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Rape suspects took expensive road to Durham Frank Cltman THE ASSOCIATED PRESS GARDEN CITY, N.Y. — They grew up in privileged surroundings in the suburbs of New York City. Collin Finnerty of Long Island and Reade Seligmann of New Jersey both come from a world of golf courses and multimillion dollar homes and were educated at exclusive all boys Catholic prep schools. Their paths merged after the high school lacrosse stars won admission to Duke University, and continued their athletic and academic careers. On Tuesday, they stood as co-defendants, accused of raping a stripper at an off campus party in Durham, m r Defenders quickly came forward at both of their high schools. Finnerty, 19, was described as a good student and athlete who was never in any trouble, while 20-year-old Seligmann was remembered as a kid incapable of committing such a heinous act. “Knowing Reade Seligmann as well as we do here at Delbarton, I believe him innocent of the charges,” said the Rev. Luke L. Travers, headmaster at Seligmann’s $22,500-a-year high school. “The hearts and prayers of our community go out to Reade and his family, the woman who made the accusations, the players on the Duke lacrosse team and all their families.” At Chaminade High School on Long Island, where Finnerty was among the 1,600 students, his former lacrosse coach said the young man “really was never in any trouble. Basically, more of a quiet kid.” Jack Moran, the Chaminade lacrosse coach for 28 years, recalled Finnerty as an A student and a good teammate. “Collin obviously was a very good player,” Moran said before practice Tuesday. “He was good enough to play at Duke. He was a good student. ... Obviously, a good enough student to qualify academically for Duke.” An education at Chaminade cost $6,670 a year in regular tuition, while students in the elite collegiate program paid more than $23,000 annually. According to court documents, Finnerty was arrested six months ago in Washington, D.C., after an alleged gay-bashing incident. Jeffrey Bloxgom said Finnerty and two of his high school teammates hurled anti-gay insults and punched him repeatedly. Finnerty entered a diversion program, under which the charges will be dismissed after the completion of 25 hours of community service. Hearings in the case are scheduled for April 25 and Sept. 25, said a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington. Both defendants graduated from high school in 2004. There were other similarities in their upbringings. Finnerty hails from Garden City, N.Y., and lived in a Dutch colonial house on a cul-de-sac. A lacrosse net and equipment were visible in the yard, which abuts a golf course. No one answered the door at the Finnerty home Tuesday morning. Seligmann grew up in well-to-do Essex Fells, N.J., where multimillion dollar homes also abound and the current mayor grew up with the lacrosse player’s dad. Birthday boy Nick Bares / THE GAMECOCK USC football coach Steve Spurrier, shown during last week’s Clemson game, will turn 61 years old Thursday. Spurrier is entering his second year as head coach. CITADEL • COnTMUCDFROmn play with more maturity and poise than their age.” Poise is what the team will need after losing Sunday’s final series game to Mississippi and then facing Kentucky on the road for a three-game series on Friday after the Bulldogs. The Citadel is 18-18 overall, but only 4-8 in the Southern Conference this season. They beat No. 3 Nebraska on Feb. 18 at home, but are 1-3 against ranked opponents. The Gamecocks have struggled in their past 10 games at 5-5, but are 29-8 overall and lead the SEC. They also boast the nation’s highest fielding percentage at .988 with only 17 errors in 37 games. “I wish we were undefeated now, but things aren’t perfect and I can’t complain,” Tanner said. USC is the fifth nationally-ranked team the Citadel has faced this season. Against such competition, the Bulldogs have gone 1 3, losing to Winthrop once and N.C. State twice, while knocking off Nebraska in February when it was No. 3 nationally. The Citadel is having a tough April, going 4-6 thus far with a series loss to Furman and a three game sweep at the hands of Elon this past weekend. > A It will be the Citadel’s fifth consecutive game on the road. If the Gamecocks wish to take advantage of that potential fatigue, they’ll have to shut down left fielder Chris Swauger. During the Elon series, Swauger went six-of-11 and drove in three RBI, bumping his team-best batting average to .369. The sophomore from Tampa, Fla., has proved to be an ironman this season, starting all 36 of the Citadel’s games. He 4 I has 52 hits, 32 RBI, five homers and a .652 slugging percentage — all are tops on the team. Junior lefty Zach Brown is scheduled to take the mound for the Bulldogs against fellow southpaw Atwood for USC. Brown, a Greenville native, is 1 - 3 with a 5.60 ERA on the year, The two teams play the second game of the series on May 9 at Riley Park at 7pm;_«> Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gurm.sc. edu FRSTennu • connnueD momn else to decorate his office. I’m thinking a talking Philip Fulmer bobble-belly doll. I’m not sure if they make these, but I’m sure one could be found on eBay. It could be useful during long film sessions. When the old ball coach gets bored or frustrated, he can just poke Fulmer’s belly and the doll will coo and say something nice. That may be one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever written. Why not another SEC championship ring? Sure it’d be a stretch, but it was unthinkable last season and came kind of close to being a reality. Let’s add it to the list. Rice can do his part by having a Heisman-winning season; Boyd can run through defenses on his way to the Doak Walker Award; and Mitchell can grow out * a full Taneyhill mullet. Of " course, if it doesn’t happen, SEC championship rings can probably also be found on eBay. pakeyourow^D^^y J | spray can art ’ BBmagazine covers^^^^MHB b