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Lee McRae former "Rams" running back

Written by Mark Locklear

Monday, 23 February 2009

By The Pembroke Eagle

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Some of Lee McRae’s highlights during his career at the University of Pittsburgh
1986 - Sets the world and American record in the 55 meter dash with a time of 6.00 seconds
1986 - Earns All-American status in 100 meter dash by winning the NCAA championship in 10.11 NCAA Indoor record (7:20.43).
1987 - Sets NCAA & American record in the 60 meter dash in 6.50
1987 - Earns All-American status in 100 meter dash at the NCAA Championship in a time of 10.21
1987 - Earns All-American status by finishing 2nd in the 200 meter dash at the NCAA Championship in a time of 20.44
1987 - Won 55-meter dash at NCAA Indoors (6.13)
1990 - Inducted into Durham Striders Hall of Fame
1987 World Championships - Gold
1987 Rome 4x100m relay Pan American Games - Gold
1987 Indianapolis 100 meters - Gold
1987 Indianapolis 4x100m relay World Indoor Championships - Gold
1987 Indianapolis 60 meters Summer Universiade - Gold
1987 Zagreb 100 meters - Gold

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PEMBROKE -- Lee McRae has slowed down considerably these days.
Once ranked among the world’s fastest humans, McRae is retired from track and field, the sport that brought the Pembroke native fame and notoriety in the mid-1980s. Today, the 43-year-old lives in Lumberton and works as a material handler at Graphic Packaging. He lives a low-key lifestyle.
“Honestly, I can say I have never had a normal life,” he said. “I was always training.”
McRae made local, regional and national headlines 23 years ago when he set the world indoor record in the 55 meter dash with a time of 5.99 seconds.
He won the gold medal in the men’s 100 meters at the 1987 Pan American Games. He was also a four-time NCAA champion while at the University of Pittsburgh.
Along the way, he beat Carl Lewis and Ben Johnson, two of the fastest sprinters in the world.
Two decades later, McRae’s name is back in the limelight. McRae and 11 other Robeson County natives were selected to the charter class of the Robeson County Athletic Hall of Fame. McRae is making plans to be part of the induction ceremony on April 18.
“I am very elated,” he said. “I am very thankful and very blessed. I never thought I would see this day.”
Three other Pembroke natives will also be inducted in the inaugural class. They are major leaguers Dwight Lowry and Gene Locklear and former high school coach and college hoop star Ned Sampson.
McRae realized he had cat-like quickness at a very young age. He would kick up dust after his father caught him being mischievous.
“I would run from my dad,” he said. “He was a very good athlete himself. My mom was fast, too. I used to hear stories about how she would run my dad. I got all my ability from my parents. It’s in my genes. I took it from there and ran with it.”
McRae is one of Dorothy and Lonnie McRae’s six kids. The others are Donnell, Dean, Sandra, Kenny and Teresa. McRae grew up on Locklear Road, a mile north of Pembroke off Union Chapel Road.
McRae did not aspire to be a track star. Baseball was his first love. He and his brothers also loved playing football. McRae was a standout on the baseball diamond and the gridiron at Pembroke High School He stole 15 bases his sophomore year and rushed for more than 1,500 yards as a junior. Coach Aaron Cotton immediately took notice of McRae’s lightning quick speed and asked him to run track. McRae, who was sophomore, agreed. The high school didn’t have a track at that time so the team practiced with the track team at Pembroke State. Once he adjusted to settling in the starting blocks, the rest was history.
“Lee was born with natural speed,” said David Emanuel who coached track during McRae junior year. “He worked on coming out of the blocks. The rest came easy. He ran effortlessly … no strain at all. He had tree trunks for legs.”
Emanuel recalled a meet at East Bladen’s dirt track where McRae slipped and fell out of the blocks, brushed his pants off and won the race.
McRae perfected his technique during the summers as a member of the Durham Striders Track Club. His first national meet came at the TAC Junior Olympics. He set two age-group records and won four gold medals.
As a junior at Pembroke High, McRae won the state 100-meter dash. That year, Robeson County was home to the top sprinters in the state, including Lee Vernon McNeill from St. Pauls and Tim Worley from Lumberton. McNeill went on to run track at East Carolina. Worley played football for the University of Georgia and the NFL.
McRae was a member of the first graduating class at West Robeson High in 1984.
He continued to play football and after graduation he received letters some of the top football and track and field programs in the nation. N.C. State, East Carolina, Wake Forest, Nebraska, Auburn, Tennessee, Georgia and Pittsburgh all showed interest.
A diehard Steelers fan, McRae chose the University of Pittsburgh. He was awarded a scholarship to play football. The coaches wanted him to play at running back. He was going to be the next Tony Dorsett, one of the best running backs from Pittsburgh who went on to enjoy a stellar career with the Dallas Cowboys.
“But they said I had to gain 30 pounds,” said McRae, who was 5 foot 9 and 171 pounds at the time. “They planned to red shirt me. But I knew if I gained that much weight I wouldn’t be able to run as fast. So I went to the track coach and asked him if I could run track.”
The coach agreed and McRae proceeded to sprint his way his into the record books. He returned to the football field his senior year. He started the first five games at wide receiver and played on special teams.
On the track, he won three consecutive NCAA indoor national championships from 1986 to 1988 in the 55 meters and the 1986 NCAA Outdoor National Championship in the 100 meters while at the University of Pittsburgh.
In 1987, he won a world championship with the U.S. 4x100 relay team in Rome. He also was a two-time indoor national champion in the 60 meters in 1986 and 1987.
He was a two-time All-American, an accomplishment not matched by many runners from this area, according to Emanuel, his high school track coach.
“That’s a real high honor,” Emanuel said. “I am not sure how many All-Americans there are in Robeson County, but back then you had to finish Top 10 in the country with an electronic time. He was an All-American as a junior, but he never made it a big deal.”
At one time he was ranked No 1. in the world indoors in the 55-meter dash and No. 7 in the 100 meters.
Of all his records, McRae the spotlight shined the brightest on March 15, 1986. As a sophomore, the 21-year-old set the world record in the 55-meter-dash with a time of 5.99 seconds at the NCAA Indoor Track Championships in Oklahoma City. He broke the 6.02 mark set by Carl Lewis in 1983. McRae was first out of the blocks and beat Sam Graddy of Tennessee who ran a 6.02.
During the summers, McRae trained for the Olympics. A hamstring injury ruined his chances in 1988. He spent the last three years of his career touring and competing in Europe.
“I lost the passion when I turned 30,” he said. “I was mentally drained from competing from age of 14 playing baseball, football, basketball. I had been running track since I was 15 and running summer youth group Durham until September 1987. I took a year off and trained for the Olympics. It was something I wanted to achieve, but I fell short. But I don’t regret anything McRae lived in Pittsburgh for 12 years before moving to Raleigh in 1990. He opened a cleaning business and got married. After 12 years he and Felecia separated and he moved to Lumberton in 206.
“I think I accomplished every thing I could accomplish except winning a gold medal at the Olympics,” he said. “I had a real good career. I enjoyed performing. I have nothing to hang my head. I am enjoying life now.”
Staff writer Mark Locklear may be reached at www.nativevisions@bellsouth.net or (910) 522-2125

