Friday, June 1, 2012

Ethiopia native Holobowicz signs to run for XU Gold Rush

DAVID HOLOBOWICZ
NEW ORLEANS — David Holobowicz, born in Ethiopia but living in Montgomery, Texas, is Xavier University of Louisiana's first men's cross country signee for the 2012 season.

Holobowicz (pronounced holla-bob-itch) was a four-time team MVP for Montgomery High School and will graduate Saturday. He had the third-fastest 4,000-meter time — 12 minutes, 47.7 seconds — during the 2010 U.S. prep cross country season, according to the website MileSplit.us.  Holobowicz qualified four times for the regional meet and twice for the state meet. As a junior he was second-team all district and finished 41st in the state in Class 4A.

In track and field, Holobowicz was a 2011 regional qualifier in the 3,200 outdoors. His best times include 16:03 for 5,000 meters in cross country and 4:41.61 in the 1,600 and 10:00.78 in the 3,200 in track.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

Johnsonville's Turner signs on to play for Claflin in 2012

JOHNSONVILLE, S.C. -- After helping lead her team to a lower state title appearance, Johnsonville’s Keyarah Turner will be taking her game to the next level as a member of the Claflin University volleyball team in 2012.

Turner, a middle setter on one of the school’s most successful volleyball teams in recent memory, will leave behind her time as a Flash to carry out her dreams of studying sports medicine and playing for the perennially powerful Panthers volleyball program.

On Wednesday, May 30, Turner signed to play volleyball for Claflin in the fall, which brought out classmates, friends and family – something that let Turner know why Johnsonville will always be special to her.

“It’s good, but then again, I’m going to miss everybody,” she said. “I don’t really know how to say it. It’s good, but then again, it’s kind of sad. I’m glad to be moving on, but I’ll miss everyone.”

Xavier's Jackson to serve as USA Basketball court coach

Coach Dannton Jackson led Xavier to a 23-9 record in
2011-12  and was voted GCAC Coach of the Year.
NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's Dannton Jackson is one of four selected as a court coach for the 2012 USA Basketball Men's U18 National Team training camp June 5-7 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Jackson, South Carolina's Frank Martin, Chattanooga State's Jay Price and North Carolina Wesleyan's John Thompson will assist the national team coaching staff and the 24 players who will attend the training camp, which will determine the 12-member U.S. roster for the FIBA Americas U18 Championship in Brazil later in the month.

"It's an honor to be able to represent, first of all the NAIA, as well as Xavier and our country," Jackson said. "It will be an honor to work with some of the best coaches in the country, as well as some of the most talented under-18 players in the country. I’m looking forward to the experience and can't wait to get to work."

Jackson is 202-90 in nine seasons as Xavier's head coach with three Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season co-championships, seven 20-victory seasons and six appearances in the Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I National Championship. His Gold Rush were 23-9 this past season, sharing the GCAC regular-season title with Tougaloo, qualifying for nationals for the second straight year and ranking 24th in the NAIA postseason coaches poll. Xavier is the only men's team in the NAIA or NCAA to rank in the top six in scoring defense in its division each of the past five seasons.

The U18 coaching staff consists of Florida's Billy Donovan, Gonzaga's Mark Few and VCU's Shaka Smart.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

Mead, Pieri make Capital One Academic All-District team

JAVON MEAD
MATT PIERI



















NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's Javon Mead and Matt Pieri have been chosen to the Capital One Academic All-District 4 college division men's track and field/cross country team. The College Sports Information Directors of America selected the five-member team.

Xavier has produced six Academic All-District athletes, all in the past four seasons.

Mead, a sophomore from Baton Rouge, La., and a graduate of Baton Rouge Magnet High School, is an accounting major at Xavier with a 3.66 grade-point average. Mead is a two-time All-Gulf Coast Athletic Conference cross country runner who finished third in the conference meet in 2010 and fifth in 2011. He has four top-10 finishes and two top-5s in two years.

Pieri, a junior from New Orleans and a graduate of Brother Martin High School, is a pharmacy major with a 3.79 GPA. Pieri is a three-time All-GCAC runner and was the league's 2010 individual champion. He was a 2011 Daktronics Scholar-Athlete and was inducted into the Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society. Pieri has won a GCAC career-record 10 Runner of the Week awards, four this past season. He has 13 top-10 finishes and nine top-5s in three seasons.

