Dixon recently completed her fourth year as head coach of the Lady Hawks, compiling a 41-74 overall record and a 25-47 mark in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). She has finished each of her last three seasons with a 12-17 overall mark including three opening round MEAC Tournament wins. Her resignation will be effective at the end of her current contract, June 30, 2004. "The University has accepted Coach Dixon's resignation and wish to thank her for the service that she has rendered to the University and the Women's Basketball program. We wish her well in her future endeavors," said Director of Athletics Nelson E. Townsend.

Trotter recently completed his fourth year as head coach of the Fighting Hawks, compiling a 36-78 overall record and a 28-46 mark in the MEAC. Trotter's highest MEAC finish came in his first year, as the Hawks were fifth in the conference. This season UMES won the MEAC Tournament opening round game for the first time in ten seasons.

BOWLING FOR NCAA TITLE: Three black colleges are part of the eight-team field competing for the inaugural NCAA National Collegiate Bowling Championship. The field, announced Wednesday by the National Collegiate Women's Bowling Committee includes Southern, Maryland-Eastern Shore and Winston-Salem State who will compete for the national title along with Central Missouri State, Fairleigh-Dickinson, Nebraska, New Jersey City and Sacred Heart. All eight teams were selected at-large. "I am so excited," UMES Head Women's Bowling Coach Sharon Brummell exclaimed. The selection makes UMES one of eight teams in the country to be invited. "There are 43 NCAA schools that sponsor bowling, and to be one of the eight selected is quite an achievement," she added. And for three HBCUs to make the final field of eight is very significant. Texas Southern and the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority will co-host the championship, which will be held April 8-10 at the Emerald Bowl in Houston, Texas.

Currently the UMES Lady Hawks are ranked eighth in the country by College Bowling USA. They are ninth in the Bowling Writers Association Poll, and 11th in the National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association Poll. The announcement from the NCAA comes on the heels of UMES qualifying for the Intercollegiate Bowling Championships, held in Tulsa, OK. That championship is for the top 16 women's bowling teams, NCAA or club. The Lady Hawks qualified by taking third in the IBC Sectionals this past weekend in Downingtown, PA. This will be their second straight invite to the IBCs and first ever in the NCAA Championships. The Southern Lady Jaguars are three-time defending SWAC Champions. The Lady Rams of WSSU were chosen based upon their stellar play this past season which earned them a CIAA Western Division regular-season title, and the number one seed in the 2003 CIAA Women's Bowling Championship Tournament. The competition begins with each team bowling seven regular games along with three Baker games for a qualifying total. The Baker format allows five team members to follow each other in order, each bowling a complete frame until a complete (10 frame) game is bowled. Based on the pinfall of the qualifying round, the teams are placed in a double-elimination bracket. Teams compete against each other in a best-of-seven Baker-style bowling competition. The championship will be broadcast on a one-day tape delay on ESPN2. The program will air on Sunday, April 11, at 2 p.m. Eastern Time and will air in a 90-minute television format.

© 2004 Azeez Communications, Inc.

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