No. 3 Gold Rush could meet No. 1 Grizzlies next week

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana and Georgia Gwinnett, two of the NAIA's highest-rated men's tennis teams, finally could meet next week in an unaffiliated group qualifying tournament.
     
Georgia Gwinnett, Xavier and two teams from the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference will meet May 6 at Lawrenceville, Ga., in a one-day, two-round event to determine one of the 13 automatic bids to the NAIA National Championships.
     
Tuesday the NAIA announced its seventh top 25 of the season. The top six are the same for the fourth consecutive poll, including Xavier (13-6) at No. 3 and Georgia Gwinnett — 20-0 and the two-time defending national champion — at No. 1.
     
Xavier and Georgia Gwinnett were scheduled to meet the third weekend of February in the Grizzlies' Green and Gray Invitational, but two consecutive days of rain washed out that opportunity.
     
At the unaffiliated group tournament, also to be played at Georgia Gwinnett, the Gold Rush and Grizzlies could not meet until the championship round. Xavier's semifinal opponent could be 25th-ranked Asbury, which won the KIAC regular season and will compete in that conference's postseason tournament this week. The KIAC has five teams, one fewer than needed to make it an automatic-bid conference in that sport.
     
A Xavier-Georgia Gwinnett matchup would be the third in four seasons for the Gold Rush against an NAIA No. 1. Xavier lost to Auburn Montgomery in 2013 and to Embry-Riddle (Fla.) in 2014.
     
The top-25 appearance is the 75th in a row for the Gold Rush (12-5). It's Xavier's 45th straight top-10 ranking and fifth consecutive appearance at No. 3.
     
Key dates for the postseason:
     •  May 8:  Announcement of final top 25 before the national tournament.
     •  May 9:  NAIA announces the 24 teams which qualified for the national tournament.
     •  May 10:  Bracket announcement for the 2016 NAIA National Championships.
     •  May 17:  First round of national tournament at Mobile, Ala. . . . Afternoon start for men's duals.
     •  May 18:  Second round . . . If Xavier is eighth or higher in the May 8 poll, this is the day it would play its first dual of the tournament.
     •  May 21:  Championship round.

NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through April 10) Rank Team Record Points Last 1 Georgia Gwinnett (13) 20-0 343 1 2 Auburn Montgomery 18-4 331 2 3 Xavier 13-6 322 3 4 Northwestern Ohio 13-3 310 4 5 Dalton State 17-5 299 5 6 Keiser 19-3 288 6 7 Lindsey Wilson 14-3 276 7 8 Coastal Georgia 12-3 267 8 9 San Diego Christian 9-3 255 9 10 William Carey 12-7 245 10 11 Aquinas 20-6 234 11 12-tie Cardinal Stritch 13-7 215 14 12-tie Lewis-Clark State 11-9 215 13 14 Reinhardt 14-3 191 15 15 Westmont 9-8 182 16 16 Bethany (Kan.) 12-2 175 21 17 Mobile 11-7 165 17 18 Olivet Nazarene 13-7 147 19 19 Cumberlands 12-6 135 RV 20 McPherson 11-6 127 12 21 Middle Georgia 11-9 125 20 22 Warner 10-4 123 22 23 Pikeville 11-5 107 RV 24 Campbellsville 11-8 84 18 25 Asbury 9-3 74 24 Dropped from rankings:  No. 23 Cumberland, No. 25 Marian (Ind.) Others receiving votes:  Marian (Ind.) 58, Tennessee Wesleyan 49, Cumberland 33, Southeastern (Fla.) 30, William Woods 20, Biola 13, Indiana Tech 8, Indiana Wesleyan 7, Arizona Christian 6, Loyola 6, Missouri Baptist 3 Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director XULAgold.com XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA  twitter.com/xulagold www.facebook.com/xulagold

Hill, Thibodeaux are XU Medal of Honor recipients

NEW ORLEANS — Jodi Hill (women's volleyball) and Jarvis Thibodeaux (men's basketball) received Xavier University of Louisiana Medal of Honor awards Monday evening during an athletic department ceremony which honored all nine XU teams.
     
This was the debut of a revamped end-of-year event in which award winners competed with student-athletes from other XU sports. The Medal of Honor was presented to the senior female and male student-athlete who best define the qualities of scholarship, athletics, leadership and service.
     
