North Carolina Central University Athletics

2003-04 HIGHLIGHTS

• NCCU junior quarterback Sean Williams replaced injured starter Adrian Warren midway through the second quarter and guided the Division II Eagles to a 21-14 upset of Division I-AA Delaware State at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium. Senior receiver Michael Noel was also clutch for the Eagles with seven catches for 114 yards. NCCU's defense was topped by junior safety Luis George with a game-high 11 tackles, a fumble recovery and the game-saving interception with seven seconds to play. 
• NCCU's Jean-Pierre Joubert set his second meet record in as many weeks to lead the Eagles to victory in the Shaw University Cross Country Invitational. NCCU swept the top three positions, with Joubert posting a winning time of 27 minutes, 10 seconds on the 5-mile course. Eagle freshman Joseph Estevez placed second (27:11) and sophomore Andre Atchison claimed third (28:30).
• NCCU sophomore Brenda Brown amassed 21 kills and 22 digs to join the elite "20-20 Club" and lead the Lady Eagles to a thrilling 3-2 victory over UNC-Pembroke.
• NCCU overcame a 15-point, fourth quarter deficit to pull out a 28-22 victory over Virginia State University at Rogers Stadium in Petersburg, VA, marking the Eagles first win on the road against the Trojans in 20 years.
• The Eagles amassed 511 yards of total offense, including 390 yards rushing, to close out the 2003 gridiron season with a convincing 48-7 victory at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, NC.
• NCCU head coach Michael Lawson was voted as the 2003 CIAA Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year. The Eagles placed second at the 2003 CIAA Cross Country Championship and fifth at the 2003 NCAA Division II Regional Cross Country Championship, both finishes were the best in school history. 
• In what was easily the women's volleyball match of the year, NCCU held a 2-1 game advantage over the defending conference champions from Saint Augustine's, but the Lady Falcons rallied to claim their fourth straight league title with a 3-2 victory in the 2003 CIAA Volleyball Championship final. The Lady Eagles were led by All-Tournament Team sophomore Porche' Williams with 17 kills and 9 digs, while sophomore Danielle Johnson-Webb tallied 13 kills and sophomore Brenda Brown contributed a match-high 15 digs. 
• The Lady Eagle bowling squad, seeded sixth in the championship round, pulled off upset after upset and marched its way into the tournament final for the third consecutive year before falling to Virginia State. NCCU anchor bowler Lakrystal Horne nailed three strikes in the 10th frame to eliminate the regular season Western Division Champions from Winston-Salem State. Then Horne converted a 5-10 split in the final frame to send home the Eastern Division Champions from Elizabeth City State, and launch the Lady Eagles into the championship final. 
• NCCU junior safety Luis George was voted to the 2003 Daktronics NCAA Division II All-South Region First Team. George led the Eagles and was fourth in the conference this season with 92 tackles, including 2.5 for a loss, while adding two interceptions, three pass break-ups, three fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles. He recorded a career-high 17 tackles versus Fayetteville State on Oct. 18.
• NCCU freshman forward Cassie King sank a free throw with six seconds in the game to lift the Lady Eagles from an 18-point deficit to a 53-52 come-from-behind victory over Saint Augustine's at McLendon-McDougald Gym.
• Five NCCU student-athletes were crowned conference champions and another earned MVP honors at the 2004 CIAA Indoor Track and Field Championships  in Newport News, VA. Freshman Steve Easley was victorious in the pole vault by hoisting himself to a height of 3.20 meters. The NCCU quartet of Austin Hogan, Dorian Turner, Sharif Muhammad and Kevin Williams crusied to a win in the 4x400m relay, posting a time of 3:18.48 and thrashing second place Bowie State by more than five seconds. Sophmore Jean-Pierre Joubert earned the 2004 CIAA Indoor Most Outstanding Male Track Athlete award by placing second in both the mile run (4:31.38) and 5000m run (16:45.81). As a team, NCCU's men finished second behind CIAA powerhouse Saint Augustine's.
• NCCU senior David Young hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to defeat Elizabeth City State, 72-69, as the Eagles rallied from a 21-point second half deficit to devastate the Vikings in the first round of the CIAA Tournament at the RBC Center in Raleigh, NC. 
• NCCU senior guard Tiona Beatty was voted to the 2003-04 Daktronics NCAA Division II Women's Basketball South Atlantic All-Region Second Team. A native of Queens, NY, Beatty finished the season as the second-leading scorer in the CIAA, averaging 18.9 points per contest. The All-CIAA selection amassed 530 points, placing her third on NCCU's single-season scoring list. Beatty, who played in every game during her four-year Lady Eagle career, ended her collegiate playing days as NCCU's fourth all-time leading scorer with 1,385 career points. She also recorded 198 rebounds, 198 assists and 147 steals as a Lady Eagle. 
• NCCU pitcher Clarisse Steans was voted as the 2004 CIAA Softball Rookie of the Year. Steans finished with a 15-20 record with an earned run average of 5.05, while amassing 148 strikeouts in 210.1 innings of action. The rookie hurler tossed her first collegiate no-hitter on April 9 at Bowie State and won seven of her last nine games of the season. 
• The Lady Eagle softball team was three outs away from a trip to the conference title game, but a last inning rally by Virginia State followed by an emotional one-run loss to Shaw eliminated NCCU from the 2004 CIAA Softball Championships. It was a valiant tournament run by the Lady Eagles, whose starting line-up consisted of six freshmen, two sophomores and one senior. 
• NCCU's men's golf team placed second to Fayetteville State at the 2004 CIAA Golf Championships, marking the Eagles best conference tournament finish since starting the program in 2000. NCCU's Ernie Batchelor shot a two-day total of 151 (75/76) to lead the Eagles. Steve Wright was next with a 156 (79/77).
• NCCU freshman sprinter Hakeem Mohammed captured the men's 100-meter dash conference title with a winning time of 10.42 at the 2004 CIAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Charlotte, NC. A native of Winston-Salem, NC, Mohammed also received All-CIAA honors by placing second in the 200m dash with a time of 20.95. 
• NCCU Director of Athletics Bill Hayes announced Henry Dickerson, former head coach at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with 23 years of collegiate coaching experience, as NCCU's new Head Men's Basketball Coach during a press conference inside the William Jones Building on the Durham campus Wednesday. 
• NCCU placed fourth in the 4x400-meter relay at the 2004 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hilmer Lodge Stadium on the campus of Mount San Antonio College in Walnut, California. The Eagle foursome of freshman Shareef Muhammad, freshman Dorian Turner, sophomore Austin Hogan and freshman Hakeem Mohammed finished with a time of 3:12.49 to claim All-America honors. 
• NCCU head men's golf coach Pete Hayes has been voted as the 2004 CIAA Men's Golf Coach of the Year, the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association announced today (May 6). 
• NCCU placed fourth at the 2004 National Minority College Golf Championship held at the PGA Golf Club (North Course) in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
• Four NCCU student-athletes are among the 20 individuals from the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association that have been named to the seventh annual CIAA Commissioner's All-Academic Team. NCCU's two-sport senior standout Adija Beaty earned CIAA Commissioner's All-Academic First Team honors, along with junior golfer Ernie Batchelor. Fellow golfers Morgan Pierce and Steve Wright were named to the Second Team.
• NCCU sophomore Jameka Little is among the 12 student-athletes that make up the 2004 North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association (NCCSIA) College Division All-State Softball Team released on Tuesday (June 1). 
• NCCU senior David Young had his dream fulfilled Thursday night (June 24, 2004) when the Seattle Supersonics selected the All-CIAA guard with the 41st overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft. 

