Hampton lacrosse coach, players to hold clinic in Baltimore on Saturday

BALTIMORE, Maryland -- When Lloyd Carter steps on the field Saturday morning at Carroll Park, he will have flashbacks of many other days spent there.

As a former head coach at Northwestern High in the late 1990s, he and City coach Anthony Ryan spent a lot of time working with young African-Americans to develop and spread the game of lacrosse.

Nothing has changed much through the years.

Carter, 58, is returning to the city as head coach of Hampton University, the first team at a historically black college or university to play at the Division I level.

Carter and his Hampton players, in conjunction with Charm City Youth lacrosse, will hold a clinic to teach skills, run scrimmages and then speak to the children about the importance of an education.

"We're going to board the bus around 5 or 5:30 and get there to work," Carter said on Thursday. "We tried to work something out last year, but got started too late. But this year, we worked on a time and this is a good way to help others."

"I've done this before with Blax Lax [a club team he formed with Ryan in 2002]and this is my way of reaching back into the community," said Carter, who played lacrosse at Morgan State University in 1977 until the school dropped the program in 1981. "It's a win-win situation for everybody."

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End to N.C. Central’s spring practice has championship feel

DURHAM, North Carolina – The North Carolina Central football program will look to the 2017 season Saturday afternoon before taking a look back at its 2016 success in the evening.

The Eagles will first conclude spring practice with their annual “Maroon vs. Gray” intrasquad game at O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium. Then members of last year’s team will be honored and presented with MEAC championship rings at a ceremony inside McDougald-McLendon Arena.

Coach Jerry Mack guided the Eagles to a 9-3 overall record and an 8-0 mark in the MEAC. They went on to play in the Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl, losing to SWAC champion Grambling State 10-9.

Mack said his team’s goal this spring has been to develop younger players for new roles and to improve the fundamentals of the veterans.

The Eagles figure to be especially strong on defense, where ,,,

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Richard selected NAIA National Player of the Week

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's Antoine Richard was named NAIA National Player of the Week in men's tennis Wednesday — his third honor in two days.

Richard, a freshman from Laval, Quebec, and a graduate of Le Tremplin School, was named Tuesday as Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week. Wednesday at XULA's Athletic Honors Night, Richard received the Male Athlete of the Year award.

Richard earned the NAIA award after winning 5-of-6 decisions April 10-16, including a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5) victory against West Florida's Alex Peyrot, the third-ranked singles player in NCAA Division II. Richard became the first NAIA singles player of 2017 to beat an NCAA Division II opponent with a top-10 national ranking, and he gave Peyrot his only home singles loss of 2017 (nine decisions).

Another notable effort was in the Gold Rush's 7-2 home victory against William Carey, the NAIA's sixth-ranked team. Richard won in doubles and singles, including a 6-1, 6-0 triumph against NAIA No. 14 Vladyslav Ladygin.

Richard is the ninth XULA athlete to receive NAIA National Player of the Week, the fourth in men's tennis and the first in that sport since Corey Huggins in 2012. Richard's GCAC award is his third of the season.

The Gold Rush, 10-5 and ranked second in the NAIA, will travel to the University of New Orleans for the regular-season finale at 2 p.m. Monday.

XULA's NAIA National Players of the Week
Season Sport Name Year Date
2009-10 Women's Basketball Brittany Powell Senior Jan. 18-24, 2010
2010-11 Men's Tennis Zach Taylor Junior April 25-May 1, 2011
2011-12 Men's Tennis Loic Didavi Junior April 2-8, 2012
2011-12 Men's Tennis Corey Huggins Junior April 9-15, 2012
2011-12 Women's Tennis Kourtney Howell Sophomore April 23-29, 2012
2012-13 Women's Tennis Olivia West Sophomore March 25-31, 2013
2014-15 Women's Tennis Caroline Vernet Freshman March 30-April 5, 2015
2015-16 Women's Basketball Trana Hopkins Senior Feb. 22-28, 2016
2016-17 Men's Tennis Antoine Richard Freshman April 10-16, 2017

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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Nuggets sign 2 more, including state-champ sprinter

\NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana announced Friday the signing of Ariel Bell of White Castle, La., and White Castle High School and Lauryn Taylor of Sairburn, Ga., and Booker T. Washington High School to athletic scholarships. Both will compete in volleyball; Bell also will be a sprinter in women's track.

Bell is a three-time LHSAA Class 1A outdoor state champion in the 100-meter dash. In 2016 she tied the 1A meet record of 11.91 seconds in that event. In volleyball she was first-team all-district as a senior. Bell is a 5-foot-7 outside hitter.

Taylor, a 5-9 right-side/outside hitter, helped Booker T. Washington reach the quarterfinals of the GHSA Class AA state playoffs her senior year. Academically she ranked among BTW's top five percent each of her four years, and she has compiled 400 hours of community service.

Bell — XULA's fourth volleyball signee for next season — will major in business, and Taylor will major in chemistry/pre-pharmacy.

XULA is a member of the NAIA and the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference.

