Rock Hill (S.C.) to Host 2014 SIAC Track and Field Championships

ATLANTA, Georgia -- The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference today announced that the 2014 SIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be held from April 24-26 at the Irwin Belk Track & Field Complex on the campus of Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

"We are pleased to bring our 2014 SIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships to the city of Rock Hill," said SIAC Commissioner Gregory Moore. "These championships showcase both our outstanding student-athletes and member institutions as we continue to celebrate the one-hundredth anniversary of the SIAC."
 

This marks the first season that the three-day conference championships will be held in Rock Hill, with 13 SIAC member institutions vying for the 2014 conference title.

"We are very pleased to host the SIAC championships for the very first time," said Auvis Cole, sports sales manager - Rock Hill/York County Convention & Visitors Bureau. "We look forward to this new partnership and its success."

Events at the 2014 SIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships will begin at 8:00 a.m. on April 24 -25, with the final day of competition starting at 9:00 a.m. on April 26. General admission is free to the public.

COURTESY THESIAC.COM

Kentucky State Set to Face the Marauders of Central State in Circle City Classic®

Photo Courtesy Kentucky State University Athletics

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana – Today it was officially announced that the Kentucky State University football program will be facing off against rival Central State this upcoming season in the 31st Annual Circle City Classic®.

The two teams will meet on October 4, 2014 for the Circle City Classic® game which will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The two teams, who played their first game in 1947, have been longtime rivals and will meet for the 55th time this upcoming season.
 

While the Thorobreds have beaten CSU in six straight seasons (2008-13) the Marauders have a 35-18 edge in the overall rivalry. In 1957 the two teams played in their only tie of the series, ending the contest knotted at 13-13.
 

In their most recent matchup, the Thorobreds traveled to Central State in their second game of the 2013 season and defeated CSU, 38-17. In that game, KSU running back Jacquise Lockett rushed for a season-high 240 yards against the Marauders. That game also marked the first time the teams met as Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponent's with Central State's football program joining the SIAC at the begging of the 2013 season.

The Circle City Classic® is a joint collaboration between Indiana Black Expo, Inc. and the Indiana Sports Corporation. The net proceeds from the classic help support youth initiatives for each organization. Additionally, each year the Classic's educational partner, the Indianapolis Black Alumni Council, host an educational college fair that exposes over 2,500 youth to colleges and universities with scholarship opportunities exceeding $3 million.

"We are thrilled to have these two teams and their strong bases of alumni to participate in Classic this year," said Tanya Bell, President & CEO. "We will rally together this year in the name of football, culture, music and tradition during the first weekend of October."
 

The theme for this year's Classic is "Buy One. Send One.," which reflects the purpose that Classic serves as a fundraiser to send Indiana students to college. "A ticket purchase will help pay for a student to attend college," Bell said. Since 1984, more than 3 million dollars in scholarships have been awarded to Indiana youth.

The Circle City Classic® game this year will feature the anticipated Battle of the Bands, one of the highlights of HBCU classics.

Kentucky State's Mighty Marching Thorobreds band is under the direction of Robert Griffin, Director of Bands. The Thorobreds marching band has performed in several classics and has participated in the Honda All-Star Battle of the Bands.

"We are so excited to be returning to the Circle City Classic," KSU Athletic Director Denisha Hendricks said. "This will be a great experience for our student-athletes and the entire KSU family."

Kentucky State's last Circle City Classic® appearance was in 2011 where the Thorobreds fell to Albany State University, 57-31. Central State has not played in Circle City Classic® since 2006.

Tickets for Circle City Classic® officially go on sale Monday, April 21, 2014. Tickets are available by calling the IBE Box Office at 317.925.2702, the Lucas Oil Stadium Ticket Office at 317.262.3389, online at www.ticketmaster.com or at any Ticket Master outlet.

More information about tickets and events at the 31st Annual Circle City Classic® can be found here: http://www.circlecityclassic.com/

COURTESY KENTUCKY STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION 

VSU Trojans, WSSU Rams Advance to Semifinals of 2014 CIAA Men’s Tennis Championship Tournament

ETTRICK, Virginia – The Virginia State Trojans and the Winston-Salem State Rams kicked off the 2014 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Men’s Tennis Championship Tournament in style when the two teams took 5-0 wins in the quarterfinal round of the tournament. With the victories, both teams will advance to the semifinal round of the tournament where they will take on the conference regular season co-champions Shaw and Chowan respectively.

