Seniors
/torn pagt B1
coach Billy Kennedy is
excited about the possibili
ties for next season.
"Deshawn gives us
another talented and versa
tile guard who is capable of
playing all three positions
on the perimeter," Kennedy
said on the Texas A&M
web site. "He's an out
standing defender and has a
great ability to penetrate
and get into the paint. His
toughness, size and athletic
ability are going to have a
big impact on our team ."
In national media cir- '
cles, the acquisition of
Corprew is viewed as a
major accomplishment for
Texas A&M. According to
a report filed on the
Bleacher Report website,
the former QEA star is
expected to make his pres
ence felt right away. Here's
an excerpt:
"Especially at this stage
of 2016 recruiting, snag
ging Corprew is a big move
for the Aggies. He should
help the team on both ends
of the floor as A&M looks
to make another deep run
in the NCAA tournament.'*
Corey Evans of the
Roundball Rundown
Report wrote:
"Big late addition for
Texas A&M landing
Deshawn Corprew. Tough
and hard-nosed. Two-way
producer. One of the best
availables left in 2016."
In Purvis and Stagg, the
Jones County Bobcats have
a pair of productive for
wards who figure to make
an immediate impact.
According to coach
Isaac Pitts of QEA, both
had offers from lower-level
Division schools, but
decided to go a highly
regarded junior college
program like Jones County
in order to enhance their
chances to be recruited by
the major programs after
playing two seasons at the
JC level.
At 6-7, Purvis is a bit
undersized at power for
ward. But because of his
game smarts and lower
body strength, he's able to
more than hold his own
against taller players in the
paint. At QEA, hie emerged
as a fierce inside presence
at both ends of the floor.
Purvis is also a skilled ball
handler who can bring the
ball up-court against press
ing and trapping defenses.
Stagg, a lengthy 6-8
small forward, is a lethal
shooter from 3-point dis
tance. Defensively, he's a
menacing presence who
can guard all three posi
tions on the perimeter.
The college scouts got
a glimpse of what Stagg is
capable of during the final
round of the Grind Session
National Championships.
In QEA's 82-74 loss to
Victory Rock Prep, Stagg
delivered a game-high 28
points on 4-of-S field goal
shooting and 6-of-8 on 3
pointers.
P Photos by Craig T. Greenlee
Atkins senior Tony
Davis will run college
track at East Carolina as
a freshman walk-on.
Track
from page B1
degree toward the end of
the season as Kyna
Robinson of Southeast
Raleigh and Maya
Singletary of Hoke County
started posting faster times
to emerge as legitimate
challengers.
"My ultimate* goal
coming in for today was to
break the (state-meet)
record, everything else was
secondary," said McNeill.
"When I looked at their
times in the 200,1 noticed
that we were about equal. I
felt that they would like to
get out fast just like I do, so
I paced myself a little bit
and was able to finish
strong."
Entering his final sea
son at Atkins, Davis enter
tained thoughts about being
a state champ, but not in
the open 400. His goal was
to win a title as part of the
4x400 relay.
At the state meet, Davis
got out of the blocks quick
ly and ran strong over the
first 300 meters and held a
slight edge over Hobbton's
Raekwon Bryant coming
out of the final turn. Bryant
closed the gap by a meter,
but Davis responded with
another burst and pulled
away to win by about four
meters in a personal best
time of 49.65 - which is
.09 off the school record set
by Dyronne Mabry at the
Class 2-A state outdoor
championships in 2010.
"It still hasn't hit me
that I just became a state
champion," said Davis,
who will join the track
team at East Carolina as a
walk-on next fall. "It's
always been a goal of mine,
but I never thought I'd get
it individually.
"This (state champi
onship) is the biggest goal
I've ever set for myself that
I have actually accom
plished. Now that I've
done this, it has opened up
a wide array of what I can
see myself doing in the
future."
In the 800, Kankula
seized the lead immediate
ly and carried the pack
through with a time of
57.94 for the first lap.
