Men’s Golfer Honored

Last season’s Peach Belt Conference men’s golfer Freshman of the Year Jordan Walor made his sophomore campaign a successful one, as the Wake Forest, N.C., native was named as a first team selection to the Peach Belt all-conference team on April 11.

Walor was the only Braves’ golfer named to the team, joining seven other conference golfers with the distinction.

On April 13, Walor closed the 2010 season with first place honors at the 2010 Peach Belt Conference Men’s Golf Championships.

Walor shot rounds of 70, 72 and 72 at the two-day event to finish two strokes ahead of Georgia College’s Niclas Johansson for the title at the par-72 Mountain View Course in Pine Mountain, Ga.

Walor leads the Black and Gold with a 72.7 stroke average and has five top-20 finishes this season.  The sophomore earned three top-five finishes this season, including a first place finish at the Honda of Columbia Fall Classic on Sept. 19-22.  Walor also placed fourth at the Feb. 22-23 Pirate Invitational and earned a third place finish at the Barton Intercollegiate on March 8-9.

Georgia College’s Francisco Bide took home conference Player of the Year honors while Armstrong Atlantic’s Jacob Tilton took home Freshman of the Year laurels.

The conference Coach of the Year award went to Flagler’s Santiago Cavanagh.

The Black and Gold men’s golf team finished their 2009-2010 season on April 13 with a fifth place finish at the 2010 Peach Belt Conference Men’s Golf Championships.

Braves rack up 25 top-10s at Johnson C. Smith Invite

Jessica McDowell leaps over a hurdle. McDowell earned a ninth place finish in the hurdles at the Johnson C. Smith Invitational.

The Black and Gold men’s and women’s track teams each put on impressive performances April 11 at the Johnson C. Smith Invitational, with the men’s team picking up 14 top-10 finishes and the women earning 11.

For the men’s team, junior Maurice Eubanks again led the Braves with their highest showing in the individual competitions, taking third overall in the 100 meter dash with a 10.79 second run.  Junior Karlos Jordan also joined his teammate with a fifth place finish in the event with a time of 10.84.

Freshman long distance runner Pardon Ndhlovu also placed in the top-10 for the Black and Gold, picking up an eighth place finish in the 800 meter run with a personal best time of 1:55.08.  Ndhlovu picked up an eighth place finish in the 1500 meter run with a time of 4:07.41.

In the 5000 meter run, the Black and Gold earned two top-10 finishes, with freshman Daniel Yeakley and sophomore Kevin Clancy taking home seventh and ninth place with times of 16:25.10 and 16:32.64, respectively.

Junior Jake Johnson earned a ninth place finish in the 400 meter hurdles and the Black and Gold 4×100 meter relay team earned a second place finish in their event.

Baseball Drops Series to Georgia College

Joe Mangum prepares himself for a pitch. Mangum went 1-for-4 with a waIk in the Braves’ first game against Georgia College.

The Black and Gold baseball team dropped their Peach Belt Conference series to Georgia College April 11, falling 8-7 in an 11 inning series deciding matchup.

The Braves picked up the series first win on April 10 with a come from behind 5-2 victory, but dropped the final two games in the contest with a 13-2 defeat in the series’ second game.

In game one, a grand slam by senior Seth Kivett led the No. 20 ranked Braves to an 8-6 win, overcoming a three-run deficit in the game’s closing innings.

Georgia College jumped on the visiting Braves early, posting two runs in the bottom of the first inning.  An RBI-double by Georgia College’s Shawn Ward drove in the first run for the Bobcats, who later scored on a ground out to second to take an early 2-0 advantage.

The Black and Gold posted one run apiece in the second and third innings, but Georgia College responded in the bottom of the sixth inning with three runs to take a 5-2 lead.

Down by three runs, Alex Pearce started off the top of the seventh inning with a single to right center and Kenny Mickens followed in suit with a single to left field.  Tom Porricelli reached on an error in the Braves’ next at-bat before Kivett drove in the go-ahead grand slam to give the Braves a 6-5 lead.

UNCP scored two more runs in the eighth inning on a Mickens’ 2-RBI homer, clinching the win for the Braves.