Duke senior Elizabeth Williams earns 4th AP All-America honor

Duke University women’s basketball senior Elizabeth Williams was named Associated Press All-America for the fourth straight year Tuesday, after a vote of 35 Associated Press media members.

Williams earned second team accolades in 2014-15, after receiving third team honors each of her first three years. A native of Virginia Beach, Va., Williams is the first ACC player to receive AP honors each of her four years and just the eighth overall player since 1995 to earn the award four times.

Other four-time Associated Press All-America selections include Brittney Griner (Baylor), Maya Moore (UConn), Courtney Paris (Oklahoma), Candice Wiggins (Stanford), Seimone Augustus (LSU), Tamika Catchings (Tennessee) and Chamique Holdsclaw (Tennessee).

N.C. State: Redshirt junior Nick Gwiazdowski, who this year became only the third wrestler in ACC history to win back-to-back NCAA national championships, was named the 2015 ACC Wrestler of the Year.

True freshman Kevin Jack, who earned All-America honors by finishing fifth nationally in the 141-pound weight class, was voted ACC Wrestling Freshman of the Year. Both awards were determined by a vote of the league’s six wrestling head coaches.

Gwiazdowski, who has won 55 consecutive matches in the 285-pound class, including a 35-0 mark this past year, captured his second straight ACC and NCAA titles this year. He joins Clemson’s Sammie Henson (1993-94) and North Carolina’s T.J. Jaworsky (1993-94-95), as the only wrestlers in ACC history to win back-to-back national championships.

N.C. State: Graham Crawford is ACC Men’s Track Co-Performer of the Week, and Samantha George is ACC Women’s Co-Track Performer of the Week.

Crawford ranks second nationally in the men’s 5,000 meters following his run of 13:52.05 in the Raleigh Relays. A junior from Burlington, he placed second among a field of 114 in his outdoor season debut, just 0.7 of a second behind first-place finisher Willy Fink of Eastern Michigan.

George ranks No. 1 nationally in the women’s 5,000 meters following her run of 15:51.74 in the Raleigh Relays. A sophomore from Raleigh, she posted the seventh-fastest time in N.C. State history.

Saint Augustine’s: The women are ranked third and the men are ranked ninth in the latest NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Rankings, which were released Tuesday.

UNC: Hunter Williams worked six strong innings as No. 18 North Carolina beat host Elon 10-5. Joe Dudek homered for the Tar Heels, who took advantage of 12 walks from Phoenix pitchers as well as three Elon errors to improve to 17-11 on the year. Carolina will continue its four-game road trip Friday with the first of three at Clemson.

Saint Augustine’s: The team swept all five CIAA baseball weekly awards. Jason Baytop was named Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week. Carey Cheek was chosen Offensive Player of the Week, and Sean Brassington was named Pitcher of the Week.Also, coach Charles Whitaker was voted Coach of the Week.

Baytop batted .364 with three doubles, two RBIs and three runs scored in addition to recording five stolen bases in four games. He also had six putouts and one error in center field for an .857 fielding percentage. His double down the left field line scored one run and gave the Falcons a lead they never relinquished in a 4-2 win over Chowan University on March 29.

Cheek was 7-for-12 with one double, four RBIs and two runs scored for a .583 average in four games. He was 4-for-4 with two RBIs and one run scored in an 8-7 loss to Claflin University on March 25. Cheek singled in both runs for the Falcons in a 5-2 loss to Chowan on March 29.

Brassington fired a two-hit shutout in six complete innings for a 2-0 victory over Claflin on March 25. For the week, Brassington allowed no runs in two appearances and 6.1 innings. An SAU pitcher has won the league's pitcher of the week award four consecutive times.

Whitaker guided the Falcons to their first CIAA victory of the season on March 29 when they defeated Chowan 4-2. Picked to finish fourth in the CIAA, the Falcons are tied for second in the league standings at 1-1.

Mount Olive: Mount Olive earned two nonconference victories, defeating host Elizabeth City 18-0 and 10-1.

The Trojans move to 17-11 overall, while the Lady Vikings fall to 2-18 on the season.

Mount Olive totaled 34 hits in Tuesday’s doubleheader.

This story was originally published March 31, 2015 at 10:04 PM with the headline "Duke senior Elizabeth Williams earns 4th AP All-America honor."