Gabe McDonald
Sports Anchor
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Gabe McDonald joined WMBF in July 2020 from our sister station KPLC in Lake Charles, Louisiana where he was a sports/news MMJ for two years. He is excited to continue his career in Myrtle Beach and is looking forward to meeting and telling the stories of all the great people in the area!
Gabe has experience covering sports on all levels including NBA training camps, College Football Playoff games, and high school state championships. He’s also been fortunate to cover a Presidential visit during his career.
Gabe is a proud graduate of The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, where he majored in Mass Communications and played football. During his time in Pine Bluff, he was named Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the 2016-17 school year and served as the lead anchor for the school's newscasts. Gabe also completed an internship at KARK/FOX 16, the NBC and FOX affiliates in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Gabe is a Louisiana native and is on a mission to find the the best food the area has to offer. When he is not out covering sports you can find Gabe on the beach, at the gym, or trying a new restaurant.
If you ever see Gabe out and about don’t be afraid to say ‘Hello!’ You can send him an email at gabriel.mcdonald@wmbfnews.com or follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
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Following a monster sophomore season, Jennings running back Trevor Etienne has seen his recruitment pick up steam. On Saturday he announced that he received an offer from the Clemson Tigers.
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Former McNeese basketball player Sha’Markus Kennedy is taking his talents overseas. He will suit up as a professional for Pallacanestro Cantù of Italian basketball league Lega Basket Serie A.
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Former LaGrange High School star Colton Frank IV announced he’s transferring from UL Lafayette to Southern University to the play for Jaguars. Frank announced the move on his Twitter account.
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At the Youth Fishing League Championship Tournament, he caught 22 pounds of large mouth bass to win first place and $800. It’s a feat that has him pretty excited for what’s to come.
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Former McNeese Cowboy and Hamilton Christian Warrior Jace Peterson has officially received an invite to the Milwaukee Brewers 45-man summer camp.
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One of the area’s top baseball prospects announced his college choice on Friday. Rising junior infielder Tyler LeJeune took to Twitter to announce that he’ll suit up for the LSU Tigers once his days at Iota are over.
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The school didn’t have to look far to find its next head coach. In fact, he’s been court-side for nearly a decade. The school announced on Friday that assistant coach Robert Palmer will lead the program going forward, taking over for Hartwell.
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After a knee injury ended his football career, McNeese alum Sage Seay found a new passion. Over the past two years, Seay has grown into one of the top freestyle bullfighters in the world.
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Former McNeese guard Roydell Brown was a key factor in the Pokes resurgence these past two seasons. While his time in Lake Charles is in the rear view, his hoops career is far from finished. Brown recently turned a dream into reality by signing to play professionally in Slovakia.
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The 48-year-old will now balance being a head coach and an administrator for the first time in his career. It’s a role he says will come with its challenges but is one he’s fit for given his background.
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The late Edward Lee Kinney was a guiding light to many in the Southwest Louisiana rodeo community. To honor her father's memory, Kelly Izard started the Edward Lee Kinney Memorial Youth Rodeo.
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Jackson took to Twitter on Friday to announce that he picked up an offer from the University of Colorado. It’s Jackson’s fourth Power 5 offer and his first from a Pac-12 university.
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Jacques Trahan didn't have to look far to find inspiration to carry on the family rodeo tradition. He recently captured his first state title with a short-go time of 10.8 seconds in tie-down roping.
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The 7Sports ‘Senior Night’ spotlight shines on LCCP baseballer Jacob Humphries. He has been on the Trailblazers’ varsity baseball team since the 10th grade as an outfielder, first and third baseman, and relief pitcher. This past year he was voted team captain.
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After seeing his recruitment pick up steam over the last year, LCCP junior wide receiver Solomon Lewis announced his college choice on Friday. Lewis opted to stay in state but go further north as he committed to the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.
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Arguably the top girls basketball recruit in not only the area but the state of Louisiana has made her college choice. LaGrange guard Jeriah Warren announced on Friday that she has committed to the University of Florida.
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After nearly retiring from basketball due to a back injury, Richard came back and had his best season as a pro. The McNeese Hall of Famer was recently named the Player of the Year for the Romanian League.
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Though Ardoin admits that his preparation for the season in the fall was challenging, he says he embraces the grind that comes with being a collegiate athlete. He started in 8 games during the shortened season and batted .241 with a fielding percentage of 96.7.
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The Division I Council Coordination Committee extended the recruiting dead period in all sports through July 31. The committee will regularly evaluate the dead period, continuing to be guided by medical experts.
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While the 2021 baseball season is still nearly nine months away for most schools, MaxPreps.com took a look at the Top 50 players expected to compete next season. Making the cut was Barbe junior pitcher Jack Walker, one of two players on the list from the state of Louisiana.
