Davis stifles Deacons
By Jay Jenkins
Published: April 18, 2008

After the fact, Virginia coach Brian O’Connor was questioned at length about pulling Neal Davis early during his relief appearance Tuesday against Coastal Carolina.
The southpaw fanned three of the five batters he faced in a tie game against a ranked opponent.
Davis helped answer the question Friday — and he also helped Virginia remain perfect at Davenport Field in the ACC.
Behind three scoreless innings of relief work from Davis, the Cavaliers mounted a rally and upended Wake Forest, 4-2, in the opening game of the weekend series.
“I thought the story of the game was Neal Davis,” O’Connor said. “He really took command of the game when his number was called.
“I knew that we would be without Matt Packer out of the bullpen and I envisioned a scenario where I would need Neal for an extended outing tonight. Fortunately, he did the job.”
Virginia, which blanked Wake Forest after the opening frame, improved to 30-10 overall and 12-7 in the ACC. The Demon Deacons fell to 14-23 overall and 6-12 in the league.
Long before Davis entered the contest, Wake Forest took a quick lead on a monstrous two-run homer to left from Willy Fox.
The blast, Fox’s fourth homer of the season, came in the first inning against UVa starting pitcher Pat McAnaney, who was making his debut in a new spot at the front of the weekend rotation.
McAnaney, who worked five innings on just six days of rest, said he had struggled against Fox in a meeting during summer baseball in 2006.
“I thought I got the pitch in against him and it just stayed up,” McAnaney said. “I just left it up. And it looked like the ball was carrying pretty well early in the game.”
It did not help, McAnaney admitted, that his slider was not running through the strike zone until the third or fourth inning.
While McAnaney stymied Wake over his final four innings, the Cavaliers slowly solved Wake starter Garrett Bullock.
Virginia shortstop Greg Miclat opened the third inning with a single, stole second and was sacrificed to third on a deep fly from Tyler Cannon. David Adams followed with another fly ball, plating Miclat to cut the two-run deficit in half.
After McAnaney, who threw 106 pitches, allowed a leadoff single in the sixth to Wake catcher Mike Murray, O’Connor quickly turned to Davis.
“I can’t argue with that decision,” McAnaney said. “Neal has pitched great all season and my pitch count was up at that point after I struggled early in the game.”
Davis, who entered with an 0.65 ERA, promptly retired the Demon Deacons in order.
“I was little surprised that they came to me,” Davis said, “because we usually go lefty-righty-lefty out of the bullpen.”
Moments after Davis’ first inning, Virginia chased Bullock from the contest.
The game-changing drama started with one out in the sixth after rightfielder Dan Grovatt walked and designated hitter Tyler Biddix hit an infield chopper that bounced into the grass in left.
Virginia catcher Franco Valdes advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt, setting the stage for freshmen leftfielder John Barr to deliver what O’Connor called the “biggest hit of his young career.”
Barr, who was making his 15th career start, pushed a curveball into left field to give Virginia a 3-2 lead.
“He threw me in with some fastballs early in the at-bat and then came back with a curve,” Barr said. “I knew they were playing deep and all I was thinking was ‘get down.’”
In the eighth, Davis made things interesting by sandwiching a pair of walks to left-handed batters around an infield fly. After the second walk, however, Davis waved Valdes to remain behind the plate, hoping it would signal to the coaching staff that he wanted to remain in the contest.
He did.
Luckily for Davis, Grovatt was able to make an awkward catch in right on a tailing fly ball, and the southpaw ended the frame by getting Wake’s Tyler Smith to ground out to second.
“I lost it a little bit against the lefties, but I wanted to finish my inning and take care of what I started,” Davis said. “I didn’t want to put our closer, Michael Schwimer, in a bad situation.”
Virginia added an insurance run in the eighth after Barr walked, advanced to second on a sacrifice and scored on an opposite-field single to right field by Miclat.
Schwimer retired the Demon Deacons in order in the ninth to register his 11th save.
Davis, who fanned two, improved to 3-0 on the season. Bullock (3-4) worked 5.2 innings, allowing seven hits, four walks and three earned runs.
The two teams are scheduled to play tonight at 6 p.m.