The host Trojans opened the tournament with an impressive 5-0 win over their rival Virginia Union Panthers to open the tournament. The Trojans got things started with gutsy performance in doubles play. The team kicked things off in the #2 doubles when Nicholas Pfab and Evan Dirksen took an 8-1 win which was followed by an 8-6 win by Kwamane Tonkins and Delwin McCurdy at the #3 doubles. The highlight of the match came at the #1 doubles when Matthew and Nicholas Brown took a 9-8 (7-4) win at #1 doubles. From there, the Trojans wrapped up the match when Tonkins took a 6-0, 6-0 win at #5 singles while Pfab took a 6-1, 6-0 win at #3 singles.

The Rams played the nightcap match when the team took a 5-0 win over the Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls. The match got off to an exciting start when the Rams took an 8-1 win at #1 singles behind Creighton Jones and Jonathan Aubrey’s strong play. The Rams kept things going when the tandem of Christopher Jeter and Christopher Shew took an 8-4 win at #3 doubles. Joshua Aubrey and Corey Bonnette rounded out doubles play with an 8-5 victory. In singles play, the Rams fininshed the match with Bonnette taking a 6-0, 6-0 win at #4 singles while Shew ended the match with a 6-0, 6-0 win at #6 singles.

Both teams will return to action tomorrow in the semifinal round of the tournament. The Trojans will take on the Shaw Bears while the Rams will take on the Chowan Hawks in a rematch of last season’s conference championship match. Tournament play will resume at 1:00 p.m. at the VSU Tennis Complex on the campus of Virginia State University.

COURTESY THECIAA.COM

Bill Proctor: (Florida's) Senate displays a dim view of black students

BILL PROCTOR
LEON COUNTY COMMISSIONER
DISTRICT 1

Bill Proctor serves the Leon County commissioner for District 1, in which both Florida A&M and Florida State universities are located. Contact him at ProctorB@leoncountyfl.gov.

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- One cannot miss the influence of the controversial theories on race and intelligence of Arthur Jensen and William Shockley as the guiding core of the Florida Senate’s thinking in voting to separate the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. This legislative act bolsters white supremacy and further marginalizes black communities. Clearly, the Senate deems the majority of FSU’s students superior in intelligence and worthy of investing millions more of taxpayer dollars.

Sen. John Thrasher declares his budget amendment to separate the FAMU/FSU College of Engineering would strengthen Florida State’s stride toward becoming a Top 25 public (taxpayer-supported) universitiy.

Like Gov. George Wallace, why are Thrasher and the Senate, legislatively speaking, standing in the doorway of the College of Engineering and decreeing that FAMU students cannot come in? In effect, Thrasher and the senators want FAMU’s students to get out and stay out of engineering sciences at FSU. Does “pre-eminence” mean that students from a black school are not welcome to tag along and mess up the white members-only society?

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TSU Tigers Play at Home for Final Time This Season



HEAD COACH JEFFREY DABNEY
Photo courtesy of Tennessee State Athletics

NASHVILLE, Tennessee  -- Tennessee State hosts SIU Edwardsville and Eastern Illinois for a pair of Ohio Valley Conference double headers on Friday and Saturday. TSU will take to Tiger Field for the final time this season with both days starting at 1:00pm. TSU will honor Olivia Gamache and Ashley Haynes on Saturday during the senior day celebrations.

 

The Tigers have dropped five straight, including three in conference play. TSU, still fighting for a spot in the OVC tournament, is in tenth and will have to go through the top two teams in the West Division in consecutive days. The games can be seen on ovcdigitalnetwork.com.

 

Gamache enters the weekend in the top 10 in several pitching categories. The senior is sixth in appearances and games started. Gamache is seventh in wins and is six strikeouts away from surpassing 200, to become just the fourth Tiger to cross the threshold.

 

Haynes is ninth in games played and is four starts away from entering the top 10. Haynes has walked 37 times in her career, good for eighth. The senior has made her mark defensively as well and is one putout out of tenth. Haynes is fifth in assists and has a .935 fielding percentage, eighth best in history.

