UM men, women basketball teams join unique club> Both teams posted 20-win seasons

The University of Maine was one of only 17 Division I schools whose men’s and women’s basketball teams won at least 20 games each during the recent season.

Coach Rudy Keeling guided the Maine men to their first 20-win season since the inception of the program in 1904. The Black Bears wound up as North Atlantic Conference runnersup with a 20-9 record.

Joanne Palombo directed the Maine women to a 20-7 mark and the NAC regular-season championship. It was the eighth time in the last 10 seasons the women’s team won at least 20 games.

Among the other institutions qualifying for the 20-20 club were Alabama, the University of Connecticut, Kansas, Marquette, the University of North Carolina, Oklahoma State, Purdue and Texas.

UMaine spokesman Joe Roberts researched the subject after the Bears achieved the feat. He also wanted to find out how many teams with 20 victories or more did not qualify for either the NCAA Tournament, the National Invitational Tournament, or the National Women’s Invitational Tournament.

Keeling’s Bears were among only three teams in the entire country that recorded 20 victories but were not selected for either of the two major postseason tournaments.

Maine was among 16 Division I women’s basketball teams that won 20 games but were not chosen for either the NCAA or the NIT. In all, 71 teams won at least 20 contests.

Fifty-four Division I schools sent both men’s and women’s teams to the NCAA tourney.

The UM women’s team did qualify for the NWIT in the 1989-90 season. The Bears posted a 1-2 record in the tourney.

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Chris Sutton, a junior at the University of Maine-Fort Kent, has been named a National Small College Athletic Association All-American.

Sutton, a 5-foot-9 guard, averaged 20.8 points, 6.7 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 5.8 steals per outing for Coach Bengals. He was instrumental in leading UMFK to a 24-7 record and the No. 1 national ranking in the National Small College Athletic Association last season.

Mount Senario College of Wisconsin eliminated the Bengals 86-73 in the first round of the national tournament earlier this month in Flint, Mich. – – –

Neile Joler of St. Joseph’s College in Standish and Shawn Boulet of Thomas College in Waterville have been named the Fleet Bank Scholar-Athletes of the Year by the Maine Athletic Conference.

Joler, a junior from Fort Kent, has been a two-year starter for Coach Mike McDevitt’s Monks. The mathematics major has a 3.91 grade point average.

Joler, an NAIA All-America scholar-athlete last year, is St. Joe’s all-time 3-point shooter. She and Boulet received a $250 scholarship from Fleet Bank. – – –

Sally Beaulieu of Anson has been hired as the women’s soccer coach at the University of Maine-Farmington. She replaces Bruce Mochamer, who stepped down last fall to spend more time with his family after a successful eight-year career.

Beaulieu, a 1991 UMF graduate, played for Mochamer from 1987-90. She teaches grades 6-8 at Solon Elementary School and has coached at the junior high and junior varsity levels. – – –

Jennifer Bishop of Hampden recently placed 55th for Saint Anselm College of Manchester, N.H., during the slalom skiing competition at the NCAA Regionals in Middlebury, Vt.

Bishop, a graduate of Hampden Academy, joined teammate Kevin Charleston of Rumford as the first skiers ever to represent Saint Anselm in the NCAA Regionals. Bishop, a three-year standout for the Hawks, was the top finisher in every race for her team during the winter campaign and served as a team captain. – – –

Cate Splane of Bangor recently competed in the finals of the 200 freestyle relay and the 200 breaststroke for the University of Delaware during the North Atlantic Conference swimming championships at Newark, Del.

Splane, a graduate of Bangor High School and a former four-time all-state selection, placed fifth in the 200 free relay and 15th in the 200 breaststroke. Delaware finished third in the league competition. – – –

Merrimack College freshman Ivy Newcomb of Eastport turned in an outstanding season for the Warriors, a member of the Northeast-10 Conference. Newcomb, a 6-foot-1 center, averaged 13.5 points per game, finishing seventh in the league in field-goal percentage at .474 and 10th in free-throw percentage at .740.