A&M to drop men's soccer program‎

HUNTSVILLE, AL - The men's soccer program at Alabama A&M will be cut after this season, The Times has learned. Sources says budget cuts have forced athletic officials to drop the program, which is an NCAA Division I independent and not sponsored by the Southwestern Athletic Conference, which A&M is a member.

Neither athletics director Betty Austin nor coach Salah Yousif could be reached for comment, but an official announcement is expected to be made today.

The Bulldogs had one of the most feared programs in the country in the late 1970s and early 1980s, winning national championships in 1977 and 1979 and were runnersup in 1978 and 1981, but haven't been nearly as relevant the last two decades. A&M is the only school in the SWAC that has men's soccer, but the league doesn't sponsor it as a championship sport.

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Former UF Receiver T.J. Lawrence Heading to Florida A&M

It didn't take long for T.J. Lawrence to make a decision on where he'd be going next after getting his release from University of Florida last week. Lawrence, a former Kathleen High School star receiver, made a surprising announcement Wednesday that he will be suiting up for Florida A&M's football team this season while also getting his baseball career started back up with the Rattlers.

“It's a big shocker because a lot of people wouldn't expect Florida A&M University, but I'm going there to be a two-sport athlete,” Lawrence told The Ledger in a phone interview. The redshirt sophomore said FAMU “kind of popped up” on his radar a couple of days after he got his release from UF, and he's looking forward to competing for a starting spot on the football field right away at the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA) level. He'll also be looked at in the return game as well.

“I think that excites me more than anything the fact that I'm going to play this year because I've been waiting like forever,” he said. “That's the biggest excitement, the fact that I get to play with players I played with in high school and players I played against in high school.” Lawrence will be reunited with former Kathleen teammate Adrian Smith, who is also a receiver at FAMU. “I'm actually moving in with him,” said Lawrence, who will be in Tallahassee on Friday.

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The T.J. Lawrence Story:

• First-Team All-State Honors senior season at Kathleen H.S., Lakeland, Florida
• Caught 70 passes and scored 12 touchdowns as senior
• Rated Four-star prospect coming out of high school
• Under Armour All-American senior season
• Chose the FAMU Rattlers over South Florida, Eastern Kentucky, South Alabama, Washington State and Pearl River Community College
• Requested release from Florida football scholarship due to lack of playing time.
• 6-2/190 WR; 4.55 in 40 yard dash - Will play both football and baseball at FAMU

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Norfolk State Spartans Football 2010 preview

NORFOLK, VA - Norfolk State ended last season on a high note. They finished 3rd in the MEAC, and hope to do even better this season.

Burton-to-Wilder highlights JSU Tigers' first open practice

Within moments of the ball leaving Te'Shon Burton's hand, all 6 feet 3 inches and 195 pounds of Marcellos Wilder soared high above Jackson State's scorching practice field. A moment later, the junior receiver came tumbling down - the ball securely in hand.

The Burton-to-Wilder connection provided the highlight Monday during Jackson State's fourth fall practice, the first session open to the media. The Tuscaloosa native leaped over a defensive back during one-on-one drills and snatched a 40-yard pass from Burton. It was one of those YouTube grabs that had players cracking up for minutes, Wilder talking smack to defenders and Burton high-fiving teammates.

Players were not allowed to speak with the media following practice and won't be until Thursday, but their new faces - like Burton's - dotted Martin L. Epps Field during JSU's 2 1/2-hour morning workout. True freshman running back Tommy Gooden got a surprisingly high number of reps. B.J. Lee, the former Ridgeland running back who transferred to JSU this year from SMU, rotated with veteran Jewrad Smith at the position.

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Southern defense gets lots to digest

When Stump Mitchell came to Southern University and brought in a new group of assistant coaches, linebacker Gary Chatman figured he’d have to make a few adjustments. Then he saw the new playbook. Hello, adjustments.

