Sharon Versyp enjoys an active lifestyle, but she’ll be spending the summer recuperating from knee surgery.

The University of Maine women’s basketball coach recently underwent surgery to remove cartilage from her right knee, which has bothered her for many years.

“I’ve already had three knee surgeries,” said Versyp, who is gearing up for her second year as UMaine’s head coach. “I have a bad cartilage problem. Anything I did, it just killed [hurt] and swelled up.”

Versyp expects to be on crutches for at least another week and will be working out of her home in Glenburn until she’s able to drive again. She is hoping to be mobile for the busy months of July and August, during which she’ll be doing summer clinics and taking recruiting trips.

Her eventual goal is to be more active without pain in the knee.

UMaine players Eva Moldre and Ellen Geraghty have added an international dimension to the offseason.

Moldre, a 6-foot-3 senior center from Tallinn, Estonia, returned to her native country last month and played for the Estonian national team.

“She had a great experience over there,” Versyp said.

Junior guard Ellen Geraghty has left for a two-week stint playing in the Czech Republic with Athletes in Action.

Geraghty, a 5-foot-9 guard, hopes to see former teammate Martina Tinklova during her visit.

“It will be a great experience,” Versyp said. “It’s great having those two kids be able to play.”

The focus of the UMaine women’s basketball team during the latter part of the spring semester – besides their academic work – was to hit the weights.

Versyp said the concentrated weightlifting and training regimen appears to have paid dividends for the Bears.

“It’s phenomenal. You can see the difference with the kids,” she said. “Most of them increased their vertical leap two to three inches, increased their bench press 10 to 15 pounds and 5-10 pounds in the legs.”

The key now is for team members to carry the training over into the summer months.

“They have to be self-motivated and that’s what I told them,” Versyp said.

Versyp stressed to her players the value of playing a lot this summer, especially against men.

“I want them to play against guys one-on-one and pickup,” Versyp said. “That will make them better, quicker…”

On the injury front, sophomore Pam Cruz and freshman recruit Kristin Peterson continue to recuperate from their respective knee surgeries.

Cruz, a 5-6 point guard, was injured last summer and has made a long, slow recovery. Versyp said Cruz’s challenge will be to get back into good playing shape.

Peterson missed her entire senior high school season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament. However, Versyp said she has made good progress and should be ready to go once she arrives in Orono in August.

McGowan an All-American

UMaine women’s track and field standout Vanessa McGowan was selected to the Verizon Academic All-America University Division Women’s Spring At-Large National Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

She also made the squad during the winter season.

McGowan, who has a 4.00 grade point average, set a school record in the 800 meters at the ECAC Championships with a time of 2:09.48. She also broke a 16-year-old school record in the 1,500 with a time of 4:32.49 at the New England Championships to earn All-New England honors.

The Verizon Academic All-American Teams are selected by a vote of the 1,800-member CoSIDA. Nominees must be a varsity starter and maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.20 on a scale of 4.00.