WSSU keeps 'pushing to the top' in women's track
BY CRAIG T. GREENLEE
FOR THE CHRONICLE
When it comes to
women's cross-country and
track and field, this past
school year was arguably
the most productive in
recent memory at Winston
Salem State University.
At the national level,
the Lady Rams had seven
athletes to earn All
America honors (indoors
and outdoors) in individual
events and relays. At last
month's NCAA Division II
outdoor meet, WSSU post
ed a 12th-place team finish,
the best ever in school his
tory.
For the second year in a
row, the Lady Rams placed
stvnnH in th#? nation in thp
4x100 relay. The foursome
of Tajanel McNeill, Raven
Covington, Nya -Michaux
and Ty-Leah Hampton
overcame problems with
baton passes to run a per
sonal-best time of 45.5 sec
onds.
Conference-wise,
Coach Inez Turner's squad,
comprised mostly of mid
dle-distance track runners,
finished one point short of
sharing the CIAA cross
country title with Lincoln
University (Pennsylvania).
This past winter, WSSU
flexed its collective muscle
by winning the CIAA
indoor championships. The
Lady Rams made a strong
run at the league outdoor
team trophy, but finished as
runners-up behind Saint
Augustine's.
Turner readily admits
that she's pleased with all
three facets of the program.
But she makes it clear that
she's far from being satis
fied. "With all that's been
accomplished, I feel happy,
blessed and honored," she
said. "But 1 also know that
we have to keep working
and keep pushing our way
to the top. We're not there
yet."
Even though WSSU
loses nine seniors from this
i/aor th?> ra' c mnra than
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enough returning talent to
assure that the program
continues to grow. Five of
the seven Lady Rams Ail
American just completed
their sophomore seasons.
"The foundation has
been laid," said Turner.
"This program is going in
the right direction. A lot of
credit goes to our seniors.
They left a footprint and
provided a legacy for this
program. Next year, we're
looking to win all three
CIAA championships and
Photos by Craig T. Greenlee
Raven Hamilton
emerged as a prime con
tributor in the 800-meter
run and 4x400 relay.
have a better showing at the
indoor and outdoor nation
als. We've developed a
process here, and it works.
"The easy part is put
ting together the track
workouts. The big chal
lenge is establishing disci
pline, so that they push
themselves every day in
practice. They've started to
"But I also know
that we have to keep
working and keep
pushing our way to
the top. We're not
there yet."
- Inez Turner, Coach
realize that the end results
have a lot to do with what
they do on a daily basis. We
continue to provide encour
agement so that they truly
understand what it takes to
be a champion."
The Lady Rams got
a big boost from two prom
ising prospects this past
season. Since both are
underclassmen who figure
to be around for a few sea
sons. Raven Hamilton, a
sophomore, continued to
improve as she gained
more race experience at the
800-meter distance.
Domtila Kiplagat, a fresh
man distance runner from
Kenya, made an immediate
impact after she joined the
team in January.
Hamilton came to
WSSU as a 200/400 sprint
er from Greensboro
Southern Guilford. Turner
convinced. Hamilton to
move up to the 800 and the
switch paid off handsome
ly.
It didn't take long for
distance runner Domtila
Kiplagat to establish
herself as a formidable
factor for the Lady
Rams.
In her first year as a
novice half-miler,
Hamilton placed second at
the CIAA indoor
meet. Two months later,
she beat the conference
indoor champ (Domenique
Julian-Williams of Johnson
C. Smith) by .11 seconds to
take the CIAA outdoor 800
title (2 minutes, 12.34 sec
onds). Hamilton also ran on
the 4x400 relay that deliv
ered a top-5 finish at the
Division U outdoor nation
als.
"Raven Hamilton
pushed herself and she lis
tened," said Turner. "Those
are the main reasons why
she ended up being an Ail
American. Tliere's no ques
tion that greater things are
in store for her."
Within one month
after her arrival, Kiplagat
proved herself as a budding
star by winning the 3,000
meters at the indoor cham
pionships and anchoring
the Lady Rams first-place
distance-medley relay
team. Kiplagat also quali
fied for indoor nationals in
the 5,000 and finished 18th.
