Sam Puryear, former men’s golf coach at Michigan State University, has been named director of golf operations at Queens University of Charlotte.

Puryear will lead the 12-year-old Queens' Professional Golf Management Program (PGM) and manage the men's and women's intercollegiate golf teams.

Jeannie King, Queen’s athletic director, said she “knew Sam was the right person for this role right away,” citing his leadership, character and experience as a coach and teacher.

“He will be able to lead the men’s and women’s teams to championships and make sure the PGM produces exemplary students,” she said.

Puryear joined Michigan State in 2007 and produced a Big Ten coach-of-the-year award, a Big Ten conference title, an All-American athlete and nine individual tournament winners. His teams also received numerous awards for maintaining team and individual grade-point averages of 3.0 or better.

Puryear previously coached golf at Stanford University, where he took the men’s team from a No. 42 national ranking to No. 1. He also developed the team’s first leadership program and recruited top players nationally.

A 1992 graduate of Tennessee State University, Puryear began working in golf in 1998 as executive director of East Lake Junior Golf Academy in Atlanta, where he raised attendance from 150 to 1,000 and promoted golf to children in low-income communities. His work there was noted by CNN, ESPN and the Disney Channel.

In a statement released by Queens, Puryear said he was happy about his upcoming move.

“With the university’s excellent academic reputation, Charlotte’s top golf courses and my championship experience, I’m excited about the unique opportunity to build a golf program here and student-athletes who can compete at top levels,” he said.

***

Former JCSU sprinter strikes gold

Leford Green, a former sprinter at Johnson C. Smith University, recently won gold at the Central American and Caribbean Senior Championships. The event was held on July 16 in Puerto Rico.

The Jamaican runner finished first in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 49.03 seconds, his season best.

It was a repeat performance for Green, who won the same event at last year’s CAC competition with a time of 48.47 seconds.

Among those left behind by Green were former Olympian and two-time world champion runner Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic and CAC games hometown kid Javier Culson, who Green also outran last year.

Green will now be preparing for the Track and Field World Championships, which will be held Aug. 27 to Sept. 4 in Deagu, South Korea

***

JCSU signs 4 tennis prospects from Georgia

From left to right: Ryan Jarvis, Nichelle Heard, Amanda Pettway, and Rankin Anderson (Photo: Courtesy of Johnson C. Smith University)
__________________________________________________________________________

The JCSU tennis program recently signed four incoming student-athletes out of Georgia.

Thy are:

Ryan Jarvis of Atlanta. He led his West Lake High School team to the 2011 Georgia State High School Tournament finals as the lone senior on the team. In each of his previous three years the team advance to the elite eight.

Nichelle Heard of Douglasville. She played for Chapel Hill High School and helped her team to four regional championships and four state tournaments, playing the No. 1 and No. 2 singles spots throughout her career.

Amanda Pettway of Lithia Springs. She competed at Lithia Springs High School and played in the No. 1 singles spot from her sophomore season to her senior season.

Rankin Anderson of Decatur. She held the No. 1 singles spot for three years and was ranked in the state’s top 20. She led Towers High School to the third round of the high school regional tournament.

Got news to share with Qcity readers? Email us at editor@qcitymetro.com.
Sign up for our weekly email newsletter below

Sign up for our Weekly Email Newsletter Email: For Email Marketing you can trust

Other Ways to Share Twitter Del.icio.us MySpace

Discussions and Submission Agreement