Hill, from Prairieville, La., and a graduate of Dutchtown High School, is a two-time Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athlete. She was All-Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament as a junior and a senior. Hill was named best trial advocate at the IIT Chicago-Kent Prelaw Undergraduate Scholars program, and she was one of 20 nationwide to be selected as a James S. Kemper Foundation Scholar.
     
Thibodeaux, from Houston and a graduate of St. Pius X High School, was a starter the past two years. His 17 rebounds Dec. 3 at Loyola are the most in a game by a Gold Rush player in the last 12 seasons. Earlier this month at XU's Division of Business awards ceremony, Thibodeaux received Who's Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities and the division's outstanding student-athlete award. Nearly half of this year's XU student-athletes are business majors.
     
Medal of Honor finalists were Emoni Harvey of women's basketball (Memphis, Tenn., and Briarcrest Christian School), Chelsea James of women's track and field (Gadsden, Ala./Gadsden City High School), Kevin Chaouat of men's tennis (Sarcelles, France/home-schooled), and Brent Kitto of men's track and cross country (Chalmette, La./Holy Cross High School).
     

Additional recipients were:
     
•  Male Athlete of the Year:  Morris Wright, basketball (Zachary, La./Zachary High School and Baton Rouge Community College) . . . Finalists were Christopher August, track and cross country (Spring Texas/Klein Collins High School) and Thomas Setodji, tennis (Domont, France/home-schooled).
     
•  Female Athlete of the Year:  Whitney Gathright, basketball (New Orleans/John Curtis Christian School) . . . Finalists were Charlene Goreau, tennis (Toulouse, France/Raymond Naves School) and Claudia Haywood, volleyball (Memphis/Cordova High School).
     
•  Female Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year:  Franziska Pirkl, volleyball (Munich, Germany/Theodolinden Gymnasium) . . . Finalists were Taylor Reuther, volleyball (Metairie, La./St. Mary's Dominican High School) and Alesha Smith, basketball (Athens, Ga./Clarke Central High School).
     
•  Male Junior Scholar-Athlete of the Year:  Karan Salwan, tennis (New Delhi, India/ Modern School) . . . Finalists were Adam Albrecht, tennis (Ladna, Czech Republic/Gymnasium Breclav) and Langston Adams, track and field (Baton Rouge, La./Christian Life Academy).
     
•  Female Junior Scholar-Athlete of the Year:  Sha'Nel Bruins, tennis (Colfax, La./Grant High School) . . . Finalists were Terri Cunningham, track and field (Nashville, Tenn./Martin Luther King Magnet High School) and Brandi Nelson, tennis (Jonesboro, Ga./Faith Academy).
     
•  Male Newcomer of the Year:  Setodji . . . Finalists were Elex Carter, basketball (LaPlace, La./East St. John High School) and Keairez Coleman, track and field (Harrisville, Miss./Mendenhall High School).
     
•  Female Newcomer of the Year:  Goreau . . . Finalists were Kayla Quincy, track and field (Avondale, La./Xavier Preparatory High School) and Kiera Robinson, basketball (Arlington, Texas/Mansfield Summit High School).
     
Sister Grace Mary Flickinger, Xavier's longtime faculty representative to athletics, received a framed honorary letterwinner's award as thanks for her service to the department.

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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Darrell Walker Named New Coach of Clark Atlanta Men's Basketball

ATLANTA, Georgia -- Former NBA player and head coach Darrell Walker has been named as the next head coach of the Clark Atlanta University men's basketball program.

Walker will be embarking on his first collegiate coaching opportunity with more than a decade of NBA coaching experience, including 56 victories as a head coach in the league. Walker has also headed up teams in the WNBA and CBA.

Beyond his professional coaching experience, Walker was an All-American player at the University of Arkansas under legendary coach Eddie Sutton. After playing out his days with the Razorbacks, Walker was selected with the No. 12 overall pick in the 1983 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks. Over a professional playing career spanning 10 seasons, Walker was able to end his career as a member of the NBA Champion Chicago Bulls in the 1992-93 season.

