Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / May 16, 1996, edition 1 / Page 25
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SPORTS/The Charlotte Post Thursday, May 16,1996 For the week of May 14 through May 20,1996 MOVING UP ON TRACK All Pro Sports Photo AT THE RELAYS: Nor folk State sprinters ex change baton en route to 4 X 200 relay crown. T NORFOLK STATE'S NEW SPRINTERS GIVE BOOST TO RECRUITING EFFORTS FSU Sports Photo BURNS: May be re placed as athletic di rector at Fayv. St. UNDER THE BANNER WHATS GOING ON IN AND AROUND BLACK COLLEGE SPORTS BURNS OUT: It appears that Ralph Burns is out as athletic director at Fayetteville State University. Al though no formal announcement has been made, the school is quietly circulating a job vacancy notice for Athletic Director/Lecturer at the CIAA school. The deadline for ap plications is May 24 and the notice requests that applications be sent to a search committee. Burns has served as AD for five years and was named CIAA Athletic Director of the Year for 1994-95. Dr. Willis B. McLeod, the new FSU chancellor, apparently wants to make some changes in the department. TIGERLAND TRAGEDY: Grambling linebacker and All-SWAC selectee Valmond Brown was shot to death last Thursday, allegedly by a former teammate. Gonzales, Louisiana police have arrested Tilicius Irvin and charged him with second-degree murder in the early morn ing shooting at the Darrow Community Center in town. The 20-year-old Brown was shot once in the head and once in the chest and pronounced dead on arrival at Riverview Medical Center in Gonzales. Brown and Irvin played together at East Ascension High School four years ago. MORE WOES: On the same day that Valmond Brown was killed, The Monroe (La.) News-Star announced that the NCAA is about to investigate the Grambling State athletic department. Investigators are interested in informa tion regarding football eligibility and the distribution of complimentary tickets to last November's Bayou Classic. Grambling President Raymond Hicks has described the investigation as "routine." If the NCAA determines that rules violations have occurred, an official letter of inquiry would be sent. IN THE HALL: Eight former stars of college sports will be inducted into the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Hall of Fame May 24 in New Orleans. Festivities will be held in conjunction with the conference's annual Spring Meetings. The 1996 Jjf inductees are Charles K. Barron of Mississippi Valley State (track and field), Roy Curry Sr., of Jackson State (football), Charlie Joiner of Grambling State (football), Rob ert (Bob) Love of Southern (bas ketball), Frederick V. Newhouse of Prairie View A&M (track and field), Franklin Purnell of Alcorn State (foot ball), Bennie Swain of Texas Southern (basketball) and Norman W. Walton II of Alabama State (swimming). BJ GOES HOME: Bradford "BJ" Evans is leaving Maryland-Eastern Shore to take the Sports Infor mation Director's position at his alma mater, North Caro lina A&T. The position has been vacant for the past year since Charles Mooney left the post. * * Grambling Sports Photo JOINER: Recent NFL Hall of Fame in ductee now joins SWAC Hall. WHO ARE THE BEST PERFORMERS IN BLACK COLLEGE SPORTS MORE ROOKIE FREE AGENTS IN PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL FROM BLACK COLLEGES Minnesota Vikings Markco Maddox, Albany State, DB Seattle Seahawks Clarence Benford, Albany State, TE CFL - Calgary Stampeders Aaron Sparrow, Norfolk State, QB BLACK COLLEGES IN THE 1996 NCAA BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS, STATISTICS BASEBALL NCAA DIV I PLAY-IN May 17-18 Bethune-Cookman at Georgia Southern (Best 2 of 3) NCAA DIV I PLAY-IN May 17-18 Southern at Austin Peay (Best 2 of 3) DIVISION ONE BATTING Marlon Stewart, Grambling .449 (2nd) Rory Beauford, B-CC .448 (4th) Maurio Watkins, Fla. A&M .429 (13th) Terrance Daniel, Jackson St. .424 (22nd) STOLEN BASES Mandell Marsh, UMES 30 (11th) Tony Coleman, Grambling 32 (12th) TRIPLES Mike Rawls - BCG 8 (2nd) Corey Wooten, Alab. St. 7 (6th) DIVISION TWO SOFTBALL BATTING NCAA PLAY-IN David Campbell, Shaw .518 (1st) Opening Round Shane Harrison, Va State .482 (7th) Nicholls State 15, Hampton 0 Jason Pipkin, Eliz. City St. .459 (12th) Nicholls State 13, Hampton 0 Omari