 

Cavs drop Wolfpack in tournament debut
By Whitey Reid
Published: April 18, 2008

Just like eight days ago, the Virginia men’s tennis team didn’t have its ‘A’ game against N.C. State.
Just like eight days ago, it didn’t really matter.
The way the Cavaliers have been playing this year, their ‘B’ game often gets the job done.
No. 1 Virginia, behind a solid performance from sophomore Houston Barrick, defeated N.C. State, 4-1, in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament in Altamonte Springs, Fla.
“N.C. State played us tough,” said Virginia coach Brian Boland during a telephone interview with a hint of dissatisfaction in his voice. “We’re just going to have to keep getting better with every match of this tournament.
“I do believe we are going to improve. That’s what our focus is going to be.”
With the win, top-seeded Virginia (26-0) advanced to a semifinal showdown against Wake Forest that will take place at 10 a.m. today.
Barrick, who has been surging late in the season thanks to some extra work he’s put in on his serve, defeated David Chermack in No. 6 singles, 6-2, 6-0. It was the Nashville native’s second win over Chermack this season.
“I served and volleyed real well,” Barrick said. “I think it helped that we had played before and I kind of knew what to expect. I just went out there and executed and just played my game, and that was enough.”
Boland has liked what he has seen out of Barrick.
“He’s worked really hard and put his time in after each and every match,” Boland said. “I’m really happy with his overall performance of late.”
Barrick’s effort against the Wolfpack was vital because Sanam Singh, for the second time in his last three matches, didn’t play his best. The freshman from India — who was playing at No. 3 so that Boland could rest Dom Inglot — lost to Jay Weinacker, 6-3, 6-4.
“He played a guy who played extremely well,” Boland said. “It had a lot more to do with his opponent. I think he played better today. I think he needs to get a few more matches under his belt in order to play at the level we know he can.”
Like Singh, Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey also weren’t clicking on all cylinders.
Devvarman needed a second-set tiebreaker to dispose of James McGee, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4). Huey dropped his second set against Nick Cavaday before the match was halted in the third set (with him leading 2-0) after Virginia had clinched.
In the other singles matches, Michael Shabaz trailed Christian Welte 3-0 in the third set at No. 4, while Ted Angelinos beat Derek Stephens, 6-3, 6-2 at No. 5.
UVa had started the day strong by winning the doubles point.
“We were on the ropes a little bit,” Barrick said, “but it’s good to get tested early on. Early on you just want to find a way to win.”
Boland expressed similar sentiments.
“It’s nice to get the first match out of the way,” he said. “I think it’s not unusual to start out a little slow, so overall I’m pleased with our performance because I know it’s only going to get better.”
Aces
With the victory, Virginia extended its school record winning streak to 26 matches overall and 29 straight against ACC opponents (regular-season and postseason). The Cavaliers also improved to 12-1 at the ACC Tournament since 2004. … UVa will be meeting Wake Forest in the ACC semifinals for the third time in the past four years. The Cavaliers defeated the Demon Deacons to reach the ACC Final in 2005 and 2007. Wake Forest advanced to this year’s semifinals with a 4-3 win over Virginia Tech on Friday.

 

UVa looks to rebound
By Whitey Reid
Published: April 18, 2008

According to Virginia senior Ben Rubeor, there has been a noticeable difference in practice this week.
Guys on the team, Rubeor said, are playing with more passion.
When you consider how low Virginia players must have felt in the wake of last Saturday’s 19-9 home loss to Duke, that’s a major positive.
The Blue Devils almost seemed to be toying with UVa as they rattled off 10 straight goals in front of a record crowd of 8,000.
“I think it was a wake-up call for us that we still have a ways to go,” Rubeor said. “I think we’re excited to get back on the field.”
That will happen this afternoon at Klockner Stadium when No. 4 Virginia (10-2) plays host to Dartmouth.
Last month, Dartmouth competed pretty well with Duke, losing 16-9. The Big Green (5-6) is coming off a 17-14 win over Yale that snapped a three-game losing streak.
Last season, Dartmouth came to Charlottesville and nearly pulled off an upset before losing, 10-9.
“They have a really talented attack,” Rubeor said. “We had a close game with them last year. I think we learned our lesson that every team is a tough game and every game you have to play your best lacrosse.”
Dartmouth’s offense has been clicking since the arrival of sophomore Josh Gillam, whose season with the school’s hockey team didn’t end until March 9.
“He’s been scoring like crazy,” Starsia said. “He had six against Cornell and five against Duke. It’s a team that can score goals in bunches and has a very good attack. They’re pretty good overall. We’ll have to play well.”
A positive for Virginia heading into the contest is Rubeor’s health. He says the knee, which hampered him early in the season, is feeling good.
“I think I’m to the point where it’s not something that I think about when I’m playing,” he said. “I’m glad I’ve gotten there.”
Starsia plans on starting Bud Petit in goal for the third straight game. The fifth-year senior played well in his season debut at North Carolina before getting pelted against Duke (which a Swiss cheese defense in front of him had a lot to do with). Petit came out of the game in the third quarter because of a hip flexor injury. He wasn’t able to do much practicing until late in the week.
It should be interesting to see how Virginia bounces back from one of its poorest performances in recent years. Starsia, for one, isn’t expecting any hangover.
“I would be really disappointed if we let last week’s loss carry over into this one,” he said. “This is a very important game. We need to play well.”
Rubeor said Virginia just needs to carry over its play in practice into the game.
“The tone you set in practices is the tone that appears in games,” he said. “I think this was a much better week. I think we took some steps forward.”