During a playoff series his rookie season in New York, Walker set franchise bests for steals in a playoff game (seven) and series (15). As a player with the Washington Bullets (now Wizards) from 1987-91, Walker dished out 1,707 assists to sit eighth on the franchise career assist chart. He also ranked in the top-5 for guards in rebounding for three consecutive seasons and also had a season where he was in the top-10 in the NBA in assists per game.

Walker is a graduate of the University of Arkansas with a B.S. in Human Resources. His time at UA was commemorated in 2008 as he was inducted into the Hall of Honor by ranking among the all-time Razorbacks leaders in assists (10th) and steals (fourth). He has also men named to the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame (2003).

Coaching Timeline:
1995-96 | Toronto Raptors | Assistant Coach
1996-98 | Toronto Raptors | Head Coach | 41-90 (.313)
1999-00 | Rockford Lightning | Head Coach
1999-00 | Washington Wizards | Head Coach | 15-23 (.395)
2000 | Washington Mystics | Head Coach | 14-18 (.438)
2004-08 | New Orleans / Oklahoma City Hornets | Assistant Coach
2008-11 | Detroit Pistons | Assistant Coach
2011-14 | New York Knicks | Assistant Coach
WNBA Head Coaching Record | 14-18 (.438)
NBA Head Coaching Record | 56-113 (.331)

COURTESY CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Saint Augustine's Falcons Remain No. 1 in both USTFCCA Polls For Fourth Straight Week

Tia-Adana Belle Set The Division II National Record In The Women's 400 Hurdles At The CIAA Outdoor Championships

NEW ORLEANS – With only a month left in the countdown to the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Bradenton, Florida, on May 26-28, teams continue to jockey for position in the latest edition of the National Team Computer Rankings.

Only six top-25 teams between both genders remained in the same position from a week ago, including both the No. 1 men and women of Saint Augustine’s. The week seven rankings were announced Tuesday morning by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

The three-time defending national champion SAU men won their 19th consecutive CIAA conference title this past weekend to add some breathing room between themselves and No. 2 Grand Valley State. Behind sprinter Burkheart Ellis, Jr., the Falcons improved nearly 47 points to 229.44, while GVSU had a strong weekend in its own right with a 31-point gain to 195.31.

No. 3 Texas A&M-Kingsville (144.09) held steady from last time, while the last two indoor national champions – reigning winner Tiffin (128.29) and 2015 champ Adams State (127.63) – swapped spots at No. 4 and No. 5.

The Saint Augustine’s women still hold a comfortable lead over No. 2 Johnson C. Smith, but the Golden Bulls are chipping away. The Falcons checked in at 172.12 points, while the JCSU women added 15 points to come in at 135.54. That was just enough to step past No. 3 Grand Valley State (133.54).

No. 4 Pittsburg State (127.58) remained stationary but moved closer to the top three, while Hillsdale – national runners-up both in cross country and indoors – jumped up nine spots to No. 5.

Reigning women’s national champion Central Missouri dropped one spot to No. 7, displaced by a two-spot rise from No. 6 Texas A&M-Kingsville.

National champions in 2014, the Lincoln (Mo.) women were the biggest mover among top-25 teams this week. The Blue Tigers jumped up 17 spots to No. 12.

Their male teammates improved the most of any top-25 men’s team this week, up 15 positions to No. 22.

The National Team Computer Rankings are complied by a mathematical formula based on national descending order lists. The purpose and methodology of the rankings is to create an index that showcases the teams that have the best potential of achieving the top spots in the national team race. Rankings points do not equate with NCAA Championships team points.

A full description of the rankings can be found here.

