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Sharon Versyp has only been at the University of Maine for three seasons, but already it is apparent she is among the nation’s up-and-coming women’s basketball coaches.
According to a report in Thursday’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Versyp was among four coaches interviewed recently for the head coaching job at the University of Pittsburgh. The school announced Thursday it had hired longtime Georgia Tech coach Agnus Berenato to replace Traci Waites.
Versyp could not be reached for comment Friday.
Versyp, 37, has guided the Black Bears to a 53-34 record (.609) in three seasons and directed UMaine to the America East regular-season championship last season. The Bears lost to Boston University in the league title game and participated in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament where they suffered a first-round loss to eventual semifinalist Creighton.
Versyp is nearing the end of the third year of a five-year contract at UMaine. According to former interim athletic director Paul Bubb, she was due under contract terms to have that deal reviewed prior to next season.
Even though she has only been a collegiate head coach for three years, Versyp has exhibited the kind of basketball knowledge, background and coaching success higher-level Division I programs covet. At UMaine, she has helped turn a very inexperienced team into a consistent winner in a very short time.
While the Pittsburgh interview may be the first to become public, it should be expected Versyp will be a candidate elsewhere in the coming years, especially if UMaine continues to achieve a high level of success.
America East lost one of its top coaches earlier this week when Keith Cieplicki stepped down at Vermont to become the head women’s basketball coach at Syracuse.
Maine baseball not up the Creek
The UMaine baseball team has rounded third and is headed into the home stretch of its season as it travels to New York this weekend for a four-game America East series against Albany.
With 12 league games remaining, the Bears are looking to stay atop the league standings.
“We’re in the stretch. We’re in the time that we need to start playing,” said coach Paul Kostacopoulos.
Kostacopoulos has been grooming a predominately inexperienced pitching staff into a balanced unit. As part of that effort sophomore Greg Creek of Chelsea, who was recruited primarily as an infielder, has been valuable in both relief and starting pitching roles.
Lately, Creek has earned his way into the regular lineup at first base by swinging a hot bat. Creek has started six games in recent weeks and has emerged as one of the Bears’ top hitters with a .350 average, including a home run and 12 RBIs.
“We’ve got to use him. He’s been hitting the ball,” Kostacopoulos said of using Creek at first base in addition to any pitching duties.
However, he is concerned about overburdening Creek with the task of balancing his dual roles.
“We can’t burn him out, either,” Kostacopoulos said. “We’ve got to be careful about how much we use him.”
Creek likens the situation to his high school days, when he both pitched and played in the field. He seems to be enjoying the challenge.
“In practice, that’s what I do all year,” Creek said. “I’ll be taking hacks in the cage and then I’ll get called over to throw a bullpen. It’s not that big of a deal.”
While some of his fellow pitchers brag the batting average of the staff is .350, other teammates marvel at Creek’s versatility.
“Creek’s a really good athlete,” said senior captain Joe Drapeau of Biddeford. “Even though he’s a pitcher, he can still play the other tools of the game like hit and throw. You need guys like that.”
Look for Creek to play at least a couple of games at first this weekend and be available to pitch coming out of the bullpen as junior Ryan Harris is expected to get a start in Sunday’s second game.
Rybalko, Jentzer receive honor
Viktoriya Rybalko and Jacob Jentzer of the University of Maine have been inducted into the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa Society, the nation’s oldest honor society.
Phi Beta Kappa is the nation’s leading advocate for liberal arts and sciences at the undergraduate level.
Rybalko, a senior track and field performer for the Black Bears, holds a 3.65 grade point average in microbiology. The native of Zaporzhye, Ukraine, holds 11 UMaine track and field standards and won the school’s Dean Smith Award, given annually to the male and female student-athletes who exhibit exemplary academic and athletic achievement along with leadership and character.
Jentzer, a senior swimmer from Bangor, is double-majoring in biochemistry and psychology with a 4.0 GPA.
He was the 2002 America East champion in the 100-yard freestyle and holds the UMaine record in the 100-yard butterfly.
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