NAIA runner-up Rush climb to No. 2 in postseason poll

NEW ORLEANS — Three days after recording the highest-ever finish by a Xavier University of Louisiana team in an NAIA national tournament, the men's tennis team earned a program-record No. 2 ranking Tuesday in the postseason coaches poll.

The Gold Rush (17-8) won three times this past week in the NAIA National Championship at Mobile, Ala., before losing 5-2 to unbeaten Georgia Gwinnett, which won a third consecutive national title.

Xavier was No. 4 in the preseason, climbed to third in the season's third poll March 1 and remained there through May 9 in the final poll before nationals. The top-25 appearance is Xavier's 77th in a row — the streak began April 4, 2007 — and it's the Gold Rush's 47th consecutive top-10 ranking.
This is the third time in four years that an XU tennis team ranked among the top three in the postseason. The XU women were No. 3 in the final polls of 2013 and 2014.

Georgia Gwinnett was a unanimous No. 1 for the 19th consecutive poll.

NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Postseason Top 25 Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses — records through end of season)
Rank Team Record Points Last

1 Georgia Gwinnett (9) 26-0 219 1
2 Xavier 17-8 212 3
3 Lindsey Wilson 17-4 202 7
4 Dalton State 19-6 201 5
5-tie Northwestern Ohio 16-4 188 4
5-tie Auburn Montgomery 19-5 188 2
7 Keiser 20-4 178 6
8 Coastal Georgia 13-4 170 8
9 William Carey 13-8 160 9
10 Aquinas 23-8 154 10
11 Lewis-Clark State 12-10 148 12
12 Cardinal Stritch 17-8 147 11
13 Westmont 10-9 133 14
14 Cumberlands 13-8 122 18
15 Warner 16-5 120 20
16 Olivet Nazarene 15-9 118 16
17 McPherson 13-6 102 15
18 Reinhardt 14-4 101 13
19 Mobile 11-8 99 17
20 Bethany (Kan.) 13-4 92 19
21 Middle Georgia 11-9 75 21
22 Pikeville 11-5 74 22
23 Campbellsville 14-11 65 23
24 Tennessee Wesleyan 18-4 55 24
25 IU Southeast 16-12 45 25

Dropped from rankings: none
Others receiving votes: Missouri Baptist 35, Marian (Ind.) 33, Southeastern (Fla.) 22, Asbury 10, Cumberland 6, Our Lady of the Lake 5, Hastings 5, Indiana Tech 3, SCAD Atlanta 3

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FAMU baseball coach Shouppe: ‘Those guys gave everything they had’

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Florida A&M’s record-setting baseball season is over surprisingly early, and head coach Jamey Shouppe has had some time to look back at a tournament run that started with title aspirations and ended with a loss to Norfolk State.

The Rattlers (31-21) went 1-2 in the double-elimination MEAC tournament, dropping games to Bethune-Cookman and the Spartans on Monday in Salisbury, Md., despite being the No. 1 seed from the conference’s South Division.

After two days of weather delays, FAMU’s bats were uncharacteristically cold in the losses, and Shouppe said the team didn’t play its best defense. The pitching finally came through for the Rattlers, but the team’s typically overpowering hitters couldn’t get timely hits.

FAMU lost to Bethune-Cookman 5-2, then lost to Norfolk State 4-2. The Wildcats went on to win the tournament and will represent the MEAC in an NCAA Regional.

“I was numb after the game,” Shouppe said. “I was numb for the next 24 hours after the game. We went cold, offensively. The bats had kind of carried us for most of the season and we were just flat. Nothing went our way.”

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DSU Appoints Dr. James Ammons as New Provost

DR. JAMES AMMONS

DOVER, Delaware -- Delaware State University today announced the appointment of Dr. James H. Ammons as its new Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs after months of searching and days of campus interviews with various stakeholders.

Dr. Ammons – a native of Winter Haven, Fla. – is currently a professor of political science at Florida A&M University (FAMU), his alma mater. His career at FAMU spanned two separate tenures totaling 27 years as a tenured professor and executive administrator – including serving as that institution’s president from 2007-2012 and as its provost and vice president of Academic Affairs from 1995-2001.

In between those FAMU tenures, Dr. Ammons was the chancellor at North Carolina Central University from 2001-2007.

Dr. Ammons’ wealth of experience includes leading each institution’s strategic planning process and aligning those outcomes with academic excellence and quality programs. A few highlights in Ammons’ career are the development of 22 new degree programs, increased enrollment and the re-establishment of the FAMU College of Law.

DSU President Harry L. Williams said the faculty, students, Search Committee, Board of Trustees and Administrative Council selected Ammons as their first choice in this search. “I’m excited about the opportunity to bring Ammons into the fold of DSU,” Dr. Williams said. “We are fortunate to have an individual of such great talents and academic experience. I’m particularly enthusiastic that Ammons has the background and experience which will allow him to hit the ground running.”

Dr. Ammons said that he is excited about the opportunity to join the community of scholars at Delaware State University. “It’s an honor to be a part of the academic excellence that is evident at DSU,” he said. “I have worked across the HBCU arena and I am impressed with the magnitude of innovation and student success that is displayed at Delaware State University.”

Dr. Ammons’ number one priority at Delaware State University is to continue to “move the needle” on retention, graduation and gainful employment at DSU. “Together, we will continue to strive to be a model HBCU and a model for higher educational institutions around the world,” the new provost said.

