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Feb. 6, 2006
By Chevonne Mansfield Week in Review (Jan. 30 - Feb. 5) Women's Bowling knocked off National Champions Nebraska while track and field had two of their own crack the national rankings in the Men's 60m hurdles. On the court, the Lady and Fighting Hawks dropped tough contests at Coppin while Women's basketball won their third straight contest over Hampton on February 4. Men's basketball, meanwhile, fell in a 12 point decision to the Pirates. The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) Women's Bowling Team did what many teams only dream of, they beat the reigning National Champions, the University of Nebraska. Nebraska (24-3) not only won last year's title, they won the year before as well, the only two years the NCAA has sponsored a championship in the sport. UMES (53-25) knocked off the Huskers in the fourth match of the day on January 28, 2006. They defeated them 974-962 and got 200 plus outings from three Hawks. Senior Co-Captain MaryEtta Lewis rolled a 215 while Megan Raymond added a 206 and Kristie Minnis a 204. Christine King and Jessica Worsley rolled a 177 and 172 respectively to defeat Nebraska. To open that same day the Hawks defeated Minnesota State-Mankato 896-806, fell to Vanderbilt 892-989 toppled Grambling State 854-826 and rolled past Elmhurst College 939-821. On the day the Hawks got 200 plus games from Lewis (205 & 213) and King (204 & 224). On day two of the event UMES competed in four Baker games. They defeated Grambling (655-650), rolled past Minnesota State (696-675) and defeated Elmhurst (783-615). The Lady Hawks took two losses in Baker games, one to Vanderbilt (655-650) and one to the Huskers, 717-767. Overall, UMES took seventh in the field of 16 but third among the NCAA teams. Lewis took sixth overall with a 195.57 average. Fresno State's Karen Rosprim was first with a 206.57. Minnis was 25th in the field of 97 with a 181.29. King took 47th with a 192.33, she was ranked lower because her total pinfall was lower. UMES also went head to head with several tams that were not NCAA teams and compete in the Collegiate Bowling Congress Championships. The Lady Hawks defeated powerhouse Central Florida 926-883. UCF took third overall in the event. They also toppled fifth place West Texas A & M 968-925. Even more noticeable was their win over Fresno State, the second place team. UMES defeated the Bulldogs 918-873. That means the Hawks beat four of the first five place teams head to head. In track and field action, the UMES men and women's track teams competed in the Penn State National Meet the same weekend Women's Bowling was in action. Although there was no team scoring the Hawks had an impressive showing as some new school and personal records were set. The Hawks saw solid performances from juniors Ronnie Beard and Dwayne Robinson as they placed second and third respectively in the 60-meter hurdles. Beard not only set a new personal record but also had a remarkable performance with a time of 7.88, which provisionally qualified him for the NCAA Championships. Not far behind him was Robinson with a time of 7.97. In other events, freshman Mikel Thomas placed third in the 200-meter dash setting a new personal record with a time of 21.86. Thomas also placed ninth in the 60-meter dash setting a new personal record with a time of 6.89. Beard placed eighth and set a new personal record in the 200-meter dash as well with a time of 22.11. Sophomore William McCollough placed third in the 400-meter dash and set a new UMES record with a time of 48.39. Sophomore Alfred Singoei also set a new UMES record as he finished ninth in the 5000 meter run with a time of 14:47.95. The men's 4x400 meter relay team finished in the top five out of 25 teams in this event. The team consisting of Thomas, Beard, McCollough and Christopher Dawkins finished a notable fourth with a time of 3:16.50. In field events, sophomore Jason Daley finished fifth in the long jump with a jump of 23.7 feet. Kimani Kirton also finished fifth in the shot put with a throw of 55.8 feet. On the women's side, junior Danieth Pryce had two top 10 finishes as she finished tenth in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.60 and seventh