Cavaliers Close Regular Season with Clash vs. Dartmouth
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 04/18/2008
Courtesy: Matt Riley / UVa Media Relations

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA—Despite the 19-9 loss to Duke a week ago, Virginia head coach Dom Starsia still managed to take note of the many of the good aspects of the game. First was the crowd of 8000 fans who packed into Klöckner Stadium setting a record for largest attendance in the history of the facility. As might be expected with such a large crowd, the atmosphere was boisterous and full of energy. Still, there is work to be done as the Cavaliers prepare for a “Senior Day” match-up vs. Dartmouth at 1 pm Saturday.

“On our best day we might not have beaten (Duke) on Saturday, but we have to make our best better,” said Starsia.

The Big Green has had an uneven season to date and stands 5-6 overall. The New Englanders are coming off an impressive offensive showing with a 17-14 win over Yale on Wednesday. They haven’t, however, been able to string together back-to-back wins, a trend Starsia and Co. hope to continue.

The teams tangled last season with Virginia coming out victorious by a 10-9 count. Danny Glading’s man-down goal with 88 seconds remaining was the winner for Virginia.

The Cavaliers have been inconsistent the last several weeks as they went through the ACC schedule. Against Maryland the team came out sharp but couldn’t turn the sharpness into goals, as the Terrapins seized control and the Cavaliers were unable to recover and left College Park with their first loss of the season. The following week the Wahoos battled back from three goals down in the final minutes to defeat North Carolina in overtime, while Duke rattled off the game’s last 10 goals to break a 9-all tie on the way to the win. All three games were bothersome to Starsia because of the team’s inability to be sharp the entire 60 minutes.

“We need get up and down the field (this week),” he said. “I just want us to play well. I don’t feel like we’ve played 60 minutes each of the last couple of weeks and I think the players would agree.”

Starsia isn’t overlooking Dartmouth, but does cite his interest in a well-played game for the full 60 minutes by his squad.

“I think the nature of the opponent is less important than the quality of our own performance,” he said earlier this week. “We just need to get after this one.”

Saturday’s game will be preceded by a special “Senior Day” ceremony to recognize the 10 Cavaliers making their final regular-season appearance at Klöckner Stadium. But it won’t be their last game at Klöckner as UVa hosts the ACC Tournament next weekend.

“It’s always special when the seniors get to go out there together and get introduced before the game,” said Starsia. “It’s certainly something that they all take note of, but I don’t think we will be too melancholy; we feel like we have a lot of lacrosse to play


 

U.VA. NOTES
Tuesday, Apr 15, 2008 - 12:07 AM

Cavs improve in state recruiting
A coaching staff that struggled to land state football recruits from the Class of 2008 is faring much better with the Class of 2009.

Of the 18 players who signed with Virginia in February, only three were from the state. With the next signing day more than ninth months away, the Cavaliers already have five commitments from Virginians.

The latest to join the class: safety Corey Lillard, who committed after U.Va.'s spring game Saturday. Lillard is a 5-11, 205-pound junior at Liberty High in Fauquier County.

Lillard also had scholarship offers from Wake Forest, Arkansas, Boston College, North Carolina, N.C. State, Rutgers and Duke. But the Cavaliers, led by assistant coach Wayne Lineburg, were "so much out in front of everybody," Liberty coach Tommy Buzzo said yesterday, "that really, nobody had a chance to catch up."

