South Alabama To Host Sun Belt Soccer Championships This Week
The Sun Belt Conference released the seeding for the upcoming soccer championships that will be hosted by the University of South Alabama that begin this week. The championships will run from Wednesday through Sunday at The Cage.
Florida International, Middle Tennessee State and North Texas were each crowned 2012 Sun Belt Conference regular season champions on Friday after each team finished the year with 25 points. It is the first time in the conference’s history that they have crowned three schools as champions.
North Texas earned the top seed in the tournament by winning the three-team tiebreaker over MTSU and FIU. North Texas tied FIU and defeated MTSU giving the Mean Green four points. While MTSU defeated FIU and lost to North Texas for three points. FIU earned one point for tying with North Texas.
South Alabama is a seven seed and will face the #2 seed MTSU at 7pm on Wednesday. South Alabama, being the tournament’s host, was allowed to choose it’s quarterfinal match time.
Here are the seedings of the eight teams that will compete this week.
- North Texas (13-4-2, 8-1-1 SBC)
- Middle Tennessee State (13-4-1, 8-1-1 SBC)
- Florida International (11-5-2, 8-1-1 SBC)
- Western Kentucky (11-4-3, 6-1-3 SBC)
- Arkansas State (11-7-1, 5-4-1 SBC)
- Troy (9-9-2, 4-5-1 SBC)
- South Alabama (8-9-3, 3-5-2 SBC)
- Florida Atlantic (5-12, 3-7 SBC)
Wednesday, Oct. 31
Match 1: 10AM – #1 UNT vs #8 FAU
Match 2: 1PM – #4 WKU vs #5 Arkansas State
Match 3: 4PM – #3 FIU vs #6 Troy
Match 4: 7PM – #2 MTSU vs #7 South Alabama
Friday Nov. 2:
Match 5: 4PM – Match 5 Winner vs Match 2 Winner
Match 6: 7PM – Match 3 Winner vs Match 4 Winner
Sunday Nov 4:
Championship Match: 1PM Match 5 Winner vs Match 6 Winner
Jags Ranked Ahead Of Auburn In Latest USA Today Article
Head Coach Joey Jones speaks to his team after the conclusion of the Jaguars first practice of preseason camp.
USA Today’s Paul Myerberg just published the article titled “NCAA football re-rank: Our list from 1-124” on the USA Today website with some interesting rankings. It was basically a given that the University of Alabama would top the list with other schools lining up behind them. Their top five in order is: Alabama, Oregon, Kansas State, Notre Dame and Georgia.
But if you look towards the bottom of the list, you would probably expect see teams who are making their transition to FBS. But there are a few surprises down there.
South Alabama is ranked 110th in the list of all 124 FBS teams. They are ahead of Auburn University (111th) and in order from there Florida International, Colorado State, Akron, Tulane, Colorado, Memphis, Florida Atlantic, UAB, New Mexico State, Hawaii, Idaho, Southern Mississippi and UMass at 124. The Jags first opponent this season, Texas-San Antonio, is ranked 106.
Other Sun Belt schools are ranked: Louisiana-Monroe (43), Western Kentucky (52), Arkansas State (65), Middle Tennessee State (75), Louisiana-Lafayette (76), Troy (89), North Texas (95).
The Jags remaining games are against #112 FIU this weekend in Mobile, at #95 North Texas, vs #75 MTSU in Mobile, at #76 Louisiana-Lafayette before ending the season on the road against #121 Hawaii.
You can see the whole rundown on the USA Today website here.
Magee To Miss Four To Six Weeks With Knee Injury
Head coach Ronnie Arrow announced on Saturday that Gregoryshon Magee will miss four to six weeks with a knee injury.
Magee sufferred a meniscus tear in practice and underwent surgery on Friday. “The MRI showed a minor tear that needed to be cleaned up,” said Arrow. “If everything works out, he should be back within four to six weeks.”
