Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:30:43 +0000

Senior Anthony Pettaway was not supposed to be a Divi­sion I track and field athlete. In fact, you’d be more likely to find an athlete of his size and stature on a football field.

“At 225 pounds, I’m the heaviest sprinter you’ll find,” Pet­taway said.

Pettaway, too, thought he’d end up in a different sport than the one he came to Drake to participate in.

“Football was definitely my first passion,” Pettaway said. “I always had my mind set on playing football.”

But a confrontation with his high school football coach led to a change of heart, “and that’s when I got into track and field.”

Despite his affinity for football, Pettaway has a lot of re­spect and passion for what track and field entails.

“Track and field means hard work, dedication and leader­ship,” he said.

Pettaway’s best memory of the sport at Drake occurred during Drake Relays his sophomore year, when he had an ex­cellent time in the 4×200 relay: a record that Pettaway hopes to beat this year.

As for Relays, Pettaway is setting the bar very high for himself.

“I expect myself to do pretty well. I’ve worked hard and I’ve been injury-free,” Pettaway said. “In past years I’ve had nagging injuries, so I hope this year I can go pretty far.”

Head Coach Natasha Brown, who is both the women’s and men’s head coach, has enjoyed coaching Pettaway.

“Working with Anthony has been a lot of fun. He’s such a great guy to have around,” Brown said. “He comes to prac­tice every day and calls me ‘Ms.’ not coach. He’s the only one that does that.”

Brown also discussed Pettaway’s size and his work ethic.

“No matter what I tell him to work on, he does it. An­thony’s been a lot of fun to coach,” said Brown. “And it’s funny how big he is for sprinting. He’s got so much power; he’s a good-sized guy and a football player.”

A Colorado Springs native, Pettaway refers to coming to Drake as “pure fate” and admits to missing his family more than anything, as well as the weather back home.

“I miss my family, that’s the main part. And there’s no humidity.” Pettaway said.

Sincere, candid and dedicated, Pettaway has certainly been an important part of the success the men’s track and field team has enjoyed the last couple of years and has formed a lot of significant relationships with the track team.

“My closest friend would be (junior) Clarissa LaFlora,” Pettaway said. “We’ve been friends since my sophomore year and we can always talk to each other no matter what.”

When he’s not practicing track and field, Pettaway en­joys working out, playing video games and of course, playing football in his spare time.

“I would be a quarterback or a defensive end, definitely,” Pettaway said.

A senior marketing major with a management concentra­tion, Pettaway may be facing an even bigger transition in the summer after graduation. Pettaway has been engaged since Valentine’s Day of 2009 and will be getting married in Au­gust.

Upon graduation, Pettaway is planning on attending Pittsburgh State University for graduate school to continue the off-field success he’s had at Drake.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The BIG EAST Conference and Rutgers University announced the 2010 football schedule Wednesday. The Scarlet Knights play seven home games next season and have four games already set to be televised on ESPN or ABC. Rutgers opens the season Thursday, September 2 vs. Norfolk State at Rutgers Stadium. The Scarlet Knights go on the road in week two of the season for their first visit to Florida International on Saturday, September 11.

Norfolk State was slammed 59-0 in their initial meeting with the Scarlet Knights in 2007. Hopefully, the 2010 game will be more than an easy "light scrimmage" for the State University of New Jersey this time around. The signing of this "money game" contract effectively takes Norfolk State University out of the running for the MEAC/SWAC Challenge in Orlando, Florida on Sept. 7, 2010.

From our view, the likely candidate slips to the Morgan State Bears for the challenge. The MEAC's unnamed opponent will have to face the rebuilding Southern University Jaguars under first year Coach Stump Mitchell.

The NSU Spartans have not released their 2010 Football Schedule. But, we have been able to confirm the following dates for that schedule shown below. The MEAC home games will be Delaware State, Morgan State and North Carolina Central. The away conference games are at: Bethune-Cookman, South Carolina State and Howard.

Norfolk State Spartans "Partial" 2010 Football Schedule
Sept 2, at Rutgers, Piscataway, N.J.
Sept 11, North Carolina A&T, Dick Price Stadium, Norfolk, VA (Fish Bowl Classic)
Sept. 18, Virginia State, 6 p.m., Dick Price Stadium, Norfolk, VA
Oct. 16 at Hampton , Armstrong Stadium, Hampton, VA (Battle of the Bay Classic)
Oct. 23, Florida A&M (homecoming), Dick Price Stadium, Norfolk, VA

2010 Rutgers Football Schedule
Thursday, September 2 Norfolk State
Saturday, September 11 at Florida International
Saturday, September 25 North Carolina
Saturday, October 2 Tulane
Friday, October 8 Connecticut* (ESPN, 7:30 p.m.)
Saturday, October 16 Army (New Meadowlands Stadium)
Saturday, October 23 at Pittsburgh*
Wednesday, November 3 at USF* (ESPN2, 7 p.m.)
Saturday, November 13 Syracuse*
Saturday, November 20 at Cincinnati*
Friday, November 26 Louisville* (ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC)
Saturday, December 4 at West Virginia* (ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC)

*Denotes BIG EAST game

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