NCAA upgrade appeals to ACU, but has its challenges - Mike Roark, Abilene Reporter News
Abilene Christian University's consideration of a move to NCAA Division I isn't new information for most Wildcats fans in the Big Country.
ACU officials have talked openly in the past year about the possibility of leaving their home in the Division II Lone Star Conference for the chance to play in Division I. The football team would play in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA), while all the other sports would be Division I.
The topic came up again this week, when ACU President Phil Schubert spoke about his university at a meeting of the Abilene Kiwanis Club.
Schubert told the Reporter-News on Thursday that his school has been looking at the possibly making such a move since last summer and he and his staff have spent quite an amount of time researching the topic with officials from the Division I Southland Conference, the NCAA and other universities that have changed divisions in recent years.
He emphasized, though, that the university is considering all its options — including staying in the LSC.
"No decisions have been ruled out, except to go to Division III," Schubert said. "A lot about Division I is attractive to ACU."
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Javelinas Perkins is Playing the NFL Waiting Game - Tyler Garrett, KZTV10.com
With the 2011 NFL draft beginning Thursday former Javelina Tackle Trent Perkins is wondering what his NFL future will be. Not expected to hear his name called during the draft, he should be a free agent signee Saturday or Sunday night.
The NFL expects to release detailed guidelines for free agency, trades and other roster moves by Friday in the absence of a collective bargaining agreement.
The 45-day lockout meanwhile left Perkins with plenty of questions and no answers admitting that he hadn't heard from a single team until a federal judge finally lifted the lockout. Prior to that he told me nearly a dozen teams had contacted him.
"With the uncertainty of everything it does get frustrating, but you can only take care of what you have control over, so as long as I am ready and in shape and not lazy I just have to wait and see what happens and be ready for that call," said Perkins.
Teammates Ryan Lincoln ( Wide Receiver ) and Tressor Baptiste ( Linebacker ) are also NFL prospects.
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Buffs face tough test in bid for postseason - Lance Lahnert, Amarillo Globe News
Do or die. Now or never. No tomorrow. Win you're in, lose you go home. Pull the cliches out and hang them up in the West Texas A&M baseball locker room tonight. They all fit.
To earn a berth in the Lone Star Conference baseball tournament May 7-10, WT pretty much has to pull off a sweep of a three-game LSC series against Tarleton State in its final regular-season games.
Game one is set for 6 tonight at Wilder Park in Canyon, followed by a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. Saturday.
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Track & Field Weekly Release: Six tabbed for weekly awards
Six track and field student-athletes claimed Lone Star Conference Athlete of the Week honors for their efforts, league officials announced today.
Click here for the complete release
TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
MEN’S TRACK
Desmond Jackson, Abilene Christian University, SR, Midland, Texas, Midland Lee HS
Jackson finished second in the invitational 100 and 200 against fields made up entirely of Division I and professional runners at the Baylor Michael Johnson Dr Pepper Classic, with PR times of 10.22 in the 100 and 20.79 in the 200. Both times moved the senior up to the #2 position in all of Division II and established him as one of the premier sprint talents in the U.S. regardless of division.
CO-MEN’S FIELD
Jacob McDonald, Angelo State University, SO, San Angelo, Texas, Lake View HS
McDonald topped teammate Andrew Allison on a judge’s decision as the Angelo State duo matched six other pole vaulters with the third-best marks at the Michael Johnson Dr. Pepper Classic at Baylor Saturday. The junior’s vault of 16’-6.75” (5.05m) is the best in the Lone Star Conference (along with Allison) and is tied for third-best in all of NCAA Division II this season. McDonald became the sixth Angelo State student-athlete to provisionally qualify in the pole vault during the 2011 campaign. The mark was also a personal best.
Servell Dandridge, West Texas A&M University, SO, DeSoto, Texas, Duncanville HS
Dandridge had a phenomenal day last weekend at the Texas Tech Open as he set an NCAA Division II automatic qualifying mark in the men’s discus event. The sophomore thrower finished third overall, but was the highest finisher among DII competitors as he tossed an automatic mark of 179’-08”. Dandridge also finished fifth on the day in the shot put event with a toss of 48’-08.5”.
Bill Squire, Eastern New Mexico University, JR, Hagerman, N.M., Hagerman HS
Squire participated in three events and turned in two NCAA Division II provisional qualifying marks with three top-five performances last Friday at the Texas Tech Invitational. He set a personal record in the shot put with a provisional qualifying toss of 54’-10”, which placed him second in the meet, and propelled him to 17th in the nation. Squire also finished second in the hammer throw with a toss of 181’-05” for another provisional mark. Rounding out the meet, the junior tossed the discus 159’-11” which was good for 5th place.
WOMEN’S TRACK
Diana Zarate, Texas A&M University - Kingsville, SR, San Luis Potosi, Mexico, San Patricio HS
Prior to the month of April, Zarate had not broken 1:05.00 in the 400-meter hurdles, but has been on fire since the calendar changed. Last week, she finished second at the J. Fred Duckett Invitational hosted by Rice with a career best time of 1:02.08. She provisionally qualified for nationals and has the best time in the LSC this year by over two seconds.
WOMEN’S FIELD
Samantha Alvarez, Texas A&M University - Kingsville, SO, Victoria, Texas, Memorial HS
Alvarez had another strong performance this past week at the J. Fred Duckett Invitational hosted by Rice. She nearly picked up her fifth win of the year in the high jump with a clearance of 5’-7.25”. She tied for first, but lost out on number of misses. She also performed well in the pole vault clearing 11-’2.5”, her third best mark of the season and seventh time she has gone over 11 feet.
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White Tops Blue in Annual Spring Game - SOSU Football
DURANT, Okla. – The White team jumped to an early lead and held off a charge from the Blue team to pick up a 36-23 win in Southeastern football’s annual Spring Game on Thursday evening.
The White team, made up of the offensive players, put up 365 yards through the air and another 103 on the ground in 71 offensive plays.
The Blue team, comprised of the SE defense, forced one turnover as well as a sack and held the offense off the scoreboard in eight of the 13 total possessions.
The score came about through a modified system which awarded the offense points as they would normally earn them, via touchdowns and field goals, while the defense was awarded six points for a turnover forced, three points for holding the offense to a three-and-out and one point for keeping them off the scoreboard on a drive.
Logan Turner continued to build on his performance from last season, going 10-of-15 passing for 184 yards and three touchdowns.
Five quarterbacks saw action in the game with all of them completing passes. SE finished the day 25-of-37 as a team passing for 365 yards.
Brandon Bryant had the best day running the ball, rushing for 69 yards on 10 carries with a touchdown.
Josh Johnson made his return to the field this spring after missing the 2010 season due to an injury and turned in a solid performance, picking up 34 yards on six carries with a touchdown.
On the day, 13 different receivers had catches, with Josh Morris and Aaron Stringfellow proving to be the most popular targets, each snagging three catches.
Seven other receivers had two catches each.
Ryan Shelley, Quentin Morris and Hunter Phelan each caught touchdowns from Turner on the evening.
On defense, Eric Walker provided the big scoring play with an interception on the goal line that saved a score.
Terrence Simmons also stepped up with a drive ending sack.
The Storm did welcome some special guests as Great American Conference head of officials Jeff Roberson spent the day on campus with a large group of potential officials for the league heading into the 2011 season. After a day of covering the basics, the crew worked on rotations to handle officiating for the Spring Game.
The Savage Storm will open the 2011 season on Sept. 10 when it hosts Central Oklahoma at Paul Laird Field.
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