Francena McCorory, Team USA Win Gold in Women's 4X400

USA gold in the women's 4x400m relay

(L) Francena McCorory, Allyson Felix, Sanya Richards-Ross and DeeDee Trotter

 of the United States celebrate winning gold in the Women's 4 x 400m Relay Final

 on Day 15 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium.

LONDON – Former Hampton University track & field standout Francena McCorory is now an Olympic gold medalist.

McCorory (class of 2011), a three-time NCAA champion in the 400-meter dash, ran the third leg of the relay as Team USA won the race in 3:16.87, beating second-place Russia by nearly four seconds. Jamaica came in third to claim the bronze.

DeeDee Trotter (who won bronze in the 400-meter dash), Allyson Felix (gold medalist in the 200-meter dash), and anchor Sanya Richards-Ross (gold medalist in the 400-meter dash) were also on the final relay squad.

McCorory is the second Hamptonian to medal in London; she joins Kellie Wells (class of 2006), who took the bronze medal in the 100-meter hurdles earlier in the week.

The race will be televised via tape delay on NBC during Saturday’s primetime coverage.

For more information on Hampton University track & field, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.



COURTESY HAMPTON UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

SWAC coach breaks boundaries

LORMAN, Mississippi – Coach Jay Hopson jogged off the football field in the pouring rain, bits of mud and grass matted to his face. His Alcorn State players streamed around him, quickly seeking shelter after a grueling 3-hour practice on a soggy Mississippi morning.

The first white football coach in the historically black Southwestern Athletic Conference might be breaking racial boundaries, but his introduction to the Braves has been quite conventional.

”Coach Hopson is rough,” Alcorn State receiver Terrance Lewis said after Friday’s practice. ”I’ve never practiced this hard. He wants us to work to earn everything we get and that’s what we’re trying to do every day. It took some getting used to, but I think we’re starting to come around.”

And that’s exactly what the 43-year-old Hopson wants to hear as he embarks on his first season as a head coach. Before coming to Alcorn State, he was a well-traveled defensive assistant, working at places like Ole Miss, LSU, Florida, Michigan, Marshall, Southern Miss and most recently Memphis.

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Oklahoma Sooner Opponent watch: Florida A&M

TULSA, Oklahoma - Florida A&M began its practices on Wednesday in preparation for the 2012 season.

The Rattlers were picked to finish fourth in the MEAC this season. The Tallahassee, Fla., program was 7-4 last season.

The Sept. 8 meeting between the schools will be OU's home opener and the first time the schools have met.

Florida A&M will play another major conference school in 2013, with a road trip to Ohio State scheduled.

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Slidell’s Hornsby inks with Grambling State University

SLIDELL, Louisiana - Slidell’s William Hornsby is heading to Grambling State University to play basketball for the Tigers. Hornsby said it was an easy decision.

“I went to the campus. I loved it there. It felt like I was at home as soon as I stepped on the campus. They sold me quick. I could picture myself there for the next four years,” Hornsby said.

The guard said he was also considering the University of Vermont and the University of Mobile. Hornsby said being closer to home wasn’t a factor. He said the best fit for him was the main thing.

“Whatever my family felt was best also. We sat down and talked about it for a long time. We prayed on it and we came up with Grambling,” Hornsby said.
Hornsby said they told him there’s a chance he could start, but if not, he could see a lot of playing time.

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Lincoln Blue Tigers Football to Play Grambling State in 2013

JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri -- The Lincoln football team will play Grambling State, one of the most successful historically black Division I universities, at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri on September 14, 2013. Betty Kemna, Lincoln's Director of Athletics, made the announcement on Wednesday.

The game, which will be called the Kansas City Classic, was made possible when Truman State announced it was leaving the MIAA. The current football scheduling structure of the MIAA requires all conference teams to play an entirely league schedule. When Truman State, one of LU's scheduled opponents for the 2013 season, announced it was leaving the league, the MIAA made the decision to let teams fill the open date with an opponent of their choosing, allowing the Blue Tigers to schedule a contest against another HBCU.



"The opportunity to add an HBCU institution to the schedule was appealing, and then having the opponent be Grambling State was an even greater draw for us to participate," Kemna said. "I am looking forward to working with the (Lincoln) Alumni Association and the Greater Kansas City Alumni Chapter in having this Classic be a huge success."

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MSU Men’s Basketball Squad Starts Season Early in Bahamas

BALTIMORE, Maryland - Morgan State University’s men’s basketball team will start their upcoming season earlier than usual as they travel to Nassau, Bahamas for a series of exhibition games against international talent.

According to MSU Sports Information Director Leonard Haynes, the Bears will spend six days in the Bahamas, from Aug. 13 through Aug. 18. The team will compete against the Cybots, the Bahamas All-Stars and the Real Deal Shockers, with all games played at Sir Kendall Issac Gym in front of an expected crowd of 3,500 people.

Haynes said this is the fifth foreign trip Morgan State’s basketball team has taken since 1974; the Bears visited Brazil in 1974, Columbia in 1975 and traveled to Canada in 2010 and Cancun in 2011.

“I’m excited about the tour,” said Bears head coach Todd Bozeman. “We took a foreign tour in 2010. We went to Windsor, Canada for six days and it was a great experience. The tour provides returning players that might not have played a lot, an opportunity to gain some valuable experience against international competition.”

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Former standout QB takes final shot at EWC

JACKSONVILLE, Florida  -- Patrick Ryan has one more opportunity to make it as a college football player. The quarterback intends to use it.

Ryan, a Fort Myers native who had a high school career disrupted at Gateway Charter, left the promise of starting at a Division II school for the goal of playing D-I only to be thrown off that team for disciplinary reasons, hopes to make the most of one last chance.

Ryan, 22, will do try to do so at his fifth school in seven years.



Driven by the influences of his childhood neighborhoods and his admiration for his childhood friends, including Lee County’s all-time leading high school football rusher Noel Devine, Ryan has enrolled at Edward Waters College, an NAIA program in Jacksonville.

They have lived parallel lives, Ryan and Devine, sharing the tragedies and traumas of life while enjoying their triumphs together.

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