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A year ago this week, the McNeese baseball team was celebrating its first Southland Conference tournament title in 16 years. A few members from last year’s squad were able to continue their careers as pros and are currently trying to balance minor league life with the pandemic.
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From the time he picked up a vaulting pole as an eighth grader, Brock Meyer knew he'd found his calling. Five years later and the Westlake senior has realized pole-vaulting, much like any sport, is as much mental as it is physical.
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In its 35th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company today announced Barbe outfielder and left-handed pitcher Brody Drost as its 2019-20 Gatorade Louisiana Baseball Player of the Year.
The Division I Council approved a resolution Wednesday that outlined its intention to adopt by January a comprehensive legislative package creating uniform, modernized rules governing eligibility after transfer for student-athletes in all sports.
After playing sparingly over the course of his two seasons in Lafayette, former LaGrange dual-sport athlete Colton Frank IV has entered his named into the NCAA transfer portal according to D1 Baseball’s transfer tracker.
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There’s no place like home and for Carol Turner she gets to remain at Sulphur High School and lead the program that she once played for.
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After being recruited by multiple Division I schools, Rushford ultimately decided to sign with UL Lafayette and it was there where she formed a new relationship that would turn things around for her.
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It’s expected that football will look a lot different this fall given the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak.
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The spring is normally the busiest time of the year for coaches when it comes to evaluating young talent, but the coronavirus pandemic has altered the process.
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While Wilson feels the current situation doesn’t necessarily help his team prepare for the 2020 season, he says they’ve handled things well.
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The battle between Orgeron and Wood this fall is one Wilson is anxious to watch and no matter who ends up getting the nod, he's confident the team will be in good hands.
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After losing all four starters on the defensive line from 2019, the Cowboys had a big need up front and were able to add some beef on the line in graduate transfer Isaiah Chambers from Houston.
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Frank Wilson and his staff knew they had to assess the need for size and depth at the position and think they’ve found it in a pair of transfers.
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While getting back to a sense of normalcy is something we all want in our everyday lives, it’s something Frank Wilson and the Cowboys have tried to maintain.
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The Bell City senior is a discus thrower and power forward for the Bruins and currently holds the Class B record with a discus throw of 151 feet, 6 inches. He’ll throw and play basketball at Bethany College in Kansas.
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The 7Sports ‘Senior Night’ spotlight shines on Lacassine’s Natalie Clemmons. She has been a member of the Lady Cardinals cross country and track team since 7th grade. She is also a member of the Lady Cardinals golf team and helped the squad win back-to-back state titles in 2017 and 2018.
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The recruiting for LCCP’s Class of 2022 wide receiver Keshlon Jackson has started to pick up as of late. Jackson announced Friday he had picked up another major college offer from Michigan State University.
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Carter recently committed to Alcorn State and will become the first softball signee in Washington-Marion's history.
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Kuxhausen set a new McNeese and Southland Conference record with 125 threes made in his first season as a Cowboy. That total was also good for the top spot in the nation this past season.
The Cowboys will have plenty of shoes to fill on the defensive line in 2020 as the team lost all four starters from a season ago due to graduation and transfers. The Pokes were able to add some beef up front in graduate transfer Isaiah Chambers from the University of Houston.
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He averaged 18 points, 10 boards, and two and a half blocks a night as the Pokes reached the Southland Conference tournament for the first time in four years. Kennedy's scoring efficiency was notable as he shot nearly 68 percent, which placed him second in the entire country.
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It’s news many saw coming but didn’t want to hear. The LHSAA canceled all high school sports for the remainder of the school year.
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The St. Louis track and field star won the Division II title as a junior and is currently ranked as the top thrower in the state and second in the nation with a distance of 185 feet and four inches.
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On Thursday, the association officially announced that the remainder of the winter sports championships along with the spring sports regular seasons and championships have been cancelled.This includes the baseball and softball state championships that were set to take place in May in Sulphur.
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The past decade has produced some amazing high school football talent. On Monday, MaxPreps.com released its all-decade team for the 2010s that features Washington Redskin and Lake Charles native Trey Quinn.
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The Pokes were able to land another Division I transfer as Southern Illinois guard Harwin Francois announced his commitment to McNeese via Twitter.
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McNeese was able to add more front court depth to their roster as Mississippi State forward KeyShawn Feazell announced his intentions to transfer and join the Pokes.
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Meche has stepped into his role as a leader and was on pace to have quite the finish to his Barbe career. He was named a preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball and totaled a .411 average with 10 RBIs through the Bucs' first 13 games.
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On Thursday, following a stellar junior campaign that saw her help the Lady Gators win their first ever state title, Sam committed to ULM.
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In wake of the NCAA Division I Council's vote on Monday, several McNeese baseball seniors have announced their plans to return to the Pokes for the 2021 campaign.
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