in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.60. Pryce set a personal record in the 200-meter dash along with sophomore Tanisha Wisdom (24.87) and freshman Cierra Layne (25.22). In the 400-meter dash freshman Sherie Brown set a new personal record and finished a notable ninth with a time of 57.50. Wisdom in the 400-meter invitational set a new school record with a time of 55.44. The Lady Hawks 4x400 meter relay team of Brown, Pryce, Layne, and Wisdom had a top 25 finish, as they took 12th with a time of 3:52.58. In the 3000-meter run, Janeth Chelangat and Neda Khalili set personal records with times of 10:37.44 and 11:11.59 respectively. Off the track junior Petagay O'Connor set a new UMES record and took sixth place in the long jump with a jump of 19.2 feet. Following in 12th place was senior Sherita Harriott with a jump of 18.4 feet. O'Connor also took fourth in the triple jump with a jump of 40.8 feet. Junior Dionne Wright placed a respectable sixth in the shot put with a throw of 47.4 feet. A pair of Maryland-Eastern Shore hurdlers received national recognition on February 1 after their record setting performance at two meet this season. Juniors Dwayne Robinson (Kingston, Jamaica) and Ronnie Beard (Frederick, Md.) are sixth and 15th, respectively, in the latest NCAA 60M Hurdle Rankings. Robinson, who received an at-large bid to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships last season, is headed back to NCAA competition after running a personal best of 7.83 seconds at UMES' Coach O Invite on January 7. Provisional qualifying time for the event is 7.90 while the automatic time is 7.70. Beard set a new personal record and provisionally qualified for NCAA Regionals with his time of 7.88 seconds at Penn State's National Meet on January 27. Robinson and Beard also own the top two MEAC times this season. The Hawks return to action on February 10-11, when they compete at the St. Valentine's Invitational in Boston, Mass. In Men's Basketball action, junior Antonio McMillion (Randallstown, Md.) scored a career high 21 points on January 31 but it was not enough for the Hawks as they dropped a conference decision to Coppin State, 79-53. McMillion also shot 8-for-16 from the field, including a perfect 2-for-2 from beyond the arc. His 21 points led all scorers, while Tywain McKee has 17 points to lead four Eagle players in double-figures. The Eagles never trailed in the game in improving to 7-13 overall and 7-2 in the MEAC, while the Hawks dropped to 5-14 overall and 2-7 in conference play. After the Hawks tied the game at 5-5 on a free throw by Jesse Brooks with 17:00 to play in the first half the Eagles grabbed the lead for good when McKee answered with a three-pointer. The three started a 20-8 run giving CSU a 25-13 lead with 7:17 remaining in the period. McKee capped the run with back-to-back layups. A McKee three-pointer at the 2:15 mark gave CSU its largest lead of the half at 37-19. The Eagles then took a 39-22 lead into the intermission. A three-pointer by McMillion cut the CSU lead to 50-36 with 16:01 to play, but the Eagles answered with a 20-0 run fueled by 10 points from Chesnut and six from Proctor. Four Hawks scored in double-figures on February 4 but it was not enough for UMES as the Fighting Hawks dropped a 12 point home decision to Hampton, 87-75. Antonio McMillion (Randallstown, Md.) led UMES (5-15, 2-8 MEAC) in scoring for the second consecutive game as he tied his career high with 21 points in 10-13 shooting from the field. Reigning MEAC Rookie of the Week Troy Jackson (Wilkes Barre, Pa.) finished with 16 points, while Ed Tyson (Baltimore, Md.) and Jesse Brooks (Severn, Md.) added 14 each. Qavotstaraj Waddell (Norfolk, Va.) chipped in with a game high five blocks. Hampton (9-9, 7-3 MEAC) was led by Bruce Brown's double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds. Jeff Granger and Jaz Cowan had 17 each, while Rashad West added 12. The Hawks shot 49% from the field, including 50% from 3-point range, and held the Pirates to just five free-throws the entire game. However, HU held the advantage on the boards as they outrebounded the maroon and gray 45-26. UMES took their last lead, a one-point advantage, at 14:14 in the first period off of a Jackson jumper. Rodrick Coleman's basket with 12 