Magee is a 6’9″ junior Forward from New Orleans by way of Neosho County Community College.
USA Volleyball Drops Match To Troy On Saturday
The Jaguar volleyball team has dropped it’s last two matches at home after starting 6-0 on the season at home.
The two teams battled for second place in the Sun Belt’s Eastern Division. Melissa Waelter led the Jags with her eighth double-double of the season with 14 kills and 10 digs. Seniors Olivia Mohler and Lindsay Schwartz also were in double digits in the match offensively. Both also had solid defensive play with six and five block assists respectively. Jenna Hassell and Savannah Stewart both had 14 digs.
Troy had three players in double digits for the match.
The Jags (13-13, 6-5 SBC) will close out the home portion of its regular season when they welcome Middle Tennessee State on Friday at 7pm and then #19 Western Kentucky at noon on Sunday.
Jags Cross Country Finish Well In Conference Championships
The South Alabama Men’s and Women’s cross country teams placed fourth and fifth, respectively, at the Sun Belt Conference Championships on Saturday in Kentucky.
Freshman Patrick Rohr received All-Conference honors and placed ninth individually in the 8k. Alex Shields and Ronny Wilson both earned top-30 finishes.
The men finished with 139 points while champion UALR totaled 58 points.
The Women was led by junior Salome Lecoq who also earned All-Conference honors with a fourth place finish in the 5k. Sophomores Shannen Weyer and Kristin Parry both finished in the top-25 individually.
The women had 139 totoal points while Georgia State placed first with 52 points.
Both teams finished in the top half of the conference despite injuries to a number of key athletes. Senior Tori Lawson, who was the Jags top runner and an All-Conference competitor last season has been missing. Sophomore Derek Westbrook has missed all season while Robert Mann has been dealing with injuries over the last few weeks.
But the Jags have a bright future as they return some very good distance runners in the future.
They will next compete in the NCAA South Regionals in Tallahassee, Florida on Saturday, November 10. The regional meet will be a 10k for the men and 6k for the women.
Jags Fall In Monroe 38-24
Receiver Jereme Jones looks in the pass from CJ Bennett in the first half of the 33-31 loss to Texas-San Antonio.
The South Alabama Jaguars fell 38-24 at Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday night. Jereme Jones caught two touchdowns in the game to give him a team-leading five touchdowns on the season.
Jones had a career high seven catches for 62 yards. His two touchdown catches in the game tied the school record set by Courtney Smith in 2009. Demetre Baker recorded his first 100-yard rushing game of the season with 115 yards on 14 carries for the Jags.
Ross Metheny was 21-of-41 for 211 yards with a career long 21 yard run as well. Bryant Lavender caught six pass for 33 yards while Gabe Loper had three catches for 48 yards. Baker’s 100-yard effort was the first for him since Henderson State last year.
ULM quarterback Kolton Browning completed 23-of-35 attempts for 250 yards. Brent Leonard had nine catches for 126 yards and four touchdown catches.
“We played pretty good football for three quarters, and we played tough. ULM is a very good football team,” said Jaguar head coach Joey Jones. “I’m proud of the way we played for three quarters, but they took the game under control a little bit in the fourth quarter. Their quarterback and receivers made some great plays. There were some things we could have done better, but I’m proud of where we are and what we accomplished today. We have to be honest with ourselves the negative things that happened, if we fix them, we’re probably in the game even more. But the positive side of it is we’re pretty close to a team that is really good in the conference, and is probably the top team in the league.”
“Overall, I’m proud of the team,” he concluded. “We just have to work on us. We’ll start fixing some things here and there, and we’re going to be there.”
Enrique Williams led the Jaguar defense with 11 tackles which was his third double-digit tacklet game in a row. Jake Johnson added nine tackles with two for a loss. Terrell Brigham had eight solo tackles, an interceptions and another pass break-up. Clifton Crews and B.J. Scott both had six tackles with two for losses.