Venable, Norf. St. .426 (38th) (Nicholls State wins best of three STOLEN BASES (per game) Rico DeGraffenreid, Shaw 26 (1st) series, 2-0) R. Middleton, Miles 26 (5th) DIVISION ONE Stacy Little, Clark 22 (6th) BATTING STRIKEOUTS (per nine outings) Tanisha Kemp, Morgan St. .521 (1st) Oliver Agee, Va. State 13.2 (3rd) JaNina Lee, Morgan St. .435 (351h) HOME RUNS (per game) STOLEN BASES Nathan Davis, St. Augustines 6 (9th) Gina Freeman, SC State 42 (1st) DOUBLES Tonya English. SC State 28 (11th) Rico DeGraffenreid, Shaw 8 (7th) Dominique Harris, Coppin St. 18 (20th) TRIPLES MOST VICTORIES Brad Gardner, Alab. A&M 9 (1st) Tara Midgett, Hampton 21 (17th) Stacy Little, Clark 5 (2nd) HOME RUNS Vance Best, St. Aug's 6 (4th) Tanisha Kemp, Morgan St. 10 (1st) B. Jackson, Sav. State 6 (5th) RUNS BATTED IN Tanisha Kemp, Morgan St. 32 (2nd) JaNina Lee, Morgan St.. 34 (4th) DOUBLES JaNina Lee, Morgan St. 12 (4th) TRIPLES Shawna Williams, FAMU 8 (6th) DIVISION TWO BATTING Jura Gerald, NC Central .492 (12th) Carol Jackson, Fayv. St. .490 (13th) Clara Wright, St. Aug's .485 (15th) STOLEN BASES Kelly Albury, WSSU 38 (1 st) Bridgett Speaks, WSSU 31 (3rd) Michelle Jackson, Shaw 37 (6th) STRIKEOUTS (per seven innings) T. Prezella, Norf. State 9.9 (4th) HOME RUNS Lekita Wilson, Norfolk State 6 (8th) RUNS BATTED IN Yolanda Carter, Bowie St. 41 (1st) Christie Graves, Va. State 40 (3rd) Dawn Penley, Va. State 34 (4th) Payton, Jackson State reach golfing pinnacle Jackson State Sports Photo ANOTHER RECORD SETTER: Eddie Payton has led his Jackson State golf team to the NCAA golf tournament. It's the first time a black college has made the NCAA golf tournament field. LUT WILLIAMS BCSP Editor Eddie Payton's determination and philosophy have finally paid off. His determination to build Jack- son State into a golf power has pro pelled his Tigers into the NCAA Div. 1 golf tournament, the first time ever for a black college team. His philosophy of finding the best players available, regardlessof color, has also been borne out by the success of his unorthodox lineup of linksters. When he took over the program 28 years ago, Payton, the older brother of Walter (yes, that Chicago Bears running back) vowed to build JSU into a golf power. His team's selection to partici pate in the 21-team NCAA Div. I Central Regional Golf Championship tournament May 16-18 in Ann Arbor, Mich, is a step towards the goal. But he's not finished. "We've broken a barrier," Payton said in a USA Today interview, "But we're not going to go away." Of his eight players, three are from Australia, two hail from California, one is from New Mexico and one is from Georgia. Only two are black, including Tim O'Neal, thought to have the most potential of the group. "Coach Payton is probably a better guy than a coach," said Brian Bert, 23, the lone senior on the squad who has watched the program develop over the last four years. "He helps us work on our game but he also helps us handle per sonal problems," he said. Bert, from Cedarburg, Wise., got his degree in business management Satur day. He said his four years at JSU have been "a blast." "I wrote a lot of letters, but Coach Payton was the only one that game me a call," Bert said. "It took me about one semester to adjust to the new environment down here, but since then it's been great. I've always been treated with respect. "I've enjoyed my four years here. If 1 had to do it all over again, no question. I'd make the same decision. It's been a great experi ence and can only help me in the future." And Bert believes the Tiger's future is even brighter. "When I came here the team was just average," he said. "But the better players we got and the more opportunities we've gotten, the better we've gotten as a team." Payton has increased local support of his team and now has his players playing on many of the best courses in the Jackson area. Additionally he has new recruits headed in - two from Canada, one from southern Illinois, one from Virginia and possibly one or two from Sweden. Payton's patience, however, was tested last year when his team was snubbed by the NCAA after finishing with a 298.5 average including a win BCSP Notes COMPILED BY LUT WILLIAMS AND ERIC MOORE DISPUTES ON TRACK: Norfolk state Athletic Director Dick Price, and head track coaches Steve Riddick (men) and LaVeme Sweat (women) met with Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Commis sioner Leon Kerry last week to protest the awarding of the men's outdoor championship trophy to SL Augustine's. Norfolk State went into the final event (4 x 400 relay) of the April 20 championship in Raleigh leading St. Aug's by five points but was disqualified in the event for taunting. That gave first place in the relay to St. Aug's. The victory was worth 10 points vaulting St. Aug's to the title. Riddick argued that both teams should have been disqualified giving the title to the Spartans. Now, NSU officials say a scoring mistake should also have awarded the title to the Spartans. CIAA Compliance officer, Patrick Carter is in the process of reviewing videotape of the meet event by event and retallying the points awarded. Commissioner Kerry had no comment except to say for now the decision of the judges stands. SPRING MEETINGS: The CIAA Spring Awards Banquet will be held in Durham, May 23 at the Sheraton University Center. Coaches awards in all sports will be awarded along with awards for outstanding Athletic Direc tor and Sports Information Director. The Loretta Taylor and C. H. Williams All-Sports Awards will also be pre sented along with the Commissioner's Special Recognition Awards for Most Improved Program. T Workshops for trainers, Sports Information Directors, and a plenary session for the General Assembly are among the items set tentatively for the MEAC Spring Meetings in Greensboro, May 28-31. Also included will be a compli ance seminar, a legislative review, the coaches certifica tion exam and a marketing seminar. New Commissioner Charles Harris will reportedly be in attendance. T The NCAA Div. II Track Championships will be held May 23-25 at UC Riverside. over a team that got in. Not to be denied, Payton came back this year with the same determination that made him a JSU and NFL standout. He improved the stroke average (297) and earned the berth winning the SWAC championship and seven other tournaments along the way. To advance to the NCAA champi onship, May 29-June 1 in Chattanooga, Tenn., the Tigers must finish in the top ten in Ann Arbor. Success in Ann Arbor, however, may prevent them from defending their Na tional Minority Golf Championship in Cleveland, May 19-21. Payton is inves tigating whether after the NCAA regionals, they would have played the maximum amount of tournaments al lowed under NCAA rules. They have won five of the last six Minority Cham pionships. That would be unfortunate because the winner of this year's Minority cham pionship will receive an automatic invi tation to the Golf World Intercollegiate Tournament in mid-October at Hilton Head, S.C. It is one of the largest and most prestigious college golf tourna ments. Last year, 15 of the top 20 colle giate teams participated. Tracking Lewis NorfolkState sprinter Brian Lewis scored a sprint double in the Modesto (Ca.) Invitational on Saturday. He used a fast start and strong finish in clocking a 10.03 second win in the 100 meters. He used the same formula to take the 200 meters in 20.54 seconds, a personal best. Lewis won the Penn Relays 100 meters in 10.24 Lewis flew to Portland, Oregon for Sunday's meet and clocked a 10.21 time in winning the 100 meters there in 58 degree temperatures. Lewis has already qualified for the Olympic Trials set for the new Atlanta Olympic Stadium, be ginning June 20. Another Norfolk State product, Chandra Stirrup has the world's best time in the women's 100 meters this year. She posted an 11.09 in a meet in Martinique. Stirrup runs for Vector Sports but is being trained by Norfolk State men's track coach, Steve Riddick. THE STAT CORNER Norfolk T /Second of a three-part series In Part Two of our series on Norfolk State's move from NCAA Div. II status to Div. I, we examine the challenges and differences in recruiting on the Div. I level. MAKING THE GRADES: THE RECRUITING WARS Norfolk State will have to deal with recruiting changes during the tran- . sition period from Div. II to Div. 1. NSU must follow all Div. 1 recruiting guide lines including the infamous Proposi tions 48 and 16 which have toughened academic requirements for student/ath letes. But there is a down side to the grade requirements for potential Norfolk State