In 2007, Lillard played running back, linebacker and safety for Liberty, a school that has produced a string of Division I-A recruits in recent years. He was the Cedar Run District's co-defensive player of the year and also was named to the all-Northwest Region second team.

"He's just a really down-to-earth good kid," Buzzo said. "He's a 'yes sir, no sir' kid. If he was out late, it's because he was out fishing, not getting in trouble."

Conrath stirs Long comparison
Defensive end Matt Conrath made one of the more memorable plays in Virginia's spring game, reaching out with one hand to pick off a short pass thrown by rising sophomore Peter Lalich.

A reporter later suggested to U.Va. coach Al Groh that Conrath, a 6-7, 269-pound freshman who redshirted last season, had looked like Chris Long on the interception.

"That's a big comparison to make here, but I understand what you're saying," Groh said. "He's a very athletic player, and he's another very promising young player."

Two U.Va. targets still undecided
The late signing period for college basketball begins tomorrow. Neither of U.Va.'s top two remaining targets for 2008-09 is expected to reach a decision by then.

The Cavaliers are pursuing 6-8 Wesley Witherspoon, a perimeter player from the Atlanta area who's an adept ballhandler, and 5-11 Paul McCoy, a point guard from Portland, Ore.

Three recruits signed with U.Va. in November, including Sylven Landesberg. A 6-6 guard from Queens, N.Y., Landesberg looked more comfortable Sunday night in the Capital Classic all-star game than he had in last month's McDonald's All-American game.

Landesberg didn't shoot well -- he was 5 for 16 from the floor -- but finished with 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and no turnovers in 20 minutes to help the U.S. All-Stars hammer the Capital All-Stars 123-85 in College Park, Md.

Cameron Johnson, who's headed to U.Va. on a football scholarship, started for the Capital All-Stars but went scoreless.

As midweek games go in college baseball, they don't get much more attractive than the one scheduled for today at Davenport Field in Charlottesville. At 5 p.m., U.Va. (29-9) will host Big South power Coastal Carolina (28-7).

The Chanticleers, who beat the Cavaliers twice last season, are ranked No. 22 by Baseball America. The Wahoos dropped out of Baseball America's Top 25 after losing three games at Florida State early this month. Since then, however, U.Va. has won five straight.

Sophomore left-hander Matt Packer (5-1, 1.05 ERA) gets the start today for the Cavaliers. U.Va. will host ACC rival Wake Forest on Friday (6 p.m.), Saturday (6 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.).

U.S. lacrosse team adds Bratton
U.Va. freshman Rhamel Bratton is a late addition to the U.S. under-19 national men's lacrosse team. Bratton, a midfielder, replaces Duke freshman Justin Turri, who's been out this season with an injury.

Four other U.Va. freshmen already were on the national team, including Rhamel's twin, Shamel. The others are midfielder Nick Elsmo, goalie Adam Ghitelman and long-stick middie Bray Malphrus. The under-19 world championships will be held July 3-12 in British Columbia, Canada. -- Jeff White

 

Conrath could make 94 another jersey to remember
QB battle more competitive than anticipated
By Doug Doughty

For a split second, it appeared that the long arm that snatched the ball out of the air belonged to No. 91.

But, it couldn’t have been No. 91. That number has been retired.

Actually, it was Chris Long’s jersey that was retired and not his number. But, Virginia couldn’t have handed over his number to another football player. Not this soon, anyway.

On second thought, it was only my failing eyesight. The defensive lineman who had come up with a one-handed interception of Peter Lalich’s short pass was No. 94, Matt Conrath, a 6-foot-7, 269-pound redshirt freshman.

It was a play that was worthy of comparison to Long, and that’s the big thing.

“That’s a big comparison to make here,” UVa coach Al Groh said, “but I understand what you’re saying.”

Presumably, sophomore Sean Gottschalk would have working with the first-team defensive line if not for offseason shoulder surgery, but Conrath has the appearances of a player who could have an impact.

“He’s a very athletic player,” Groh said. “All three of those young defensive linemen have done a very nice job. They’re very promising.”

The reference was to Conrath and two other 2007 signees who were redshirted this past fall – Nick Jenkins (6-3, 285) and Zane Parr (6-6, 267).