South Alabama scored first late in the first quarter on a four play 72 yard drive that spanned only 47 seconds. After back-to-back dropped passes had the Jags facing third and 10 at its own 28 yard line when Demetre Baker broke free for a 61 yard run up the middle, the Jags longest play from scrimmage this season. Then Metheny found Jones in the end zone on the next play to take the 7-0 lead.
After ULM tied the game at 7, the Jags took the next possession and covered 86 yards in 10 plays to retake the lead. Facing third and 10 at the ULM 37, Jones would draw a pass interference penalty that would move the ball 15 yards with an automatic first down. Then, facing another third and 10, Metheny would find Loper in the end zone for the touchdown for the 14-7 lead.
ULM would tie the game again with under 2 minutes left until halftime. The Jags next possession would be a three-and-out. The Scott Garber punt would be blocked and ULM would have the ball at the Jaguar 37 yard line with 28 seconds left until halftime. After a 15 yard completion and a six yard run, the Jags would take a time out with 10 seconds left to prepare their defense. But Browning would still find Leonard in the end zone for a touchdown with six seconds left to take a 21-14 lead into halftime.
The Jags would put together a big 13 play, 93 yard drive to tie the game at 21 with 4:24 left in the quarter. Baker would keep the drive alive with a two yard run on fourth and one on the drive. Trey Fetner would cap it off with a two yard run.
ULM would pull away by scoring the next 17 points. The Jags would add a field goal in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 38-24.
The Jags return home to face Florida International with a 2:30pm kickoff scheduled at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. This weekend will be Hall of Fame weekend with former Jags Juan Pierre, P.J. Walters, Frantisek Babej and Cindy Summers all being inducted into the Jaguar Hall of Fame. They will be honored on the field during halftime.
Know Your Stadiums: Malone Stadium Monroe Louisiana
Aerial view of Malone Stadium in Monroe, Louisiana Home of the University of Louisiana at Monroe Warhawks.
The University of Louisiana at Monroe Warhawks football team plays at Malone Stadium on their campus.
The stadium was named for James L. Malone who won the most games in school history.
The stadium opened on September 16, 1978 with a capacity of 20,000. At the time they were known as Northeast Louisiana Indians and they defeated Arkansas State 21-13. It is located across the street from the main campus.
In 1983 seating on both sides were extended into each end zone and increased the capacity to 23,277. In 1991 the press box was enlarged and decreased the capacity to 22,077.
Then in 1993 they added 8,350 seats which increased capacity to 30,427 which is the current capacity. The record capacity is 31,175 which was set on September 21, 2012 when they hosted the Baylor Bears in the 2012 home opener.
The stadium uses a ProPlay monofiliment fiber “grass” with a shock and drain pad and envirofill clear coated sand infill. Installed in 2007, it looks more like natural grass but has measures in place to help prevent injuries. It can drain water at a rate of 10 inches per hour as well.
Supposedly the clear-coated sand that is used has benefits over it’s predecessory technology, which used ground-up black rubber, by not absorbing as much heat, it does not compact over time and it does not migrate during use or fly up during use to become an eye irritant during play.
View of the home stands at Malone Stadium with the press box from the field level. | Photo credit: Nicholas Fenner
Another aerial view of Malone Stadium from above and behind the press box with the away grandstands in view.
Cross Country Teams Compete For Conference Championships On Saturday
The South Alabama Men’s and Women’s cross country teams will be competing for the Sun Belt Conference Championships in Bowling Green, Kentucky on Saturday.
The Men’s team cracked the top 15 in the NCAA Division I South Region rankings after winning at the Choctaw Open in Mississippi two weeks ago.
Last season the Jaguar men finished sixth while the women finished third.
Good luck and GO JAGS!!
Jags Pick Up Big Offensive Line Committment This Week
The University of South Alabama added a new verbal commitment this week. David Griffin from Mesa Community College, a left tackle on the offensive line, measure up at 6’7″ and 315-pounds.