He has a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Florida A&M, a Master of Science in Public Administration and a Ph.D. in Government, both from Florida State University.

Dr. Ammons will replace Dr. Alton Thompson, who resigned from the University on March 4. The new provost and vice president of Academic Affairs will begin his post at DSU on July 18th.

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Claflin track coach gets top honor

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina -- Claflin University head track and field coach Lincoln London has been named the 2016 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country NCAA Division II Men’s Outdoor Track & Field South Region Coach of the Year. This is London’s second national honor this season, as he earned the same accolade for the 2016 indoor season.

Sophomore Trisana Fairweather was named the 2016 USTFCCCA NCAA Division II Women’s Outdoor Track & Field South Region Track Athlete of the Year.

The award winners were determined by a vote of USTFCCCA member coaches. Only those individuals from USTFCCCA member programs are eligible for awards.

London, who in his third year leading the Claflin program, coached athletes to NCAA Automatic times in the 400 meters and the 4×400 meter relay. The relay is ranked No. 1 in the South Region and is No. 2 on the national list.

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Bryan Henry: FAMU Ending doesn’t take away from season

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- We always preach to our Florida A&M team how hard the game of baseball is. Baseball is a game of failure, and it’s more about how you handle and respond to that failure that will determine how good of a player or team you are.

Unfortunately, we now have to wait until next season to respond to the way our season ended.

Our season didn’t end the way we wanted it to end, losing to Bethune-Cookman and Norfolk State Monday in the MEAC Tournament. But hey, that’s baseball.

We will not let two games take away from the incredible season we had this year. That would not be fair to the seniors that have helped build up this program. They helped last year’s team reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history and put up a 30 win season this year for the first time in a long time.

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Recruiting Trail: FAMU wastes no time, offers Creek's Bland after spring game

PORT ORANGE, Florida -- Jelani Bland picked an opportune time to turn in a breakout performance.

With several college coaches in attendance, Bland returned an interception 70 yards for a touchdown and added a blocked punt and a sack in Spruce Creek's 35-14 loss to Viera. Following the game, Hawks defensive coordinator DJ Mayo said, the rising senior linebacker picked up his first Division I offer from Florida A&M.

"It just shows that hard work does pay off," Bland said after the game Wednesday. "I'm going to keep putting in more work to be the best I can be."

Coaches from Florida, Lehigh and Valdosta State stood along the sidelines in Viera.

Bland (6-foot-1, 188 pounds) could be one of a handful of seniors to monitor when the football season rolls around. Spruce Creek has produced three Division I signees the last two seasons — Collin Olsen (Florida International), Lawrence Edwards (Georgia Southern) and Bradley Osborne (Navy).



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Florida A&M’s Baseball Season Comes to a Close with 4-2 Loss to Norfolk State

SALISBURY, Maryland – Florida A&M (31-21, 19-5 MEAC) got a strong pitching performance from Chase Jarrell, but was unable to get the offense going in a 4-2 loss to Norfolk State (29-20, 19-5 MEAC) on Monday night at the MEAC Baseball Tournament. The offense scattered eight hits, but couldn’t get that timely hit when they needed it most. Jarrell (6-4) pitched six solid innings and allowed three runs (one earned) on six hits with four strikeouts and one walk. MEAC Player of the Year Dylan Dillard recorded his eighth home run of the season in his final career at bat in the eighth inning.

Alec Wong (2-for-4) and Dillard (2-for-4) had the only two multi-hit games for the Rattlers against the Spartans. Kendal Weeks came in to pitch the final three innings of relief and allowed just one run on three hits with one strikeout.

NSU scored first with an unearned run in the top of the first inning to take an early 1-0 lead. Brian Beard singled to right with two outs and was able to move to second on a fielding error by Peter Jackson. Beard then came home to score from second as Roger Hall reached on a throwing error to first by AJ Elkins that would have ended the inning.

The Rattlers tied the game at 1-1 with an unearned run in the bottom of the second inning. Ben Ellzey singled to right field with one out and Willis McDaniel was then hit-by-pitch to put runners at first and second. Both runners would move up a base on a groundout to short by Elkins. Ellzey later scored the tying run from third as a failed pickoff attempt at second base from Devin Hemmerich sailed over the shortstop and into center field.

Norfolk State regained the lead for good with another unearned run in the fifth inning for a score of 2-1. Ismael Herrera led off with a single up the middle and went to second as Chase Anderson reached on a fielding error by Jacky Miles, Jr. trying to field a sac bunt attempt. Runners would then advance to second and third on Denathan Duke’s sac bunt back to the pitcher before Herrera scored from third on a groundout to short by Angel Rosario.

The Spartans extended their lead to 3-1 with another run in the sixth inning. Hall doubled to the wall in center field to start the inning and took third on a wild pitch with one out. Alex Mauricio then drove in Hall with an RBI single to right field to give NSU a two run lead.

For FAMU in the eighth inning, Dillard blasted his eighth home run of the season, a solo shot to left field, to bring the Rattlers within one run at 3-2.

Norfolk State added an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning in what proved to be the final score of 4-2. Duke’s two-out RBI single that dropped in just past Elkins at shortstop scored Justin Lee from second base for the game’s final run.

NSU’s Devin Hemmerich (5-4) pitched a complete game and threw 148 pitches for the win. Hemmerich allowed two runs (one earned) on eight hits with nine strikeouts and just one walk.

BOX SCORE

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