- During the spring, Kiplagat
won the 1,500 and 3,000
meter races at the confer
ence outdoor champi
onships.
"Domtila came in
and we threw her right into
the fire," said Turner.
"What she was able to
accomplish in four months
is unbelievable. I can't wait
to see what she'll be able to
do with a full season of
training. She's a tough
minded athlete whose
future is very bright."
Future
from pageHl
says a lot about her skill set
and what she's capable of
doing in the future."
This spring,
Sherman, who signed with
UNC last November, fell
short in her efforts to dupli
cate another state champi
onship sprint double. Even
so, there were two memo
rable sequences from 2015
that revealed much about
Sherman's competitive per
sona.
At the state indoor
meet in February, Sherman
put on an impressive dis
play in the 4x400 relay.
Initially, Sherman led the
pack on the second leg, but
she seemed to be overcome
by fatigue.
In the meantime,
Leesville Road, Raleigh
Wakefield and Cary took
over as the ffontrunners.
Sherman, however, wasn't
finished. With about 300
meters to go, she ran down
three people to put the
Mustangs back in front.
One of the three runners
was Layla White of Cary,
the defending state outdoor
champ at 400 meters.
Parkland ended winning
that relay in state record
time.
In the finals of the
100 meters at the state out
door championships,
Sherman appeared destined
to finish third. Tamara
Clark of High Point Central
and Sydnei Murphy of
Apex, held the lead for
most of the race. The out
come changed drastically
when Sherman bolted past
the leaders over the final 10
meters to win in a photo
finish with personal best'
time of 11.53 seconds.
"When those runners
went past me in the 4x400
at the state indoor meet, I
made up my mind that I
wasn't going to go out like
that," Sherman recalled. "I
left everything I had on the
track. In the 100 finals, I
kept telling myself, 'gotta
win. gotta win.' As I got
closer to the finish line, I
put all my focus on picking
up my knees and pumping
my arms as hard as I
could."
For now, Sherman is
taking a track sabbatical of
sorts. She continues to
train, but will not engage in
any competition for the
first time in three years.
The vacation is welcomed
and well deserved. Since
early March, Sherman had
been hampered to some
degree due to an ongoing
ankle injury, which pre
vented her from being
totally healthy.
"It's been a long time
since I took any time off,"
said Sherman, who main
tained a 3.7 grade-point
average as a senior.
"Physically, mentally and
emotionally, I needed to get
some rest. The reason I
continue to train is so I
won't get destroyed during
workouts when 1 get to
Chapel Hill. I know that
college workouts are no
joke and I want to be ready
for that."
Sherman, who plans
to major in exercise sport
science, looks forward to
the future with eager antic
ipation. There's no doubt in
her mind that Chapel Hill is
right place for her to be.
"My first reason for
choosing UNC is academ
ics," she said. "When I
made my visit, I felt like 1
was accepted right away by
the team, coaches and other
staff members. Not only do
I get to go to school in my
home state, but I have a
genuine opportunity to help
create another dynasty like
Parkland. I'm confident
that Carolina will provide
everything I need to help
make that happen."
Photo by Craig T. Greenlee
Parkland's Katlin Sherman (second from right) came on strong at the end to win the 100-meter dash at this
year's Class 4-A state championships.
Slugger
frontpage B1
That's a plus. When 1 lived on the other
side of the country (West Coast), I'd eat
fast food nearly every night."
This season got off to a wobbly start
for Jacobs, who struggled at the plate with
a .180 batting average in his first 16 games
with the Dash. Since then, it's been a vastly
different story. Jacobs has raised his aver
age by 93 points and was hitting a team
high .273 at the start of this week.
The former Glenn star recently granted
"SportsWeek" some interview time to dis
cuss his career in pro baseball.
SW: Describe your journey as a pro
athlete up to now.
