Mohammad sisters seek a crown

November 15, 2006 12:50 am

SISTERS MARISSA and Maria Mohammad are one victory away from playing for a national championship.

The former North Stafford High School soccer standouts will be joining their University of Tampa women's teammates in the Division II national semifinals, being played at Pensacola, Fla., this week.

The Spartans (18-2-1) beat Tusculum (Tenn.) College 5-0 for their first-ever quarterfinal-round win and in the process extended their home field winning streak to 35 games.

Although not full-time starters, the two sophomores have contributed to the team's success in a major way.

Marissa Mohammad, a midfielder, has one goal and five assists while seeing action in 20 games. Maria Mohammad, a defender, has six starts among her 17 appearances and has one goal and one assist.

In tomorrow's semifinal pairings, Tampa goes against Grand Valley State (Mich.) and West Chester (Pa.) battles Metro State (Denver, Colo.) in the second game. Starting times were not available at press time.

ACC flexes muscle

The cross country teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference put forth a remarkable show of strength at the NCAA Southeast Regional cross country meet held last weekend in Louisville, Ky.

North Carolina State captured both team titles, ACC women's teams swept the top six spots, and the ACC men accounted for four of the top six spots. The Virginia Tech women placed third overall to qualify for the national meet. scheduled Nov. 20 at the University of Notre Dame.

William & Mary kept the outing from being a complete ACC runaway, finishing second on the men's side and seventh on the women.

Noteworthy efforts by area athletes included: Virginia Commonwealth's Reagan Merriam (Massaponax) in 38th (23:57.04), James Madison's Brittany Lussier (North Stafford) in 45th (24:08.78) and Virginia Tech's Devin Cornwell (Culpeper) in fourth (24:48.85).

Damm in his own class

U.Va.-Wise Ray Damm (Stafford) is on pace to conclude his collegiate tenure a year early, but not before distinguishing himself on the football field and in the classroom.

Damm, a junior, set a school record this season with 65 kicking points (being successful on 6-of-10 field goal attempts), fashioned a respectable 33.9 punting average and earned a berth on the College SID's Academic All-District 3 team with his 3.81 grade-point-average in business administration.

The Cavaliers concluded the season with a 21-6 victory over Union to finish 8-3--the team's most successful season in a decade.

Duron tops in the AWCC

Freshman Nina Duron (Brooke Point) was one of eight Hood College players named to the Atlantic Women's College Conference soccer team this fall.

Duron won the coaches' balloting for both first-team honors and newcomer of the year.

The rookie goal keeper registered nine shutouts, yielded 1.53 goals per game and had a nifty .806 save percentage as the Blazers posted a 10-5-3 record in their final AWCC season prior to switching to the Capital Athletic Conference next fall.

Region salutes Traylor

Junior Ashley Traylor (Colonial Forge) was one of four Christopher Newport players named to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association's All-South Region team.

Traylor netted a team-high 20 goals as the Captains compiled a 14-4 record, which included a first-ever trip to the NCAA Division III playoffs.

Burns sets fast pace

Freshman Briana Burns (James Monroe) turned in another strong performance for the Marshall University women's swimming team last Saturday.

Burns accounted for one of the team's two victories while swimming a seasonal-best 50.93 in the 100-yard free. The Thundering Herd defeated Duquesne (187-101), but fell to both East Carolina (212-88) and West Virginia (208-92).

To reach KURT NICOLL: 540/374-5441
Email: knicoll@freelancestar.com