BCSP Notes . . .
O'Neal finishes strong
Former Jackson State golfer Tim O'Neal closed with a three-under par 68 Sunday to finish in a five-way tie for sixth at the Nationwide Tour's Mark Christopher Charity Classic in Rancho Cucamonga, Ca.
O'Neal shot himself into contention with opening rounds
of 69-66 on the par-71 Empire Lakes Golf Club. He shot even-par
71 in Saturday's third round and entered the final round tied for
17th. He carded four birdies and an eagle Sunday along with
three bogeys. His birdie on the final hole earned his third top ten
finish of the season.
His check for $15,650 put him over the $100,000 mark for the year ($107,038) and pushed him from 54th to 48th on the Tour's Money List with four tournaments left. The top 20 players on the money list earn full exemption to the PGA Tour.
O'Neal has to finish in the top 60 on the money list to earn a spot in the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship in Richmond, Texas set for early November. A top-60 finish also gains him full exemption to the Nationwide Tour again next year. A finish between 21st and 35th, earns exemption into the third and final stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School.
This week's result follows a tie for 13th and a $7,714 payday at the previous Nationwide stop, the Sept. 21-24 Oregon Classic in Junction City, Or. These were O'Neal's best back-to-back showings since top ten finishes at consecutive tournaments in late June and mid-July.
The next Nationwide event is this week's Permian Basin Charity Golf Classic in Midland, Texas. O'Neal can be followed by logging onto pgatour.com and following links to the Nationwide Tour.
Coleman on the verge
The next 101 yards that Hampton senior running back Alonzo Coleman churns out on the ground will make him, at least statistically, the greatest running back in Mid Eastern Athletic Conference football history.
The South Boston, Va. native, who already owns several MEAC records, is on the verge of setting another. He enters this week's game against Norfolk State needing 100 yards to tie former Howard running back Harvey Reed's MEAC career rushing record of 4,142 yards. Coleman began the season with 3,596 yards, fourth on the all-time list, and has rushed for 446 yards thru five games. His current total of 4,042 trails only Reed and former South Carolina State RB Michael Hicks, who is second all-time with 4,093 rushing yards. Coleman needs 52 yards to move past Hicks.
Michelle Jinks of the MEAC office confirmed this week that Coleman is already the conference's new career touchdown maker with 57, breaking former Hampton RB Montrell Coley's conference record of 53 in the season's second game vs. Howard. Coleman has also wrested the conference all-time scoring mark (326 points) from Coley. Coleman now has amassed a record 332 points.
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