 

SIU Edwardsville (20-19, 12-3)

2013 Record: 35-13

Conference: Ohio Valley

2013 Finish: 17-5/2nd West

Series Record: 2-6

Last Time Played: 4-6-13, L 1-8

Last Win: 5-6-12, 4-1

 

SIUE turns to Haley Chambers to handle most of the pitching duties appearing in 29 of the teams 39 games. Chambers has tossed 159.1 innings and has earned a 12-12 record and a 1.97 ERA. Chambers is second in the conference with 163 fanning’s. Erin Greenwalt offers support at 8-7 and a 3.94 ERA with 71 punch outs in 80.0 innings. Chelsea Yankolovich sits atop the Cougars stat page, leading in average (.315), hits (40), runs (26) and stolen bases (9). Allison Smiley is batting .308 with a squad leading 17 RBI.

 

Eastern Illinois (30-11, 10-4)

2013 Record: 36-14

Conference: Ohio Valley

2013 Finish: 20-3/1st West

Series Record: 11-36

Last Time Played: 4-7-13, L 1-7

Last Win: 4-2-11, 7-3

 

The Panthers are batting .288 as a team and have four players hitting over .300. Jennette Isaac and Brooke Owens lead the way each batting .350. Isaac is tied with Rey Hutchinson (.325) in stolen bases with 10. Owens has a team high 28 runs, 10 doubles and five home runs. Hannah Cole is hitting at a .348 clip with nine doubles, three triples, five dingers and a team best 31 RBI. EIU relies on the pitching duo of Hannah Mennenga and Stephanie Maday. Mennenga is 16-4 with a 1.87 ERA and 147 strikeouts in 146 innings of work. Maday has compiled a 13-5 record with a 2.13 ERA and has sat down 100 in 115 innings.

COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION  

Gold Rush defeat Privateers for third consecutive year



XAVIER UNIVERSITY TENNIS CENTER

NEW ORLEANS -- Xavier University of Louisiana's men won five consecutive matches Thursday to score a 5-4 decision against the University of New Orleans at XU Tennis Center.

The Gold Rush (9-9), ranked 10th in the NAIA, have a season-best three-dual win streak and defeated the Privateers (6-9) for the third consecutive year. It was Xavier's second victory in five days against an NCAA Division I opponent.

Blake Gregor and Luis Albuquerque gave UNO its only lead when they defeated Tushar Mandlekar and Kevin Chaouat 8-5 at No. 2 doubles. But Xavier won the next five matches to clinch the dual.

Viktor Svoboda -- honored in a senior day ceremony before the dual -- and Adam Albrecht beat Gonzala Garcia and Chris Appelgren 8-5. Then Kyle Montrel and Nikita Soifer gave the Gold Rush a 2-1 lead with their 8-5 victory against Timo Kranz and Rui Silva at the top doubles flight.

Mandlekar, winning for the third straight time in singles, made it 3-1 with a 6-4, 6-1 victory against Gregor at No. 4. Montrel defeated Kranz 6-4, 6-1 at No. 1, and Soifer clinched at No. 2 with a 6-2, 6-4 decision against Garcia.

Soifer is 2-0 in singles and 2-0 in doubles in two seasons against UNO.

"Good win today," XU coach Alan Green said. "UNO is always tough to play against. But it was different today because we played them on our campus for the first time. Hopefully this will carry us over to next week and the unaffiliated tournament."

The Gold Rush will play Alcorn State at 2 p.m. next Thursday at Xavier to conclude the regular season, then compete the following day in the opening round of the NAIA Unaffiliated Group 2 Tournament in New Orleans.

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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Prairie View hires XU's Bussie as women's assistant

Coach Landon Bussie
Hometown: Baltimore, Maryland

NEW ORLEANS -- Prairie View A&M University announced Thursday the hiring of Xavier University of Louisiana's Landon Bussie as a women's basketball assistant coach.

Bussie served the past four seasons on Xavier's men's basketball coaching staff, the last three as a graduate assistant. He was part of Gold Rush teams which won 97 games, won three consecutive Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season championships and qualified four times for the Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I National Championship.

Bussie was a two-year letterman for the Gold Rush (2008-09 and 2009-10) after transferring from Livingstone College. He is from Baltimore, Maryland and a graduate of Woodlawn High School. Bussie received his bachelor's degree from Xavier in 2011.

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
https://twitter.com/xulagold
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