“We’ve been positively impressed with all of them throughout,” Groh said. “You can see, he’s [Conrath] a long player. He’s up 12, 14 pounds since he came and there’s a lot more to come.

“He’s a very determined kid. He’s fun to be around. He makes progress all the time, as [do] Nick and Zane.”

Virginia needs to replace its starting front three of Long, fellow defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald and nose tackle Allen Billyk.

Long and Billyk were seniors in 2007 and could not have come back under any circumstances. However, the February dismissal of Fitzgerald, who would have been a junior, increases the pressure on a cast of returning tackles headed by fifth-year senior Alex Field.

The most experienced member of that group will be Nate Collins, a 6-2, 280-pound junior who frequently spelled Billyk last year and had a huge deflection late in the Cavaliers’ 22-20 victory at North Carolina.

PRIOR TO the spring game, it struck me that the alleged three-man battle for the starting quarterback position was merely window dressing and that sophomore Peter Lalich was the only possible choice.

Now, I’m not so sure.

Fifth-year senior Scott Deke had the best numbers, redshirt sophomore Marc Verica seemed to have the strongest arm and quickest feet and Lalich didn’t show much.

Lalich’s numbers (6-for-18 and three interceptions) were horrible but misleading. Conrath made a great play on the one interception, one was tipped before it was picked off by Trey Womack and the third – actually, the first – could have been ruled a fumble because it appeared Dontrelle Inman had the ball before it was taken away by safety Matt Leemhuis.

“They ran their team well, they made good decisions with what was unfolding in front of them and each one made some throws up the field that have to be made,” Groh said. “I felt they were all pretty much in the same circumstance.”

(I’ll stop here to say that I’ve never known anybody who uses the word “circumstance” as much as Groh does).

“If you look at numbers, you can’t get the picture from that in the spring game,” Groh continued. “You don’t know what [offensive] line they were with. You don’t know the receivers that were in. OK? If you’re trying to base any conclusions based on that, you’re fooling yourself.”

VIRGINIA HASN’T SAID anything about the status of troubled Harrisonburg High School running back Alex Owah and the Cavaliers couldn’t if they wanted.

Owah committed to Virginia in December, but he was only a junior and schools can’t comment about recruits until they sign. Theoretically, Virginia can’t say anything about Owah and it won’t.

Right now, Owah has been named in an affidavit detailing the use of prescription pain-killers on the Harrisonburg team, and he also has been linked to a Halloween robbery that some have portrayed as a prank. How much UVa knew or did not know at the time of Owah’s commitment is unknown, but his meeting with police took place almost a month (Jan. 23) after his commitment.

Some Internet posters have urged Virginia to cut ties with Owah, citing the string of events that resulted in the arrest of two players, Mike Brown and J’Courtney Williams, on unrelated theft charges. Williams actually was arrested twice, the first time for possession of marijuana, and marijuana possession was one of several charges lodged against Brown at the time that his larceny charge came to light.

Williams, a true freshman, already has been dropped from the program. Brown has been suspended from team activities but is still listed on the roster that appears on the UVa sports website.

If Brown is convicted of larceny, presumably that would also constitute a violation of the school’s honor code, which has a single sanction, expulsion. Of course, that would require an honor trial, but Brown may be working at finishing the school year, which would expedite the transfer process. Leaving in February put a crimp in Fitzgerald’s plans from that perspective.

I disagree with Roanoke talk-show host Greg Roberts, who has chosen to paint Owah with the same broad brush as Williams and Brown, not to mention former UVa running back Wali Lundy, arrested for smoking pot in New Jersey. I can see holding Groh accountable for players who are in his program now – Williams, Brown, Fitzgerald, the four January casualties – but not a Lundy and certainly not an Owah. One’s been gone for two years; the other isn’t due to arrive for nearly 18 months, if then.

“Being the coach of a team on a major level, whether it’s college sports or professional sports, is about perpetual problem solving,” Groh said. “There is no smooth road. That’s Utopian thinking. It’s about dealing with the circumstances that come up in the best way possible.

“There’s a bump in every game. There’s a bump in every season. Without being pollyanish about it, you take them on directly, solve the circumstances and you move forward. This team is hopefully taking on the united sense of purpose that last year’s did.”

