St. Francis women's basketball coach Keila Whittington resigns
"I would like to thank Coach Whittington for her contributions and wish her the best in her future endeavors," Brazill said. "Our women's basketball program has enjoyed a long tradition of success, specifically in the Northeast Conference, which we have not experienced recently. I'm eager to re-establish our championship culture and as always, strive for competitive excellence."
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A national search for St. Francis' ninth women's basketball head coach in program history will begin immediately.
Whittington had been the women's basketball head coach since 2019-20. The Red Flash finished 56-155 overall and 48-52 in Northeast Conference play in the past six seasons.
The St. Francis women's basketball team has won 12 NEC Tournament titles and collected 397 NEC victories to be the winningest program in NEC women's basketball history.
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USA Today
17-07-2025
- USA Today
Rams training camp preview: How many roster spots are available for WRs in 2025?
Can Jordan Whittington, Konata Mumpfield and other WRs make some noise in camp? The Los Angeles Rams' receiving corps looks like one of the best on paper entering 2025. Puka Nacua is back as a top playmaker, while Davante Adams joins the roster as a free agent – and a big one, at that. Tutu Atwell returned on a $10 million deal and Jordan Whittington is entering Year 2 after showing promise as a rookie, giving the Rams great depth at the position. That should make for some exciting and intriguing camp battles this summer as players not only jockey for a roster spot, but also for positioning on the depth chart. Here's a look at the receiver group heading into training camp. Roster locks Nacua, Adams and Atwell are all obviously going to make the team, being the top three receivers on the team. Nacua and Adams are 1a and 1b, while Atwell's $10 million fully guaranteed contract make him a lock. Whittington may not seem like a lock as a former sixth-round pick but there's no chance the Rams are going to let him go. He offers too much value as a WR4 and return specialist, as evidenced last season when he filled in admirably when the Rams were banged up. Likely to make it Mumpfield was drafted by the Rams in the seventh round this year but that doesn't guarantee him a roster spot whatsoever. Teams cut seventh-round rookies all the time, so Mumpfield will have to earn his place on the team. The Rams really liked him as a late-round prospect so he does have the benefit over the undrafted rookies, but he has work to do in order to carve out a role for himself. On the bubble Based on these projections, the Rams have five wideouts who are likely to make the team. They'll probably keep six or more wideouts when they trim their roster to 53 players, which means there might only be one player from this group who sticks around into September. Smith and Covey both have an advantage thanks to their special teams ability as returners, but will the Rams really keep both of them? Probably not. Edwards, Williams and Presley are undrafted rookies who have encouraging skill sets, and Stoops is facing a two-game suspension for PEDs, so that puts him behind the eight ball. Position battle to watch Whittington is a really exciting young player who plays similarly to Nacua in the fact that they're both physical and aggressive, putting their bodies on the line every play. Mumpfield has far more to prove as a late-round rookie but his route running is great and he's just a well-rounded receiver who does a lot of things well without being outstanding in one area. It's possible Atwell, Whittington and Mumpfield will all rotate on offense, but the most important position battle is the one between Whittington and Mumpfield. Potential sleeper Williams is an undrafted rookie who stands at 5-foot-9, but he's lightning quick and like Covey and Smith, he can be a return specialist for the Rams. He's still a long shot to make the team, given the depth Los Angeles has atop the depth chart, but he's someone who shouldn't be ruled out. Follow Rams Wire on X, Facebook and Threads for more coverage!