Before spring practice began, defensive coordinator O’Neill Gilbert introduced his new playbook. Cobbled together from years in Division I college football and the NFL, the playbook is a three-ring binder that is three inches thick and very, very full. It practically made the local yellow pages look like a pocket Bible.

“When I saw it, I was like, ‘Wow,’ ” Chatman said. “In the beginning, I’m not going to lie: It was hard (to digest). It was really hard. If you really study the book and keep listening — yes, it’s a lot of adjusting, a lot of checks and a lot of different rotations with the DBs and linebackers. But if you get in your book and study and commit to the game, it’ll come very easy.”

Southern Football Puts on Full Pads for 2-a-Days



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Former Morgan State track star named Fulbright Scholar

Former Morgan State University track star Dakari Taylor-Watson was recently named a Fulbright scholar and will be heading to Terengganu, Malaysia, for 10 months next January to teach English to secondary school students.

Taylor-Watson, who earned a degree in biology from MSU in 2009, was chosen by the international educational exchange program. The program is sponsored by the State Department based on academic merit and leadership potential to study and teach abroad.

Former Bear Dakari Taylor-Watson will travel to Malaysia for 10 months to teach English to secondary scholars as a Fulbright Scholar. (Courtesy Photo/MSU Sports Information).

The 23-year-old told the AFRO that he will also volunteer in a hospital or clinic while in Malaysia, and has plans of applying to medical school when he returns to the United States. As for spending nearly a year away in a foreign country, it’s not something Watson hasn’t experienced before. He moved to Paris for three weeks as an exchange student when he was 10, not long after his mother, Aisya Taylor-Watson, died of cancer. Taylor-Watson believes his mother’s spirit travels with him everywhere he goes.

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Savannah State faces two lawsuits with race at center

Dr. Earl G. Yarbrough Sr., President, Savannah State University

SAVANNAH, GA — Earl G. Yarbrough Sr., the president of Savannah State University, would prefer to be trumpeting the school's marine biology class work with its boundless laboratory a few miles away in the Atlantic Ocean. He talked excitedly about the school's Homeland Security curriculum, unique in Georgia, and beamed when the conversation changed to a recent $4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.

But sitting in his campus office, Yarbrough instead had to address two racial discrimination lawsuits filed against the school. It is bitter news because he said the doors to the historically black school are open to all. "I have worked very hard to make this a more diverse campus, and then to be slapped with this eats at your soul," said Yarbrough, president since 2007. "It is constantly on your mind."

So, perhaps, is Robby Wells, the football coach Yarbrough hired in 2008 who said he was forced to resign in January because he is white. He filed a lawsuit May 25 based largely on the alleged comment of an administrator, who has since retired and denied making the remark.

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B-CU moves A&T game for ESPNU coverage

DAYTONA BEACH, FL -- Bethune-Cookman Athletics Director Lynn Thompson and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference announced Tuesday that the B-CU vs. North Carolina A&T football game originally scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 30, will now be Thursday, Oct. 28, at 7:30 p.m. at Municipal Stadium. The switch was made so the game can be shown live on national television (ESPNU).

"There is a lot of interest in the new direction of our program," Thompson said. "With our phenomenal band, and the new construction of the athletic training facility and schedule upgrade, plans are underway to attract youngsters to our program from our backyard and beyond. "It will also be a super opportunity for our city to showcase the new improvements at Municipal Stadium." B-CU coach Brian Jenkins agreed.



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Five burning questions for Grambling football

The Grambling State Tigers opened their fall camp on Saturday in preparation for the team's season opener on Sept. 4 against Louisiana Tech in Shreveport. The Tigers' camp, though, was somewhat overshadowed by the news on Friday that Grambling quarterback Greg Dillon's request for a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA was denied.

"I see this as one of the unfortunate and, to an extent, tragic times when a rule that was created to keep universities from abusing the system penalized the courage of a young man to play through pain," Grambling athletic director J. Lin Dawson wrote in an e-mail to The Times. "In the last five years, Greg has played on two years, and we fought to get him another year in which I believe he deserves."