USTFCCCA NCAA DIVISION II
MEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD NATIONAL TEAM COMPUTER RANKINGS (TOP 25)
2016 Week #7 — April 26
next ranking: May 3
Rank	Institution	Points	Conference	Head Coach (Yr)	Last Week
1	Saint Augustine’s	229.44	CIAA	George Williams (40th)	1
2	Grand Valley State	195.31	GLIAC	Jerry Baltes (17th)	2
3	Texas A&M-Kingsville	144.09	Lone Star	Ryan Dall (8th)	3
4	Tiffin	128.29	GLIAC	Jeremy Croy (16th)	5
5	Adams State	127.63	RMAC	Rock Light (3rd)	4
6	Chico State	112.93	CCAA	Oliver Hanf (4th)	7
7	Shippensburg	103.15	PSAC	Dave Osanitsch (11th)	12
8	Missouri Southern	99.40	MIAA	Bryan Schiding (3rd)	6
9	Colorado Mines	88.36	RMAC	Matt Sparks (3rd)	11
10	Central Missouri	87.74	MIAA	Kirk Pedersen (20th)/Kip Janvrin (18th)	9
11	Ashland	85.73	GLIAC	Jud Logan (13th)	8
12	Azusa Pacific	74.77	PacWest	Kevin Reid (21st)	14
13	Pittsburg State	74.21	MIAA	Russ Jewett (28th)	17
14	Alaska Anchorage	74.02	GNAC	Michael Friess (26th)	15
15	Angelo State	72.39	Lone Star	James Reid (17th)	16
16	Academy of Art	71.76	PacWest	Kevin LaSure (1st)	10
17	Minnesota State	69.71	NSIC	Jim Dilling (3rd)	13
18	Johnson C. Smith	66.67	CIAA	Lennox Graham (9th)	25
19	Cal State Stanislaus	61.47	CCAA	Diljeet Taylor (4th)	24
20	Texas A&M-Commerce	60.99	Lone Star	Ross Smithey (1st)	18
21	Findlay	54.51	GLIAC	Marc Arce (28th)	20
22	Lincoln (Mo.)	53.77	MIAA	Victor Thomas (15th)	37
23	UC San Diego	49.99	CCAA	Tony Salerno (17th)	19
24	Cal State LA	49.01	CCAA	Tina Fernandes (3rd)	22
25	Southern Indiana	48.56	GLVC	Mike Hillyard (18th)	23
dropped out: No. 21 Western Washington
View All Teams Beyond the Top 25

2016 Week #7 — April 26
next ranking: May 3
Rank	Institution	Points	Conference	Head Coach (Yr)	Last Week
1	Saint Augustine’s	229.44	CIAA	George Williams (40th)	1
2	Grand Valley State	195.31	GLIAC	Jerry Baltes (17th)	2
3	Texas A&M-Kingsville	144.09	Lone Star	Ryan Dall (8th)	3
4	Tiffin	128.29	GLIAC	Jeremy Croy (16th)	5
5	Adams State	127.63	RMAC	Rock Light (3rd)	4
6	Chico State	112.93	CCAA	Oliver Hanf (4th)	7
7	Shippensburg	103.15	PSAC	Dave Osanitsch (11th)	12
8	Missouri Southern	99.40	MIAA	Bryan Schiding (3rd)	6
9	Colorado Mines	88.36	RMAC	Matt Sparks (3rd)	11
10	Central Missouri	87.74	MIAA	Kirk Pedersen (20th)/Kip Janvrin (18th)	9
11	Ashland	85.73	GLIAC	Jud Logan (13th)	8
12	Azusa Pacific	74.77	PacWest	Kevin Reid (21st)	14
13	Pittsburg State	74.21	MIAA	Russ Jewett (28th)	17
14	Alaska Anchorage	74.02	GNAC	Michael Friess (26th)	15
15	Angelo State	72.39	Lone Star	James Reid (17th)	16
16	Academy of Art	71.76	PacWest	Kevin LaSure (1st)	10
17	Minnesota State	69.71	NSIC	Jim Dilling (3rd)	13
18	Johnson C. Smith	66.67	CIAA	Lennox Graham (9th)	25
19	Cal State Stanislaus	61.47	CCAA	Diljeet Taylor (4th)	24
20	Texas A&M-Commerce	60.99	Lone Star	Ross Smithey (1st)	18
21	Findlay	54.51	GLIAC	Marc Arce (28th)	20
22	Lincoln (Mo.)	53.77	MIAA	Victor Thomas (15th)	37
23	UC San Diego	49.99	CCAA	Tony Salerno (17th)	19
24	Cal State LA	49.01	CCAA	Tina Fernandes (3rd)	22
25	Southern Indiana	48.56	GLVC	Mike Hillyard (18th)	23
dropped out: No. 21 Western Washington
View All Teams Beyond the Top 25

