Jacksons, Pieri, Fakler go low in Ragin' Cajuns Invitational

LAFAYETTE, La. — Xavier University of Louisiana freshman Kwame Jackson ran four miles in 21 minutes, 46.1 seconds — the second-fastest time in school history — and placed third out of 40 runners Friday evening in the Ragin' Cajuns Invitational cross country meet at Acadiana Park.

Teammate Matt Pieri was fourth in 22:04.4 with the fifth-fastest time in XU history.

Xavier University of Louisiana's 2011 women's cross country team
      From left: Anna D'Souza, Hali Yarmuth, Catherine Fakler, Darian Towns, 
Donye Coleman, Zahri Jackson, Paige Rochelle, Ashley Taylor.
(click on photo to enlarge)

Freshman Zahri Jackson, Kwame's sister, placed fifth out of 41 in the 5,000-meter race in 20:04.6, the seventh-best time in XU history. Freshman teammate Catherine Fakler was eighth in 20:20.2 with the 12th-fastest time in school history.

Xavier's women finished second, and the men placed third in team scoring. Nicholls State won the women's title, and Louisiana-Lafayette won the men's division.

Individual winners were Ingvild Vedde of Nicholls (19:12.8) in the women's race and the Ragin' Cajuns' Zachary France (21:36.4) in the men's.

It was the third competition of the season for Xavier, which will run next Saturday morning in the LSU Invitational at Baton Rouge, La.

Results:  Men    Women

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

Howard Bison vs. Norfolk State Spartans

Washington, D.C. - Honors for McGhee: Howard freshman quarterback Greg McGhee was named Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference rookie of the week after passing for 248 yards and three touchdowns to rally the Bison to a 30-27 victory over Morehouse. McGhee was the first Howard quarterback since 2009 to eclipse 200 yards passing in a game.

It has to end sometime: With both teams opening their MEAC slate, Howard has its first chance of the season to end its 27-game losing streak in conference. The Bison have not won a conference game since Oct. 27, 2007, a 17-10 win at Norfolk State. The Spartans have won the three meetings since.

Halfway there: Veteran-laden Norfolk State almost pulled off the biggest upset of the season last weekend in Morgantown, W.Va., where it outgained West Virginia 242-193 in the first half ...



READ MORE

Robert Morris To Face Morgan State Saturday

Baltimore, MD - Saturday’s game between Robert Morris and Morgan State marks the inaugural meeting between the two programs. The contest is the start of a home-and-home series between the Colonials and Bears, as Morgan State will visit Joe Walton Stadium in Moon Township, Pa., during the 2013 season. Robert Morris owns a record of 17-10-1 (.625) when facing off with an opponent for the first time, and the last time the Colonials had an inaugural matchup with a new opponent was Nov. 27, 2010, a 43-17 setback @ North Dakota State in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Playoffs.

Robert Morris (0-2) @ Morgan State (0-2)
Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011, at 1:00 p.m.
Hughes Stadium (10,000) - Baltimore, Md.
Radio: WEAA Radio (88.9 FM) in Baltimore, Md.  Lamont Germany (Play-by-Play) and Kelvin Bridgers (Analyst)

Clive for Live Stats

Head Coach Joe Walton (18th Season; Pittsburgh '57) - At the forefront of the football renaissance at Robert Morris University throughout its 17-year history is Joe Walton, who has built the Colonials from a fledgling program into one of the top Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) teams in the region.

The one constant associated with the program, Walton was named the first head coach July 27, 1993. He started the program from scratch, completing everything from hiring assistant coaches to purchasing equipment to recruiting student-athletes for the team’s inaugural season in 1994. He owns an overall record of 103-72-1 (.588).

Walton’s fingerprints are all over the football program, and to prove that, RMU has played its home games since 2005 in a stadium that bears his name. During his tenure, Walton has led Robert Morris to the first Northeast Conference championship in 1996, guided RMU to a perfect 10-0 season in 2000 and in 2010 helped lead the Colonials to the NEC’s inaugural bid to the NCAA FCS Playoffs with their league-high sixth regular-season championship.

“It’s hard to believe,” Walton speaks on how fast time has elapsed. “I’ve said this many times before, and I mean it when I say that this situation is one of the best things that has ever happened to me in my life. It happened at the right time. Before this position became available, I felt I was too young to quit coaching, but I wasn’t anxious to get back into pro football. When this came along, it was the perfect fit. This situation was the perfect opportunity for me to continue to do what I like to do, and I’ve loved every minute of it.”