 
2003-04 CONFERENCE / REGIONAL / NATIONAL HONORS

Women's Bowling
Beverly Ford - All-CIAA
Gina Peoples - All-CIAA

Men's Cross Country
Andre Atchison - All-CIAA
Joseph Estevez - All-CIAA
Jean-Pierre Joubert - All-CIAA
Wesley Yeldell - All-CIAA
Michael Lawson - CIAA Coach of the Year

Football
Scheldon Connor - All-CIAA First Team
Charles Futrell - CIAA All-Rookie Team
Luis George - Daktronics NCAA Div. II All-South Region First Team

Women's Volleyball
Brenda Brown - All-CIAA Second Team
Ariel Germain - All-CIAA Second Team
Porche' Williams - All-CIAA First Team, CIAA All-Tournament Team
Ayana Wright - All-CIAA First Team, CIAA All-Tournament Team

Men's Basketball
Curtis Knight - CIAA All-Tournament Team
Jonathan Moore - CIAA All-Tournament Team
James Tucker - CIAA All-Tournament Team
David Young - All-CIAA, CIAA All-Tournament Team

Women's Basketball
Tiona Beatty - All-CIAA, Daktronics NCAA Division II South Atlantic All-Region Second Team
Cassie King - CIAA All-Rookie Team, CIAA All-Tournament Team

Men's Indoor Track & Field
Steve Easley - CIAA Champion pole vault
Austin Hogan - CIAA Champion 4x400m relay
Jean-Pierre Joubert - All-CIAA mile run & 5000m run, CIAA Indoor Most Outstanding Male Track Athlete
Shareef Muhammad - CIAA Champion 4x400m relay
Dorian Turner - CIAA Champion 4x400m relay
Kevin Williams - CIAA Champion 4x400m relay