District 4 in the college division comprises athletes in Louisiana, Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee. Xavier and Morehouse (District 5 of NCAA Division II) were the only HBCUs to be represented on the any of the Academic All-District men's track/cross country teams this year. Nominees must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA on a 4.0 scale. They also must have completed at least one full calendar year at their current institution and reached sophomore athletic eligibility. First-team Academic All-District members advance to the Academic All-America® ballot.

Xavier's previous Academic All-District honorees were Kelechi Okoroha in men's basketball, Joe Drexler-Dreis in men's track/cross country and tennis player Terry Richardson (at-large) in 2008-09 and Brianna Dekine in women's track/cross country in 2010-11.

Xavier is a six-time defending GCAC team champion in men's and women's cross country. Both squads qualified for the NAIA National Championships three of the past four seasons, including 2011.



By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

MSU student charged with killing, eating man's brain, heart

BALTIMORE, Maryland - The 21-year-old college student allegedly told detectives that he hadn't just killed the man who'd lived with his family for months, but had eaten his heart and portions of his brain. The victim's severed head and hands were found in the men's Harford County home; more remains were left in a trash container outside a church.

Authorities outlined the macabre circumstances Thursday in charges against Alexander Kinyua, an electrical engineering major at Morgan State University and member of his school's ROTC program, of first-degree murder in the death of 37-year-old Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-Kodie, a Ghanaian national and a former master's degree student.



Kinyua's father reported that Agyei-Kodie went missing last Friday after going for a jog, but the investigation eventually led back to the family home. Kinyua was being held Thursday without bond, and authorities were exploring whether ...

VIDEO: Suspect says he ate victim's heart, brain

VIDEO: Charges against man who says he ate heart, brain of housemate


READ MORE

Accused Maryland cannibal's online postings show him in war paint

BALTIMORE, Maryland - For an image to accompany his "Warrior Syndicate" Internet radio show, alleged cannibal Alexander Kinyua apparently chose a photo of his face covered in green and white war paint.

The show, he said, was for "warriors skilled in combat or warfare … coming together to form a syndicate learning portal for Warrior Clans."

The web page is part of a disturbing online trove on accounts linked to Kinyua, made all the more chilling by charges from police in Harford County that he admitted this week to killing a 37-year-old man and eating his heart and portions of his brain.

MD DISTRICT COURT STATEMENT OF CHARGES
Pictures: Missing man found dismembered, partially eaten

READ MORE 

Brown becomes first female All-American for Claflin University

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina -- Tanekka Brown, a senior from Columbia, SC, has earned the status of All-American in Track and Field. The Sociology major accomplished the feat during the NCAA II National Track and Field Championships in Pueblo, CA, last week. Tanekka finished 8th in the 400M Hurdles with a time of 1:00.87.

TANEKKA BROWN
NCAA DIVISION II ALL- AMERICAN
 SIAC CHAMPION
CLAFLIN UNIVERSITY
 Brown is a four year letter winner for the Claflin University Cross Country and Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field teams.  Tanekka, ran the 100M Hurdles for the past three years finishing 1st in the SIAC Track and Field Championships the past two seasons. That was her specialty until this season when Coach Harry Freeman suggested that she try the 400M Hurdles.  The advice paid off for Taneeka as she won the 400M Championship this spring, which qualified her for the NCAA II Nationals.

Tanekka completed her goal of becoming Claflin University's first women, All-American.  The NCAA II Track and Field All-American obtained the distinction at the NCAA II National Championships.  Coach Freeman said, “Tanekka has become a model for all of the female student-athletes here at Claflin University.  Now women who participate in any sport will be able to not only become an All-American, but a National Champion if they are dedicated and contentious about their sport.  She has set the bar high and is worthy of this distinguished honor.”

Tanneka graduated in May and plans to move to Florida and apply for a coaching position in the track and field profession.

COURTESY CLAFLIN UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
VISIT: CLAFLIN UNIVERSITY
VISIT: CLAFLIN PANTHERS

Banks, Southern U. Men's Basketball set to host camp June 11

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana - Southern head men's basketball coach Roman Banks will host the Future Jaguars Basketball Camp June 11-14 in the F.G. Clark Activity Center.

Campers will learn basketball fundamentals directly from Banks and members of his coaching staff, present and past Jaguar greats. The camp, which is open to students entering the first grade through the sixth grade in the Fall, will emphasis basic fundamentals needed to build a solid foundation for basketball.

Admission to the four-day camp is $70 and is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. A snack for the camp attendants is included.

For more details, contact Rodney Kirschner, director of basketball operations, at 225,771.5609 or via email at rodney_kirschner@subr.edu.

Click here to download the application for the Future Jaguars Basketball Camp.

COURTESY SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS