BCSP Notes . . .
Sharon Brummell of UMES named Div. I's top bowling coach
She was already a four-time Mid-Eastern Athletic
Conference (MEAC) Coach of the Year, but this one means just a little but more.
The National Tenpins Coaches Association (NTCA) has
named University of Maryland-Eastern Shore
Head Women's Bowling coach Sharon Brummell
as its 2008 NCAA Div. 1 National Coach of the Year.
"Wow," said Brummell. "What a compliment. To be voted the Coach of the Year by your colleagues is truly an honor and a humbling experience."
Brummell led UMES to their fourth MEAC Championship and first ever NCAA National Championship in Women's Bowling this past season and was rewarded for her efforts with the national honor.
"I feel like our program is finally getting the recognition it deserves," added Brummell.
"I have to credit the student-athletes with this award. Not just this year's squad, but all of them for the past ten years. I know each team has worked very hard to be better than the last and it paid off this year with the National Championship. It feels absolutely wonderful to receive this honor."
The National Championship is just the second in school history and first NCAA tile. Brummell also became the first woman and African-American to lead her team to an NCAA Bowling National Championship. Brummell will return to the lanes next season for an 11th year and hopes to defend the MEAC and NCAA Championships, tasks she knows will not be easy.
"It is hard to win a championship," Brummell said. "But now we know what it takes to win it and we know we have to work even harder than what it took to win it the first time."
Ron Holmes of Central Missouri was named the DII NTCA Coach of the Year and Frank Parisi was named the DIII Coach of the Year.
Hampton chooses veteran Lewis as new men's track coach
Steve Lewis, a track and field legend in the Virginia Peninsula area
as well as in collegiate circles, has been named
Hampton University's new men's cross country and track and field head
coach, effective July 1, 2008. Lewis will replace
Emmanuel Daux, who served as interim head coach during
the 2007-08 school year.
"I feel it's a great opportunity for me to be a
part of such a great program and to be back in the
area where I started my coaching career," said
Lewis. "I'm just excited about the opportunity to be a part
of the Tidewater area and to be a part of Hampton University. I think it'll be something special."
Lewis, 65, whose specialties include hurdle events, sprint races, jumps, 400-meter and 800-meter races, has over 40 years of coaching experience most recently serving as an assistant coach at Delaware State. From 2002-05, he was an assistant coach for Eastern Michigan's women's program. Prior to his time at EMU, Lewis spent more than 20 years coaching both men's and women's track at the University of Pittsburgh.
He began his legendary coaching career by leading his teams to ten Virginia High School League state titles between 1970-82, one at Matthews and nine at Menchville. He left his post at Menchville to coach at Pittsburgh, where he stayed until 2002. He became head men's and women's track coach at Pitt in 1995.
"We're both happy and fortunate to have an individual with Steve Lewis's credentials join our staff as head men's track and field coach," said Hampton Athletics Director, Lonza Hardy, Jr. "With nearly four decades of coaching experience, and with the vast contacts he has established, we believe he possesses all of the qualities necessary to elevate our men's program into a championship program. We think he'll work wonders here for us."
The HU Pirates finished sixth in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference cross country championships in 2007, eighth in the 2008 MEAC indoor championships and third in the 2008 MEAC outdoor championships.
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