XU's Jacksons, Moses receive All-Louisiana recognition

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana siblings Kwame and Zahri Jackson both received Freshman of the Year honors on the 2011 All-Louisiana collegiate cross country teams announced late Friday, and XU's Joseph Moses was chosen Coach of the Year on the women's team for the fourth time.

The Jacksons, from Kingwood, Texas, and graduates of Kingwood Park High School, also were chosen All-Louisiana.

Kwame Jackson was the first freshman in at least 13 years to win the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference men's individual championship. He posted five top-10 finishes in eight races, including three in the top five, and recorded the No. 2 four-mile time in XU history, 21 minutes, 46.1 seconds, at the Ragin' Cajuns Invitational in September.

Zahri Jackson became the first XU female freshman to win a GCAC individual championship, and her 5,000-meter time of 19:20.40 was second fastest in 11 years by a female at GCAC meet. She recorded the three fastest 5Ks in XU history and set XU records of 16:27.58 for 4K and 19:15.18 for 5K in her first two meets.



From left: Xavier's Joseph Moses is Coach of the Year on the 2011 All-Louisiana
women's cross country team. Kwame Jackson was chosen to the seven-member All-Louisiana men's team and Freshman of the Year. Kwame's sister Zahri earned the
 same honors on the women's team.
(Click photo to enlarge)

Both the Gold Rush and Gold Nuggets won GCAC team championships for a sixth consecutive year and qualified for the NAIA National Championships for the third time in four seasons.

Moses guided XU's women to a 13-6-1 record against NCAA Division I opponents and a school-record 41 victories. Three of his freshmen — Zahri Jackson, Catherine Fakler and Hali Yarmush — combined for eight of the 12 fastest 5K times in Xavier history, including the three fastest. The top two 6K times were run this year.

Moses also won the state coaching award on the women's team in 2006, 2008 and 2009 and on the men's team in 2006, 2007 and 2008. He is the only Louisiana coach to win the women's award more than twice.

Zahri Jackson is the second XU female to be Louisiana Freshman of the Year. Anna D'Souza shared the award in 2008. Kwame Jackson is the fourth Gold Rush runner in 10 years to be the men's Freshman of the Year, joining Prince Mumba (2002), David Salmon (2007) and Mark Dotson (2009).

A Louisiana Sports Writers Association panel selected the teams.

2011 All-Louisiana Women's Cross Country Team
Paige Callahan, freshman, Tulane
Katherine Crabtree, junior, Tulane
Zahri Jackson, freshman, Xavier
Monica Jepkemboi, junior, SUNO
Leigh-Ann Naccari, junior, LSU
Fionnuala Ross, junior, McNeese State
Amy Talbot, sophomore, McNeese State

Runner of the Year: Paige Callahan, Tulane
Newcomer of the Year: Amy Talbot, McNeese State
Freshman of the Year: Zahri Jackson, Xavier
Coach of the Year: Joseph Moses, Xavier

2011 All-Louisiana Men's Cross Country Team
Alex Bruce-Littlewood, graduate, McNeese State
Silah Chumba, junior, Louisiana-Monroe
Cullen Doody, senior, LSU
Kwame Jackson, freshman, Xavier
Joseph LeGrange, sophomore, Southeastern Louisiana
Mark Manion, freshman, Tulane
Daniel Mutai, junior, Louisiana-Monroe

Runner of the Year: Daniel Mutai, Louisiana-Monroe
Newcomer of the Year: Alex Bruce-Littlewood, McNeese State

Freshman of the Year: Kwame Jackson, Xavier

Coach of the Year: James Malone, Louisiana-Monroe

By Ed Cassiere, SID

VISIT: XULAATHLETICS

VISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

Hamilton and Reuther earn All-Louisiana honors for Xavier

Christabell Hamilton
COACH OF YEAR

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's Christabell Hamilton, who guided the Gold Nuggets to a record-setting turnaround in her debut season, is the Coach of the Year on the 2011 All-Louisiana collegiate women's volleyball team. Xavier's Taylor Reuther was chosen to the second team and tied for second in voting for Freshman of the Year.

A Louisiana Sports Writers Association panel selected the team, which was announced late Saturday. It's the first time that Xavier received All-Louisiana recognition in this sport.

