EAST GREENSBORO, North Carolina -- The North Carolina A&T bowling team will play in 11 regular-season tournaments during the 2018-19 season leading up to their opportunity to defend their 2018 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship. The Aggies are also trying to return to the NCAA Bowling Championships for the third time in four seasons.N.C. A&T also qualified for the USBC Regional in Smyrna, Tenn., and they ended the season ranked 13th in the National Tenpin Coaches Association after earning an impressive No. 6 seed for the NCAA tournament.
The Aggies, winners of the last four MEAC Southern Division regular-season championships, will not get a chance to increase that number in 2018-19. The MEAC has eliminated divisional play while adding two new programs to the conference lineup in the University of Alabama-Birmingham and Monmouth.
The two additions will make the Aggies repeat efforts a little more difficult. UAB finished the season ranked 16th, while Monmouth was 24th.
"The design of our program is to get stronger every year," said coach third-year N.C. A&T head coach Kim Terrell-Kearney. "We brought in some talented freshmen that are anxious to show that we are capable of being one of the best teams out there."
The journey back to the NCAA tournament starts Oct. 19. From Oct. 19-21, the Aggies will compete in the Tulane Sugar Bowl Invitational in Harahan, La., at Colonial Lanes. The following weekend the Aggies travel to Fairview, Ill., to compete in the McKendree Invitational, Oct. 26-28.
The defending conference champs begin MEAC play Nov. 10-11 in Wilmington, Del., in the first conference meet hosted by Maryland Eastern Shore. The Aggies will play the likes of MDES and Delaware State with the new format. In another quick turnaround, N.C. A&T will return to Delaware to battle in the MDES Hawk Classic, Nov. 16-18 in Millsboro, Del. The Aggies start play after the holiday break at the KU Invitational hosted by Kutztown University at Heister Lanes in Reading, Pa.
Back-to-back tournaments in Texas follow with the Prairie View A&M Invitational (Feb. 1-3) in Arlington and the Stephen F. Austin Jacks Invitational (Feb. 15-17) in Dallas.
N.C. A&T will host the second MEAC meet at AMF Lanes on 910 S. Holden Road in Greensboro, Feb. 23-24. After completing conference play, the Aggies with play in the Monmouth Hawk Flight in Egg Harbor, N.J., March 1-3. The Aggies, who won A&T will attempt to qualify for the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships at the USBC sectionals with be held on Mar. 8-10. The regular season concludes at the Vanderbilt Music City Classic in Smyrna, Tenn. on Mar. 15-17 hosted by the Vanderbilt Commodores.
The postseason starts in Chesapeake, Va., in the MEAC Championships March 29-31 at the AMF Chesapeake Lanes. The Aggies will have to wait a week before finding out if they have earned an NCAA tournament bid as the championships will take place April 11-13 in Cleveland, Ohio. The season will wrap up at the USBC Intercollegiate Individuals and Teams Championships on April 17-20 should they qualify at the sectionals.
NORTH CAROLINA A&T STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
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