The Pen, March 1997 page 7
Pitching is season's
key, says Coach White
DOING HER BEST- Lady Falcon Basketball player and senior,
Kimberly Johnson-Best, poses with ‘Falcon Pride. ’
Hail to a Lady Falcon
By Lisa Johnson
Last season the Lady
Falcons’ Basketball Team
recognized nine senior players
for developing their intercol
legiate careers on the
women’s basketball team.
This year Kimberly Johnson-
Best is the team’s only senior
player.
This 5 foot 8 inch guard
and forward from New
Orleans, Louisiana, whose
past intercollegiate athletic
career was at Delgado Junior
College, stepped into the _
Lady Falcons starting line-up
last season where she aver
aged 12 points and 5 re
bounds per game; She was
also named the the team’s
Most Valuable Newcomer.
Johnson-Best, one of the
team’s co-captains, has
performed an average of 16
points and 8 rebounds per
game as a starter for the Lady
Falcons this year.
Head Coach Beverly
Downing and assistant
coaches, Dorothy Neal and
A1 Lunsford, along with
Johnson-Best’s teammates,
salute her for her services to
the college as a basketball
player and model student.
“We wish her the best of
luck for a blessed future as
she soars to greater heights,”
. says Coach Downing.
Married to Joseph Best, a
player for the men’s basket
ball team and senior at St.
Aug, the business administra
tion major is a veteran in the
U.S. Army Reserve.
Her hobbies include
playing tennis and singing.
By Maurice Clarke
After a third place finish
in last year’s Central Colle
giate Athletic Association’s
(CIAA) baseball tournament,
Falcon’s head coach Henry
White says that pitching will
be the key for the team this
year.
The baseball team began
its 1997 season February 14,
with a three-game road series
against Paine College, Pfiffer
College and Benedict College,
National Collegiate Athletic
Association (NCAA) Division
II schools.
“We know what we have to
do,” adds Coach White. “Our
pitching staff will determine
how far we go in the season
as well as the CIAA tourna
ment. A team is only as good
as its pitching staff, and if our
pitchers don’t perform well, it
will only hurt the team. It
doesn’t matter how much
offense we generate, our
pitchers will dictate how well
we do as a team.”
While Coach White is
looking at his pitching staff
for success, he is still mindful
that leadership will have to
come from a group of junior
players who he expects to do
well.
“Leadership will have to
come from people like Vance
Best, Tommy Bullard,
Costello Oxendine, Derek
Frye and Calvin Whitaker,”
continued Coach White. “All
of these guys are juniors.
They’ve been there soe they
know what they have to do to
be a good squad. These are
the guys who I hope will take
an active role in pulling this
team together and providing
some sort of leadership out
there (on the field).”
Best, who was honeored
by the CIAA as an All-
Conference player last year,
says that in order for the
team to be successful this
year, they have to focus more
as a team,
“Last year we were
young, and we made a lot of
mental mistakes that
eventually cost us some
games and a third place
finish in the tournament. If
we can cut down on some of
our mental mistakes, we will
be hard to beat,” adds Best.
The Falcons will play 12
road games before playing
host to Elon College in their
season home opener which is
scheduled for March 13. It’s
a long season ahead for the
Falcons, but Best is optimis
tic that they will represent
the college to the best of
their abilities.
“We know what we have
to do. It’s just a matter of
going out there and doing
it,” adds Best. “My goal
when I came here was to win
a CIAA championship, and I
know that’s the goal of my
teammates as well. We all
know that it is not going to
come easy, and I feel that
Coach Henry White
each player knows that we
have to give 110 percent if we
are going to be successful.”
While Coach White stresses
the importance of having a
good pitching staff, he also
notes that team leaders such as
Best, Oxendine, Frye, Bullard
and Whitaker will have to step
forward both on and off the
field. Best, who is willing to
accept the challenge of being a
team leader, adds that contrib
uting leadership will have to
come from persons such as
Dave Cloud and Sam Moore.
Best also agreed with
Coach White that pitching will
play a pivotal role in how far
the team goes this year.
“Your team is dictated by
your pitching staff,” continued
Coach White, “and if our
pitchers perform well, then
everything else is going to fall
into place.
Giscombe knows track!
By Rukel Faulcon
As the Indoor Track
Season approaches, there is
a particular runner with
her feet firmly on the
ground.
Andrea Giscombe, the
23-year-old Jamaican
athlete, has been at St.
Augustine’s college for two
years. Giscombe’s events
are the: 55 hurdles, long
jump, and 4x400.
At the Indoor NCAA
Tournament last year,
Giscombe came in second
with a time of 7:86 in the
55 hurdles, 3rd in the long
jump, and along with her
teammates Prisca Phillips,
Karen Constable, and Joy
Ann Eli, she won the
4x400 event.
In Outdoor last year she
ran the 4x100, won the
long jump, 400 hurdles,
and came in third for the
100 hurdles. With all these
accomplishments under
her belt, she has set even
higher standards.
TRACK: Andrea Giscombe relaxes with a track trophy.
Giscombe's goals include
winning the 55 hurdle,
4x400 and the 400 and 100
hurdles. With a combination
of her coaches' talents and
wisdom, she will meet those
set goals. This education
major has a lot going for her.
She is successful on the track
and in the classroom.
The Dean's List student
says, “I like it over here but it’s
too cold." Her main goal is to
go back home!
Former St Aug music chairman, 86, dies
A WINNER- Robert Wallace won the half-time three-point
contest and a $1,000 scholarship at the Homecoming game.
Albert Grauer, Ph.D.
former head of St. Aug’s
music department, died in
Williamsburg, Va., Feb. 9.
Dr. Grauer was 86. He
served as choir director and
organist on campus from
1957 through the early '70s.
Dr. Grauer received his
M.A. in Music from Western
Reserve University in
Cleveland, and his Ph.D.
from the Eastern School of
Music in Rochester, NY.
He taught at St. Augustine’s
for 18 years and was a member
of the Torch Club and the
Intercollegiate Music Associa
tion.
He was a member of Bruton
Parish Episcopal Church.