Griffin is from Tallahassee, Florida and is described as having quick feet and a strong pass blocker. A former teammate, Tyrell Pearson, is a starting corner back for the Jaguars. Griffin heard how much Pearson likes it in Mobile and Griffin likes the coaches so he gave his verbal commitment to the program.
Griffin also had an offer from Florida Atlantic. Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Utah and South Florida all had interest in Griffin as well.
Griffin is set to graduate in December and will enroll at South Alabama in January. You can see his highlight film here.
The other verbal commits are:
- Tiquan Lang CB Lowndes GA. 5’8″ 168-lb 73 tackles, 3 int, 1 kick block, 5 KOR for 201yds and 1TD, 6PR for 113yds in 2011.
- Terrell Pinson FS Itawamba CC 6’3″ 200lb As a freshman he played WR and caught 10 passes for 160 yards and a touchdown.
- Xavier Johnson RB Chamberlain, FL. 5’9″ 170lb Rushed for 1,736 yards and 16 TDs in 2011.
- Caleb Hayman WR/TE Gainesville, FL. 6’1″ 193lb
- Dejon Funderburk WR Washington (Pensacola), FL. 6’0″ 175lb Caught 31 passes for 720 yards adn 7TD’s while rushing for 362 yards and 4TDs.
- Taylor Lamb QB Calhoun, GA. 6’1″ 190lb Had a 73% completion rate for 3,635 yards, 40TDs and 9Ints.
- Justin Jones RB Northeast Miss. JC 5’6″ 180lb Rushed for 920 yards and caught 27 passes as a freshman.
- Roman Buchanan S Daleville, AL. 6’2″ 195lb 72 solo tackles, 45 assists, four sacks, three forced fumbles and two recovered, two interceptions, four passes defended and a field goal blocked as a junior.
- Tevaris McCormick WR Biloxi, MS. 5’9″ 170lb 769 yards receiving, 213 yards rushing and 265 yards on returns with 16 total touchdowns.
- Jacob Chaffin DT Spain Park, AL. 6’3″ 260lb 38 solo tackles, 8 tackles for loss and three sacks as a junior.
- Devon Earl S Hoover HS, AL 5’10” 180lb 61 tackles, 5 INTs, 10 pass deflections and 3.5 tackles for loss as a Junior
- Noah Armstrong OT Lawrence Co. 6’8″ 300lb Offered by Arkansas State, Western Kentucky and Southern Miss.
- Willie Williams Jr DE Americus, GA. 6’2″ 255lbs Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas and UCLA were also recruiting him.
- Brandon King 6’2″ 212lbs 118 tackles last season, 70 sol0, 6TFL, 1 sack and 1 forced fumble. Received recruiting interest from a few FBS schools such as Northern Illinois, Maryland, Rutgers and Auburn among other schools.
- Jalen Wells, DE, 6’4″ 230lbs, Dublin GA. Wells is listed at different positions by scouting services, one has him projected as a TE while another at linebacker. He had interest from Florida, Georgia, NC State, Mississippi State and Georgia Tech.
- Caleb Alves WR/S Melbourne, FL 6’3″ 185-pounds. Chose USA over Bowling Green, Florida A&M, FIU, UMass and Memphis.
USA Softball Team Earns All-Academic Team Honors
The South Alabama Softball team earned All-Academic team award from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
They were ranked 37th, up 12 spots from last season, as the Jags earned a 3.32 GPA. Since the program began in 2007, South Alabama’s program has either been ranked in the top-50 or had a handful of individuals named to the All-Academic Scholar Athletes by the NFCA.
“I am extremely proud of our student-athletes and their effort in the classroom,” said Jags head coach Becky Clark. “I think it says a lot about the kind of young ladies we have in our program for them to have had the success they did on the field, but to also have had that same success in the classroom. They are truly student-athletes and they do a tremendous job representing our program and South Alabama.”