The quarterback question looms over Grambling's fall camp.

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DSU's only veteran starting defender ready to lead young team

DOVER, DE -- Andre Caroll checks in at around 280 pounds.

This season, he'll be carrying much more weight for the Delaware State University football team. Caroll, a defensive tackle, is the only returning defensive player who started in all 10 games for the Hornets, who went 4-7 overall, 3-5 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, last season. The Hornets open their season in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge against Southern University in Orlando, Fla., on Sept. 5.

Caroll, a 6-foot-2, redshirt senior, welcomed the challenge as the DSU players began preseason practice at Alumni Stadium on a sweltering Wednesday afternoon. "A lot of guys on this team are young, especially on the defensive side of the ball, so being able to get us together is going to take us being able to trust one another," Caroll said. "That's one thing we really didn't have last year. There were just a lot of individuals out there."

Ray Petty, DSU's defensive coordinator, is entering his fourth season with the Hornets. "He's the best player we have on our team right now, on both sides of the ball," Petty said of Caroll. "He had an outstanding junior year and he worked hard in the offseason. He's one of those guys who leads by example with the things he does on and off the field.

PHOTO GALLERIES

• DSU preseason practice

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Pass it on: JCSU Bulls will take to air

Johnson C. Smith’s offense is under close inspection. After scoring an average of 18.7 points per game last season, the Golden Bulls have a new offensive coordinator in Maurice Flowers and nine returning starters. The most scrutinized of the lot will be quarterback Ryan Carter, who completed 97-of-182 passes for 1,024 yards and eight touchdowns in 2009.

He will have to be more productive in order to push the Bulls forward. “He needs to go from being a guy who was handed the job into a leader,” head coach Steve Aycock said. Carter, who was an erratic decision-maker in his first season as a starter, will get his opportunities to improve. He’ll have a running attack that averaged 138.3 yards per game going for him, as well as three-time all-CIAA receiver Jeremy Franklin, whose productivity slipped to 48 catches for 610 yards and five scores last season.

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South Carolina State Bulldogs: Brother Act, Part 2

Former Richmond Raiders Tedarrius Wiley, left, and his brother Derrick Wiley are quarterbacks on the South Carolina State 2010 football team.



ORANGEBURG, S.C. — Former Richmond Senior quarterback Tedarrius Wiley has always followed in his older brother Derrick’s footsteps. Derrick was a standout quarterback at Richmond who now plays for South Carolina State University. Tedarrius was a standout quarterback at Richmond who also led the Raiders to a North Carolina Class 4AA state championship in 2008.

And Tedarrius also now plays for South Carolina State. He signed a letter of intent with the school last February and reported for fall practice last week. After a few days of practice, Tedarrius is a quick study at the college game, according to Derrick. “He’s picking up the offense pretty quickly,” Derrick said before a Sunday afternoon workout at the Bulldogs’ practice facility. “He’s very coachable.”

Derrick, a 2008 Richmond graduate, is currently rehabbing a broken ankle suffered during the summer. He’s expected back by the fourth game of the season, when South Carolina State opens MEAC play on the road at Florida A&M. For now, Tedarrius is expected to redshirt. That would leave him four years of eligibility. Derrick, meanwhile, redshirted his freshman year as well. He’s now a redshirt sophomore and will back up senior QB Malcolm Long this year. S.C. State head coach Buddy Pough said Derrick is the Bulldogs’ “changeup” quarterback.

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FAMU football players give Coach Taylor good early impression

All summer Joe Taylor could only go on second-hand information about the condition of the players on the Florida A&M football team. Taylor finally got a close up Tuesday as the team began preseason workouts. Under a blistering mid-afternoon sun, the Rattlers ran the 40-yard dash, a shuffle over 20 yards and zig-zag runs through cones. They will return at 6 a.m. today for more testing before starting walk-through drills later in the day. Tuesday's start impressed Taylor.