minutes remaining put the Pirates up 17-12, but Brooks hit a trey at 10:30 to cut the lead down to one. Hampton took the advantage back three minutes later thanks to a Cowan jumper, and HU later pushed the lead to 10 points as Matthew William's basket put the Pirates up 38-28 at 1:06. Jackson's 3-pointer as time expired closed the Hawks to within seven points of the lead at the break, 38-31. McMillion hit a jumper at 13:41 to cut the HU lead to six, but the Pirates jumped out to an 11-2 run over the next three minutes and pushed their advantage to 15 points. The Hampton lead ballooned to 18 with just under four minutes left. UMES jumped out to an 8-2 run over the next three minutes and closed within nine points of the lead, but that is all they could manage as the Pirates went home with the 12 point victory. In Women's Basketball action, the Lady Hawks dropped their decision to the conference leading Lady Eagles on January 31. UMES lost to Coppin State, 61-40, in a road decision at the Coppin Center. The victory was the Eagles 17th consecutive over a league opponent and their ninth overall as they improve to 10-8 and 9-0 in conference play. The Lady Hawks drop to 7-10 overall and 5-4 in league play. The Lady Hawks were led by Baltimore native Toni Kennedy who notched 11 points and tied DeVaughn Hailey (Camden, N.J.) for the team in rebounds with six. Shalamar Oakley and Rashida Suber led Coppin's offense with 13 points each. Coppin's defense held the Lady Hawks to shooting just 28 percent from the field and forced 24 turnovers, resulting in UMES tying their lowest point total of the season. Coppin opened the game with an 11-0 run that stretched to a 20-2 lead with 6:48 left in the half. The Eagles held the Lady Hawks to just four field goals in the opening half while they shot 50 percent from the field behind Williams' 10 points. The Eagles led all the way and held 20 point leads with 9:34 and 7:22 left in the game before taking their largest lead of the game, 61-37, with 1:21 left to play. The Lady Hawks got back on the winning side later in the week as they downed the Hampton Lady Pirates, 59-51, in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference decision on February 4 at the Hytche Center. The win completes a regular season sweep of Hampton, the first time in history UMES has ever accomplished such a feat. The victory is also the Hawks' third straight over the Lady Pirates. UMES (8-10, 6-4 MEAC) got a team high 15 points from Toni Kennedy (Baltimore, Md.) while freshman DeVaughn Hailey (Camden, N.J.) added 13. Kennedy also added a game high five steals while Hailey finished with four. Natalia Benton (Brooklyn, N.Y.) chipped in with a game high nine rebounds. Rachel Butler led the way for Hampton (3-16, 3-7 MEAC) with 19 points. The maroon and gray forced 35 HU turnovers and held the Lady Pirates to 18% shooting from beyond the arc. UMES also held Hampton to six field goals the entire second half. The game was a hard fought contest with neither team going up by more than three points in the first period. A Hailey layup at 10:30 gave the Lady Hawks a 14-11 advantage, but the Lady Pirates climbed back in the game and took a one-point lead with just over four minutes remaining thanks to a lay-up by Linda Rickenbacker. Monica Rogers' jumper at 1:02 gave HU the slim three point advantage at the half, 24-21. Hampton pushed their lead to five points thanks to a Butler trey at 17:25, but a Kennedy lay-up capped a quick 10-0 run by the maroon and gray and put the Lady Hawks up by five at 14:12. UMES took their largest lead of the game at 6:21, as a free-throw by Benton gave the Lady Hawks the nine point advantage, 48-39. A pair of Butler free-throws closed HU to within three of the lead with a minute and a half remaining, but that is the closest they would get as the maroon and gray walked away with the eight point victory. Upcoming Week (Feb. 6 - Feb. 12) Men's and Women's Basketball takes on Norfolk in a doubleheader home decision on Monday, February 6 while track and field is scheduled to compete in the St. Valentine's Invitational February 10-11 in Boston, Mass. UMES baseball opens their season this week as they head down to UNC-Wilmington for a three-game decision with the Seahawks on February 10-12. |
