By Roscoe Nance
The MEAC is well-represented in the 2009 NCAA Bowling Championship, which is being contested at the Super Bowl Lanes in Canton, Michigan, Thursday-Saturday, with conference champion Delaware State and Maryland Eastern Shore, the reigning national champion, in the eight-team field.
It is the third time in the six-year history of the tournament for the MEAC to have two schools in the field. Maryland Eastern Shore and Bethune-Cookman were selected in 2005 and 2006.
“That’s a source of pride for the conference,’’ Maryland Eastern Shore Athletic Director Keith Davidson says. “All of our member institutions are proud of the success of Delaware State and Maryland Eastern Shore. It speaks to the strength of bowling in our conference, and it speaks to the commitment made to the sport and the high level of competition in the conference.’’
Arkansas State, Central Missouri, Fairleigh Dickinson, Nebraska, New Jersey City and Vanderbilt round out the field.
Teams in the field are selected on an at-large basis, which means there are no automatic qualifiers and teams are chosen on the merit of their performance. That makes the MEAC having two teams in the field even more impressive.
Delaware State, ranked fourth in the National Tenpins Coaches Association poll, is in the NCAA tournament for the first time after winning its first MEAC championship.
Maryland Eastern Shore, who is ranked fifth nationally, is making its sixth appearance. The Lady Hawks , New Jersey City, Nebraska and Central Missouri are the only schools to have appeared in the NCAA tournament in each of its six years of competition.
The teams play Thursday in the qualifying round for seeding. Each team will bowl four five-person regular team games and five four-game Baker matches. Teams will be seeded according to their total pinfall in the qualifying round. Based on the qualifying round, teams are placed into two four-team double-elimination brackets. Teams compete against each other in a best-of-seven games Baker matches beginning on Friday.
Delaware State coach Kim Terrell-Kearney says there is no pressure to secure one of the higher seeds.
“I’ve seen teams seeded number one go out the next day,’’ she says. “The talent has leveled off here. It doesn’t matter who you face. You have to show up and be good. Before some teams were head and shoulders above others.’’
Adriana Jaime, the 2009 MEAC Rookie of the Year and a first-team All-MEAC selection, sophomore Angela Reynolds, also a first team All-MEAC pick, are the Lady Hornets’ top bowlers.
Jaime led Delaware State with a 197.3 average. Reynolds averaged 193.3, including 200.3 against conference foes. Jazmyne Hefflefinger, another freshman, was also a first team All-MEAC choice.
Terrell-Kearney is in just her second season as the Lady Hornets’ coach
Even though the Lady Hornets are newcomers to the championship, Terrell-Kearney says they have no reason to feel intimidated. They set the school record for victories in a season (117-36). Arkansas State and Central Missouri are the only schools in the field that they didn’t face during the season.
“We’ve seen everybody here,’’ she says. “We faced them week in and out. We know their strengths and capabilities. It’s a matter of doing what we have trained on and done well all season. I believe that we can. It would be different if we snuck in. We’ve very much proven we can compete with the top teams and have a chance to win.
“The worry would be that we get here and be overwhelmed by what it represents, forget everybody has to show up and bowl well.
Terrell-Kearney says her biggest job at the championship will be ensuring that the Lady Hornets don’t “get caught up in all the drama and story lines.’’
“My job is to make sure we continue to do what we did and are confident.’’
Maryland Eastern Shore coach Sharon Brummell became the first woman and the first African-American to win the national championship a year ago. This year the Lady Hawks can join Nebraska (2004 and 2005) as the only two-time champions and back-to-back champions in tournament history. Fairleigh Dickinson (2006) and Vanderbilt (2007) have also won national championships.
The Lady Hawks lost to sixth-seeded Florida A&M in the semifinals of the MEAC Championship, ending their streak of consecutive conference titles at three straight. Brummell says the loss could have a positive effect on the Lady Hawks in the NCAA tournament.
“Sometimes you have to lose to learn to win,’’ she says. “Maybe it wasn’t our time. Any given day, even though it hurts, somebody can knock you off.’’
The Lady Hawks should be in a better frame of mind for the NCAA Championship than they were for the MEAC Championship. The mother of Kristina Frahm, the 2008 MEAC Outstanding Performer, died days before the tournament. Frahm bowled in the championship, but she wasn’t on top of her game.
“I don’t know how she did it,’’ Brummell says. “I can’t imagine what she was going through or what she was feeling. It weighed on everyone. Our girls are like family members, and their families are like family members because they support the team. She didn’t bowl her best. But there was no way I could not let her bowl. She needed to bowl. She’s looking good. She will have a good tournament. She could be the key to us getting over the hump. We wouldn’t be the same team without her.’’
Brummell says in order for the Lady Hawks to successfully defend their national championship, they must stay focused, concentrate on spares and make good first shots.
“If we do that, we can contend with anyone,’’ she says.