USA Today
21-06-2025
- USA Today
Tiger Woods' 'Shot in the Dark' still resonates at Firestone Country Club 25 years later
Twenty-five years after Tiger Woods' 'Shot in the Dark,' all Hal Sutton remembers are the beams of light. Sutton believes it may have been from cars in the distance as the 2000 World Golf Championships-NEC Invitational was nearing conclusion. One long-time volunteer recalls trucks being pulled into the parking lot at Firestone Country Club for illumination. Behind the 18th green, a light pole stood beside the CBS broadcast tower housing Jim Nantz and Ken Venturi. Network cameras had irises wide open, deceiving viewers of the blackness at 8:25 p.m. After a nearly three-hour rain delay, all were pushing to finish. Woods' playing partner, Sutton, had a plane waiting to take him to Jamaica for a match in 'Shell's Wonderful World of Golf' the next day. Woods battled flu-like symptoms in the final round, his fever breaking on the fourth hole. Woods came to 18 with a 10-stroke lead, so the only thing in doubt was where Sutton would end up on the earnings list. Facing a chip from behind the green that he had to walk off to gauge, Sutton recently said by phone, 'I had never been part of something that dark.' But Woods didn't need to see. Channeling his childhood days playing in the twilight with his father, Woods struck an 8-iron from 167 yards that landed two feet from the pin. After locating the ball, the gallery erupted. To help him sink the birdie putt, fans pulled out cigarette lighters. 'It was just like you were at a concert, wanting to have another encore,' then-tournament director Tom Strong said. Ryan Lewis takes on 'The Monster': The Monster 16th at Firestone South: One hacker's adventure playing a 667-yard par-5 'The cool effect of it all was when the putt was on the way, all the flashbulbs going off. It created for golf a paparazzi moment that you never see in the heat of the battle,' Nantz said. 'There was a long list of jaw-dropping moments in Tiger's career, but this is on the very short list of the ones that defy explanation. That shot. The hole-out at 16 at Augusta in 2005 where the ball hung on the lip. There's a long list of almost ridiculous achievements and accomplishments by Tiger. But this is on that ultra-exclusive special-special list of things you can never explain.' What readers remember: Readers share memories of Tiger Woods' 'Shot in the Dark' at Firestone Country Club in 2000 The 'Shot in the Dark' remains arguably the most iconic moment in the 70-year history of professional golf at Firestone, where Woods has won eight times. Strong, now a retired PGA Tour official living in Wisconsin, puts it in his top three in Akron, with Woods' seven-hole playoff victory over Jim Furyk in the 2001 NEC Invitational his No. 1. Nantz added Jose Maria Olazabal's 12-shot victory in the 1990 NEC World Series of Golf, Greg Norman chipping in from the right of the 18th green to win a 1995 NEC playoff with Nick Price and Billy Mayfair and Jack Nicklaus vs. Lee Elder, who went shot for shot for four playoff holes before Nicklaus won the 1968 American Golf Classic. With Nicklaus rallying from a five-stroke deficit and Frank Beard eliminated earlier in sudden death, that ending has been called one of the most exciting in televised golf history. But for most golf fans, those do not remain talking points. The spot from where Woods hit the 'Shot in the Dark' in the first cut right of the fairway has become a destination. During the June 18 pro-am before the $3.5 million Kaulig Companies Championship, amateurs and caddies took pictures. There are divots from those who have tried recreating Woods' magic. 'Who else could have done that? One of the greatest athletes of the century, an incredible athlete at the peak of his skills doing something absolutely unfathomable,' said Michael Weinreb, a journalist, novelist and screenwriter who pens 'Throwbacks' on Substack. The 'Shot in the Dark' was Weinreb's final article for the Beacon Journal before he left to attend graduate school. 'I distinctly remember that sound of that ball landing on the green, that plunk of the ball,' Weinreb said by phone from his home in Oakland. 'It almost felt like you were alone because it was so dark out. I will never forget that feeling — 'This is something I will remember 25 years from now' — and I do. 'It's one of those moments that gives you chills just thinking about it.' Reader memories: Remembering Tiger Woods' 'Shot in the Dark' at Firestone Country Club in 2000 Woods, 49, has amassed 82 career victories on the PGA Tour, including 15 majors. At the 2000 NEC, he was coming off a playoff victory over Bob May in the PGA Championship, had won the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach by 15 shots and the Open Championship at St. Andrews by 8 strokes. After eight official victories that year, he would complete the 'Tiger Slam' in April with a two-shot triumph at the Masters. Ernie Els was runner-up at two of those, the U.S. and British Opens. 'That's one of those moments that Tiger Woods brought to this place,' Els said June 18 of the 'Shot in the Dark.' 'So many moments just on this venue.' Nantz broadcast tournaments from Akron for 33 years and remains nostalgic for Firestone, which last hosted a PGA Tour event in 2018. His memories of the 'Shot in the Dark' are more vivid than his sight was that night. 'I could not make out anyone back in the fairway,' Nantz said by phone from his home at Pebble Beach. 