Eagles Soar to NCAA Tournaments
 

Whether the Eagles were hitting tennis balls or baseballs this spring, the sports season was a winner. In fact, Athletics Director Tom Hickman said the Eagles garnered the most championships ever—a total of five—in an academic year. He attributes the success to several reasons: improved facilities to help in recruiting, an increase in scholarships, an improved strength and conditioning program, and excellent recruiting and player development by coaches. Hickman oversees a relatively young program, which formally started in 1969 with women’s basketball. Other sports have been added over the years, with the most recent being women’s soccer. The school joined the Big South Conference before the 1985-86 season.
During the spring, the men’s and women’s tennis teams not only won the Big South Conference regular season titles, but also captured	Senior outfielder Janiva Willis, who has been the most dominant hitter in the history of Winthrop softball, was placed on the first team All-Big South for the fourth straight season and was selected as the Big South Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year.
tournament championships to receive automatic bids to their respective NCAA tournaments.  In addition, the softball team won its first regular season title since 1991, only to fall in the conference finals, finishing 39-22-1. But the baseball team claimed its first Big South tournament title since 1999 by beating perennial power Coastal Carolina. The team finished the season with a 44-21 record. On the tennis court, the Lady Eagles won all seven of their conference matches. They finished with an overall 21-4 record behind the play of seniors Jenny Andrade, Renata Caceres, Ana Simanca and Danielle Moita. The Intercollegiate Tennis Association ranked the Lady Eagles 69th in the nation and 11th in the Southeast Region in front of North Carolina State. The men’s team, led by No. 1 singles player Clayton Almeida, were 20-5 and also 7-0 in conference play, ending the year in the 13th spot in the ITA’s Mideast Region. Almeida finished his career with an unprecedented fourth consecutive Big South Conference Player of the Year award and was rated the 28th best player of the Mideast Region by ITA. Meanwhile, freshman sprinter Kandrick Cooper won the 110 meter hurdles at the Big South Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships with a time of 14.80. And the women’s 4 X 100 meter relay team of Sabrina Brookins, Tomeika Banks, Tabbi Prioleau and Nicole Tucker also qualified for the regional by placing first with a 47.07 time. Also this sports year, the volleyball and men’s basketball teams won their sports’ championships and qualified for NCAA tournament action. Four seniors helped lead the baseball team to its first Big South Tournament title since 1999. They are, from left, Jason Terry, Jon Wilson, Mark Schmidt, and Kyle Roberson.     Return to Main Page -->