Hamilton, hired less than 11 weeks before the Gold Nuggets' season opener, led Xavier to a 23-7 record — the program's first winning season — after finishing 11-26 in 2010. The 15½-match turnaround was the fourth best in the NAIA this year. Xavier won the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament championships without dropping a match and earned
its first berth in the NAIA National Championship.

The Gold Nuggets were 9-1 in matches longer than three sets, and they set school records for victories, consecutive victories (8 — twice), home victories (8), conference victories (10), victories on opponents' courts (6) and winning percentage (.767).

Hamilton is the third coach — the second since the 1930s — to win a conference championship in a debut season at Xavier.

Taylor Reuther
2nd TEAM
ALL-LOUISIANA VOLLEYBALL 

Reuther, a 5-foot-7 outside hitter from Metairie, La., and a graduate of St. Mary's Dominican High School, led Xavier in kills (324), aces (55) and digs (325). She was All-GCAC, GCAC Tournament Co-MVP and GCAC Player of the Week three times.

Reuther ranked 13th in the NAIA — third among freshmen — in aces per set. She produced a team-best 12 kill-dig double-doubles, nine more than Xavier had in 2010. Reuther had 16 matches with 10 or more kills and 18 matches with 10 or more digs.

Reuther received three votes for Freshman of the Year to share runner-up honors with LSU's Malorie Pardo. Northwestern State's Stacey DiFrancesco received five votes to earn the award.

2011 All-Louisiana Women's Volleyball Team
FIRST TEAM
Keelie Arneson, freshman, Northwestern State
Nicole Bowden, senior, McNeese State
Stacey DiFrancesco, freshman, Northwestern State
Desiree Elliott, sophomore, LSU
Madie Jones, junior, LSU
Meghan Mannari, junior, LSU
Cori Martone, sophomore, Tulane
Malorie Pardo, freshman LSU

SECOND TEAM
Becky Bekelja, junior, McNeese State
Zuzana Markova, junior, Louisiana-Monroe
Lesley Mirarchi, senior, Louisiana-Lafayette
Taylor Reuther, freshman Xavier
Stephany Salas, junior, Louisiana Tech
Michele Williams, senior, LSU
Anna Wruck, freshman Tulane

HONORABLE MENTION
Paige Dollison, senior, Southeastern Louisiana
Nikki Osuna, senior, Tulane
Clara Vido, sophomore, Louisiana Tech
Samantha Worsham, junior, Loyola

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Madie Jones, LSU
Voting: Jones 5, Bowden 3, DiFrancesco 3, Salas 1
LIBERO OF THE YEAR: (tie) Keelie Arneson, Northwestern State; Meghan Mannari, LSU
Voting: Arneson 5, Mannari 5, Salas 2
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Stephany Salas, Louisiana Tech
Voting: Salas 7, Markova 5
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Stacey DiFrancesco, Northwestern State
Voting: DiFrancesco 5, Pardo 3, Reuther 3, Christal Hollins (SUNO) 1
COACH OF THE YEAR: Christabell Hamilton, Xavier
Voting: Hamilton 5, Ernest Vazquez (Louisiana-Monroe) 3, Tommy Harold (Loyola) 2, Fran Flory (LSU) 1

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
VISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
VISIT: XULAATHLETICS
VISIT: GCACSPORTS

Xavier Nuggets finish the job, sweep SUNO to win GCAC tourney

NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- Moira Kirk knew it during warmups Saturday. Taylor Reuther knew it during the first set. Coach Christabell Hamilton knew it late in the third set.

All three were confident, though at different points, that the Xavier University of Louisiana's women's volleyball team was going to win the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament. The Gold Nuggets concluded a 4-0 run through the three-day, double-elimination event with a 25-12, 25-17, 25-20 victory Saturday against city rival SUNO.

The victory was the school-record-tying eighth in a row for the Gold Nuggets (23-6), who earned the GCAC's automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship, which will begin next Saturday at 12 campus sites. Teams and pairings will be announced early next week. It's the first conference tournament championship and bid to nationals for the Gold Nuggets' 4-year-old program which began in 2003, then took a hiatus in 2005 because of Hurricane Katrina before resurfacing a year ago.

Reuther, who shared tournament MVP with Talladega's Shalitha Swain, had 10 kills and 18 digs in the title match. Kirk, Xavier's other all-tournament selection, hit .609 -- 16 kills in 23 attacks with no errors -- and had seven blocks. Both Reuther and Kirk are among seven Xavier freshmen this season, four of whom started in the title match.