Under Walton’s tutelage, the Colonials have claimed outright NEC regular-season titles three times (1997, 1999, 2000) while sharing three others (1996, 1998, 2010). Walton led Robert Morris to back-to-back ECAC Bowl victories in 1996 and 1997, and in 1999 and 2000 he guided RMU to a pair of NCAA I-AA mid-major national crowns according to Don Hansen’s National Weekly Football Gazette.

In 2010, Walton added to his legacy by engineering the Colonials on an eight-game winning streak for a share of the NEC regular-season title and the NEC’s first bid in the NCAA FCS Playoffs. In the process he picked up his 100th career victory in the collegiate ranks.



Those Issues Are Secondary - Through the first two games of the 2011 season, a total of five Colonials have earned a start in the secondary, a group that includes a senior (Alex Tarr), a junior (Ben Ridgeley), a pair of junior college transfers (Antwan Smith and Cameron Chadwick) and a sophomore (D.J. Myers). Myers led the Colonials in tackles against Dayton (9/3) in the 2011 season opener with a career-high nine takedowns, while Tarr paced RMU in stops with a career-high eight tackles @ Liberty (9/10). Robert Morris enters Saturday’s non-conference finale @ Morgan State with 44 of its 112 tackles (39.3 percent) so far this season having come from its secondary.

Snapping a Streak - Junior quarterback Jeff Sinclair, who tied an RMU single-season school record with 22 touchdown passes last season, completed his first touchdown pass of the 2011 campaign with a nine-yard strike to sophomore tight end Vince Mongelluzzo in the fourth quarter @ Liberty (9/10). For Sinclair, it snapped a streak of 80 passing attempts without a touchdown dating back to the 2010 campaign, the longest drought of his career.

All-Time Series vs. Morgan State
Inaugural Meeting
2011, Away
2013, Home
@ Moon Township, Pa. - 0-0
@ Baltimore, Md. - 0-0

Courtesy: Robert Morris Athletics

ECSU Vikings wary of FSU Broncos

Fayetteville, NC - Elizabeth City State is ready to turn the corner.

After two tough losses by a combined 12 points, one in overtime, the Vikings captured their first victory of 2011 last week and intend on using that as a springboard for the rest of the season. But to carry that momentum into the heart of it Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association schedule, ECSU (1-2) will have to get past a Fayetteville State team on the road today that is in a similar situation the Vikings were in just a week ago.

“I want us to be mindful that this team is as hungry as we were in trying to turn the corner,” ECSU coach Waverly Tillar ...

READ MORE

Bowie State student accused of fatally stabbing roommate

Bowie, MD - About 8 p.m. Thursday, the students in Suite 208 of the Christa McAuliffe residence hall were getting ready for what should have been a fun night out at Bowie State University’s homecoming week comedy show.

Alexis Simpson, a 19-year-old newcomer to the college, abruptly turned off the iPod playing in the suite. Everyone asked her to turn the music back on. “No,” she said, according to an account in court papers.

Then the simplest of roommate spats turned deadly.

Simpson and Dominique Frazier, 18, started to yell, and the fight turned physical. Someone in the suite split them up, pushing Simpson into her bedroom. But Simpson came back with what looked like a knife and stabbed Frazier in the neck, the court papers say.

“I didn’t mean to do it ...

READ MORE

Student, 18, fatally stabbed at Bowie State; roommate charged

During what was supposed to be a festive homecoming week, the campus of Bowie State University was instead quiet and somber Friday after a student was arrested and charged with killing one of her roommates.

According to police, Alexis D. Simpson, 19, fatally stabbed 18-year-old Dominique T. Frazier on Thursday night in the dorm where they both lived. Charging documents show that the confrontation was sparked by a seemingly innocuous act: Simpson turned off Frazier's iPod as they prepared to go out, records show.

Campus police found Frazier in the second-floor hallway of the Christa McAuliffe Residential Building, where she was unconscious and bleeding from the torso. She was taken to Prince George's Hospital Center where she later died, according to Maryland State Police.

Simpson turned herself in at a Prince George's County police station around midnight. She has been charged with first-degree murder and related charges, and was being held at the Prince George's County Detention Center without bond.

READ MORE

North Carolina Central (1-1) vs. Elon Phoenix (1-1) Preview

ELON, N.C. -- The Elon football team will make the short trek down Interstate 40 to Durham, N.C. to face North Carolina Central in a 6 p.m. game on Saturday night. The Phoenix and Eagles enter with identical 1-1 records and are meeting for the first time since 1996.

