COLLEGES
Special event:
Old Dominion’s women’s rowing team announced that it is planning a 383-kilometer mission in honor of Grace Rett, a Holy Cross University rower who was killed Jan. 15 in a crash while riding in her team’s van.
The mission will commence at the school’s rowing center at about 11 a.m. Saturday and conclude around noon Sunday. The team has opened the undertaking to all ODU student-athletes and staff to keep a single rowing machine spinning to cover the 383,000 meters on a “day of and for Grace.”
Rett had set a world record for the longest continual row in the individual heavyweight women 19-and-younger category. By rowing 383 kilometers, she covered the equivalent of almost nine marathons in 21/2 days.
Men’s basketball:
Virginia Wesleyan (16-3) climbed three spots to No. 15 in the d3hoops.com poll. Old Dominion Athletic Conference leader Randolph-Macon (19-1) remained at No. 3. Among the teams receiving votes below the top 25, Christopher Newport was fourth.
For the second time in three weeks, Norfolk State guard Tyrese Jenkins was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week.
Jenkins scored in double figures off the bench in NSU’s losses at North Carolina A&T and North Carolina Central. He averaged 12.5 points and 2.5 rebounds per game while shooting a combined 8 of 13 from the floor, 4 of 8 from 3-point range.
He had 13 points in just 12 minutes of action Saturday at A&T. Then on Monday, the former Varina High star played a season-high 27 minutes, scoring 12 points at N.C. Central. He added two rebounds, his first two college blocks and an assist.
NSU senior Steven Whitley is one of 10 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference players on the watch list for the 2020 Dos Equis 3X3U National Championship.
The midseason watch list features 10 seniors from each of the 32 NCAA Division I conferences. The tournament will include four players from each conference – one substitute per team – and 128 players in total. They will compete for a $100,000 top prize at the third annual event. This year’s tournament will run from April 3-5 in Atlanta.
William & Mary’s Nathan Knight and Andy Van Vliet are on the Colonial Athletic Association list.
Hampton teammates Jermaine Marrow and Greg Heckstall are on the Big South list, as is Radford’s Travis Fields, a Norcom High graduate.
VCU teammates Marcus Evans, from Chesapeake, and De’Riante Jenkins are on the Atlantic 10 list.
Virginia’s Mamadi Diakite and Braxton Key are on the ACC list.
Former Hokie Kerry Blackshear of Florida is on the Southeastern Conference list.
Football:
James Madison coach Curt Cignetti announced the addition of Eddie Whitley Jr. to the staff; he will serve as safeties coach.
Whitley, a former Virginia Tech standout, comes to the 2019 NCAA FCS runner-up Dukes after spending the last three seasons at nearby Bridgewater College, where he was the secondary coach and pass defense coordinator for the Old Dominion Athletic Conference champions during a 10-1 2019 season.
BC’s defense ranked ninth in Division III and led the ODAC in scoring defense (13.4). It ranked 12th in pass efficiency defense (100.25), which was an improvement of 118 spots from the year prior.
Whitley worked with the Washington Redskins during organized team activities in 2018 as part of the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship, working with his former safeties coach at Virginia Tech, Torrian Gray.
Prior to his coaching career, Whitley spent time with five NFL franchises and played one season in the Canadian Football League with the Toronto Argonauts.
Men’s lacrosse:
Christopher Newport was picked third among six teams in the Capital Athletic Conference coaches’ poll, trailing Salisbury — the nation’s No. 1 Division III team — and York (Pa.). The Captains are 13th in the Inside Lacrosse national preseason poll.
Women’s lacrosse:
CNU was picked fifth among six teams in the CAC coaches’ poll, which York (Pa.) led. The Spartans are coming off a Division III Elite Eight appearance. Salisbury was chosen second.
In the eight-team ACC poll, Virginia was chosen fifth and Virginia Tech sixth. North Carolina was picked first, Syracuse second, Notre Dame third and Boston College fourth.
U.Va. seniors Sammy Mueller and Nora Bowen earned Preseason All-ACC honors, as did Virginia Tech junior midfielder Paige Petty.
Softball:
Chowan opened its season by splitting a doubleheader at UNC Pembroke. The Hawks won 5-3 before losing 3-1.
Kempsville High graduate Shannon Buchanan led the Hawks with three hits on the afternoon, picking up two RBIs.
In Game 1, Brittany Parson blasted her 23rd career home run to tie the program mark with former Chowan player Kris Neal. Megan Vincent was the winning pitcher in that game.
For the sixth consecutive season, James Madison was selected as the favorite to win the Colonial Athletic Association championship in a poll of the league’s eight coaches.
Elon was second, the College of Charleston third.