Chinedu Echebelem, another freshman, and Iva Bobkova had five kills apiece, and Celeste Poe had 13 digs for Xavier.

Third-seeded SUNO (20-11) eliminated defending champion and second-seeded Dillard 22-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-22 and had just 30 minutes to replenish calories and prepare for a championship round in which the Lady Knights would need two more victories to prevent a Xavier championship. But the Gold Nuggets -- who sent Dillard into the losers bracket Friday with a one-for-the ages rally from two sets down -- started strongly with 5-0 and 15-5 first-set leads. SUNO's only leads in the final were at 2-1 and 4-3 in the third set, and the Lady Knights finished second for the second consecutive year.

"We had energy and an excitement to win," said Kirk, announced Wednesday as GCAC Freshman of the Year. "We had fought too hard against Dillard last night. We didn't want to give up after fighting for it so much.

"I just felt in the warmup we were going to win. We're always high energy when we warm up, but this time it just felt different."

Reuther couldn't make any predictions until after the Nuggets' blazing start in which they produced seven kills, two aces and a block in the first 18 rallies.

"We crushed SUNO's momentum from the beginning," said Reuther, who had 11 second-set digs en route to her team-leading 12th kill-dig double-double. "We stuck together after that and played Xavier volleyball. I had confidence we were going to finish strongly."

Hamilton didn't feel confident until the final 10 rallies, and before that she kept reminding her team "that if we didn't stay focused we could easily end up the way Dillard did last night -- winning the first two sets and not being able to finish. We had to finish strongly."

Kirk led the way in that department. Her final six swings in the third all went for kills. Xavier hit .320 with 39 kills and seven errors in 100 attacks.

Xavier won all 14 of its matches this season against the GCAC -- the Nuggets were 10-0 in the regular season and won that championship too -- in a rags-to-riches climb from 11-26 in 2010. Hamilton, hired in mid-June, is in her first season as a collegiate head coach. She'll turn 30 Christmas Day.

"This has been a great experience," Kirk said. "Learning and becoming a better volleyball player . . . and bonding as a team."

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
VISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
VISIT: XULAATHLETICS
VISIT: GCACSPORTS

Martin Methodist Rallies in Second Half to Defeat Tougaloo Bulldogs, 88-77

Kansas City, Mo. (March 18, 2011) - No. 5 seed Martin Methodist (Tenn.) staged an early second-half comeback to knock off No. 12 seed Tougaloo (Miss.), 88-77 at the 2011 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship. The RedHawks scored 52 points after the break to stump the 7-man Tougaloo squad Friday at Municipal Auditorium.

Martin Methodist improves its record to 33-2 overall and got its first-ever second round win in national championship play. The Bulldogs fell short of reaching the quarterfinals for the first time and will end their season with a 28-5 mark.

Tougaloo went on a scoring spree in the first half as Donteeno Todd, Mario Luckett and Marquise Mems all reached the double-digit plateau. Todd led the Bulldog scoring efforts with 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field and 3-for-5 from downtown. Tougaloo also won a battle on the defensive front as it forced 13 RedHawk first-half turnovers. Martin Methodist's Ree McCrory, who played all 20 minutes of the first half, scored 16 points and was 3-of-4 from 3-point range.

To begin the second half, Martin Methodist went on a 17-2 run and brought the game back within reach. The RedHawks grabbed a 53-52 lead with 15:20 remaining, which was their first lead since the beginning moments of the game at 3-2. The two seeded squads remained in a stalemate, trading baskets with each other for the next 10 minutes, but Martin Methodist went on a 14-3 run to finish off the Bulldogs.

It was just the eighth time that the RedHawks have trailed at halftime and they are now victorious in six of the eight contests. Junior guards McCrory and James Justice both reached the 500-point mark for the season with 28 and 24 points, respectively. Compared to shooting 39.3 percent in the first stanza, Martin Methodist came out and shot 54.5 percent from the field in the second half. Forward Chris Leggett logged a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. LaQuantis Stewart also grabbed 10 rebounds for the game and helped the RedHawks outrebound Tougaloo 49-37.

Bulldogs senior forward Mario Luckett ended his career with 18 points and 11 rebounds. The outing gave Luckett his ninth double-double of the season. After shooting 6-of-19 for 3-pointers before the break, the Bulldogs went cold, shooting 2-for-11 in the final 20 minutes.