Wake joins UVa, Tech in Andrew Miller sweepstakes
Reamon finds mother lode in new job
By Doug Doughty

Wake Forest has become the third ACC program to make a scholarship offer to Bassett’s Andrew Miller, a 6-foot-5, 275-pound offensive guard who ranks as the No. 1 football prospect in The Roanoke Times’ 19-county “Timesland” coverage area.

Other potential suitors would be best advised not to hesitate.

Bassett High School coach Jay Gilbert said Friday that he thinks Miller could make an announcement in the next 3-4 weeks. Boston College, Maryland and North Carolina State are among a group of schools that have requested film or otherwise have shown significant interest.

“The way it seems to work, as soon as one school offers, others follow,” Groh said. “Virginia was the first to offer. Then, Tech stepped up. Wake Forest came through [with an offer] this week.”

Tech has been considered the front-runner for Miller because his older brother, Tim, wrestles for the Hokies. The catch is, the Hokies want Miller to enroll as a wrestler.

It is Gilbert’s understanding that current Tech football projections allow for only one scholarship lineman in the class of 2009. The Hokies essentially are recruiting Miller for the football class of 2010 but want him to school on a wrestling scholarship, participate in wrestling during the 2008-2009 season, then join the football team in the spring.

Once he played in a football game for the Hokies, Miller would count against the football scholarship limit, whether he continued to wrestle or not.

“Tech is probably the frontrunner,” Gilbert said, “but I don’t know if he wants to go the wrestling route. There is the possibility that he could get hurt in wrestling.”

Wherever he goes, Miller will be the fourth Miller sibling to accept a grant-in-aid from an ACC athletic program. Oldest brother John went to Duke, where he played on the offensive line; sister Heather went to Wake Forest for basketball, and Tim is at Tech, where he saw limited action this year as a 197-pounder.

“Andrew’s dad was saying something about liking Virginia,” Gilbert said, “and I told him, ‘You really do want four children at four different schools.’ Virginia has done everything the NCAA probably allows to get him to commit in the last three or four weeks.”

Gilbert thinks that Wake Forest could quickly challenge Virginia Tech because of the Millers’ familiarity with the athletic program and the proximity of Wake’s campus to Henry County. Winston-Salem, N.C., is scarcely an hour’s drive from the Miller’s home.

Miller, who has a 3.67 grade-point average, has expressed an interest in majoring in agricultural science “and I’m sure that hurts Virginia some,” Gilbert said. “I’m sure there are some other majors that would challenge him but Andrew grew up on a farm. The agricultural part does interest him.”

Before the recruiting picked up, Gilbert said, he put a list of schools on a blackboard and asked Miller to rank them. Tech was No. 1 at that time.

“Andrew and Tim are real close,” Gilbert said, “but Andrew’s a really quiet person. I went up to Virginia with him last week and Andrew really could have loved it and I never would have known. He’s just that kind of kid.”

>> Gilbert has two other rising seniors, quarterback Rashawn “Boo” Woods and two-way lineman Dameon Hairston, whom he views as scholarship candidates at either the Division I-AA or Division II level.

Woods was named Timesland offensive player of the year after accounting for more than 1,000 yards both rushing and passing in 2007, when he helped Bassett to its first 10-0 regular season.

Woods has a 3.15 grade-point average, but his height (he’s 5-10, 191) probably will keep him from being recruited as a quarterback. At 6-1 and 295 pounds, Hairston, too, is height-challenged to play his position at the I-A level.

Miller joined Woods on the All-Timesland first team and Hairston was a second-team selection.

TOMMY REAMON, maybe best known as the Warwick High School coach of Michael and Marcus Vick, has come out of a brief retirement to take over the program at Landstown High School in Virginia Beach.

Landstown won the Group AAA Division 5 state championship in 2004, when Chris Beatty was the head coach and current University of Florida wide receiver Percy Harvin was the star player. When Beatty went to Hampton University, he was replaced by former Virginia Tech fullback Steve Canter.

Canter, 27, had a two-year record of 13-7 at Landstown before resigning March 17 to join the staff at Norfolk State.

Reamon most recently had been the coach at Glocuester, where he felt he had a couple of Division I-A prospects in tight end-defensive end Josh Lovell (6-6, 240) and wide receiver-athlete Ray Harris, a pair of rising seniors.

