Kevin Wilson
Clovis News Journal
Some players chose to be Eastern New Mexico University Greyhounds. Others just have it in their blood.
This year’s Greyhound squad has no shortage of legacy players — those who aren’t the first in their family tree to walk down the tunnels of Greyhound Stadium.
A pair of Greyhounds with family roots just a 15-minute drive from Greyhound Stadium — freshman Jesus Davalos of Portales and senior Devin Sweet of Clovis — talked about following in the footsteps of their brothers during Tuesday’s media day.
Sweet followed his brother, Dane Sweet, and his late uncle, Terry Sweet, into the Greyhound family.
“I always heard stories my dad would tell about my uncle,” said Sweet, noting that his uncle died in 1976. “He still has his helmet and jersey at the house.”
Years later, his brother Kane played his final two years at Portales after transferring from North Texas.
“That was always in the back of my mind, and it was close to home,” Sweet said. “It felt right.”
Tigers beat heat with early start
Bob Forrest
Ada Evening News
Ada — Triple-digit temperatures forecast for Monday afternoon gave East Central University football coach Tim McCarty the excuse he needed to get a head start on his young team’s preparation for a 2010 season he hopes will be a turning point for his program.
McCarty moved the Tigers’ first preseason practice from its schedule 2 p.m. start time to 9 a.m., and he said practices will be held in the morning at least through the first week of camp. The lone exception will be Saturday, when two sessions are scheduled — at 8:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. — for the only time during ECU’s 26 days of preseason practice.
“It’s a hot-weather schedule,” McCarty explained. “It’s warm enough at 9 o’clock in the morning.”
Although managers with cold water were sprinkled all over the Tigers’ two practice fields, the slightly cooler morning temperatures and a steady wind made for relatively comfortable conditions Monday — at least for August — and enabled McCarty and his staff to accomplish most of their opening-day goals.
“I thought the effort was good, and I thought we stayed focused,” McCarty said at the end of the two-hour, 15-minute Monday session. “We were able to pick up where we left off in the spring, and we’re obviously going to have some good competition at some positions.”
SWOSU Auction Raises $155K
SWO Website
WEATHERFORD - Scholarship opportunities for future Southwestern Oklahoma State University student-athletes became considerably greater thanks primarily to a fundraising auction that surpassed even the grandest expectations of the event. When the auctioneer's final gavel sounded, more than $155,000 had been raised. The wild evening featured spirited bidding among many of the 400 participants with several items fetching more than $3,000. Rouben Tourian, SWOSU assistant athletic director and coordinator of the event, said that he could not have imagined a better outcome.
"The support for the scholarship auction was just overwhelming," Tourian said. "We had a number of outstanding items, including a generous gift by one of our own, Rex Ryan the head coach of the New York Jets."
The Jets coach, a former SWOSU football player in the early 1980's, donated four tickets in his private suite to watch the Jets Monday night football game against the Minnesota Vikings. In addition, Bar-S Foods was providing round trip air transportation for the winners and a $500 pre-paid Visa Gift Card. The Hilton Short Hills is set to provide two deluxe hotel rooms for a three-night stay near the stadium.
The package fetched $30,000 which brought a stunned crowd to their feet cheering the eventual winner with a loud and lengthy ovation.
LSC Fall Sports Preview Series: Texas A&M-Kingsville
Nick Eatman
LoneStar Conference Website
Football
One year ago, Texas A&M-Kingsville coach Bo Atterberry stood before his LSC coaching peers just after learning his team was picked to finish fifth in the league and told his fellow coaches and media “a fifth-place finish just won’t work in Kingsville, Texas.”
And it didn’t work for the team, as they not only tied for a share of the LSC lead and advanced to the playoffs, but were 64 yards away from advancing to the second round before a miracle field goal by Tarleton State tied the game and Kingsville eventually lost a heartbreaking 57-56 double-overtime home loss in the playoffs. So you might imagine the frustration Atterberry felt at this year’s LSC Football Media Day, finding out his team has been picked to finish fifth in the talented LSC South.
“I think I said it last year, but this isn’t going to work in Kingsville,” Atterberry said. “I hope these people are wrong because if they’re not, I may not be here next year.”
Click here to watch video of Coach Atterberry at 2010 LSC Football Media Day
Click here to watch video of Coach Atterberry at 2010 LSC Football Media Day
But as he enters his fourth season guiding the Javelinas, Atterberry has the luxury of having one of the LSC’s top offensive players in Fred Winborn, who led the league in rushing in 2009 with 1,295 yards and LSC-best 17 touchdowns. Winborn also had a 6.6 yard average en route to being named All-LSC first-team selection. The most dynamic of the backs might be Cornell Davis, a big-play threat who averaged 8.1 yards per attempt and rushed for 491 yards behind Winborn last year.
Kingsville is loaded at receiver, led by two-time All-LSC pick Ryan Lincoln, who has 145 career catches and needs just 33 to become the school’s all-time leading receiver. Sophomore Sherman Batiste had 35 catches for 471 yards last season. The Javelinas are also hoping for big things from Arizona transfer Delashaun Dean, a senior transfer who left the Wildcats as the school’s eight-leading receiver all-time with 132 catches.
Three starters return on the line, including center Tim Byerly and guard Colby Lowrie, along with senior tackle Trent Perkins.
The biggest area of concern on offense is at quarterback, where the Javelinas lost record-setter Billy Garza to graduation. That leaves the door open for a pair of juniors in Nate Poppell and Daniel Ramirez.
Defensively, Kingsville is hoping to replace defensive tackle Jimmy Saddler-McQueen, who is currently in the Dallas Cowboys training camp. It appears Johnny Tiavo will be the guy to not only fill those shoes, but stuff the run as well. Ends Matt Romig (six sacks and 11 tackles for loss) and Mike Talamantez should add some depth.
Kingsville must replace their linebackers from last year and Marcus Sanders and Aaron Buckley should fill in quickly. However, the secondary returns four starters, led by All-LSC second-team safeties Delra Glover and Corey Robertson. At cornerback, Derrick Thomas and Madrick Johnson are both back but should have some competition from transfers Quincy Williams (Emporia State) and Kendrick Matthews (Kansas State).
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