Game Notes:
Tougaloo (Miss.) -- Tougaloo falls to 0-2 in second round games...Martin Methodist's 88 points is the six time the Bulldogs have allowed more than 80 points, as Tougaloo entered the contest ranked 13th in scoring defense per game (65.2)...junior guard Donteeno Todd's 15 points off the bench extend his double figure scoring streak to three games...senior forward Mario Luckett registered his ninth double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds

Martin Methodist (Tenn.) - Martin Methodist advances to the quarterfinals for the first time in six appearances...the Redhawks become the fourth top-five seed to earn a spot in the round of eight...junior guards Ree McCrory and James Justice eclipse the 500 point plateau with 24 and 23 points...Justice has scored at least 11 points in eight straight games...the Redhawks 88 points is the 24th time Martin Methodist has scored more than 80 points this season...Redhawks extend win streak with six games.

Courtesy of NAIA

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NAIA Division I National Championship: Xavier Gold Nuggets beat Lee again, advance to second round

Gold Nuggets Coach Bo Browder
(Grambling State 1994) 
13 season record: 300 wins, 109 losses
(Photo provided by Xavier University)

JACKSON, Tenn. (March 16, 2011) — Senior forward Christina Warren scored 19 points Wednesday, and Xavier University of Louisiana's defense excelled again in a 63-53 victory over Lee (Tenn.) in the opening round of the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship at Oman Arena.

The Gold Nuggets (27-6), ranked 20th in the final coaches' poll, defeated the 13th-ranked Lady Flames (25-7) by double digits for the second time this season and limited them to 29.4-percent field-goal shooting. Xavier entered the tournament No. 1 in scoring defense in NAIA Division I and fourth in field-goal percentage defense.

Xavier will play fourth-ranked Oklahoma City, an 87-45 winner against Montana Tech, in the second round at 10:45 a.m. Friday.

Box score

Warren, the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year, scored 15 points
to carry Xavier to a 33-22 halftime lead. Brandi Young's basket with 14:13 remaining gave Xavier its biggest lead, 39-22, and the Nuggets pulled away with a 10-4 run after Lee closed to 53-49 at 4:38.

"I wasn't concerned about finishing this game," XU Coach Bo Browder said, "because we had a good learning experience at nationals last year."

Last year Xavier led Cumberlands 43-36 in the 34th minute before losing 67-62 in overtime in the opening round at nationals. This time the Nuggets led for the final 34:26 and took the lead for good on a Marchelle Jones basket.



Jones had 14 points, including 8-of-8 free throws, five rebounds and two steals, and Young had 13 points, four rebounds and a career-high-tying six steals.

The Nuggets ended a five-game first-round losing streak at nationals — the last victory had been 64-55 against Trevecca Nazarene in 2003 — and gave Browder his 300th victory a head-coach at four-year colleges. Browder is 298-101 in 12 seasons at Xavier, and he was 2-8 as Evansville's interim head coach to close the 1995-96 season.

"It's good to end the drought," Browder said. "That's been the million-dollar question — when are the Nuggets going to win at nationals again? It's always great to make it to nationals, but it's extremely difficult to win once you get there. Winning games at nationals is like getting some dessert."

Senior guard Brooke McKinnon, the Southern States Athletic Conference Co-Player of the Year, was 4-of-13 from the floor and scored 12 points for Lee, an NAIA semifinalist a year ago and in its seventh consecutive appearance at nationals. McKinnon was the Lady Flames' only double-figure scorer.

Xavier shot 44.2 percent the floor — the Nuggets' third-best percentage in 20 games at nationals and their highest since 1997 — and produced defensive stands in which Lee missed 12 and 10 consecutive field-goal attempts. Xavier has limited 15 opponents this season, including the last three, to less than 30 percent from the floor.

"Lee has a great program," Browder said. "They weren't going to give anything to us. We had to go out and earn it."

Xavier's next opponent, Oklahoma City, was No. 2 in the coaches poll for most of the season and was the Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season champion. No Gold Nuggets team has reached the quarterfinals, and Oklahoma teams eliminated XU three of the previous four times in the second round — including a 91-53 Oklahoma City victory in 2003.