"I thought there was a lot of energy," he said. "I don't know if we've had this amount of sub-4.5 (seconds) for a timing day since I've been here. Now we've just got to be able to get it transferred (onto the field)."

Taylor said he had an inkling before the team showed up there would be some impressive times. During the team's initial meeting, when each one of them had to stand up and tell about themselves, Taylor said, he noticed a physical improvement in more than half of the players. "For some of those guys when they took off their shirts their chest came with it," Taylor said, "but you could see evidence and signs that they've been working. They're really cut."

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Southern Jaguars Coach Mitchell Expects 12-0 Season

We’re going to recruit good players, give them all the necessary tools and give our fans a team they can be proud of. We’ll work our guys hard, make ’em play until the whistle blows and see where we stand at the end of the year. We’re going to do everything we can to produce fine young student-athletes and win some games in the process. Blah. Blah. Blah.

Year after year, preseason after preseason, we hear the same football coaches say the same things about their same programs. Most of them, in the interest of protecting their own backsides, back away from any kind of hard and fast prediction, lest they fall short. And then there’s Stump Mitchell.

Time and again this summer, Southern University’s first-year coach has done the exact opposite. He has done it with three words: Twelve and zero. “That’s the goal,” he said. “We want to go 12-0 this year, and we think at the end of the season, we’ll be 12-0.”

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WSSU Rams are excited about return to CIAA this season

As Winston-Salem State tries to settle into a groove in the early days of preseason football practice, Coach Connell Maynor is leaning heavily on veteran players. Linebacker Shawn Kearney and defensive back Marvin Bohannon, both redshirt seniors, are leading an 88-man roster that has plenty of new faces -- a move that Maynor calls natural because of their experience.

Kearney, a starter most of his career, said that there have been changes in attitude since Maynor, in his first season, and his new staff took over. "We have a different outlook with the new coaches, and they are talking about CIAA and winning the title, and winning the national championship in future years, and we've never heard that here before," Kearney said. "So we can't wait, and it excites us, especially the veterans on this team."

Despite last season's 1-10 record, the defense was a constant bright spot for the Rams and kept them in most games. Although the core of that defense -- a talented line -- is gone, some key parts remain. I

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FAMU to begin practice with walkthroughs

Not long after Mike Caldwell began coaching in the NFL, he was invited by Joe Taylor to talk with his football team. Taylor himself had a few questions, including one about what Caldwell would have done differently if he had to return to coach on the college level. The response from Caldwell, who coached several college teams, was pretty simple. More walk-through practices.

Taylor, who begins his third season at Florida A&M, took heed and has since started each of his preseason camps with several days of walk-through drills that allow his players to focus mentally on their roles. And, so it will be when the Rattlers begin practice on Wednesday afternoon.

"It's big because we are learning mentally so when we get on the field and put on the pads nobody is slow and nobody gets hurt," said defensive end Kendrick Washington. "The mental aspect is knowing yourself and knowing what your opponent can do." Players tend to be more attentive during the days that they have to concentrate on theory rather than banging bodies, Taylor said.

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Fall camp gets under way for Alcorn State

LORMAN, MS — Alcorn State head coach Earnest Collins noticed a big difference on the Braves first day of fall practice Thursday — more players. And Collins said that should have a big impact on the kind of season the Braves will have in 2010. “Last year we came into camp with 70 some odd players, which is not enough,” Collins said. “Now we’re about to capacity, and I feel a lot better about it.”

As the Braves began fall practice to prepare for their Sept. 4 season-opener against Langston, Collins said the added depth means every player will have to fight for his position. “Now the players know there is depth behind them,” Collins said. “There is somebody pushing them, and they won’t be playing by default. Last year we had some players who had to play by default because there was nobody behind them. That’s not the case this year at any position we have.”

In addition to the added depth, Collins said he was pleased with the physical condition of his players, and could tell they have been working hard over the summer to stay in shape.