Going down the back
stretch of the gun lap, pre
race favorite Travis
Gallimore of South
Davidson pulled even with
Kankula and the two ran
stride for stride until the
final curve. Gallimore
started to pull away, but
Kankula, who ran a season
best 1:59.57, discovered an
extra reserve of energy and
bolted past Gallimore over
the final 15 meters to take
the victory.
"Before the start of the
race, I made a vow to
myself that I wasn't going
to lose," said Kankula. "I
felt that I could beat him
(Gallimore), so that's what
I was able to prove. But the
challenges are not over for
me. There's more for me to
overcome. I'm not going to
get cocky with this win
because I know that next
year, somebody can take
me down."
Smith controlled both
of her hurdles races from
start to finish. In the 100
hurdles, Asia Henry of
Ivanhoe Union closed the
gap near the end, but it
wasn't enough and Smith
ran 15.40 to earn her first
medal. It was more of the
same in the 300 hurdles.
By the eighth hurdle,
Smith was in total com
mand'. Zoriah McDonald of
Whiteville started to make
up some -^stance, but
Smith held steady to win
comfortably in 47.05 and
McDonald was the runner
up at 47.55.
"I struggled a little bit
in the 100 (fifth-place fin
ish), but as for the hurdles,
that means everything to
me," said Smith, who also
played on Prep's basketball
team for two seasons. "I
still have another year to
come back (to states) and
maybe break a record. I
feel that there are a lot
more opportunities for me
to keep getting better at
what I do. This season was
great."
Sprint relay champs
All season long,
Parkland ranked in the
upper echelon of the Class
4-A girls 4x200 relay. The
Mustangs, however, had
never beaten a Southeast
Raleigh foursome that was
No. 1 in the state.
The heavily-favored
Bulldogs' title hopes van
ished when they were dis
qualified for a baton
exchange violation. In the
meantime, Parkland
(Destiny Hill, Shanone
Cannon, Kimani Davis and
McNeill) took full advan
tage and won easily in 1
minute, 37.05 seconds over
runner-up Raleigh
Wakefield.
In Class 1-A, Winston
Salem Prep had visions of
repeating as state champs
in the 4x100 and 4x200.
That vision took a hit when
the Phoenix was disquali
fied in the 4x200 because
of a false start. Prep (Llyric
Mack, De'ja Reid, Daziah
Brooks and Yazmin
Chatman-Wallace) domi
nated the field to win com
fortably in 50.98 seconds.
State track medal winners
GIRLS
Class 1-A
Ashya Smith, Winston-Salem Prep (1st, 100 hurdles;
1st, 300 hurdles)
Llyric Mack, Winston-Salem Prep (1st, 4x100; 2nd,
triple jump)
De'ja Reid, Winston-Salem Prep (1st, 4x100; 2nd,
long jump)
Daziah Brooks, Winston-Salem Prep (1st, 4x100)
Yazmin Chatman Wallace, Winston-Salem Prep (1st,
4x100)
Kennedi Gilliam, Walkertown (2nd, 4x100)
Imani Coltrane. Walkertown (2nd, 4x100; 3rd, high
jump)
Star Moore, Walkertown (2nd, 4x100)
Leslie Hayes, Walkertown (2nd, 4x100)
Class 2-A
SyKonza Evans, Carver (2nd, 100; 4th, 200; 4th, long
*
jump)
LahShanell Enrus, Carver (4th, 300 hurdles)
Class 4-A
Madeline Kraft, Mount Tabor (3rd, 4x800)
Leah Messenkopf, Mount Tabor (3rd, 4x800)
Jenna Lineberry, Mount Tabor (3rd, 4x800)
Tiara Patterson-Mills, Mount Tabor (3rd, 4x800)
Kimani Davis, Parkland (1st, 4x200 relay; 3rd, 100
hurdles
McKinley McNeill, Parkland (1st, 400; 1st, 4x200;
4th, 200)
. Destiny Hill, Parkland (1st, 4x200)
Shanone Cannon, Parkland (1st, 4x200)
Sarah Timberlake, West Forsyth (3rd, high jump)