athletes. Under Div. I academic qualifi cation requirements, some student ath letes that were admitted to NSU previ ously under it's open admissions policy will no longer be eligible for freshman competition. "There are some disadvantages in terms of some of the students that are coming from some of the less-fortunate backgrounds," said men's cross coun try, track and field coach, Steve Riddick. "A lot of times these students are not academically sound. Prop 48 hurts a lot of the minority students. The SAT is killing them, even though it is not really indicative of how good a student the athlete really is." c Moving on to higher ground Riddick, however, scored a coup last year by signing seven athletes from via thejunior college route. Blinn (Texas) Junior College, a major source of talent for track powers Arkansas and Texas Christian in Div. I and SL Augustine's and Abilene Christian in Div. II phased out its program last year. Blinn had won seven consecutive national junior col lege championships. The signings, and the performances of the signees, have propelled Norfolk State to the front pages of the national track scene. The Spartans wrestled the CIAA Indoor Champion ship from St. Aug's early this Spring and are protesting a disqualification which cost them the outdoor championship. Riddick signed three sprinters from Blinn, Brian Lewis, Tim Montgomery and Ramon Clay. They have been the primary impetus for the Spartans' move into the national spotlight. Montgomery got a win over Carl Lewis in a sprint last Summer in Texas. Brian Lewis, fresh off a win in the Penn Relays 100 meters two weeks ago, followed that up with a sprint double (100 and 200) win Saturday at the prestigious Modesto Relays and a win Sunday at a meet in Portland, Oregon. "This is not supposed to happen," said Riddick of the performances by Lewis over the last two weeks. "It's like Southern beating Georgia Tech in bas ketball. They don't mind us beating run ners from St. Augustine's, but not from Arkansas and Texas Chris tian. " Clay, a junior college 100 meters champion, cap tured the CIAA 200 meters title. Montgomery, who claimed both 200 and 400 junior college titles, won the CIAA 100 meters and had the second best time in Penn Relays 100 meters heats. Both ran legs along with Lewis on winning re lay teams at the Penn Relays. Riddick also landed Blinn's Wayne Whyte, a 400 meters hurdles JC champ, and Junior Mitchell, who finished second in both the 800 and 1,500 in the JC champion ships. "I got sprinters, quarter-milers, middle distance and distance runners all in one," Riddick said. The performances have the track powers questioning the Blinn athletes' eligibility. More than anything else, however, the recent developments have served no tice that there is a new kid on the block - and one these powers are not used to competing against - Norfolk State. "We have an edge," said Riddick, "because we're a good track school, we're historically black, and I'm a former ath lete myself. I just stopped competing in international sprinting in '84, so I can relate. And, this is a sprint university. Notfolk State Sports Photo MILLER: NSU baseball coach prepared for Div. I future. That's our thing." Norfolk State base ball coach Marty Miller scaled the Div. I recruiting walls a year ago bringing in ten new players under the Div. I guidelines. Seven of those players played start ing roles in the Spartans 23- 10-1 season. That was ac complished while the Spar tans played only three games in Norfolk while awaiting the completion of their new baseball facility. The season included wins over Penn State and Liberty and a close loss to Virginia Commonwealth. Head basketball coach Mike Ber nard entered the recruiting season los ing the top four players from his CIAA tournament championship team. So far, the school has not announced any signings. Head Football Coach, Darnell Moore, says he's ready for the chal lenge. When a (high school) coach tells me that a guy is good enough to play Div. II ball, then I'm looking for some one else," said Moore. "I've always wanted the guy that's good enough to play Div. I ball." Part Three: An interview with the President
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
May 16, 1996, edition 1
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