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Tennessee State coach Rod Reed expects boldness from quarterback Dominic Grooms

TSU Tigers Coach Rod Reed

Even with Calvin McNairl no longer in the way, senior Dominic Grooms won't simply step in as Tennessee State's starting quarterback. First-year Coach Rod Reed said Grooms, who backed up McNairl last year, must prove he possesses a boldness Reed considers necessary to lead the offense.

"I want to see him show that he has a take-charge attitude,'' Reed said Monday on TSU's first day of practice. "I want him to go out there and say, 'This is my offense and I'm going to run it.' I want to see him with a little attitude, with a chip on his shoulder that lets everybody know he's going to be the man to take this offense to the next level."

Grooms played enough last season to prove to Reed, the defensive coordinator in 2009, that he can replace McNairl, who moved to receiver in the spring. Grooms started three games when McNairl was injured and played in another. He completed 29 of 66 passes for 279 yards, with four interceptions and no touchdowns.

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WSSU Defense to have familiar style under Boulware

Winston-Salem State hasn't changed its style on defense much, said new coordinator Kienus Boulware. Mike Ketchum, now the defensive-line coach, was the coordinator the past five seasons. "What Coach Ketchum's defense was based on last year is very similar to what we have this year," Boulware said. "He had more three-man fronts, but in the package we are running now, we have some of the same stuff."

Linebacker Shawn Kearney, the top returning tackler from last season, said he's encouraged by what he has seen. "There's not too much of a difference because we have the same type of packages, but they have different names," Kearney said. "We are still going to be that fast defense you have always seen."

When new head coach Connell Maynor heard the suggestion that he might win the Rams' quarterback derby, he laughed, then said: "No, I don't have any eligibility left." Maynor -- an All-MEAC quarterback during his days at N.C. A&T -- is closely watching the competition between transfers Octavius Hawkins, Kameron Smith, Jamie DeGeare and freshman Vernon Brandon, and said he hopes to name a starter by late next week.

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Weather shuffles Southern practice

Out on the practice fields at Southern University, where the football team has spent most of its afternoons for the past week, players are not permitted to place their hands on their hips. Or, for that matter, on top of their heads. As the new coaching staff dutifully (and sometimes loudly) reminds them, those movements convey a message to the opponent. “You keep doing that,” strength and conditioning coach Thomas Hall said, “you’re telling them you’re tired.”

One other thing: Even with above-average temperatures and triple-digit heat indexes, players cannot talk about the weather. Which made Monday afternoon awfully awkward. Coaches and players hit the field just after 3 p.m. Monday, gearing up for what was supposed to be SU’s first practice in full pads this preseason. At the time, the temperature was 96 degrees with a heat index of 109, making it the second-hottest day of preseason camp thus far. Of course, conditions didn’t stay that way for long.

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Five questions as Hampton University opens preseason practice

After Donovan Rose's first season as head coach at Hampton University ended in a 5-6 mark and the Pirates' first losing record since 1996, a few shakeups took place. Most notably, a new, yet familiar, offensive coordinator is now calling plays in one of several changes on Rose's coaching staff. The tweaks will be tested right away, as HU opens the 2010 season at I-A Central Michigan on Sept. 2. Here are five key questions going into that game:

Who is the Pirates' starting quarterback? Herb Bynes, HU's starter in 2008, split time behind center with Syracuse transfer David Legree last season. But the ankle injury that hampered Bynes throughout 2009 required offseason surgery, curtailing his participation in spring practice and effectively handing the offense to Legree, who threw for 803 yards and seven touchdowns last year to Bynes' 987 yards and eight TDs. Legree will begin the year as the Pirates' starter, with Rose hoping Bynes is healthy enough to provide an experienced option. "We've got two experienced guys, and we'll see what happens," Rose said. "Starting off, it will be David, and hopefully Herb will be back in his raw form. But I think it's a great situation to have two quarterbacks that can come in and control the team."

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Job turns to hobby for Texas College Carson‎

Ricky Carson, a former teammate of Jerry Rice at Mississippi Valley State, is now the head football coach and athletic director of NAIA Texas College.