BOYS
Class 1-A
Tony Davis, Atkins (1st, 400 3rd, 4x200)
Jeremy Kankula, Atkins (1st, 800)
Matthew Rogers, Walkertown (2nd, 1,600)
Marcus Williams, Walkertown (4th, 4x100)
Marcus Adams, Walkertown (4th, 4x100)
Haji McDaniel, Walkertown (1st, triple jump; 4th,
4x100)
Bryan Reaves, Walkertown (4th, 4x100)
Garrett Whitaker, Atkins (3rd, 4x200)
Jonathon Haggler, Atkins (3rd, 4x200)
Haywood Peebles, Atkins (3rd, 4x200)
Jacob Cobbs, Winston-Salem Prep (4th, long jump)
Class 4-A
Jordan Johnson, East Forsyth (3rd, long jump)
Cameron Robinson, Mount Tabor (2nd, 4x800)
Ian Foley, Mount Tabor (2nd, 4x800)
Cameron Ponder, Mount Tabor (2nd, 3,200; 2nd,
4x800)
Kenny Kneisel, Mount Tabor (1st, 1600,2nd, 4x800)
Joseph Ibrahim, West Forsyth (1st, high jump)
Seth Clybum, West Forsyth (2nd, high jump).
Austin Harrison, West Forsyth (3rd, discus, 4th. shot
put)
Season
fmm page 81
?
Winston-Salem State
(30-23) recently finished
* what proved to be a stellar
season in which it
* advanced to the NCAA
J Division II playoffs. Over
? the course of the season.
; the Rams struggled to
_ maintain consistency.
Coming down the final
; stretch of games, however,
they peaked and played
! their best ball of the season.
* "I was very pleased
* with our effort towards-the
* end of the season," said
* Gray. "Everyone embraced
their roles and played to
* their individual strengths.
During CIAA champi
! onship. they finally real
* ized how successful they
I could be."
* The Rams' marquee
* player, Mercedes Hargett,
' will return for her senior
' season. Hargett tossed a
' no-hitter in the conference
! tournament and finished
; the season with a 20-11
? pitching record, 2.69 ERA
[ and 6.4 strike-outs per
game. At the plate, she was
r
i was very
pleased with our
effort towards the
end of the
season."
- Lalkya Htftiurd Cray.
Crack
equally dominant with a
.314 batting average, 29
RBIs and 7 home runs.
Hargett is a two-time All
CIAA pick and was voted
conference tournament
MVP for this past season.
Hargett won't have to
carry this team on her
shoulders. She has ample
help from a veteran crew
which features Chyna
Riley, 'Rebecca Demko,
Melissa Carillo, Katherine
Zimmer and Idaysha
Quinones (17 stolen bases).
Among the Rams' new
comers. Destiny Snipes
and Tiarra Delaney deliv
ered in grand fashion.
Snipes, (hit 297, 31 RBIs,
4 home runs, 10 stolen
bases), made Division II
All-Region and was a
CIAA All-Rookie selec
tion.
"I knew what Destiny
was capable of when we
recruited her," said Gray.
"Not only does she hit the
long ball, but she has the
kind of speed that really
helps us on the base paths
and in the outfield. We
need to do more to help us
take full advantage of her
speed. Now it's only a mat
ter of her continuing to
build on what she has
already accomplished."
Delaney turned out to
be a major surprise for
WSSU in her first season.
The sophomore who trans
ferred from South Carolina
State finished strong with a
.378 batting average and 21
RBIs.
"Tiarra was a big sur
prise," said Gray, "She did
n't get much playing time
at South Carolina State.
But at the conference tour
nament, she was our desig
nated player and she came
through with some timely
hits. As a hitter she's devel
oped the ability to move
base runners and she's able
to get on base and make
things happen."
nmo by Craig T Clraralii
WSSU's Tiarra Delaney (5) beats a throw to home plate to score a run in a
game against Bluefietd State this spring.
mmm