Site: Durham, N.C.
Stadium: O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium
Surface: Mondoturf
Capacity: 10,000
Radio: WPCM 920 AM – David Hibbard (play-by-play) and Taylor Durham (color)
TV: None
Series: Elon leads 7-3

Gameday Central
Live Audio
Live Stats
Live Chat
Live Video
Game Notes

NCCU Sports Network (Live Audio/Video Streaming of Game)




Did you Know?
• With its win on Saturday, Elon won its third consecutive home opener.
• Jonathan Conner’s 99-yard interception return for a touchdown against Concord was the second-longest INT return in school history.
• Elon is facing North Carolina Central for the first time since 1996 and for just the 11th time ever.
• Elon has had four consecutive winning seasons, a first for the program since a stretch of nine straight winning years from 1980-88.

Connections
• Seven Elon players will be meeting up with former high school teammates.
• Elon wide receivers coach Kevin Downing returns to his alma mater. Downing is a 2004 N.C. Central graduate where he played two seasons on defense before seeing his career cut short due to multiple knee surgeries.

The Coaches
• Elon’s Jason Swepson is in his first season as a collegiate head coach. He has gone 1-1 this season.
• N.C. Central’s Henry Frazier III is in his first year with the Eagles, but is a veteran collegiate head coach. Frazier enters this game with a 1-1 mark at N.C. Central and an overall record of 70-55 in his 12+ years as a head coach.

Did you Know?
• With its win on Saturday, Elon won its third consecutive home opener.
• Jonathan Conner’s 99-yard interception return for a touchdown against Concord was the second-longest INT return in school history.
• Elon is facing North Carolina Central for the first time since 1996 and for just the 11th time ever.
• Elon has had four consecutive winning seasons, a first for the program since a stretch of nine straight winning years from 1980-88.

Connections
• Seven Elon players will be meeting up with former high school teammates.
• Elon wide receivers coach Kevin Downing returns to his alma mater. Downing is a 2004 N.C. Central graduate where he played two seasons on defense before seeing his career cut short due to multiple knee surgeries.

The Coaches
• Elon’s Jason Swepson is in his first season as a collegiate head coach. He has gone 1-1 this season.
• N.C. Central’s Henry Frazier III is in his first year with the Eagles, but is a veteran collegiate head coach. Frazier enters this game with a 1-1 mark at N.C. Central and an overall record of 70-55 in his 12+ years as a head coach.

READ MORE

Indiana Hoosiers v. South Carolina State Bulldogs (preview)

Indiana vs. South Carolina State
September 17, 2011 | 3:30 p.m. ET | Bloomington, Ind.
TV: BTN | Radio: IU Radio Network; Sirius 117
Gametracker | Listen Online | Broadcast Affiliates
 Indiana Game Notes | Big Ten Game Notes



BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Staying home for the second straight Saturday, the Indiana football team will face South Carolina State on Saturday, Sept. 17. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. EDT and the BTN will broadcast the game.

Tom Werme will handle play-by-play duties and he will be joined by Gerry DiNardo (analyst) and Stacy Paetz (sideline). The game can also be heard on the statewide IU Radio Network with Don Fischer (play-by-play), Buck Suhr (analyst) and Joe Smith (pre-game, halftime and post-game) on the call.

Setting The Scene
• The Indiana football team (0-2, 0-0 Big Ten) welcomes South Carolina State (1-1, 1-0 MEAC) to Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 17. IU roared back from a 23-3 deficit with 28 unanswered points only to fall to Virginia, 34-31, while SCSU earned a 26-18 victory at Bethune-Cookman last weekend.
• South Carolina State was named the preseason favorite in the MEAC. The Bulldogs have won three straight conference titles and made three straight FCS playoff appearances.

The Coaches
• Kevin Wilson is in his first season as Indiana head coach. Wilson spent the 2002-10 seasons at Oklahoma, where he served as co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach from 2002-05 and as offensive coordinator and tight ends and fullbacks coach from 2006-10. OU played in seven Big 12 Title games in Wilson's nine years, going 6-1 in those appearances. His offenses were vital to accumulating an overall record of 99-24 (.805) during his time in Norman, including seven 10-win seasons.
• Oliver "Buddy" Pough is in his 10th season as head coach at South Carolina State, where he earned All-MEAC honors as an offensive lineman. Pough has compiled a 77-30 (.720) overall record and his teams have captured or shared four MEAC titles.

READ MORE