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Photos by Craig T. Gittnkt Marcus McKoy hit J14 in his final season of prep baseball. Marcus McKoy was an All-State pick as a senior at Calvary Baptist Day School. Pitcher from page Bl son, McKoy, who bats from the right side, hit .314 with two home runs and 13 RBIs. It's been a fruitful season for McKoy, an All-State pitcher and two-time all-league pick in the PACIS 2-A Conference. McKoy attracted much interest from college scouts and he recently chose Winston-Salem State over Wake Forest, UNC, East Carolina, Elon, N.C. A&T, UNC Asheville and UNCG. "There were several factors I looked at in my decision to sign with the Rams," he said. "I can stay at home and . play college ball, plus the coaches really wanted me. Not only that, but they have a great place to play (BB&T Ball Park, home of the Winston-Salem Dash)." The baseball transition from high school to college has already started for McKoy. From late May through late July, he'll play with the Thomasville-based HT Locos, a developmental wood-bat summer team made up of college players. Coach Kevin Ritsche of WSSU is confident that McKoy will make an impact in his rookie year of college ball. "Marcus is a talented competitor with tremendous up side," said Ritsche, whose team fell two games short of advancing to this year's Division II College World Series. "He's got size and is very athletic. I see him coming in and contributing right away as a pitcher and at other posi tions." McKoy's high school career was nearly derailed before it ever started. He missed two full seasons at West Forsyth because of injuries. As a freshman, he suffered a concussion when he was hit in the eye by a baseball during pre-game warm-ups. The aftermath of the injury was so severe that he was forced to sit out the entire season. A year later, during an early-season game, McKoy broke his leg in two places after sliding into home plate from third base. This was another confidence-crushing injury, another disappointing ending. McKoy transferred to Mount Tabor, hoping to get playing time. The Spartans had a deep roster and as a result, he would have to wait for an opportunity, which never materialized that year. Rather than staying at Mount Tabor for what would've been his senior year, McKoy opted to attend Calvary and reclassify. By doing so, he was granted an added year of eligibility which mean he could play for two years. "Making that move was the most memorable thing that happened for me in high school," said McKoy. "1 finally got in a situation where I could play as much as I wanted. That gave me the opportunity to show what I could do. "1 always looked at those injuries at minor setbacks. It challenged my mental toughness. But I have such a love for the game and 1 wanted to play in college. That's why I kept coming back." Lady Rams jhmmpage SI The women listened and they prospered. Winston-S^em State deliv ered several stellar per formances at the nationals held last week in Allendale. Mich. In the team stand ings, the Lady Rams tallied 18 points to finish tied for 12th in the country, the best in school history. Seven of the eight WSSU athletes who qualified for the nationals placed among the top nine to earn All America honors. "The day went extremely well," said Turner. "We came in ranked 26th (as a team) and ended up 12th. That's a big step for us. It's a strong indication that the program is headed in the right direc tion. Not only is this is a boost for the ladies who made Ail-American, but it provides added motivation for those team members whp didn't qualify for nationals this year." WSSU's best showing came in the 4x100 relay. For the second year in a row, the Lady Rams fin ished as the national run ners-up. Tajanel McNeill, Nya Michaux, Raven Covington and Ty-Leah Hampton clocked their best time of the season (4S.S seconds) in spite of having problems with baton exchanges. Entering last week, WSSU was ranked fourth nationally in this event. "They were far from perfect with the baton and yet, they still ran 45.5," said Turner. "As coaches, we preach all the time that there's no reason to panic if things don't go smoothly with baton passes. They stayed calm and they exe cuted." In the 4x400 relay, the Lady Rams have taken a quantum leap. The four some of Ro'Daijah Faucette. Raven Hamilton. Hampton and Tametns Morrison posted a surprise fifth-place finish with a time of 3 minutes, 43.64 seconds. Prior to the nationals, they were No. 9 in the country. Turner is excited about the possibilities for this relay event in the years to come. All four runners are sophomores who have two more years of college eligi bility remaining. "This group came to the nationals with a hunger to do well." she said. "They were so determined that they would run fast enough to make it W Photos by Craig T. Greenlee Tajanel McNeill closed out her college career as a 5 time Ail-American. Coach