NOTES: Lee entered the game No. 3 in NAIA Division I in scoring defense . . . Xavier reached 27 victories for the third time in four seasons . . . It's the fourth time in Louisiana collegiate history that the same school produced men's and women's basketball teams with 27 victories apiece in the same season. LSU did it in 2005-06, and Louisiana Tech did it in 1983-84 and 1984-85 . . . The Xavier-Oklahoma City winner will play in the quarterfinals at 2 p.m. Saturday against California Baptist or Shawnee State . . . Xavier has won 20 straight games — 13 this season — when shooting at least 40 percent from the floor and outerebounding the opponent in the same game.

NEXT GAME: Xaiver University of Lousiana Gold Nuggets (27-6) vs. #4 Oklahahoma City (26-3), Friday, 10:45 a.m. CDT . Sign Up and Watch -- CLICK HERE

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
Xavier University of Louisiana
Visit:  XULA Athletics

NAIA Division I National Championship: No. 12 Tougaloo 'Magnificent Seven' Cruises Into Second Round with 73-58 Win Over Emmanuel (Ga.)

Coach Lafayette Stribling is still
 building winners in his 54th
 year of coaching basketball.

Kansas City, Mo. (March 17, 2011) - No. 12 seed Tougaloo College (Miss.) earned its way into the second round of the 2011 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship with a 73-58 victory Thursday against Emmanuel College (Ga.) at Municipal Auditorium.

Junior guard Marquise Mems registered a game-high 23 points and added seven rebounds to help lead the Bulldogs to their 13th consecutive victory. Tougaloo pushes its season record to 28-4 and moves to Friday's second round for an 8 p.m. CT game against either No. 5 seed Martin Methodist College (Tenn.) or William Jewell College (Mo.). This will mark the second trip to the round of 16 for the Bulldogs, with the other coming in 2009.

Emmanuel scored the first eight points of the contest and eventually built a nine-point advantage before Tougaloo began to battle back. Trailing 18-9, the Bulldogs reeled off 15 consecutive points to grab the lead for good, 24-18, with 5:38 left in the first half. After the Lions pulled to within three points, Mems hit a three-pointer and another basket to spark an 8-0 run to end the first half and give the Bulldogs a 32-21 lead.

Tougaloo extended its advantage to as many as 21 points in the second half on its way to the first-round victory. Junior guard Donteeno Todd came off the bench to record 14 points for the Bulldogs, including four three-point field goals. Senior forward Mario Luckett added 13 points, while junior forward James Carter just missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Juan Gray pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds for Tougaloo, which held a 46-32 advantage on the boards.

Senior guard Tedrick Hudson led Emmanuel with 15 pionts, while junior forward Asmatiek Fields helped out with 11 points. Freshman guard Michael Stanley led the Lions with seven rebounds. Emmanuel, which was making its second appearance at the NAIA Naitonal Championship, closed out its season with an overall record of 26-8.

BOX SCORING

Tougaloo College coach Lafayette Stribling and assistant Harvey Wardell took only seven players to the nationals in Missouri -- Mario Luckett, Marquise Mems, Donteeno Todd, Jurmond Cattenhead, Juan Gray, Kadon Day and James Carter.  The 'Magnificent Seven' Bulldogs move on to the Sweet 16, after bouncing Emmanuel College (Ga.) 73-58.  

Who is this 76 Year Old Dynamo?
The legendary Coach Stribling coached at Mississippi Valley State University, in Itta Bena, Mississippi for 22 years. The team won its first SWAC Championship in his third year as head coach. He retired with 7 SWAC championships, a Black College Championship, and 3 NCAA Division I Tournament berths. Stribling is also a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Hall of Fame.

Game Notes:
Tougaloo: Bulldogs overcame not scoring for the first four minutes and 27 seconds to lead by 11 at the half ... Outscored Emmanuel 14-3 over the final nine minutes of the first half ... Limited Emmanuel to 32.2 percent from the floor after being ranked No. 15 in scoring defense at 65.5 PPG during the regular season ... The 58 points surrendered by the Bulldogs is the lowest point total given up through 13 games of the opening round.

Emmanuel: Second opening-round loss by Emmanuel in their second tournament appearance ... Leading scorer Tedrick Hudson finished two points shy of his season average of 17.2 PPG with a team-high 15 points ... Averaging 72.0 PPG during the regular season, the 58-point final total for the Lions was their fourth-lowest output of the season.

NEXT GAME: FRIDAY, 8 p.m., CDT, TOUGALOO BULLDOGS (28-4) VS. MARTIN METHODIST REDHAWKS (32-2)

Amanda Dahl, NAIA Manager of Sports Information & Media Services