crowell, Zion Fant,
Jeremiah Torian, Montnell Austin, Jahnaul
Ritzie-Pouncy and Noah Bethea.
In the second game, the Blue Devils beat
the Tarheels 28-25. Christian Sutton, Jerome
Wilson, Steven Harrison, Tyler Lyles,
Christian Green, Adrian Taylor, Dominique
Foreman, Lekendro Pollard, Corey Simons
and Jalen Williams scored for the Blue
Devils. The Taiheels benefitted from tough
pay by Josiah Banks. Mattheah Banks, Tariq
Havscr, Yu'Neke Payne, Ethan Gravley,
Jordan Mack-Perry, Tristian Blaking, Bobby
Shackeeford, Taniyah Walker and Jeremiah
Philps.
? i ii d w i, am 4 i
The Heat
Submitted Photos
The Magic
# ? ,
Feoturlng EnVision
(p-fa, funk and RAfl band)
TURN IT OUT WITH DJ "HOLLYWOOD"
r OF ATLANTA ON THE l'S AND 2'S
Saturday, March 1, 2014
10:00 pm to 2:30 am
www.wssu.edu/tickets
(336) 750-3220