(Salisbury, Md. Daily Times)
PRINCESS ANNE – When University of Maryland Eastern Shore senior Matthew Lang arrived in Orlando, Fla. Last week, he was on a mission.
A member of last year’s UMES Honda Campus All-Star Challenge team, Lang remembers losing to South Carolina State University in the quarterfinals of the national academic competition for historically black colleges and universities.
“It didn’t sit well with me,” the senior from Prince George’s County said Wednesday.
So last weekend when coach Jackie Thomas told the tea, a rematch with South Carolina State University was coming, Lang, now team captain, saw his chance for vindication.
“He said, ‘Doc, we got this,’” Thomas said Wednesday.
Lang’s confidence in his team propelled UMES over South Carolina State, pushing the school to its first appearance in the finals of the 15-year contest.
However, the UMES team fell short of the championship, losing to Atlanta’s Morehouse College.
Still, finishing second out of 64 schools earned UMES $25,000 in grant money, Thomas said. Lang also received an additional $1,000 for being the tournament’s second-highest individual scorer.
“This is one of the best teams I’ve ever coached,” Thomas said.
Earl Holland, a junior from Snow Hill, credits the team’s diverse background – all five of the students have different majors – as their strength.
“No part was greater than the other,” he said. “Some schools were clearly one-man shows and one-man shows can be shut down.”
Senior Mumbi Thande-Kamiru said having three women on the team gave UMES some balance and a different perspective.
With a regional qualifying competition at UMES in February and a round-robin elimination round before the finals, first-time members of the team were thrown into a flurry of activities.
But for the team’s two rookies, freshman Quinnisha Smith of Delmar, and New York resident Janiece Blackmon, the experience of their teammates and assistant coach Elden Hawkes, a former team captain himself, made competing for the first time easier.
“When I saw the flyer, I had no idea what to expect,” Blackmon said. “But the veterans walked us through.”
Smith agreed.
“Mumbi is my mentor,” she said.
Despite not winning the competition, Thomas said UMES’ finish is still a good building block for its reputation.
“It was a wonderful learning experience for our students, and they demonstrated on a national stage they can compete with anyone,” he said.
