College Notebook

Shaw University to add soccer teams

The Department of Athletics at Shaw University announced the addition of men’s and women’s soccer to its varsity sport teams Wednesday morning. Shaw will compete as NCAA Division II in fall 2017.

With the addition of men’s and women’s soccer, Shaw will now offer a total of 13 sport teams that include men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s tennis, football, women’s bowling, women’s volleyball, women’s outdoor track and field, and softball.

“We are very excited about the addition of men’s and women’s varsity soccer to our athletic programs starting fall 2017,” said director of athletics Alfonza Carter.

Luis Cortell will lead both programs, Cortell spent this past year leading a talented men’s and women’s club soccer team at Shaw while recruiting with his staff.

“I would like to first thank Dr. Carter and President Dubroy on the confidence deposited on me to create the first ever men’s and women’s soccer program at Shaw University. Our staff job for the past seven months has been to recruit students, athletes, and community ambassadors all packaged into one and we believe we have found a lot of student-athletes that will allow our program to have a successful first season,” added coach Cortell.

Shaw has not announced a 2017 schedule for the teams.

N.C. Central: High Point did most of its damage in the first three innings as the Eagles fell 10-6 on Wednesday at the Durham Athletic Park. Freshman Carter Williams collected three hits for the second consecutive game, with two doubles.

Duke: With the four major college basketball All-America teams having been announced, guard Luke Kennard has been recognized as a second-team consensus All-American following one of the nation’s breakout sophomore seasons.

N.C. Central: Sophomore Bethany White has been named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Women’s Track Athlete of the Week for her performance at the Raleigh Relays, the conference announced Wednesday.

Duke/Elon: Blue Devils midfielder Maddie Crutchfield buried the game-winning goal with 12.6 seconds remaining to send the 20th-ranked Blue Devils past No. 18 Elon Wednesday in a non-conference contest at Rudd Field. Duke weathered a second-half rally by the Phoenix to improve to 6-5 on the season

Shaw: Despite a double and RBI from Alex Masnica in game two, the Bears were unable to snap their losing streak as they gave up a pair of games to both Chowan and Virginia State Wednesday afternoon at the VSU Softball Field.

N.C. State: The Wolfpack dropped a 5-3 decision with Liberty on Wednesday evening at Dail Stadium. The Wolfpack moves to 12-21 (6-3 ACC) and the Flames improve to 19-15 (5-1 Big South) on the season.

Elon: Junior Kiandra Mitchum tossed a one-hit shutout with eight strikeouts to lead the Phoenix to a 1-0 victory at North Carolina A&T on Wednesday at the Lady Aggies Softball Complex.

N.C. State: Head coach Linda Hampton-Keith has been selected to serve on the American Volleyball Coaches Association board of directors, the organization announced on Wednesday. Now in her second season with the Wolfpack, Hampton-Keith will serve as the association’s education and publications representative.

N.C. Central: Sophomore Gabriel Cucalon and freshman Theofanis Kontopoulos were named Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week, respectively.

Elon: Senior Jared Mactas earned his second Colonial Athletic Association Men’s Golfer of the Week honor for the current season.

Wake Forest: Junior Will Zalatoris was named the ACC Men’s Golfer of the Month for March, the conference announced Wednesday. Zalatoris earned medalist honors at the General Hackler Championship, shooting 9-under over two rounds to win the weather-shortened event. It was his third career individual championship as the Deacs won their second title of the season.

Duke: Sophomore Bryn Hammarberg was selected the Ronald McDonald House Charities Duke Student-Athlete of the Week, after earning All-America honors with a 10th-place finish in men’s epee over the weekend at the NCAA Fencing Championships in Indianapolis, Ind.

Mount Olive: The Trojans defeated Chowan University, 22-6, in Conference Carolinas action on Wednesday afternoon in Mount Olive.

From news releases

This story was originally published March 29, 2017 at 11:30 PM with the headline "College Notebook."