Lovell was a top target for Reamon’s son, Tommy Jr., last year’s Gloucester quarterback, but Tommy Sr. thinks he is best suited to play defensive end in college. West Virginia, with Beatty as the lead recruiter, has emerged as a leader for Lovell’s future services.

(Don’t be surprised if West Virginia also gets Damon McDaniel, who left Florida State after two seasons. McDaniel, who also has had Virginia Tech under consideration, played on Beatty’s great Landstown teams in 2004 and 2005).

At Landstown, Reamon has inherited one of the state’s top-rated running backs in Sterlin Phifer, whom Reamon describes as “big, big time.” Reamon has been identified with quarterbacks like the Vicks and Aaron Brooks, but he is a former running back, himself, who says Phifer will be featured.

Landstown has been known for athletic, all-purpose quarterbacks, the latest of whom, 6-1, 170-pound Alan Powell, is a “great athlete” according to Reamon. And, college recruiters are going to want more information about Justin Williams, a 6-5, 225-pound defensive end who moved to Virginia Beach after playing in Miami this past fall as a junior.
 

UVa Women Grab 10-Shot Lead at ACC Golf Championships
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 04/18/2008
Courtesy: Jim Daves/UVa Media Relations

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - With three Cavaliers occupying the top three spots in the individual standings, the Virginia women's golf team is in first place in the team standings after the opening round of the 20th Annual Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Golf Championship on the Legends Course at LPGA International. The Cavaliers are 10 strokes ahead of top-ranked Duke and 12 strokes ahead of Florida State which is in third place in the team standings.

Virginia, which is ranked 22nd in this week's Golf Week poll, is looking to win its first ever ACC championship in the sport of women's golf. The Cavaliers finished as the runner-up team in this event in 2006. Virginia carded a 4-under 284 team total - its best of the fall 2007 and spring 2008 seasons. Duke, the nation's No. 1 ranked team, has won the last 12 ACC women's golf championships. The Blue Devils finished with a team total of 292.

"We have worked all year in every aspect - fitness, playing to field and practicing to play in this championship," said Virginia Head Coach Kim Lewellen. "We are thrilled to be in this position after one day. This field is extremely strong and we are honored to be in this position."

Two freshmen topped UVa’s first-day charge.

First-year Joy Kim shot 3-under 69, her best single-round score as a collegiate. She finished with 17 holes at par or better with four birdies. After a birdie on her second hole, she played the final 17 holes under par and was as many as four strokes under. Calle Nelson is in second place in the individual standings after carding a two-under par score of 70. That equals her best 18-hole score this season. She was never over and was as many as two strokes under par during her first 18 holes. Jennie Arseneault is in a tie for third place as she carded a one-under par 71.

Whitney Neuhauser shot 2-over 74 and is in 11th place while Lene Krog finished 32nd with a 78.

"Every aspect of my game was really good today," said Kim. "My shots could have been better but I am satisfied with my round. I am also glad that the team did well today. My putting was good today; I had 26 putts. My ball stroking could have been better today - that's what I am going to work on for tomorrow."

Duke's Jennifer Pandolfi is in a tie for third place with Arseneault and Natalie Sheary of Wake Forest with one-under par scores of 71. Duke's Amanda Blumenherst, the No. 1 ranked individual in the nation, is in a tie for eighth place with a two-over par score of 73.

The tournament continues Saturday at 8 a.m. and Sunday at 7:30 a.m. Live scoring is online at Golfstat.com


 

Cavalier Men in Ninth Place at ACC Golf Championships
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 04/18/2008
Courtesy: Jim Daves/UVa Media Relations

Greg Carlin shot 1-under 71 during the first round of the ACC Championships.

New London, NC – The Virginia men’s golf team is in ninth place after the opening round of the ACC Championships at the Old North State Club in New London, N.C. The Cavaliers shot 8-over 294. Duke and Florida State are tied for first place at 9-under 279. North Carolina is third at 282.

Senior Greg Carlin led UVa with a 1-under 71 to finish 15th. Steven Rojas shot 73 and is 27th, Will Collins and Kyle Stough both posted 75s to tie for 37th and Conrad Von Borsig is 50th at 77.

NC State’s Matt Hill carded a 68 to take the lead in stroke play. Webb Simpson of Wake Forest, Chase MacFarland of North Carolina and Matthew Savage of Florida State are tied for second at 68.

The tournament continues Saturday and Sunday at 8:30 a.m. Live scoring is online at Golfstat.com