ANOTHER TRAGEDY: Jocelyn R. Gardiner, a senior at Tennessee State and a member of the school's track team, was killed by an alleged drunk driver of a 1998 Ford Expedition who ran a red light and collided in an intersection with her 1998 Pontiac Grand Prix in the early morning hours of Saturday, Nov. 16. Gardiner, 22, was to have received her accounting degree in August and had aspirations of attending law school. The driver who struck Gardiner, Victor Javier Benitez, 24, a native of Mexico, is in the Nashville (Tn.) Metro Jail being held without bond on a charge of vehicular homicide after being identified as a suspected illegal immigrant. Witnesses to the crash, who attempted to render aid to the drivers, described an extreme order of alcohol about Benitez and said that he was very combative. Gardiner and Benitez were both rushed to Vanderbilt Hospital. She was pronounced dead at 4 a.m. Benitez was treated for a head laceration and a broken rib. He was released from the hospital and jailed that afternoon. Benitez has previous convictions over the past 18 months for car burglary and public intoxication. Gardiner, a middle distance runner for the TSU Tigerbelles was from Port Arthur, Texas and competed in the 400- and 800-meter events. The school held a memorial service for Gardiner on June 20. Her funeral was held in her hometown on July 23.

SWAC, MEAC TV GAMES: ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network, announced last week a 2007 schedule of ten SWAC and MEAC regular season football games to be televised this fall. According to the schedule released last Thursday, ESPNU will televise four SWAC games and six MEAC games. In a separate release, the MEAC announced that the SWAC/MEAC Challenge on Sat., Sept. 1 between Southern and Florida A&M will be part of the package but did not specify which of the ESPN networks would carry the game at Legion Field in Birmingham. The SWAC had reported in an earlier release that the game would be carried on ESPN Classic. ESPN Classic will also carry the well-attended season-ending MEAC matchup of Florida rivals, Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M in the Florida Classic on Nov. 17 from the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, according to the MEAC release. The games currently on the schedule are listed below.

All times Eastern
ESPN CLASSIC
Sat., Sept 1 - 2 pm
Florida A&M vs. Southern	MEAC/SWAC
Sat., Nov. 17 - 3:30 pm
Bethune-Cookman vs. Florida A&M	MEAC
ESPNU
Sat., Sept. 1 - 10 pm (Tape)
Texas Southern vs. Prairie View A&M	SWAC
Thurs., Sept. 6 - 7 pm (Live)
Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Prairie View A&M	SWAC
THURS., SEPT. 13 - (Live)
Texas Southern at Jackson State	SWAC
SAT., SEPT. 15 - 10 pm (Tape)
Hampton at North Carolina A&T	MEAC
THURS., SEPT. 20 - 7:30 pm (Live)
Morgan State at Hampton	MEAC
THURS., SEPT. 27 - 7:30 pm (Live)
Norfolk State at North Carolina A&T	MEAC
THURS., OCT. 4 - 7:30 pm (Live)
Bethune-Cookman at Delaware State	MEAC
SAT., OCT. 13 - TBD
Florida A&M at South Carolina State	MEAC
THURS., OCT. 18 - 7:30 pm (Live)
Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Alabama A&M	SWAC
SAT., OCT. 27 - TBD
Howard at Norfolk State	MEAC

© 2007 Azeez Communications, Inc.

Return to Front Page