Dec. 8, 2009
BALTIMORE, Md. - Down three players heading into the final day of competition, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) women's bowling team dropped a pair of Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) matches. Paired with the previous day's results the Lady Hawks went 6-4 at the two-day Northern Division meet and finished as the runner-up to the MEAC North title.
Starting on Saturday, December 5, UMES (45-15, 23-7 MEAC) was without All-American Maria Rodriguez (Ibague Tolima, Colombia) and Katherine Brown (Level Green, Pa.) whom were both out for medical reasons. While the Hawks started hot, topping Howard (1017-778) and Coppin State (874-767), they ran into a hot-bowling team in no. 20 Morgan State. The Lady Bears topped UMES 1039-970 in the third team game of the day. UMES rebounded to top Hampton 958-865 but fell in a critical match-up to no. 3 Delaware State 958-994.
That loss all but secured the MEAC Northern Division title for the Hornets, marking the first time in five seasons that UMES has not finished first or tied for first in the conference regular season. Since DSU topped the Hawks twice in the previous conference match, they would now hold a three game lead on UMES.
Individually, Kristina Frahm (Oswego, Ill.) bowled well. She posted a 201 against Howard and a 217 vs. Morgan State. She would go on to bowl two more games and post a 187 and a 199, averaging a 201 on the day. Freshman Anggie Ramirez (Bogota, Colombia) would post the high game of the day for UMES with a 265, the highest of her young NCAA career.
Martha Perez (Bogota, Colombia) posted a 215, Stacy Parsons (Delran, N.J.) a 225, Kaitlyn Young (Sycamore, Ill.) a 214 and Katie Shumaker (Trafford, Pa.) a 202 to round out the 200 plus games by the Hawks.
On day two UMES found themselves another bowler down. Frahm, who had been the team's best bowler the previous day, had become injured and couldn't contribute on day two. While UMES once again started strong, topping Coppin State (743-624) and Howard (753-569), they fell to Hampton in the third game of the day, 777-782. They would drop another contest to Delaware State 722-770, before finishing with a win over Morgan State 806-755.
"We really missed some of our bowlers this weekend," said a disappointed head coach Sharon Brummell. "Still, I think we didn't bowl up to our potential. I am glad we have some time off to get healthy and prepared for the remainder of the season."
In fact, UMES has over a month off, not competing again until January 15-17 at the Mid-Winter Classic in Bessemer, Ala.
