Pair of 19ths for XU at NAIA national track prelims

GULF SHORES, Alabama — Xavier University of Louisiana produced a pair of 19th-place finishes Thursday in the women's preliminaries of the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships.
    
 Kayla Quincy was 19th in the 200-meter dash (25.12 seconds), and the 400 relay team of Chelsea James, Destini Thomas, Alexis Milton and Martina Wright produced the same finish. The Gold Nuggets' relay time was 48.97. Neither Quincy nor the relay team qualified for Saturday's finals.
     
Quincy will compete in the 400 prelims at 3:30 p.m. Friday. At 7:45 p.m., Xavier will compete in the prelims of the women's 1,600 relay. No XU men are competing.
     
The three-day meet will conclude Saturday.

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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AAMU Randall not returning to Lady Bulldogs

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – Head women's basketball coach Semeka Randall has decided not to return for employment at Alabama A&M University, Director of Athletics Bryan Hicks announced.

"We would like to thank Coach Randall for her service to the women's basketball program and wish her much success in her future endeavors," Hicks said.

A search for a new coach will begin immediately, he said.

COURTESY ALABAMA A&M UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS

Auburn football slated to play AAlabama State in 2021

AUBURN, Alabama  --  Alabama State has announced a second scheduled football game at Auburn.

After both schools announced in August 2015 that they would play each other for the first time in 2018, ASU announced Friday another game will be played on Nov. 20, 2021.

The announcement of the 2018 game completes Auburn’s commitment to play every in-state Division I-AA school in a six-year period (2012-2018). The first ASU-AU matchup will take place on Nov. 17, 2018.

The 2018 game is the first that Auburn has released to the public for that season. The 2021 game is the third. The Tigers have complete non-conference slCONTates for 2017 and games signed in 2019-21.

ASU athletic director Melvin Hines is a former wide receiver at Auburn and graduated with a bachelor's degree in adult education before starting his coaching career in 1997 as a graduate assistant at Louisville.

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Belle's Record-Breaking Time Caps Impressive First Day By Saint Augustine's University at NCAA D-II Track and Field Championships

BRADENTON, Florida – Fantastic hurdler Tia-Adana Belle (Jr./St. George, Barbados) set another record as Saint Augustine's University posted three top qualifying times on the first day of the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships at IMG Academy Track and Field Stadium.

Already the NCAA Division II women's 400 hurdles record-holder, Belle snapped the championship meet record in her signature event. Well ahead of her competitors, Belle crossed the finish line in 56.14 seconds, surpassing the old record of 56.38 set by Samantha Elliot of Johnson C. Smith University in 2013. Belle now heads to Saturday's finals to defend her national title in the 400 hurdles.

Her record-breaking run capped an impressive day for the Falcons and Lady Falcons, the nation's top-ranked and third-ranked teams, respectively. The men's 4x100 squad of Brent Arceneaux (Sr./Snellville, GA), Burkheart Ellis, Jr. (Sr./Raleigh, NC), Kendall Kee (Sr./Shelby, NC) and Daniel Jamieson (Sr./Windsor, CT) opened the running portion of the meet by winning the second heat and advancing to Saturday's finals in a top qualifying time of 39.50.

The three-time defending champion Falcons continued to display their speed in the men's 100 dash preliminaries. The trio of Kee, Ellis and Jamieson ran three of the four fastest times to reach Saturday's finals. Kee posted the best time (10.27) in winning the second heat while Jamieson and Ellis ran the third- and fourth-fastest preliminary times, respectively. Jamieson, who won the third heat, barely placed ahead of Ellis, who finished second in the first heat (10.291 seconds to 10.298 seconds).

Several other Falcons ran fast times to qualify for Saturday's finals in their respective events. Shawn Rowe (Jr./West Palm Beach, Fla.) ran the second-best preliminary time (50.41) in the men's 400 hurdles to win the first heat. Ornella Livingston (Sr./St. Ann, Jamaica) won the women's 100 dash second heat in 11.50, which was second-fastest in preliminaries.

The women's 4x100 relay quartet of Shamia Lassiter (Sr./Chesapeake, VA), Leah Barker (So./St. Michaels, Barbados), Shakinah Brooks (Jr./Raleigh, NC) and Livingston had the third-fastest prelim time (45.42).

Brooks and Amenze Uhunmwangho (Sr./Ebo, Nigeria) scored the first points for the Lady Falcons. They both garnered All-America honors after Brooks finished fourth (20-8½) and Uhunmwangho tied for eighth (19-9¾) in the women's long jump.

The championship meet continues Friday, May 27, beginning at 9:30 a.m. with the decathlon. The preliminary running events will start at 5:35 p.m.

Watch the championship meet live on ncaa.com. The live results link is -http://www.leonetiming.com/2016/Outdoor/NCAADII/.

