Hawks Take Flight! I literally ran off the soccer field to write this week’s column-the men’s team is hosting an exhibition match so trying to get student workers and other busy work done for that has kept me from sitting down at my computer today to write!

I am happy to report that the Hawks have taken off. We are approaching our cruising altitude and ready for the 2006 sports season and all the challenges and excitement that the year will bring.

Countdown to season openers…I know that I gave you a countdown to season openers earlier but really, it’s just about time! The football team plays Western Carolina in ONE WEEK!

Women’s soccer is opening their season TODAY at UNC-Pembroke. Men’s Soccer is on the field as I type with an exhibition game.

Volleyball hit the court last night for a scrimmage against Barton. Don’t let the seasons pass you by before you come out to see us play-we need you in the stands, filling our seats, and cheering for your Chowan University Hawks!

For up to date schedules just log onto our website at www.chowan.edu/athlet.

Fall Sports Media Day…We hosted our annual Fall Sports Media Day last Thursday afternoon.

It was a chance for the media in our area (Thank you R-C News, they went four deep!) to meet our coaches and find out what the 2006 fall season brings.

New coaches Marci Jenkins (volleyball) and Ken Miller (men’s soccer) made an impression on the crowd. Both are eager to build a program and create some buzz around their programs. Second year skippers Georgina Donnelly (women’s soccer) and Lorick Atkinson (football) filled us in on their preseason.

Donnelly has a roster full-25 players to be exact. She was excited about the options she had offensively and the depth on the bench.

Atkinson of course had all of us ready to pad up and head out to football practice. If he can get a room full of &uot;oldies&uot; like us ready to play (at least the mental part of it), imagine what he does for the 100-plus on his team.

Suzanne Gibson was also on hand to speak about the love of running that both she and her husband have. They are in training with the girls team and will be ready to run for their first meet on September 16.

We certainly appreciate all the coverage we get from our local media, especially the R-C News.

Come see us…All this change is good, folks. But we here at Chowan see it all the time! it’s time for you to get down to Chowan University and see it for yourself.

We have five sports team opening their seasons right now and seven other sports on campus gearing up for their season openers.

No, we’re not Carolina or State-we don’t sell out our stadiums or fill every seat in our bleachers.

There are no waiting lists for season tickets and no one has to die to even get on that list. But we do have some hard-working coaches and student-athletes who are worth coming to see in action.

And who knows, maybe one day we will fill our stadiums and our bleachers-we look forward to those days.

There’s college sports right here in Murfreesboro! Come check us out!