PRINCESS ANNE, Md. — A revamped University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) bowling squad is looking to return to its status as a perennial national championship competitor, and will face a challenging schedule in the attempt to achieve that goal. The team will travel to tournaments both near and far, with some familiar stops and others where the Hawks will seek to make a good first impression.

“I am really looking forward to this upcoming season.” Hawks coach Kayla Bandy said. “The schedule provides us with the opportunity to face the best teams in the country from October to April.  To be the best, we must compete against the best.  It also gives us an opportunity early to allow our young Hawks to learn the intricacies of what will make us great next season as a team.”

The fun begins with a tournament that will be new to UMES, as the team travels to Dayton, Ohio for the UPIKE Orange and Black on October 17th and 18th. Although this is not an NCAA sanctioned event, the Hawks will still face many of the top United States Bowling Congress (USBC) opponents in the former stomping grounds of Coach Bandy, a former Pikeville standout bowler.

Bandy hopes to use the Pikeville tournament as an icebreaker for the young Hawks. “This is an exciting opportunity for the team to get to bowl tough competition before the NCAA season starts.  It allows what is virtually an entirely new squad to bowl together before heading to New Jersey.”

That trip is two weeks later, as the Hawks head to the Garden State where they will once again compete in the New Jersey Jamboree, hosted by Fairleigh Dickinson University. Taking place over Halloween weekend, UMES will look to bounce back from an 8th place finish in this tournament a year ago.

After the team squares off in the first of three MEAC Northern Division meets on November 14th and 15th in Baltimore, the Maroon and Gray will invite the finest bowling teams in the country once again to Millsboro Lanes in nearby Millsboro, Del. for the annual Hawk Classic. The tournament will begin on November 20th will Baker matches, followed by individual games on the 21st and bracket play on the 22nd.

Another MEAC Northern Division meet in Dover follows on December 5th and 6th before the Hawks takes a month off for the holiday season. Their first tournament of 2016 will be the Mid-Winter Invitational in Jonesboro, Arkansas on January 15th thru the 17th. UMES came back from a fourth place finish on day one to win the meet in 2015, so they will be returning to Jonesboro for a repeat.

The next weekend the Hawks will stay a bit closer to home for another prestigious tournament, the Kutztown Invite in Pennsylvania. One week later, however, UMES makes another long hike—this time to Arlington, Tex.—for the Prairie View A&M Invitational on January 29th thru the 31st. The Hawks finished third in Kutztown last season while shooting a perfect 300 Baker game on the final day, while taking seventh at the Prairie View tournament a year ago.

A busy January behind them, the Hawks will take a break from tournament play in preparation for a busy few weeks, starting in mid-February. It all starts February 27th and 28th with the final MEAC Northern Division Meet of the season, hosted by UMES at Millsboro Lanes, followed by the USBC Sectionals one week later. Both locations for these tournaments are to be determined. On March 18th thru the 20th, UMES will head back to the Volunteer State, Tennessee, to once again compete in the Music City Classic in Nashville. This tournament will once again represent the last regular season match for the Hawks, as the team took fifth last season.

Postseason play will kick off with the MEAC Championships in Chesapeake, Va. beginning on March 25th. UMES fought back from a 3-0 deficit against the Norfolk State Spartans to win the 2015 crown, and the Hawks have won four of the last five conference championships.

The success in all of the previous meets combined will factor into the next two tournaments, as the Hawks are hoping to be one of eight schools invited to the NCAA National Championships in North Brunswick, N.J. April 14th to the 16th. A victory there would be UMES’ fourth for bowling. Almost immediately after will be the USBC’s Intercollegiate Team Championships, set to begin on the 18th of April in Wichita, Kansas.