Men’s Conference Index Top 10
Rank	Conference	Points	Top 25 Teams
1	GLIAC	555.74	4
2	Lone Star	399.42	3
3	MIAA	344.56	4
4	RMAC	328.13	2
5	CIAA	320.95	2
6	CCAA	278.34	4
7	PacWest	197.12	2
8	GNAC	188.24	1
9	GLVC	159.83	1
10	NSIC	152.10	1

Men’s Regional Index Leaders
Region	Institution	Points	Last Week
Atlantic	Shippensburg	632.81	1
Central	Missouri Southern	373.91	1
East	American International	531.10	2
Midwest	Grand Valley State	597.19	1
South	Shorter	363.53	2
South Central	Texas A&M-Kingsville	397.95	1
Southeast	Mount Olive	483.53	1
West	Chico State	431.35	1
View All Regional Rankings

USTFCCCA NCAA DIVISION II
WOMEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD NATIONAL TEAM COMPUTER RANKINGS (TOP 25)
2016 Week #7 — April 26
next ranking: May 3
Rank	Institution	Points	Conference	Head Coach (Yr)	Last Week
1	Saint Augustine’s	172.12	CIAA	George Williams (40th)	1
2	Johnson C. Smith	135.54	CIAA	Lennox Graham (9th)	3
3	Grand Valley State	133.54	GLIAC	Jerry Baltes (17th)	2
4	Pittsburg State	127.58	MIAA	Russ Jewett (30th)	4
5	Hillsdale	112.03	GLIAC	Andrew Towne (5th)	14
6	Texas A&M-Kingsville	103.39	Lone Star	Ryan Dall (8th)	8
7	Central Missouri	99.45	MIAA	Kirk Pedersen (20th)/Kip Janvrin (18th)	6
8	West Texas A&M	95.84	Lone Star	Darren Flowers (7th)	5
9	Alaska Anchorage	94.54	GNAC	Michael Friess (26th)	10
10	Findlay	93.43	GLIAC	Marc Arce (28th)	9
11	Lewis	84.97	GLVC	Dana Schwarting (11th)	7
12	Lincoln (Mo.)	84.66	MIAA	Victor Thomas (15th)	29
13	Shorter	84.47	Peach Belt	Scott Byrd (9th)	12
14	Chico State	81.78	CCAA	Robert Nooney (3rd)	11
15	Angelo State	71.80	Lone Star	James Reid (17th)	16
16	Adams State	70.17	RMAC	Rock Light (3rd)	13
17	Missouri Southern	67.87	MIAA	Patty Vavra (22nd)	21
18	Chadron State	66.73	RMAC	Brad Gamble (2nd)	27
19	Claflin	64.04	SIAC	Lincoln London (3rd)	15
20	Western Washington	58.15	GNAC	Pee Wee Halsell (29th)	18
21	Cal State Stanislaus	56.35	CCAA	Diljeet Taylor (4th)	22
22	Azusa Pacific	55.19	PacWest	Preston Grey (4th)	20
23	Seattle Pacific	54.26	GNAC	Karl Lerum (11th)	17
24	Minnesota State	53.16	NSIC	Jen Blue (16th)	19
25	Humboldt State	50.85	CCAA	Scott Pesch (6th)	24
dropped out: No. 23 Sioux Falls, No. 25 Ashland
View All Teams Beyond the Top 25

Women’s Conference Index Top 10
Rank	Conference	Points	Top 25 Teams
1	MIAA	534.18	4
2	GLIAC	461.77	3
3	CIAA	330.02	2
4	Lone Star	319.69	3
5	GNAC	255.17	3
6	RMAC	251.04	2
7	NSIC	229.34	1
8	CCAA	225.08	3
9	GLVC	173.58	1
10	Peach Belt	144.40	1

Women’s Regional Index Leaders
Region	Institution	Points	Last Week
Atlantic	Shippensburg	427.34	1
Central	Pittsburg State	430.64	1
East	Stonehill	454.61	1
Midwest	Grand Valley State	631.65	1
South	Shorter	471.04	1
South Central	Angelo State	441.67	2
Southeast	Queens (N.C.)	612.09	1
West	Chico State	376.04	1
View All Regional Rankings NCAA Division II Rankings Central By Kyle Terwillegar, USTFCCCA April 26, 2016