Jacobs: It's been one, big growing
experience. I learned a lot about myself
and how to handle adversity. When things
didn't go my way, I learned how to keep
my head up. Aside from that, I learned how
to make the most of the opportunities that
come my way.
SW: Any advice for athletes who
want to turn pro right out of high school?
Jacobs: A lot depends on the athlete
and their situation. If he has the talent and
the opportunity to go far, then I say go for
it. Work as hard as you can and keep your
eyes on the prize.
SW: What's one of the. most impor
tant lessons that you've learned?
Jacobs: I'm glad that my dad
[Eugene Jacobs] taught me how to fight -
how to keep on going and not give up.
That's very helpful in a game like baseball,
where there's a lot of failure.
SW: How's that?
Jacobs: In baseball, the best of the
best fail seven out of 10 times. So, there's
a need to know how to deal with adversity.
It takes strength and fortitude to keep mov
ing forward. It all comes down to the belief
you have in yourself. I thank God for every
opportunity I've ever had.
SW: What's been your biggest
challengeJacobs: The main thing in base
ball is consistency. The guys who are the
most consistent are the ones playing in the
big leagues. It s not necessarily the ones
who are the most talented. It's the ones
who go out and play, compete, put up good
numbers and do something to help their
teams win on a daily basis.
Throughout the years I've been play
ing - little by little - I've picked up bits of
information that's been very helpfiil. Even
when you're not at your very best, ypuJjg
ure out ways to still be productive. That's
very important to remember because it's a
long season. We play a 140-game sched
ule.
SW: What are some of those other
ways to make an impact on the game?
Jacobs: You might not be able to hit
a home run, but you can move a runner
over, or hit a sacrifice, or score a run for
your team. The guys in the big leagues
always find ways to win ball games.
SW: Looking back over your base
ball career, is there anything you would do
differently?
Jacobs: Not really. But I have
thought about that a few times. Of course,
I'd like to have had more success earlier in
my career. But in looking back, I can see
that everything I've gone through has
helped to make me who I am now. I'm
pretty happy with myself as a person. I
might not be content with my situation, but
I'm never complacent.
SW: You had some exceptional sea
sons in the California League. This year,
you're hitting for average, but your power
numbers aren't quite the same (2 home
runs, 21 RBIs at press time). What's been
the difference?
Jacobs: There's no difference in the
pitching from last year [California League |
to this year [Carolina League]. As for my
power numbers being different, that's just
baseball. You could be doing the exact
same things at the plate with the exact
same swing. But the numbers might not be
the same every season. There are guys in
the Majors who hit 40 home runs last year.
But so far this season, they've only home
red two or three times.
SW: So, how do you get back to
playing at the level you were at a year ago?
Jacobs: You have to keep working,
keep grinding. My swing doesn't feel as
gooid as it has in the p^st. But that doesn't
mean that things won't turn around real
soon. I'm doing a lot of good work with
our hitting coaches, trying to find a good
routine.
When 1 was in spring training I hit
balls everywhere - not over the fence - but
a lot of hard line drives. Since I've been
here, I've gotten a little off of what I was
doing during spring training. With the time
I'm putting in with my coaches, it will
hopefully carry over to game situations
like it should.
SW: You're closing in on a career
milestone for home runs. Were you aware
of that?
Jacobs: That was first brought to my
attention after I hit my first home run here
(April 29). Prior to that, I really hadn't
given it any thought at all. Yeah, it would
be cool for me to hit 11 more home runs
this season and make it an even 100 for my
career.
SW: What is it that you most want
to accomplish this season?
Jacobs: When I think about it, it's
not about the season, it's about the career.
I just want to reach my full potential. It
might not be this year. It might be next
year, or the year after.
What it all boils down to is for me to
keep working hard. My prime goal is to
prove that I can play and compete at the
highest level.
In spring training I played with
Charlotte's Triple-A team [Knights], I got
the opportunity to play against a lot of
players who are on the 40-man rosters of
Major League teams. I played against them
and did real well. That just sparked a fire
and let me know that I really can do this.
Jacobs has committed no errors this season as the Dash's everyday first
baseman.