Maryland-Eastern Shore Hawks snags top spot in final regular-season poll

NASHVILLE, Tennesee — Two-time defending national champion Maryland-Eastern Shore is back on top in the latest poll released Tuesday by the National Tenpins Coaches Association (NTCA). This is the final poll of the regular season and marks the first time the Hawks are on top since October when they were No. 1.

UMES, currently standing at 110-21, has had a dominating season and was recently named the No. 2 overall seed in the upcoming national championships. The Hawks are coming off of a sixth Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Championship and a first-place finish in the Music City Classic. They have won 10 of the 13 events they have bowled in this season, finishing second in the other three.

Right below the Hawks is second-ranked Nebraska (69-22) with 694 points, trailing UMES’s 724 points. Nebraska earned six first-place votes while the Hawks got 15. Central Missouri (97-23), the new third-ranked team, got the other six votes and 689 points. The Jennies, who led the poll for several months, were ahead of Arkansas State (86-28) and Vanderbilt (85-38) who had 604 and 550 points, respectively.

Sam Houston State and Wisconsin-Whitewater traded places for sixth and seventh place and Fairleigh Dickinson (72-37; 408 points) stayed in the eighth spot. The top eight rankings mirror the recent NCAA announcement for the national championships in Canton, Mich.

Stephen F. Austin kept the No. 9 position, but Adelphi jumped from 14th after winning the Northeast Conference Tournament to complete the poll’s top 10.

Alabama A&M was the only newcomer, finishing in a tie for 20th place with Bethune-Cookman. Norfolk State and Delaware State represented the MEAC in 14th and 19th places, respectively.


NATIONAL TENPINS COACHES ASSOCIATION (NTCA) POLL

RANK	SCHOOL (FIRST-PLACE VOTES)	POINTS	RECORD	PREVIOUS
1	Maryland Eastern Shore (15)	724	111-20	3
2	Nebraska (5)	694	69-22	1
3	Central Missouri (6)	689	97-23	2
4	Arkansas State	604	86-28	3
5	Vanderbilt	550	85-38	5
6	Sam Houston State	478	97-36	7
7	Wisconsin-Whitewater	468	66-34	6
8	Fairleigh Dickinson	408	72-37	8
9	Stephen F. Austin	330	66-39	19
10	Adelphi	308	79-37	14
11	Saint Francis (Pa.)	256	67-35	10
12	Kutztown	201	72-40	13
13	Sacred Heart	190	62-46	12
14	Norfolk State	182	61-33	11
15	Valparaiso	124	60-67	15
16	New Jersey City	119	62-47	17
17	LIU Brooklyn	105	53-43	16
18	Saint Francis (N.Y.)	61	69-69	T18
19	Delaware State	27	58-58	T18
T20	Bethune-Cookman	14	61-64	20
T20	Alabama A&M	14	45-41	NR

Dropped out: None.

Others receiving votes: Alabama State, Bowie State, Fayetteville State, Monmouth, North Carolina A&T, Prairie View A&M.


COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE ATHLETICS AND NCAA.COM