Messenger - Vol. 3, No. 4, Page 13
Summer 1994
Spring Sports update

     Springtime was an impressive season for Delaware athletic teams.
Of the eight Blue Hen spring sports, three teams captured North
Atlantic Conference titles, seven posted .500 or better records, two
set school records for wins in a season and two others appeared in the
national Top 20 voting throughout the season.
     Three UD men's teams captured NAC titles, as the men's lacrosse
team won its third straight crown, the men's outdoor track and field
team was NAC champion for the second straight year and the Blue Hen
baseball team captured its second regular season title in three years
before losing in the NAC tournament.


Men's lacrosse
     The men's lacrosse team continued to steamroll through the North
Atlantic Conference in 1994, claiming its third straight undefeated
NAC title and making a serious run toward the NCAA tournament before
falling just short.
     Bob Shillinglaw's squad posted an 8-6 record (4-0 in NAC play)
and was ranked in the Top 20 all season long, moving as high as No. 12
at mid-season-the team's highest national ranking since 1986.
     The team played a grueling schedule as 10 of its 14 opponents
were ranked in the Top 20. The Hens knocked down nationally ranked
Army, Rutgers, Vermont and Massachusetts, but a late season 16-15 loss
to nemesis Penn State shattered any post-season hopes.


Men's outdoor track and field
     The men's outdoor track and field team took an unusual route to
winning its second straight NAC title this spring.
     After the Hens finished second at the annual NAC championships
May 7 at Northeastern, UD head coach Jim Fischer did some rechecking
of the final results. His math showed the Hens winning the league
title. Three days later, after NAC officials reviewed the situation,
the Hens were declared champions.
     The NAC title capped another solid season for the Blue Hens, who
competed in eight other meets during the spring. Senior Brian D'Amico
had a stellar season, winning the NAC discus title and placing eighth
at the IC4A championships in the same event to earn All-East honors.
In addition, UD long distance runners set school records in the 4 x
800-meter relay, distance medley relay and 4 x 1,500-meter relay.


Baseball
     Head baseball coach Bob Hannah has been coaching for 30 years and
his 1994 squad may have been one of his best ever. Thanks to a
pitching staff that ranked among the national leaders in earned run
average all season, the Hens set a school record for wins in a season
with a 41-13 slate.
     Along the way, the team won the NAC regular season title with a
20-4 mark but was knocked out of the NAC post-season tournament and a
subsequent trip to the NCAA tourney, with losses to Hartford and
eventual champion Northeastern. In mid-April, the team also won its
second Liberty Bell Classic title in three years as the top Division I
team in the Philadelphia area and gave Hannah his 800th career win
late in the season.
     The UD pitching staff was among Hannah's best, finishing with 32
complete games, seven shutouts and a 2.53 ERA.


Softball
     It was an up and down season for the Blue Hen softball team, but
still one that was among the best in UD history.
     The Hens, under the guidance of veteran head coach B.J. Ferguson,
won a school record 23 games in a 23-21 season and placed third in the
NAC regular season with a 4-4 mark. However, the season ended with the
Hens being eliminated in two games at the NAC tournament hosted by
Delaware in early May.
     Team members set over 20 individual and team offensive records
during the campaign. The Hens batted .289 as a team and averaged five
runs per game. Jennifer Ballier, who went 9-7 with a 1.55 ERA, pitched
the first perfect game in UD history vs. Delaware State University
early in the season.


Women's lacrosse
     After several off years, the women's lacrosse team returned to
prominence this spring.
     Backed by enthusiastic first-year head coach Denise Wescott and
high scoring senior Jenn Rinnander, the Hens finished the year with a
10-7 mark, the highest win total since 1989, and a final No. 12
national ranking.
     The Hens, who moved as high as No. 6 in the poll early in the
season, posted a 7-1 home record and gained key wins over the likes of
James Madison, Richmond and Lehigh.
     Rinnander, who capped an outstanding career by being named second
team All-American, led the nation in scoring as she hit the back of
the nets 52 times and dished out 25 assists for 77 points.


Women's outdoor track and field
     The Blue Hen women's outdoor track and field team, backed by a
strong group of distance runners and weight throwers, captured its
second straight fourth-place NAC championship finish under head coach
Sue McGrath-Powell.
     The long distance duo of freshman Tara Pointin and sophomore
Chris Rolleri teamed up to provide some impressive performances.
Pointin became only the second UD woman to win two events at a NAC
championship as she captured the 3,000- and 5,000-meter runs May 7 at
Northeastern. The next week, she earned All-East honors by placing
seventh in the 10,000 meters at the ECAC championships. Rolleri won
the NAC 10,000-meter crown while placing second in the 3,000 meters.
She was 11th at the ECAC championships in the 10,000 meters.


Men's golf
     Sophomore Todd Milligan led the way for the Delaware men's golf
team as the Hens produced another successful season under the tutelege
of head coach Jim Kent.
     Although the Hens did not compete in a dual meet for the first
time in school history, the team did compete in tournaments at Loyola
(19th), James Madison (5th), Penn State (14th) and Princeton (12th).
     Milligan led the Hens in all but one tournament during the
season, with a 76.83 stroke average that included earning All-NAC
honors for the second straight year and a top 10 District II ranking
for much of the spring.
     The Hens capped the year by placing 11th out of 18 teams at the
Eastern Intercollegiate Golf Association District II championships,
also named the Scotty Duncan Memorial in memory of Delaware's longtime
golf coach.


Men's tennis
     A new face was at the helm, but the Blue Hen netters kept on
winning in 1994, their fifth straight winning season, this year under
head coach Laura LeRoy.
     LeRoy, Delaware's all-time winningest women's player and the
current UD women's coach, became the first woman ever to coach a UD
men's team when she took over this spring for C. Roy "Doc" Rylander,
who retired after 41 years as head coach.
     The Blue Hens posted an impressive record of 10-7, which included
notable wins over Lafayette, Towson State and Drexel, and placed sixth
at the NAC championships April 23-24 at Vermont.
                                                      -Scott Selheimer