WICKLIFFE, Ohio -- The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) took home some pre-championship hardware Wednesday night in Wickliffe, Ohio at the NCAA Awards Banquet during a presentation from the National Tenpins Coaches Association (NTCA), NCAA and the Cleveland Sports Commission.
The banquet, held each eve of the start of the championships, awarded 25 exceptional young women out of the almost 500 eligible, with the coveted All-America distinction. The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) earned two of those spots, stating that Mariana Alvarado (Leon Mexico) and Megan Buja (Rockford, Ill.) are two of the top 15 bowlers in the nation.
Alvarado earned second-team All-America honors while Buja earned her long overdue distinction of All-America with a Third-Team selection.
Buja also earned the NCAA's Elite 89 Award for the third straight year. The award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA from a team at the championship final site. It is the most prestigious academic award the NCAA gives out. This is the fourth straight year UMES won the award as Kristina Frahm, former player and coach, earned the honor in 2011.
The pair of Alvarado and Buja had sensational years. Both were named First-Team All-Conference nods and both were members of the MEAC Championship All-Tournament Team, with the Most Outstanding Performer honors going to Alvarado.
Buja, coming off of University honors for her department, earned the Elite 89 Award with a perfect 4.0 GPA. The lone senior on the team and an Academic All-American, averaged just under 200 for the season, earned two MEAC Player of the Week honors, was a pre-season All-MEAC selection and a two-time All-Tournament Team selection. Statistically speaking, Buja’s senior year was the best of her stellar four-year career.
Alvarado earned her second All-America honor, getting her first last season as Honorable Mention. This year she averaged a 199 in the regular season, won the high-game award at the Hawk Classic, averaged a 207 in Baker games and had a pair of MEAC Bowler of the Week honors.
“It has been a great season for our whole team and especially for these two outstanding young women,” said head coach Kayla Bandy. “I am so honored to have had the opportunity to coach them this year and am proud of how well they represent our program, department and university.”
Other awards handed out on the night included the Player of the Year, which went Sarah Lokker of Arkansas Sate for DI while the Rookie of the Year was Melanie Hannon of Fairleigh Dickinson, also for DI.
Justin Kostick of Arkansas State and Ron Holmes of Central Missouri were the Coach of the Year for DI and DII/DIII respectively.
UMES and the other seven teams get started tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. in Game of Wickliffe. Thursday is a seeding round with seven team games, while the double elimination bracket begins on Friday.