2017-18 XULA Volleyball Signees
Name Pos. Ht. Yr.* Hometown High School
Ariel Bell # OH 5-7 Fr. White Castle, La. White Castle
Eva Le Guillou S 5-9 Fr. Velizy-Villacoublay, France Emmanuel Mounier
Jaida Dowd OH 5-8 Fr. Aurora, Ill. Metea Valley
Lauryn Taylor RS/OH 5-9 Fr. Sairburn, Ga. Booker T. Washington

* XULA athletic classification in 2017-18
# also will compete in track and field

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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Still No. 1: The SWAC tops all FCS schools in attendance

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is still number one in attendance for football games.

The SWAC remained the top-attended conference in the NCAA Div.-I Football Championship Series (FCS) for the 2016 season with a total reaching 678,355.

As a league, the SWAC averaged 14,132 in attendance in its 48 home football games, an increase in average of 1,309 per contest.

The Missouri Valley Conference were next in attendance as it drew an average of 11,095 in its 61 home games. The SWAC outnumbered the MVC by over 1,500 in total attendance despite playing in 13 fewer contests.

The Big Sky ranked third with an average of 9,719.

The SWAC has been the FCS leader in attendance in 38 of the previous 39 years and its most highly attended games did not factor into the figures. The Magic City Classic between Alabama A&M and Alabama State drew over 70,000 fans at Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala., the Bayou Classic drew 67,845 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, La., and the State Fair Classic between Grambling State and Prairie View A&M drew 53,182 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, TX.

Five schools from the SWAC ranked in the top 20 with Jackson State ranking fourth in attendance among FCS schools (19,660) followed by Grambling State (16,335) in 10th, Alcorn State (14,343) in 13th, Southern (13,678) in 16th and Prairie View A&M (12,194) in 18th.

The SWAC also saw the greatest increase in average attendance (1,309) among all Division I schools including FBS conferences.

The SWAC Championship between Alcorn State and Grambling State drew 24,917 to NRG Stadium in Houston, TX.



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Grambling State AD hires Director of Compliance

Tiffani-Dawn Sykes
Assistant Athletics Director for Compliance

GRAMBLING, Louisiana -- Grambling State University Athletics Director Paul Bryant added another important piece to his staff in his on-going effort to improve the GSU athletics program.

Bryant has hired Gramblinite Tiffani-Dawn Sykes as the assistant athletics director for compliance, effective Monday (April 10).

"I am so happy to have Ms. Sykes as a part of the University's team," said Bryant. "Her knowledge and experience in college athletics, particularly in compliance, will allow us to operate within the guidelines of the conference and NCAA. She will be committed to ensuring that the university and athletics staff are compliant in our approach to educating our student-athletes. We are very fortunate to have her at the helm of our compliance department."

"I am very excited to return to Grambling State University, a place that is very special to me," said Sykes. "As an alumna of GSU, I know how much our athletic program means to the Grambling community. I look forward to serving Grambling State University, its student-athletes, coaches and athletics staff for many years."
Sykes returns to her alma mater after four years as the NCAA Eligibility Specialist for the Norfolk State University athletics department, where she was responsible for evaluating degree audits and other academic records in an effort to ensure conformity with NCAA initial, transfer and continuing eligibility regulations. She also assisted with Academic Performance Program (APP), Graduation Success Rate (GSR) and other NCAA academic reports.

Prior to NSU, Sykes spent three years as the director of NCAA compliance at Chowan University from 2010-13. There, she was in charge of certifying all student-athletes for NCAA eligibility while coordinating the NLI and scholarship processes for the athletics department. Additionally, she was a member of the department's senior staff and the sport supervisor for bowling.

Sykes also has extensive sports information experience, having previously served as the sports information director at St. Paul's College (2002-06) and Virginia Union (2006-09). In 2009, Sykes served as the interim assistant sports information director at GSU and as the sport management specialist at the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) in 2010.

Sykes graduated cum laude with a bachelors of science degree from Virginia State in 2001, where she lettered in volleyball and track and field. She currently serves as the National Vice President of the VSU Alumni Association.

The Portsmouth, Va. native earned her masters from Grambling State in 2010, where she graduated summa cum laude. Sykes completed the NCAA Leadership Institute for Ethnic Minority Females in 2007 and is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., the National Association of College Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and the Women Leaders in College Sports, formerly NACWAA.

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JOURNEY TO THE NFL: Former DSU standout Gabe Sherrod prepares to turn pro

PERRYVILLE, Maryland — Gabe Sherrod’s football career has been on an upward trajectory ever since he first stepped on the field to play Pop Warner football at Perryville Middle School.

It’s been a gridiron journey that included a trip to the 1A State High School Football Championship as Perryville’s senior quarterback in 2011, earning All-MEAC first-team honors as a defensive end at Delaware State University in 2015 and, most recently, strapping on a helmet as a fifth-year senior for Big Ten powerhouse Michigan State University.



Now, as he turns his attention to making the jump to the NFL, Sherrod has returned to the place where it all began: Cecil County.

“I’m going into unprecedented territory in that not a lot of people that I know, except for Larry Webster, made it [to the NFL] from this area, so I thought it was only right to come home and train around people I’m familiar with,” said Sherrod, referencing Elkton graduate Larry Webster, a defensive end drafted by the Detroit Lions in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. “This, after all, is where everything started and how I was able to branch out to Delaware State and Michigan State, so I just felt it was only right to come home. And spend time with family, as well. That time is invaluable. I don’t know where I’ll end up in the next couple of weeks, so spending time with my family and having them see my face, seeing their faces, it’s an all-around good thing to do at this point.”

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