Women's Indoor Track & Field
Sharonda Arnold - All-CIAA 400m dash

Softball
Adija Beaty - All-CIAA Second Team, CIAA All-Tournament Team, CIAA Commissioner's All-Academic First Team
Brandie Hines - All-CIAA First Team (Util.), CIAA All-Rookie Team
Jameka Little - All-CIAA First Team (Right Field)
Clarisse Steans - CIAA Rookie of the Year, CIAA All-Tournament Team

Men's Outdoor Track & Field
Steve Enoch - All-CIAA long jump, triple jump & 4x100m
Austin Hogan - All-CIAA 4x400m relay, All-America 4x400m relay
Jason Jowers - All-CIAA 4x100m relay
Hakeem Mohammed - CIAA Champion 100m dash, All-CIAA 200m dash, 4x100m relay & 4x400m relay, All-America 4x400m relay
Shareef Muhammad - All-CIAA 4x400m relay, All-America 4x400m relay
James Richardson - All-CIAA 4x100m relay
Travis Rogers - All-CIAA discus throw
Dorian Turner - All-CIAA 4x400m relay, All-America 4x400m relay

Women's Outdoor Track & Field
Sharonda Arnold - All-CIAA 400m dash & 4x400m relay
Nickesha Brown - All-CIAA 4x400m relay
Christina Harris - All-CIAA 4x400m relay
Alena Weldon - All-CIAA 4x400m relay

Men's Golf
Ernie Batchelor - CIAA Commissioner's All-Academic First Team
Morgan Pierce -  - CIAA Commissioner's All-Academic Second Team
Steve Wright - CIAA Commissioner's All-Academic Second Team
Pete Hayes - CIAA Coach of the Year

Cheerleading
Aja' Moore - All-CIAA
Kesa Coleman - All-CIAA
 

2003-04 TEAM RECORDS
SPORT CIAA Won-Lost Pct. | Overall Won-Lost Pct.
Women's Volleyball 14-2 .875 | 21-19 .525
Football 2-5 .286 | 4-6 .400
Women's Basketball 8-8 .500 | 14-14 .500
Men's Basketball 9-7 .563 | 16-13 .552
Softball 14-6 .700 | 17-20 .459
Men's Tennis 7-7 .500 | 8-9 .471
Women's Tennis 10-6 .625 | 10-8 .556


2003-04 NCCU ATHLETICS AWARD RECIPIENTS

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Jean-Pierre Joubert, Men's Cross Country 
Ayana Wright, Women's Volleyball 
LaKrystal Horne, Women's Bowling 
Scheldon Connor, Football (Defense) 
Maurice Glenn, Football (Offense) 
Steven Enoch, Men's Indoor Track & Field 
Sharonda Arnold, Women's Indoor Track & Field 
David Young, Men's Basketball 
Tiona Beatty, Women's Basketball 
Asha Sutton, Softball 
Clarisse Steans, Softball 
Steve Wright, Men's Golf 
Jonathan Carter, Men's Tennis 
Johnelle Ligons, Women's Tennis 
Krystle Coles, Cheerleading 
(To Be Announced), Men's Outdoor Track & Field 
(To Be Announced), Women's Outdoor Track & Field 

TEAM'S HIGHEST G.P.A.
Germaine Austin, Men's Cross Country 
Christina Harris, Women's Cross Country 
Brenda Brown, Women's Volleyball 
Rhonda Lee, Women's Bowling 
Lawrence Fuller, Football 
Curtis Knight, Men's Basketball 
Shante' Collins, Women's Basketball 
Germaine Austin, Men's Indoor Track & Field 
Christina Harris, Women's Indoor Track & Field 
Adija Beaty, Softball 
Eric Cooper, Men's Tennis 
Chelsea Ray, Women's Tennis 
Ernie Batchelor, Men's Golf 
Austin Hogan, Men's Outdoor Track & Field 
Christina Harris, Women's Outdoor Track & Field 
Andrea Mills, Cheerleading 

OTHER AWARDS
Faculty Athletic Council Award - Men's Golf 
- Presented to the team with the highest grade point average 
Chancellor's Award - Ernie Batchelor, Men's Golf 
- Presented to the Student-Athlete with the highest grade point average 
Dr. LeRoy T. Walker Medallion of Honor 
- Presented to the Male and Female Student-Athletes of the Year 
Luis George, Football 
Tiona Beatty, Women's Basketball