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D’Anteaus Williams to play football at Livingstone College

Written by Mark Locklear

Wednesday, 11 February 2009

BY THE PEMBROKE EAGLE

Purnell Swett’s D’Anteaus Williams to play football at Livingstone College
Williams was a standout wide receiver and defensive back for the Rams
D'Anteaus Williams 2008
RED BANKS -- D’Anteaus Williams, a shifty defensive back for the Rams of Purnell Swett, plans to use his 4.5 speed to help Livingstone College next season.
Williams is the first Swett football player this year to sign a letter of intent to play for a college team. Williams, a senior from Maxton, said he is excited about continuing his career on the gridiron in Salisbury.
“I am ready to play,” he said. “I feel privileged to be able to get a chance to play at the next level. This has been my dream since I started playing. I am going to go as hard as I can.”
Williams is 18. He is a Maxton native. He is the son of Derrik and Shelly Williams and grandson of Eddie and Maxine Williams.
Rams vs Lumberton 2008

At 6 foot 1, 186 pounds, Williams was a versatile player for four years at Swett. He remained on the field literally the entire game his senior year playing strong safety, wide receiver and on special teams.
Several teams, including Campbell, Guilford College, Western Carolina, Coastal Carolina, Wingate and Methodist, began showing interest after Williams’ stellar senior year.
He finished the year with 14 catches for 330 yards and touchdowns. At strong safety, he had 58 tackles, three interceptions, two forced fumbles and a safety. His best all-around game was against Cape Fear on Senior Night. He had a 70-yard touchdown run, six tackles, a forced fumble and an interception. He was named to the All-Two Rivers Conference first team at defensive back, All-County first team on offense at wide receiver and honorable mention on the All-Conference team at wide receiver.
Williams visited a few of the schools but in the end he chose Livingstone
“The players there were eager to play,” he said. “The defensive coach wanted me to play free safety.”
However, Head Coach Lamonte Massie has other plans
“We anticipate him playing wide receiver,” he said. “We also see him doing a lot of things with the return game. We are fortunate to have a person with his height and athleticism. He has good speed, makes good moves and makes solid tackles on defense. We need that aggressiveness on offense that we didn’t have last year.”
The Bears are returning 35 players from last season including nine starters. They finished 3-7 last season. Livingstone is a Division II program and is a member of the CIAA conference.
Williams said he hopes to make an impact early on. Coach Massie agreed.
“We expect him to make contributions immediately,” Massie said.
Williams hopes to join sophomore wide receiver Christopher Peoples, a member of the 2008 CIAA All Rookie team.
Williams has been playing football since the fifth grade. He played on the county recreation team in Maxton. At an early age his parents stressed the importance of a good education to him and his other siblings, Derrik, Jeremy, Jessica, Whitney and Tamesha.
“That’s what my mamma and daddy also said,” he said. “Education comes first. Daddy kept me out of the whole first half against Terry Sanford my junior because I made a C. After that I learned to keep my grades up.”
At Swett, Williams is a member of the Beta Club and tutors underclassman. He has a 3.5 GPA and is considering studying accounting at Livingstone. He ran track last year and is considering running again this year. He also played basketball his junior year.
Rams Head Coach Mark Heil said Williams deserves to play at the next level.
“He is a deserving kid,” he said. “He worked real hard in the weight room and the class room. He has a GPA over 3.0 and he has a good work ethic. He had a very, very good senior year. I am surprised more teams didn’t notice him.”
Heil said Swett’s football gets better every time a player gets chosen to play for a college team.
“When people see we are sending people off to college that only helps our program improve,” he said. “A lot of folks take notice of that.”
Staff writer Mark Locklear may be reached at www.nativevisions@bellsouth.net or (910) 522-2125