COURTESY SAINT AUGUSTINE'S UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

BCU Diamondcats Down NSU 1-0 For MEAC Title

SALISBURY, Maryland – Tyler Norris and Alex Seibold took a combined no-hitter into the ninth, and a Jameel Edney solo home run keyed Bethune-Cookman’s 1-0 victory over Norfolk State Tuesday in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference baseball tournament championship at A.W. Perdue Stadium.

The Wildcats (29-25) won their 18th conference title overall and third under Head Coach Jason Beverlin. Norfolk State finishes the season 29-21.

“We played with focus and energy all through the tournament," Beverlin said. "They were determined to reach a goal they set in the fall and win a MEAC championship and go to the NCAA Regionals.”

In a classic pitcher’s duel with NSU’s Matt Outman, the MEAC pitcher of the year, Norris threw six innings of no-hit ball before handing it over to Seibold, who continued the no-no until Roger Hall singled up the middle to lead off the ninth.

Seibold (6-4) quickly regrouped, getting a fly out, a strikeout, and catcher Clay Middleton throwing out pinch runner Keith Granger on the steal attempt for the dramatic third out. Norris finished with six strikeouts, Seibold three.

This was Seibold’s second scoreless relief appearance against Norfolk State in the tournament and fifth straight against a MEAC team. He hasn’t been scored on in MEAC play since giving up one run against Florida A&M April 16.

Offensively, the Wildcats squandered opportunities, leaving 10 on bases, including a bases-loaded situation in the sixth.

Edney’s homer – his second against Norfolk State in the tournament and seventh of the year – finally broke the scoreless tie.

Edney and Danny Rodriguez each had two hits for the Wildcats, who have won 21 of their last 25 games against conference opposition after getting swept at Florida A&M in the conference opening series.

Rodriguez, who hit .412 (7-17) in four tournament games, was named the tournament MVP while Beverlin was named Outstanding Coach.

Rodriguez was joined on the All-Tournament team by Norris, Edney and Nathan Bond.

“I said it all tournament that we’re a dangerous team when we play that way [Focused and energized]," Beverlin said. "It was a total team effort surrounded by some outstanding performances from Tyler Norris, Alex Seibold, Danny Rodriguez and Jameel Edney.”

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COURTESY BETHUNE COOKMAN UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

BCU Athletics Launches New Brand Identity

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida - Starting Wednesday, May 25 at 10 a.m., Bethune-Cookman University Department of Athletics launched its' new brand identity and department wide campaign in the first of a three-day series of releases across all of the B-CU athletics social media platforms. Follow along on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.


COURTESY BETHUNE COOKMAN UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Nuggets in final top 25 for 11th time in 12 seasons

NEW ORLEANS — For the fifth consecutive year and the 11th time in the last 12 seasons, Xavier University of Louisiana women's tennis is in the final NAIA top 25 of the year.

The Gold Nuggets (8-14) dropped from 17th to 19th in the postseason coaches poll announced Tuesday. Xavier qualified as an at-large selection for the NAIA National Championship at Mobile, Ala., and lost 5-2 to Northwestern Ohio in the opening round May 17.

The top-25 appearance is the Gold Nuggets' 39th in a row dating to May 1, 2012. They've appeared in the top 25 in 84 of the last 94 polls dating to Feb. 25, 2004 (excluded is the 2005-06 season, when Xavier did not field a team).

Georgia Gwinnett, which defeated Lindsey Wilson 5-4 Saturday in the national final, received all 12 first-place votes to become the first unanimous No. 1 this season.

NAIA Women'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 (12) 18-2 312 1
2 Lindsey Wilson 21-5 302 3
3 Auburn Montgomery 21-4 292 2
4 SCAD Savannah 18-2 282 4
5 Brenau 17-7 269 5
6 Cardinal Stritch 19-2 260 6
7 William Woods 19-3 250 10
8 Indiana Wesleyan 33-7 245 8
9 Westmont 10-8 231 7
10 Middle Georgia 15-8 223 9
11 Davenport 25-6 209 12
12 William Carey 12-12 200 13
13 Northwestern Ohio 14-10 187 15
14 LSU-Alexandria 12-7 176 19
15 Olivet Nazarene 14-11 168 16
16 Mobile 12-7 162 23
17 Keiser 11-9 148 14
18 Arizona Christian 17-5 147 11
19 Xavier 8-14 137 17
20 Cumberland 12-9 132 18
21 Lewis-Clark State 8-14 103 20
22 McPherson 13-5 99 22
23 St. Thomas (Fla.) 8-8 96 21
24 Reinhardt 12-5 89 24
25 Georgetown (Ky.) 18-9 68 25

Dropped from rankings: none
Others receiving votes: Marian (Ind.) 43, Missouri Valley 31, Southeastern (Fla.) 25, Milligan 21, Morningside 19, Ottawa 17, Asbury 9, Texas Wesleyan 7, SCAD Atlanta 6, San Diego Christian 6,

 Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
twitter.com/xulagold
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