Outstanding season pays dividends for JCSU Shermaine Williams

New York, NY – Johnson C. Smith University senior women's track and field student-athlete Shermaine Williams has earned a $1,000 donation towards the women's athletic fund for her nomination as the Collegiate Women Sports Awards 2010-11 Division II Athlete of the Year. The American Honda Motor Company will make the donation, which is scheduled to arrive in the fall of 2011.

Williams has been stellar in her senior year during the indoor and outdoor season. She recently won the 100m Hurdles national title (12.95) at the 2011 NCAA DII Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Her time tied a meet record, which she set in 2009. Williams ran the anchor leg of the 4x100m relay team that placed second (44.79) at the national outdoor championships. With the help of Williams' points, JCSU finished 4th in the nation at the outdoor championships (highest finish in school history).

At the CIAA Indoor Championships, Williams won the title in the 60m Hurdles, 60m Dash, and 200m Dash. She earned CIAA Indoor MVP. Williams placed 5th in the 200m and 3rd in the 60m H at the 2011 NCAA DII Indoor Championships (All-American honors). At the CIAA Outdoor Championships, Williams earned Outdoor MVP after capturing the 100m H and 4x100m relay crowns.

Williams was named 2010-11 Pettis Norman Student-Athlete of the Year and the Coca-Cola Academic Award winner this season at the JCSU Annual Athletics Awards Ceremony. She was also one of five Golden Bull women named to the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track& Field Team. Instrumental component in the JCSU Women's Outdoor Track & Field team winning their 1st CIAA Championship in school history.

Williams has served as a counselor for the NCAA DII Track & Field Outdoor Championships Youth Clinic. She also stopped by the Charlotte Flight's (local youth track club) meet to speak to children (ages 6-14) on the importance of education and preparation in order to be successful. The JCSU Women's Track & Field Team appeared at the meet after winning the CIAA Outdoor Track Championships.

“Your student-athlete was judged the very best in her sport over all her peers in her division,” said Collegiate Women Sports Awards spokesperson Tora Grossman. “This speaks highly of your program and your administration and The Collegiate Women Sports Awards congratulate Johnson C. Smith University and honor Shermaine for that selection.”

Shermaine Williams, NCAA Division II National Champion
JCSU Lady Bulls

Now in its 35th year, The Collegiate Women Sports Awards program annually recognizes the accomplishments of female athletes in NCAA-member colleges with a variety of prestigious awards.

American Honda Motor Co., Inc., sponsor of the program, celebrates each nominee by donating $5,000 to each Honda Sports Award recipient school and $1,000 to each nominee school. The Collegiate Women Sports Awards program is governed by a Board of Directors and Executive Committee. The Board of Directors includes individuals from NCAA institutions, members of the media, organizational representatives and a former Cup recipient.

After nation-wide balloting among NCAA Division II member schools, another athlete was voted the athlete of the year. All nominees appear now and for the future on the Collegiate Women Sports Awards website www.collegiatewomensportsawards.com. The winner will be announced later this week on that site. The winner of the Division II Athlete of the Year will be presented her award at a press conference June 27 in New York.

By Lamont Hinson, Sports Information Director
VISIT: JOHNSON C. SMITH UNIVERSITY
VISIT: GOLDENBULLSPORTS

Shaw men, women in NCAA field

Shaw's men's and women's basketball teams, who each won a CIAA tournament championship on Saturday, are headed to NCAA Division II tournaments.

The women, who defeated Johnson C. Smith in the CIAA final, have been designated the eighth seed in the Atlantic Region and will begin play on Friday at Edinboro, Pa., taking on No. 1 seed Edinboro. The Bears are 21-11. The Fighting Scots, winners of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, are 26-3.

Johnson C. Smith was seeded second in the Atlantic Region and will face Glenville State.

2011 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship Brackets



Shaw women aim for national glory

Winning the CIAA women’s basketball championship is old hat for Shaw’s Bears. Winning the national title, now that’s a prize that’s worth chasing.

“Shaw’s won the CIAA championship,” said Bears coach Jacques Curtis, who has earned six since 2003. “What we’re trying to do is a little bit different.”

Shaw (21-11) and fellow CIAA member Johnson C. Smith (24-4) are in the Division II tournament, which starts March 11 with the Atlantic Regional in Edinboro, Pa. Shaw will face top-seeded and region host Edinboro (26-3) while the No. 2 Golden Bulls Bulls will play No. 7 Glenville State (23-8).

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Shaw Lady Bears Reclaim Their Perch Atop The CIAA

CHARLOTTE, NC – The Shaw Lady Bears virtually owned the last decade at the CIAA Tournament, winning five championships between 2003-2008. Now they are working on the next one. And it is something Johnson C. Smith knows all too well.

Tournament MVP Demaria Liles had 15 points, six rebounds and three steals as the Lady Bears captured the 2011 CIAA Championship after a 62-56 victory over the Lady Golden Bulls on Saturday evening at the Time Warner Cable Arena.

"This one is big," said Shaw coach Jacques Curtis, who has led the Lady Bears to each of their six titles in the last nine years. "And it's big because there was a lot of pressure on this team from the beginning, especially early in the season when we lost a couple of games. We knew we had to win this tournament to go on to the next level."

It is the fifth time the Lady Bears (21-11) have defeated Johnson C. Smith (23-4) in the CIAA Championship and the fourth time in the last nine years the Lady Golden Bulls, the 2009 CIAA champion, have finished as the tournament's runner-up.

"Although in defeat, we are extremely proud of our women's basketball team and what they've accomplished thus far," said Johnson C. Smith coach Vanessa Taylor, the CIAA Women's Coach of the Year. "We hope that it is enough for the NCAA to say to us that we can live to play another day."


Videographer: pbsstep1914; Shaw University 2011 CIAA Champions

LADY GOLDEN BULLS FALL SHORT IN A 62-56 CIAA CHAMPIONSHIP LOSS TO SHAW

CHARLOTTE, NC – The Johnson C. Smith University women's basketball were seven points shy of claiming their second CIAA Tournament title in three seasons after a 62-56 loss against Shaw University in the 2011 CIAA Women's Championship game on Saturday evening inside the Time Warner Cable Arena. The Lady Golden Bulls finish the conference post season with the best overall record in the history of the women's program at 24-4; previous mark 22-5 during the 1999-00 season. Reigning CIAA Coach of the Year Vanessa Taylor also set a new career mark for most wins in an individual season; surpassing her mark of 22-5.

This is the fifth time in history the Lady Bears (21-11) have defeated Johnson C. Smith in the CIAA Championship and the fourth time in the last nine years the Lady Golden Bulls, the 2009 CIAA champion, have finished as the tournament's runner-up (1989, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2011).
The Shaw Lady Bears virtually owned the last decade at the CIAA Tournament, winning five championships between 2003-2008.

“Although in defeat, we are extremely proud of our women's basketball team and what they've accomplished thus far,” said Taylor. “We hope that it is enough for the NCAA to say to us that we can live to play another day.”

The Lady Bears were down 43-37 with 10:05 remaining in the game after junior guards Terran Quattlebaum (Mitchellville, MD) and Terrica Jones (Raleigh, NC) combined for 13 points in an 18-5 run. Aslea Williams, who finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, scored seven straight points in a span of 1:40 to spark Shaw's decisive run of the game, a 12-0 spurt that handed the Lady Bears a 51-45 edge they would never relinquish.

CIAA Championship Box vs. Shaw

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Videographer: ombudlady; CIAA 2011 JCSU Cheerleader Exhibition

By Shaw University and Johnson C. Smith University Media Relations

READ MORE AT: theCIAA.com