ORONO – The University of Maine’s search for a head women’s basketball coach continues in earnest this week with two candidates having arrived Monday for campus visits.

Sharon Versyp, an assistant coach at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., and Ann Hancock, an assistant at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, will each spend three days this week on the UMaine campus. During their visits, they will meet with various constituent university groups, including members of the Black Bear women’s basketball team.

Versyp is scheduled to participate in a press conference at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the Palmer Lounge at UMaine’s Mahaney Clubhouse. Hancock will meet with the media at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Heritage House on College Ave.

Duke assistant Joanne Boyle was the first candidate to interview for the position left vacant after Joanne Palombo-McCallie resigned to take the Michigan State job in March. Boyle, who visited Orono last week, on Friday informed athletics director and search committee chairwoman Sue Tyler that she was withdrawing her name from consideration.

According to Tyler, Boyle cited her desire to stick with a talented Duke team, UMaine’s geographic location, and the fact the Bears don’t practice on their home court at Alfond Arena as her reasons for bowing out.

Versyp, 34, has been the top assistant at James Madison for the last three years under coach Bud Childers. She coached under Childers for one season at Louisville before moving to JMU.

At James Madison, Versyp is in charge of scouting reports and the development of the Dukes’ perimeter players. She also handles most of the administrative duties such as public relations, team travel, and academic questions.

The Mishawaka, Ind., native is a 1989 graduate of Purdue, where she was a basketball standout and a GTE CoSIDA Academic All-American. She was named the school’s Female Athlete of the Year in 1988 and was awarded the Big Ten Gold Medal of Honor for athletic and academic excellence.

Upon her graduation from Purdue, Versyp coached seven seasons of high school basketball in Indiana, turning an 0-18 club at Lawrence North High in Indianapolis into a state sectional runner-up in two years.

As part of a personality profile in the James Madison women’s basketball media guide, Versyp described her strongest trait as being a good listener. Her 10-year goal is to be a head coach in the Big Ten.

Hancock has served on the Tar Heels’ basketball staff for the last eight years under veteran coach Sylvia Hatchell. The 29-year-old native of Elizabethtown, N.C., has helped coach North Carolina to an NCAA championship in 1994 and Atlantic Coast Conference titles in 1994, ’95, ’97, and ’98.

Hancock excelled on the court and in the classroom at Wingate University (N.C.). She was a four-year all-conference and all-district performer for the Bulldogs, serving three seasons as a team captain. She also played volleyball and softball at Wingate.

Hancock graduated magna cum laude in 1992, earning NAIA All-America Scholar-Athlete honors on her way to the 1991-92 NCAA Division II female winner of the Woody Hayes National Scholar-Athlete Award.

She finished her high school basketball career as the No. 15 all-time scorer in North Carolina history and No. 5 since the adoption of the five-player rule. Hancock coached AAU basketball in Greensboro, N.C., from 1990-92.

Hancock is working toward a master’s degree in sports administration from UNC.

Colby rugby fourth in DII nationals

Last weekend the Colby men’s rugby team finished fourth for the second straight year at the Division II national tournament. The Mules fell to Claremont State 43-8 and on Sundy came within three points of finishing third with a 32-29 loss to the University of Northern Colorado at Ohio State.

The Mules went into the nationals undefeated in the Northeast with a 13-0 record and finished 13-2.

While Colby attended the Final Four Division II club tournament last year, it went as an alternate. This year’s berth was a result of Colby having won its national quarterfinal game against Radford University 31-11 on April 15.

The last three years, Colby has won the Downeast Division, which consists of the Mules, the University of Maine, UMaine-Farmington, Bates, Bowdoin, and Plymouth State. The past two years it has been the New England champions, and this year it won the Northeastern title going 10-0 in the fall.

The success has brought exposure to the team as NESN profiled the team last Wednesday.

Senior captain David Normoyle, a fly half, said the turnaround is due to strong players and a coach with experience.

“It’s pretty amazing based on the fact it is a club team, we have a part-time coach, a student-run team,” Normoyle said. “At nationals we competed against schools that have 20,000 students. Those are big state schools.”

Mules coach Robert Weggler used to coach Division I Amherst College before coming to Colby. Since his arrival, the Mules have gone 2-3, 4-1, and 5-0 each of the past three years.

“We’ve seen improvement every single year,” Normoyle said. “I played soccer my whole life. I got into rugby as a freshman. It has been the hallmark of my experience here. I think with the leaders on the team who know the sport of rugby and love the game, they will pass down the legend and tradition and sportsmanship.”