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HOF Inaugural Class

Written by Pembroke Eagle

Friday, 06 February 2009

Ned Sampson D. Lowery

Lee McRae

4 from Pembroke elected to Robeson County Athletic Hall of Fame's inaugural class

Thirteen men and women from the county selected to charter class

PEMBROKE -- Representing several eras, the first inductees were drawn from across the county and includes two professional baseball players, one National Football League star, five Atlantic Coast Conference greats, a Division I basketball coach, a former world record holder and more.

A 10-member board of directors has worked since May 2008 to organize the Hall of Fame.

Forty former athletes were nominated and all are deserving, said Abdul Ghaffar, chair of the 10-member board.

"We are proud to announce our inaugural class," Ghaffar said. "This list is the culmination of a lot of hard work and some rather spirited discussions by our committee.

"Ultimately, we all walked out of the room pleased with this outstanding group," added Ghaffar. The charter class will be inducted in an April 18 banquet.

Joe Brisson (deceased) - St. Pauls: volunteer, coach, mentor

Coached recreation sports in St. Pauls for over 40 years

St. Pauls Little League baseball field named in his honor

Twice awarded Governor's Community Service Volunteer Award for coaching recreation

Tom Cope (deceased) - Red Springs: volunteer, coach, mentor

Recognized as "Mr. Baseball" for Red Springs

Developed youth baseball programs as Red Springs athletic director in 1941

Red Springs High School's baseball field is named in his honor

Rod Griffin - Fairmont, basketball player

1977 ACC basketball Player of the Year

Led ACC in scoring and rebounding 1978

Drafted 17th by Denver Nuggets in 1978 draft

Gene Locklear - Pembroke, professional baseball player

Played in majors during five seasons for the Cincinnati Reds, San Diego Padres and N.Y. Yankees

Career .274 batting average (595 major league at bats)

Internationally-known artist

Dwight Lowry (deceased) - Pembroke, professional baseball player and coach

· Played ACC baseball at UNC Chapel-Hill (all-ACC)

· Played 108 games with Detroit Tigers (1984 World Series ring); .273 average

· Tigers established the Dwight Lowry Award for its Player Development Man of the Year

James McDougal - Maxton, football player

· Led Maxton High School to 1975 1-A state championship

· ACC Freshman of the Year

· All-ACC (first team) 1978, 1979 and led ACC in rushing '76, '79, career high 249 yards vs. Clemson

Nicky McKeithan - Lumberton: football player and golfer

· Running back/defensive back at Duke, starting on the 1955 ACC championship team

· Recorded a touchdown and interception in 1955 Orange Bowl leading Duke to a 34-6 win

· 10-time Robeson County golf champion

Lee McRae - Pembroke, track

· Two-time U.S. indoor track champion, 60m dash (1986-1987)

· World champion 4x100m relay

· 1986 NCAA champion, 100m

Regina Miller - Parkton, basketball player/coach

· Led Parkton to 1-A girls basketball tTitle

· Played on Louisburg College Jr. College national championship team and final four team at Old Dominion

· NCAA Division I head women's coach for 16 years including 10 years at UNLV

Eva Patterson-Heath - Red Springs: basketball player/coach/volunteer

· Over 495 wins at Red Springs with two trips to state championship game

· Played collegiately at NCA&T

· Helped to organize and coach girl's recreation basketball for Red Springs Recreation Department (20 years).

Ned Sampson - Pembroke: basketball player/coach

Robeson County H.S. coach for 34 years/Robeson Little League baseball coach for 10 years

Played basketball, football and baseball at Pembroke State College (now UNCP) where he is a charter member of the Hall of Fame

Averaged 24 ppg. as a senior including scoring 40 points against Campbell College

Donnell Thompson - Lumberton, football player

· All-ACC defensive lineman at UNC-Chapel Hill

· Played 11 seasons (147 games) with Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts recording 40 sacks

Bob Van-Hoy - Red Springs: basketball/baseball coach

· Coached 1956 Red Springs High School baseball team to 1957 state runner-up

· Coached Red Springs girls basketball team to nine county championships in 12 years

· Coached Red Springs boys basketball team to three county championships

More information about the inductees can be found at www.angelelitesports.com.

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