NATCHEZ, MS — When Alcorn State University hired Rickey Carson as its first ever golf coach, there was one teeny-weeny problem. Carson had never played golf. When The Dart landed at Duncan Park Golf Course Friday afternoon, Carson was practicing his swing while wife Victoria and daughter Courtney looked on. “I had to find out about the rules. What’s a par? What’s a birdie? I didn’t even know what that was,” Carson said.

But Carson is well versed in the game now. But Carson is well versed in the game now. An assistant head coach and offensive coordinator for the ASU football team from 1998 to 2000, Carson studied the rules of golf at the library, and eventually applied his newfound knowledge at Duncan Park.

“I did bad my first time out. I tore up the golf course real bad,” Carson said. “I’m sure everyone was glad when I left that day.” Carson didn’t let his less than stellar debut deter him from the game. He continued to practice, and even gained pointers from his team, which finished sixth overall in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

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Delaware State Hornets Kicks Off 2010 Football Camp

Dover, DE --- Delaware State University's 2010 summer football camp is underway. About 85 players spent today moving into their rooms, attending meetings and being welcomed by among others, DSU President Harry Williams and athletic director Derek Carter. After a picture taking session Wednesday morning, the 2010 Hornets will hit the field for the first time. The players will be put through a run test tomorrow morning and take part in their first official practice in the evening.

Although the Hornets return their starting quarterback, best rusher, top two receivers and leading tackler from last season, there will be a number of new faces at other key positions this year. Delaware State expects to return just seven starters and 32 letter winners from last season. The defense is most critically hit, with just one starter and nine others on the 2009 two-deep returning. The offensive line must replace three starters, while the Hornets will also feature newcomers at punter and placekicker this season.

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SU quarterback coach stresses details

Each afternoon, the quarterbacks at Southern University begin practice with something so simple, so routine, it’s almost an afterthought to everyone else. It wasn’t an afterthought to Ted White. White, the Baton Rouge native and first-year SU quarterbacks coach, watches carefully as his players speak. Or, more accurately, he listens. Is the timing right? Do they sound OK? Do the quarterbacks bob their heads too much? White watches, listens and instructs.

The quarterbacks’ cadence is important, he says — not just to them, but to the entire offense.

It’s one of those details that might help the Jaguars’ new pro-style offense go from being average to being great. “If you want to run any type of offense, and you want the offensive linemen and receivers and everyone else to get used to your cadence, you have to practice it every day,” White said. “That’s what they do in the NFL. That’s what they did when I played college football. You try to bring those experiences from everywhere you’ve been.”

To read The Advocate's Southern University Preseason page, Click Here.

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Southern Offense By Position Southern Defense By Position SU quarterback coach stresses details Southern Notes for Aug. 8, 2010

Delaware State bowler a star in the driver's seat

Bower is Pennsylvania track's first female feature race champion.

During the school year, Nicole Bower is on a mission to bring Delaware State University its first NCAA team championship in any sport. But during the summer, Bower kicks off her bowling shoes and puts on her racing helmet and firesuit to race sprint cars at tracks in Pennsylvania.

On the bowling lanes, Bower helped the Hornets advance to their second consecutive NCAA Tournament last spring. She has found success behind the wheel, too. In early May, Bower led all 20 laps of the 358 sprint feature at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicburg, Pa., becoming the first female to win a feature race at the half-mile clay track. The "358" designation refers to engine displacement. Bower lives about 15 minutes from the track in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.

"It was unbelievable," said Bower, who began her racing career at the age of 12 in a quartermidget, often racing at New Castle's Airport Speedway. "It took quite a few days for the win to set in. I had dreamed of standing in victory lane at Williams Grove for a long time. All of the great drivers have been there ... and to get that opportunity is just great."

The 19-year-old will gott yet another thrill on August 5, when she competed against Sprint Cup regulars Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart in the Ollie's Bargain Outlet "Battle at the Grove" charity race at Williams Grove.

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