Inez Turner, WSSU women's track coach to the podium and be rec ognized as Ail-Americans." Morrison, who anchored the 4x400, turned in the top individual finish for the Lady Rams. She fin ished fifth in the 400-meter hurdles with career-best time of 59.22 seconds "Tametris was awesome," said Turner. "There was no question that she really wanted it (All-America sta tus). She's all heart and guts. The way she per formed at the nationals is just the beginning. Next year, I'm expecting greater things from her." McNeill closed out her college career as a 5-time Ail-American (indoors and outdoors) at WSSU. She ran the lead leg on 4x100 and placed seventh in the triple jump (40-feet, 3 Vi inches). Covington, this year's CIAA indoor champion at 60 meters, was ninth in the 100-meter dash (11.82). Based on what transpired in the preliminary round, she was expected to post a higher finish. Covington, ranked 19th before the nationals, ran a personal best of 11.55 in the prelims, which is also a new school record. In the 100 finals, though, a recurring arm injury which has hampered Covington all season sur faced. As a result, she was n't able to run up to her capability. "I'm not making excuses," said Turner "But Raven hasn't had the opportunity to compete a full season without injury, so that's something that we'll continue to work on. Raven has overcome the odds. A year ago, she ran 12.1 in the 100 and now she's much improved." back, there wasn't a lot of time left in the season. "The key for him is that he has a big heart and he's ferocious when it comes to training. During those few weeks, he got stronger and faster. It was easy to see that he's just scratching the surface. I can't wait for fall practice to start." At the time of Patterson's return, the Wolfpack had two regular season competitions remaining before the con ference meet. Even though it was small window of opportunity, Patterson made it work to his advan tage. A week before the ACC, he qualified for the open 400 (48.46 personal best) with a third-place fin ish in the Duke Twilight meet and he also won the 200 with a personal-best time of 21.64 seconds. "With me being out for all those weeks, I thought I'd be red-shirted," said Patterson, a Business Administration major. "Fortunately, I had a speedy recovery. Even with such a late start, I thought I could still qualify for the ACC. "In my first meet back, I ran 48.6 (in the 400) and missed qualifying by a tenth-of-a-second. So, I felt real good about my chances when it was time V for the next meet. I learned a lot about patience this year." "You come to under stand that as long as you keep working hard, the desired results will come at some point. This was a pro ductive year. I just took everything one step at a time. My sickness was the only setback." This summer figures to be a pivotal time for Patterson. Even though he'll be a sophomore next school year, he'll still be a virtual freshman in terms of running the intermediate hurdles. The last time he ran hurdles was his senior year of high school. Patterson won't run in any hurdles races this summer. Instead, he'll engage in Ards' work outs which are designed to re acquaint Patterson with the technical and timing aspects of the event. Ards declined to reveal what her specific time expectations are for Patterson in the intermedi ates. One widely-accepted rule of thumb for predict ing a time, is to add 1.5 to 2 seconds to the hurdler's best time in the open 400. Given that frame of ref erence, and assuming that Patterson has no injuries, the potential is there for him to run in the high 49s, I low 50s, which would place him among the league's top five (based on times at the ACC meet ear lier this month). Patterson embraces the challenges the event presents. "It's a difficult race," he said. "You have to stay relaxed and not get over anxious. Just trust in your technique and training, and don't over-think it. The 400 hurdles is a fight to the fin ish." In high school, Patterson didn't become a full-time hurdler until his junior year. As a senior, he was fifth in the 300 hurdles at the state outdoor cham pionships and fifth in the 55 hurdles at the indoor state meet. That same win ter, Patterson was the state runner-up in the 300-meter dash. "Coming out of high school, it was hard to tell just where we might put him," said Ards. "He hadn't run that many open races. But we knew he had all the tools. Given Shannon's confidence and his willing ness to work, I expect him to do well as a sophomore. He ran a 47 (seconds) split in the 4x400 relay at con ference. and he's going to improve on that. Who knows what would have happened this year if he hadn't gotten sick?" * ' Photos by NC Stale Athletics Expectations are high for Shannon Patterson as he moves forward in his col lege track career.
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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