Kitto, Chatters earn Academic All-District from CoSIDA

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's Brent Kitto and Drew Chatters are Academic All-District for 2015-16 in cross country/track and field.
     
The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), which selects the teams, announced the honors Thursday. Both Kitto and Chatters were honored in College Division District II (Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana and Tennessee). Nominees must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA on a 4.0 scale. They also must have completed at least one full calendar year at their current institution and reached sophomore athletic eligibility.
     
Kitto, a senior men's distance runner from Chalmette, La., and a graduate of Holy Cross High School, made the team for the second straight year. This is the first year of all-district eligibility for Chatters, a sophomore women's javelin thrower from Lake Charles, La., and a graduate of St. Louis Catholic High School.
     
Kitto, a pharmacy major, produced 10 top-10 finishes and seven top-5s during his cross country career, and he was the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference champion in 2014 at 1,500 meters in outdoor track and field. A member of three honor societies, Kitto has cooked meals for families at Ronald McDonald House and has been a volunteer assistant cross country coach with Holy Cross.
     
Chatters, a biology pre-medical major, is a two-time GCAC champion who holds school and conference-meet records in the javelin. Chatters is secretary of the Minority Association for Prehealth Students, a chemistry drill instructor and a peer dean. She is a member of Alpha Epsilon Delta Premed Honor Society and has more than 50 community service hours.
     
First-team Academic All-District members advance to the Academic All-America® ballot. The College Division Academic All-America® team will be announced June 21.
     
During the past eight years, Xavier has produced 19 Academic All-District selections, all but one on the first team.

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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XU Gold Nuggets reach NAIA final in school-record time

GULF SHORES, Alabama — Xavier University of Louisiana shattered the school record in the women's 1,600-meter relay Friday and qualified for the final at the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships.
     
The Gold Nuggets' quartet of Kailey Williams, Kayla Quincy, Chinyere Jones andClarke Allen produced a time of 3 minutes, 49.87 seconds. Xavier ranked seventh out of 21 teams overall and third in a seven-team second heat.
     
Devinn Rolland, Zahri Jackson, Tramaine Shannon and Chartia Hurt set the previous XU mark of 3:54.13 at the LSU Relays in Baton Rouge, La., on March 23, 2013.
     
Carroll (Mont.) led all qualifiers in 3:44.89. Two of Xavier's Gulf Coast Athletic Conference rivals — Dillard (3:47.67) and SUNO (3:48.24) — ran 3-4.
     
The 1,600 relay final will start at 6:15 p.m. Saturday.

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