THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 25, 1996 TAG: 9602250224
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C13 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KEVIN DOEPP, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
Tom Palombo, a former Virginia Wesleyan women's basketball coach, is having the season of his life coaching the Division III Defiance (Ohio) College Lady Jackets.
Defiance is 24-0 and ranked No. 1 in the Atlantic Region.
``We have been real successful here,'' said Palombo, who has compiled a 46-5 record in two seasons at Defiance.''
Palombo, a Bayside High and Virginia Wesleyan grad, only had eight players last season. He brought in 10 new faces and now has 16 on the roster.
``Last season we had to finish one of the games with four because four players had fouled out,'' Palombo said. ``This year we have a good blend with the returners and the freshmen and we play a 10-man rotation.''
Plus, he said, ``we played a schedule that would get us ready to play in March. We beat a Scranton team that hadn't lost a game at home in two years.''
The team has played in front of about 2,000 fans at home where it used to be just 200.
``This is a great atmosphere to play basketball in,'' Palombo said. ``The kids even have the jitters once in a while.''
Palombo still calls Virginia Wesleyan men's basketball coach Terry Butterfield and athletic director Don Forsyth for advice.
``I have learned a lot from Butterfield and Forsyth,'' Palombo said. ``They have had an impact on my coaching.''
The Lady Jackets will hear today where and who they will play in the NCAA tournament.
``We aren't going to change anything coaching or playing-wise come tournament time,'' Palombo said. ``There is a good chance we could host all the way through (the tournament).''
MONARCHS REPORT: Seniors Nick Hall and Erick Shaw will wrestle for the last time at home today in a quad meet with Norfolk State, Wilkes and UNC-Greensboro. Hall, a Long Island, N.Y., native, at 29-0 is ranked third nationally in the heavyweight division. Shaw, an Indian River grad, is 25-5 at 126 pounds. Both have a combined career record of 205-39-4 at ODU. Today's schedule: 1 p.m. - Old Dominion vs. UNC-Greensboro; Wilkes vs. Norfolk State. 3 p.m. - Old Dominion vs. Wilkes; UNC-Greensboro vs. Norfolk State. 5 p.m. - Old Dominion vs. Norfolk State; UNC-Greensboro vs. Wilkes. . . . Three former Monarchs, Jeff Ware (Toronto), Wayne Gomes (Philadelphia) and Geoff Edsell (California) all appear on preseason 40-man major league rosters. Ware, a First Colonial graduate, was 2-1 with the Toronto Blue Jays last season. He was the team's first-round pick in 1991. Gomes, a Phoebus graduate, was the highest Monarch ever selected in the baseball draft, in 1993. Edsell was a sixth-round pick by Callifornia in 1993. . . . The Hampton Roads Lacrosse doubleheader will be March 16 at Foreman Field. The Lady Monarchs will play defending CAA champions Loyola at 11:30 a.m. . . . Swimming and diving teammates Jame Stickney, Jane DePalo and Mary Kay Bolduc appear in the top four in nine of 13 individual events in the CAA. They have also set school records. Bolduc owns two, one in the 500-yard freestyle (4:58.37) and in the 1,000/1,650-yard freestyle (10:17.51). DePalo set a record in the 200-butterfly (2:06.85).
ALUMNI REPORT: University of Alabama soccer player Jill Davis (First Colonial) was named the team's most improved player for the fall season. She scored a goal in a 6-0 win over Arkansas-Little Rock. . . . Heather Hoehlein (Cox), a senior on the James Madison field hockey team, was named to the 1995 National Academic squad. Hoehlein, a biology and pre-med major, has a 3.59 grade-point average. . . . Seth Eilberg (Norfolk Academy) has started every basketball game for Haverford (Pa.) College (14-8). He has made 34 3-pointers in 22 games. . . . Mary Washington's Myra Simpson (Kellam) was named the Capital Athletic Conference women's track athlete of the year. She has qualified for the NCAA meet March 8-9 in Northampton, Mass., in the long jump, triple jump, 55-meter dash and 55-meter hurdles. . . . Western Maryland's Michele Jarman (Churchland) was the Centennial Conference women's basketball co-player of the week (Feb. 4-11). She averaged 14.7 points and 11.7 rebounds in three games. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Tom Palombo's Defiance College women's team is No. 1 in the Division
III Atlantic Region.
by CNB