Charles in Charge at Indoors

No one expected a marathon on the first day of the A-Sun Indoor Track & Field Championship except maybe Charlene Charles and her head coach Ron Grigg.

The JU standout dominated competition from the sound of the gun to start the pentathlon at 8:30 a.m. until her final leap in the high jump at 7 p.m. In between, she competed in five events where she racked up 28 points to stake the Dolphins a 25-point lead at the conclusion of day one.

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“I knew today would feel like a decathlon ,” reflected Charles. “The combined events are my specialty so that is ok with me. But I am tired though.”

Anticipating a hard charge from River City rival UNF, Grigg used his entries aggressively in an attempt to run the team’s championship streak to six-straight titles. That meant a heavy dose of Charles.

“The University of North Florida is a very good team and we are trying our best to win the championship,” Grigg state while discussing his liberal use of the standout. “We needed to put up a lot of points and try to get away from them a little bit before the end of the meet. I’m not sure we can match them in the 5000-meters and the 4x4 (1600m relay). Plus she is really good.”

She makes that evident when you review the quality of today’s effort. A record-setting performance in the pentathlon opened the onslaught. Charles followed with a second place showing in the long jump. The sophomore then posted the second-fastest time in the 60m hurdle preliminaries and won her heat in the 60-meter dash preliminaries before claiming the high jump title as well. Her 28 points would outscore over half of the teams by itself.

“Not only is she talented, but she is also fiercely competitive. That is a big part of what makes her so good,” commented Grigg. “I wanted her to take a couple fewer long jumps to conserve energy, but she wouldn’t stop because she wasn’t winning. She is an inspiration to the rest of her team.”

Charles sees more work on the horizon tomorrow as she will appear in the triple jump, 60m dash finals, 60m hurdles final and the 4x400m relay. Despite the long day on Friday, Charles thinks she will be ready for championship Saturday.

“I need to take care of myself mentally and physically tonight. With the right preparation, I will be able to go 100 percent tomorrow,” stated Charles.

With North Florida lurking, another MVP-caliber effort may be needed from Charles for Jacksonville to lift another trophy.

A Second Chance at a Lasting Impression

What a difference two weeks makes.

Last night, senior Ben Smith banked home a 24-footer with less than a second to go to launch Jacksonville past Arizona State and into the Second Round of the NIT. His shot capped a furious rally in the last four minutes to hand JU its first postseason win in four decades.

"I got a good look," said Smith. "I didn't call 'glass,' but as it was in the air, you could see it had a chance."

This is the type of “senior moment” that nearly every student-athlete dreams about.

It’s a huge departure from the last time we saw Smith attempt a three-pointer at the end of the game. In the Dolphins’ semifinal loss to Mercer at the General Shale Brick A-Sun Championship, the guard saw his shot deflected by long-time nemesis James Florence as the Bears completed the upset.

Monday night’s dramatic finish in front of a national television audience on ESPN2 is more fitting for a four-year starter who helped re-invigorate a near dormant program.

Joining with Lehmon Colbert four seasons ago, the senior duo took a 1-26 team and turned it into a two-time Atlantic Sun regular season champ. Both scored over 1400-points and both have led a revival that brought JU basketball back to relevance. A few things were missing on the “bucket list”, but consider two of them scratched off now: a win over a BCS team and a win in a national postseason tournament.

Hopefully, Smith and his teammates have something left in the tank for Texas Tech. Wouldn’t back-to-back BCS wins be awfully enjoyable?

Media Coverage:
ESPN360.com Replay
Arizona Republic: Jacksonville Sinks Arizona State with Late 3
Florida Times-Union: Ben Smith’s Shot Leads JU to Shocking NIT Upset
ESPN.com: Jacksonville Shocks NIT Top Seed Arizona St.
JUDolphins.com: BANK OPEN LATE: Smith’s Shot Stuns Arizona State, 67-66
AtlanticSun.org: Smith’s Last Second Bank Shot Burns Sun Devils

Of all the dramatic finishes you’ve seen in March, what is your favorite or most memorable?

JU Sets Stage for River City Rubber Match

Sixth-seeded Jacksonville harassed, annoyed and pestered No. 3 Campbell from the tip to pull off the second upset of the women’s draw in the General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Championship.

The Dolphins took a page from the defensive formula that intra-city rival and No. 7 UNF used a night earlier to set the stage for a rare No. 6 versus No. 7 semifinal match-up. Coach Jill Dunn’s team limited to just 30 percent shooting from the floor and forced 23 turnovers in the win.

While the defense stands out to some, the play of Gigi Thomas carried the Dolphins offensively. The junior went 10-of-19 from the floor to score a game-high 23 points, nearly half the team’s point production.

In UNF’s first year eligible for postseason play, the A-Sun has exactly what they were looking for … a head-to-head contest between the intra-city rivals with high stakes in tournament play.

The two squads split the regular season match-up with each winning on their home floor. Thomas carries extra motivation into the contest as she broke her nose and suffered a concussion in the first meeting and sat out JU’s loss at UNF

Now, bragging rights will be won in the tournament, as best said by Dunn.

“We are looking forward to [facing UNF],” she said. “There is only one team from Jacksonville that can be here after tomorrow and our goal is to be that team.”
Who do you think wins tomorrow's River City Rumble?

Relocated Rumble Still Favors JU

Whether it is in Veterans Memorial Arena, Swisher Gymnasium, or UNF Arena, Jacksonville holds the upper hand in the River City Rumble versus intra-city rival North Florida. A change of location and relevance did not matter either as the Dolphins defeated the Ospreys in the quarterfinals of the General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Championship at the University Center in Macon, Ga.

JU now owns an 11-1 advantage in the all-time series, but they know that the win over UNF was a huge first step in achieving their 2010 goals.

UNF has made huge strides in its first season as a full member of Division I. The Ospreys won 13 games which is the most since they joined the A-Sun and fell just two wins shy of matching the school record for wins. So, first-year head coach Matthew Driscoll seems to have them headed in the right direction.

However, none of that mattered on Wednesday. The Dolphins used a smothering defensive effort to limit a team that is built to win on defense themselves. UNF worked itself back into the game once in the first half and late in the game, but JU’s experience showed as the team hit 13-of-16 free throws in the final two minutes.

Head Coach Cliff Warren has led JU to back-to-back tournament finals, but is still looking for that break-through win to vault the program back to the NCAA Tournament. Maybe a win over their next door neighbor will be the catalyst that starts the charge.