'It was that almost boomerang-shaped green and that back hole location is extremely narrow. I never could follow the ball in flight. I remember this thing coming in and once it landed, it was just jaw-dropping. I could still barely make out the golf ball. It was as if he had GPS'd the shot and struck it with his eyes closed because that's basically what it felt like in person.' Sutton, 67, living in Columbus, Texas, in retirement, won 14 times on the PGA Tour. He admitted he initially wasn't wild about the rush to the clubhouse. Strong recalled the rules officials wanting to stop at 16 before getting word the final group wanted to finish. 'He had a [big] lead on me. Who knows what I could have made in the dark,' Sutton said by phone from his hometown of Shreveport, La., where he was visiting his father. 'He wanted to go play and I was like, 'Uh, I'm the only one who could lose anything here. He can't play that bad on the hole.' 'We agreed and he makes birdie, and I made par. It all worked out fine and it was part of history.' Sutton nearly holed his chip, easing his anxiety. Always naming Firestone among his favorites because 'it's a great ball-strikers course,' Sutton found consolation in his one-shot victory over Woods in the 2000 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. Sutton counts that among his career highlights, along with beating Nicklaus in the 1983 PGA Championship at Riviera Country Club. When it was suggested that Woods won basically everything in 2000, Sutton said, 'Except TPC. So I was with him at two iconic moments of that year. Kind of fun to recall both of those moments, really. One I was the winner and one he trounced us all.' Sutton said he was never bothered by the massive galleries that followed Woods. 'That's what we dealt with every week. They were wanting to see history,' Sutton said. 'They thought Tiger was going to break all of Jack's records. 'The crowd to me was always like a frame to a picture. Actually, the crowd makes it easier in a way because it frames where you're trying to go.' Woods has not competed since July 2024 due to multiple surgeries, many after a horrific single-car accident in 2021 in Los Angeles. He turns 50 on Dec. 30, making him eligible for the PGA Tour Champions, which allows players to ride in carts. 'When he gets in a cart, he'll tear it up, absolutely,' Nicklaus said last month at the Memorial Tournament, per Golfweek. 'He'll win better than 50 percent of the tournaments he plays in, I think. You all know how good a player he is but, I mean, his work ethic is so good.' Els has been Woods' victim several times and watched his legendary shots, many at Firestone. Count Els among those who hope Woods can return to the Akron course he once dominated. 'He's just an amazing, phenomenal player,' Els said. 'Hopefully we'll see him out here next year or the year after that.'
Miami Herald
11-06-2025
- Miami Herald
HBCU swim program adds record breaking talent to roster
Amira Washington, a standout sprinter from New Jersey, has committed to joining the Howard University Bison swimming program for the 2026–27 season. Her decision strengthens the only HBCU with a Division I swim team and adds to the program's growing national profile. Washington is currently a senior at Red Bank Regional High School. She also trains with the YMCA of Greater Monmouth County. Her primary events include the 50 and 100 freestyle, butterfly, and backstroke. These are key sprint disciplines that align well with Howard's competitive strengths. At the 2025 YMCA Short Course Nationals, she set a personal best in the 100-yard freestyle. In 2024, she competed at the YMCA Long Course Nationals, recording times of 28.20 in the 50-meter free, 1:01.41 in the 100 free, and 28.77 in the 50 fly. She reached the A-finals in both the 50 fly and 50 back. Her high school performances have also stood out. In January 2025, she won the 100 back and placed second in the 100 fly at the Shore Conference Tournament. Both races shattered her own personal best and reset school records that already had her name on them. This consistency across high-level meets makes her one of the top HBCU swim commits in her class. "I am beyond blessed to announce my verbal commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at Howard University! I would like to thank God along with all my family, friends, and coaches for supporting me through this journey and making my dream a reality. I'd also like to thank Coach Nic for giving me this incredible opportunity. GO BISON!!!" Washington joins a Howard program that is experiencing upward trends. At the 2025 Northeast Conference (NEC) Championships, the Bison women finished just 43 points behind the champions. With Washington's best short-course times-26.51 in the 50 fly, 56.59 in the 100 fly, 24.19 in the 50 free, and 53.00 in the 100 free-she could have qualified for multiple A- and B-finals. This commitment reflects a broader trend in collegiate athletics. More elite Black athletes of all sports are choosing HBCUs as spaces where they can thrive both athletically and culturally, experiencing the unique campus culture that these institutions offer. Coach Nic Askew continues to build a strong recruiting pipeline at Howard, and Washington's addition is another step in that direction. Her presence will not only enhance the visibility of HBCU swimming in the pool but also increase its visibility nationwide. As Howard aims for a conference title, Washington looks ready to make waves and represent with purpose. The post HBCU swim program adds record breaking talent to roster appeared first on HBCU Gameday. Copyright HBCU Gameday 2012-2025
