This has been a spring of lasts for the Duquesne University football program that will undergo a major face-lift by adding athletic scholarships and moving to the Northeast Football Conference in 2008.

For the past several weeks of drills the Dukes have tended to the business of preparing for the 2007 season, their last as a member of the non-scholarship Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

	LAST WEEK REVISITED Highlights from individual and team performances: Bethany's Rick Carver, in his 17th season as baseball coach, picked up his 300th win when the Bison defeated Saint Vincent, 14-4, behind catcher Brent Owens' six RBIs. Bethany had won 242 games in the 60 years of the program before Carver's arrival. Duquesne freshman Sarah Cates is the Atlantic 10 Conference lacrosse rookie of the week for the second time this season. California junior Lisa Santoro, ranked 41st in Division II by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, is Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West women's tennis athlete of the week. California's Inga Chilingaryan, the two-time PSAC singles champion, is ranked 11th in singles and fifth in doubles by the ITA. Clarion's Adley Kilgore, who earned All-America honors in the 50 freestyle and as anchor of the 200 free relay team and 200 medley relay team, is the PSAC men's swimming athlete of the year.

With 18 returning starters from a 7-3 team -- nine offense, seven defense, punter and kicker -- the Dukes will be a heavy favorite to win their eighth consecutive MAAC championship.

"We're focused on this team and this season coming up," coach Jerry Schmitt said of the Dukes, who conclude spring drills with an intrasquad game at 12:15 p.m. Saturday at Rooney Field. Duquesne's offense will go against the defense with a creative scoring system designed to turn it into a competition.

The Dukes, who had a 39-game win streak against league opponents ended with a 17-13 loss to Iona last season, will again feature a high-powered offense with quarterback Scott Knapp (2,853 yards passing, 26 touchdowns, .595 completion), All-American wide receiver Bruce Hocker (61 catches, 1,070 yards, 16 TDs) and the entire line coming back.

The strength of the defense will be a veteran linebacking corps of John Simmons, Greg Hough and Eric Halberstadt.

The Dukes will play another demanding schedule in 2007, with non-league games against Bucknell, Brown and current members of the NEC Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, Saint Francis, Pa. and Monmouth. The Bucknell and Robert Morris games are home contests.

The NEC will remain an eight-team league in 2008 when Duquesne joins and Stony Brook leaves to join the Big South Conference.

Schmitt and his staff will go on the recruiting trail in coming weeks and will begin granting the equivalent of 10 athletic scholarships to the 2008 freshman class, beginning in February. Duquesne will offer the equivalent of 20 scholarships in the next two years and then reevaluate the number of scholarships it wants in the program.

Schmitt said Duquesne will offer mostly partial scholarships.

"Unless we need to get a great player," he said. "Then we might offer a full ride. We're going to continue to recruit the same kids we've always gone after. In the past, if those kids could get a scholarship, we'd lose them. If they didn't, we'd get some of them."

He said Duquesne will continue to recruit against I-AA powerhouses such as Youngstown State and James Madison along with the Division II schools in the district that give scholarships.

"Maybe we'll get some [of those kids]," he said. "That's the level of kid we want."

Hughes leads Duquesne

Jacqueline Hughes, a senior from McKeesport who is 14-3 at No. 2 singles and 13-3 at No. 1 doubles and Joanna Beziak (11-6 No. 1 singles, 14-1 No. 2 doubles) are the headliners for the fifth-seeded Dukes who meet No. 11 Fordham tomorrow in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Conference women's tennis tournament at Club4Life in Monroeville.

Temple is the top seed and three-time defending champion Richmond is No. 2 in the double-elimination event that continues Saturday and Sunday.

The Dukes, 12-5 with a five-game win streak in dual matches this spring, defeated West Virginia, 4-3, for the first time in 24 matches, dating to 1978. They also beat Pitt, 4-3, and A-10 rivals Dayton, George Washington, Richmond and Saint Bonaventure.

California's dream matchup

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Roger Kingdom and current Master's world record holder David Ashford will race in the 110-meter hurdles Saturday as a highlight to this weekend's Track & Field Carnival at California University of Pa. Ashford, 44, holds the record for the 40-45 age group, with a time of 13.73 seconds.

"It's my mission to do my best to take the record from him. That is the beauty of our great sport. The clock and the camera don't lie," said Kingdom, 44, who won gold at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics. "David is the current Master's world record holder. They didn't give it to him -- he earned it."

The Carnival will include a junior high championship meet starting at 2 p.m. today, a high school championship meet at 2 p.m. tomorrow and a collegiate/open championship meet at 10 a.m. Saturday.