NORFOLK, Va., Sept. 26, 2019—Maryland Eastern Shore senior Cayla Hicks was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Preseason Bowler of the Year, the conference announced today. Defending champion Maryland Eastern Shore was tabbed as the preseason favorite to take the MEAC regular-season crown.
 
All awards were voted on by the conference’s head coaches and sports information directors.
 
Hicks, the 2018-19 MEAC Bowler of the Year and National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) Honorable Mention All-America selection, averaged a MEAC-best 196.5 pins in traditional play last season, recording her season high of 247 in the James Brown Invitational (while also averaging 197.7 in Baker play and 197.2 overall). She finished third in that tournament, and she also had a second-place finish at Prairie View A&M. On top of those tournaments, Hicks was an All-Tournament selection at both Kutztown and Caldwell. She helped lead Maryland Eastern Shore to a United States Bowling Congress (USBC) sectional title and national qualification, as well as the MEAC regular-season and tournament titles. Hicks’ 2018-19 season was also highlighted by her qualifying for Junior Team USA.
 
Joining Hicks on the Preseason All-MEAC team are teammate Brigitte Jacobs, Delaware State senior Alexis Neuer and junior Ana Olaya and sophomore Ericka Quesada from North Carolina A&T State.
 
The Hawks, who defeated North Carolina A&T State to win their second MEAC title in three years last season, picked up 17 first-place votes and notched 228 points. North Carolina A&T State, with two first-place votes, was picked to finish second, while second-year associate member UAB was picked to finish third.
 
Delaware State (two first-place votes) and Monmouth were picked to finish fourth and fifth, respectively.
 
Florida A&M (one first-place vote), Howard, Morgan State, Coppin State, Norfolk State and Bethune-Cookman rounded out the predicted order of finish poll.
 
The 2019-20 bowling season kicks off the weekend of Oct. 11-13, and will again see the league’s 11 bowling institutions competing together without being broken into divisions. There will be two conference round-ups during the season: Nov. 8-10 hosted by Coppin State and Feb. 21-23 hosted by Florida A&M.
 
The 2020 MEAC Bowling Championship will be held March 20-22 at the AMF Lanes in Chesapeake, Va. This year, the top eight teams in the regular-season standings will qualify for the tournament.
 

2019-20 Preseason All-MEAC Bowling Team & Predicted Order of Finish
As voted on by the conference’s head coaches and sports information directors
 
Preseason Bowler of the Year: Cayla Hicks, Maryland Eastern Shore
 
Preseason All-MEAC Team

Name	Class	School	Hometown
Alexis Neuer	Sr.	Delaware State	Lewisburg, Pa.
Cayla Hicks	Sr.	Maryland Eastern Shore	Salem, Va.
Brigitte Jacobs	Sr.	Maryland Eastern Shore	Freeport, Ill.
Ana Olaya	Jr.	North Carolina A&T State	Bogota, Colombia
Ericka Quesada	So.	North Carolina A&T State	Heredia, Costa Rica

Predicted Order of Finish
First-place votes in parentheses

School	Points
1. Maryland Eastern Shore (17)	228
2. North Carolina A&T State (2)	216
3. UAB	185
4. Delaware State (2)	179
5. Monmouth	160
t-6. Florida A&M (1)	111
t-6. Howard	111
8. Morgan State	81
9. Coppin State	75
10. Norfolk State	65
11. Bethune-Cookman	41