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S P O RT S INSIDE MOREHOUSE. APRIL/MAY 2009 Track and Field, Golf and Tennis Squads WIN CONFERENCE TITLES Dreyfus Clemons won two events during the SIAC Track and Field Championships and was second in the 3000-meter steeplechase. ; f IK 1 v J|a i Sjk i p .3 fe I Ip... vj I if L | | if 1- ■T* The Morehouse golf team won the College’s first SIAC Golf Tournament title since 1980. The Maroon Tigers Tennis squad celebrates after winning the 2009 SIAC Tennis Tournament championship. By ADD SEYMOUR JR. S pring 2009 turned out to be a banner season for Morehouse Maroon Tigers spring sports teams as the golf, tennis and track and field teams each won their respective Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament titles. Several Maroon Tigers from each squad were named to All-Tournament teams and each head coach was named the conference's best. TRACK AND FIELD The Flying Maroon Tigers did what they have done for each of the past four years - they won the SIAC Track and Field championship. In the championship meets 21 events held at Edwin Moses Track at B.T. Harvey Stadium April 16-18, Morehouse continued their SIAC dominance by finishing first with 209 points. Albany State was a dis tant second with 153 while Benedict College had 145. Top individual performers in cludes Dreyfus Clemons who won the 800- meter and 1,500- meter runs and was second in the 3,000- meter steeplechase; Abraham Kiprotich who won the 5,000-meter run and finished third in both the 10,000 meter run and the 3,000- meter steeplechase; Barry Batson, the SIAC’s Field Athlete of the Year, who finished first in the long jump and triple jump and Matt Tuffuor who won the javelin and was second in the decathlon. Clemons was named first team All-SIAC in three events while Bat son, Tuffuor and Turner Coggins were also named to the first team. Khiry Lee, Steven Patterson, Norvell Van were chosen for the second team. The Maroon Tigers were also honored for having the highest team grade point average among SIAC track and field teams. Also, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association named sprinter Damian Prince the South Region’s Track Athlete of the Year and Batson as the region’s Field Athlete of the Year. TENNIS Before the 2009 Maroon Tigers tennis season started, head coach Terry Alexander was hoping his team would finish the season just as the 2007 squad had done - with a Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship. That is exactly what happened as the Maroon Tigers netters defeated regular season’s top team, Fort Val ley State University, to win their sec ond SIAC championship in three seasons. “Definitely it’s exciting for two reasons,” said Alexander, who was named the tournament’s most out standing coach. “Historically we’re still always a contender or the team to beat. So that’s one thing to be able to uphold that. But then this is one of the first years the team didn’t win just because we had superior play ers. I feel like my actual coaching - being able to strategize with the lineup, being able to strategize on the court - played just a big part as the players’ ability did. Those things make this one feel much more special.” Josh Harris and Tory Martin were named to the All-Tournament singles squad while Martin and Ben Seagle were named to the All-Tour nament doubles team. Maroon Tiger tennis players also won several regular season honors. Harris and Martin were named first team All-SIAC while Michael Stew ard has a third-team pick. Steward was also named SIAC Freshman of the Year. Martin and Seagle were named to the All-SIAC doubles team. GOLF Philip Allen picked up where he left off in 2008 as he helped lead Morehouse to the 2009 SIAC Golf Tournament championship. Morehouse finished 28 strokes ahead of Benedict College in win ning the College’s second-ever con ference tournament golf title and first in 29 years when the Maroon Tigers last won in 1980. “It came around. When we first started off in September, it wasn’t good,” said first year head coach Bill Lewis, who was named Coach of the Year. “It definitely came together. We definitely played better golf.” Allen finished five shots ahead of his nearest competitor and was named the tournament’s Most Valu able Player for the second year in a row. He also earned a spot on the SIAC All-Tournament squad. “He’s the captain of the team and he’s probably the best player, so he’s leading by example,” said Lewis. Two other Maroon Tigers fin ished in the tournament’s top ten players, Olajuwon Ajanaku (third) and Thaddaeus Hill (10th). Ajanaku joined Allen on the All- Conference team. Allen, Ajanaku, Hill and Bryan McElderry were named to the regular season All-SIAC team. McElderry was named Freshman of the Year while Hill, a business ad ministration major with a 3.59 grade point average, was chosen for the All-Academic team. ■ McCladdie, Wright and McGowan Named All- SIAC Baseball Players Three Morehouse baseball players have been honored by the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for their stellar play or academics during the 2009 season. Senior Hank McCladdie and pitcher Joshua Wright were both second-team, All-SIAC picks for the 2009 season. McCladdie, who hit .299 this season, finished second in the SIAC with 11 home runs during the regular season. He also won four games as a starting pitcher. Wright picked up four wins from the mound for the Maroon Tigers, who finished 14-26 over all, but had a .500 record in con ference play. Designated hitter/catcher Walter McGowan was an SIAC All-Acade mic team pick. The junior psychol ogy major carried a 3.6 grade point average this semester. ■