International Sensation
By Wes Shaw, The BreezeMarch 30, 2009
Corky Julien woke up the morning before the biggest game of her international career unable to see out of her left eye. The day before, in Canada’s semifinal victory against Russia in the Cyprus Cup, Julien went up for a 50-50 ball with a Russian defender. Still fighting for position once the ball was cleared, JMU’s standout forward caught the Russian’s elbow directly in her eye. Playing in just her third international game — having already scored a goal and two assists for Canada’s national... Read more »
‘Charlie Wholestaff’ Falls to Radford
By Wes Shaw, The BreezeMarch 26, 2009
Tuesday is typically the day JMU has “Charlie Wholestaff” on the mound, as JMU coach Spanky McFarland said in the preseason. And with plenty of pitchers to share the blame, JMU baseball dropped its fourth straight game to Radford on Tuesday in Harrisonburg. Sophomore James Weiner took the loss as the Dukes were pummeled 14-3. Weiner was one of six pitchers to throw for Madison on the day, giving up four runs — one earned — and four hits in one and 1/3 innings. In the absence of a true fifth... Read more »
‘Charlie Wholestaff’ Whacked
By Wes Shaw, The BreezeMarch 24, 2009
Tuesday is typically the day JMU has “Charlie Wholestaff” on the mound, as JMU coach Spanky McFarland said. And with plenty of pitchers to share the blame, JMU baseball dropped its fourth straight game to Radford on Tuesday in Harrisonburg. Sophomore James Weiner took the loss as the Dukes were outscored 14-3 by the Highlanders. He was one of six pitchers to throw for the Dukes, however, only giving up one earned run in his outing. Three of JMU’s last four losses to Radford have been on... Read more »
Women’s Basketball: Sunday Marks Season’s End
By Wes Shaw, The BreezeMarch 23, 2009
Kisha Stokes fell short on her bid to become the first JMU player to win 100 career games, as the Dukes’ season came to an end Sunday in Richmond. Richmond sophomore guard Brittani Shells’ mid-range jumper with 3.5 seconds remaining was enough to lift the Spiders to a 59-57 win and a third-round birth in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament. “I was proud of the kids, they played hard,” JMU coach Kenny Brooks said. “Richmond just made plays down the stretch when they had to and... Read more »
Offense Falters in Finale
By Wes Shaw, The BreezeMarch 23, 2009
HARRISONBURG, Va. — On Sunday, JMU’s half of the sixth inning began as promising as it did the day before, when the Dukes’ bats came alive for 11 runs on 15 hits. However, Northeastern centerfielder David Gustafson made a play when he had to, and when no one in the JMU dugout expected him to, and the Huskies held on to defeat Madison 2-1 Sunday in JMU’s worst offensive output of the season. After first baseman Trevor Knight walked to lead off the inning, left fielder Matt Townsend gave the... Read more »
WNIT Action: Dukes Down American
By Wes Shaw, The BreezeMarch 20, 2009
If it was good, it would have counted, and James Madison’s season could have ended in just five short minutes. Luckily for the women’s basketball team, however, American sophomore Michelle Kirk missed a last-second runner that would have sent the game into overtime, and JMU lives to play another day. Madison (24-9) trailed by as much as nine late in the first half but came back to defeat American 61-59 Friday night in the first round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament. Seeing... Read more »
WNIT Awaits Madison
By Wes Shaw, The BreezeMarch 19, 2009
Virginia Commonwealth’s at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament had to be a hard pill to swallow for JMU, who knocked off the Rams fairly easily in the semifinal round of the CAA Tournament last weekend. The Dukes can accept the No. 10 seed given to their in-state rivals, however, because it automatically qualified Madison for the Women’s National Invitational Tournament. Still, the WNIT comes as somewhat of a consolation to Kenny Brooks’ team. “The main goal that we always have is to get into... Read more »
Dukes Perform for Scouts
By Wes Shaw, The BreezeMarch 19, 2009
HARRISONBURG, Va. — Under normal circumstances, J.D. Skolnitsky would be in the middle of spring practices with the Dukes, preparing for his final year of eligibility at JMU. But because of a misunderstanding that caused the junior defensive end to test positive for a banned substance in early December, Skolnitsky was preparing for his professional future Wednesday afternoon at Bridgeforth Stadium. Skolnitsky was one of five Dukes participating in JMU’s Pro Day on Wednesday, just months after... Read more »
Women’s Basketball: Dukes Fall Short in Championship
By Wes Shaw, The BreezeMarch 15, 2009
HARRISONBURG, Va. — It wasn’t flashy or glamorous, but Gabriela Marginean proved why she was the CAA’s Player of the Year in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament final. Drexel’s junior forward made all 10 of her free throws in the final two minutes of the conference championship, leading the Dragons to a 64-58 victory over JMU at the Convocation Center on Sunday. “To my surprise, I wasn’t even nervous,” said Marginean, who was 14-of-14 from the charity stripe in the game. “I... Read more »
Women’s Basketball: One More Step
By Wes Shaw, The BreezeMarch 14, 2009
HARRISONBURG — Just hours after Old Dominion suffered its first conference tournament loss since 1991, James Madison took one more step toward starting a streak of its own. JMU held on to beat VCU 65-57 Saturday at the Convocation Center. Madison’s victory in the semifinal round of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament secures its spot in the championship game Sunday against Drexel at 3:30 p.m. After being swept rather convincingly by VCU in the regular season, a win over the Rams... Read more »
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April 29, 2010 Issue in Print
