For pole vaulter, Obama a high

Coppin's new $136 million facility scheduled for fall 2009 opening

By Mike Klingaman

September 5, 2008

Jamahl Strachan (right), a UMES pole vaulter and former Senate intern, poses with Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in Washington. (Handout photo / September 3, 2008)

Jamahl Strachan is a pole vaulter, but the UMES senior felt like he would never soar higher than when he chatted with Barack Obama this summer.

Strachan, a senior, was an intern in Obama's U.S. Senate office for two months and met briefly with the Democratic presidential candidate on the steps of the Capitol.

"He [Obama] was cool and down to earth," said Strachan, who is from Nassau in the Bahamas. "It wasn't, like, two seconds of 'Hi' and 'Hello.' He shook the interns' hands, posed for pictures and spoke with us for 10 minutes. I'm really not partisan, but ... we were blown away."

A criminal justice major, Strachan said he hopes to attend law school after graduation. Last spring, he placed second in the decathlon at the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championships.

"Without sports, I wouldn't even be in college," said Strachan, who has an athletic scholarship. "I would have had no opportunity to get myself started."

Fall '09 for Coppin facility

The target for the opening of Coppin State's $136million athletic facility is the fall of 2009. The complex will have everything from basketball and tennis courts to the outdoor track the school needs. Its track team now practices at local colleges.

What Coppin still won't have is a football field, said Derrick Ramsey, the school's new athletic director and a former NFL player: "If we could find another 100 acres here ..." he said.

UM field hockey: 500 wins

Its 500th team victory was payback for the Maryland field hockey team, ranked No.2 in the preseason NCAA coaches poll. In defeating No.6 Penn State, 1-0, Monday, the Terrapins avenged their loss in the second round of last year's NCAA tournament.

Fourteen minutes remained when captain Susie Rowe scored, giving Maryland win No.500 since the program's inception in 1974. The Terps (2-0) were national champions in 2005 and 2006.

The win at State College was doubly sweet, coach Missy Meharg said. "We stopped in Lancaster [Pa.] at one of our players' homes and ate s'mores over a campfire," she said. "They gave us a little luck, so we'll get at them again."

Next up: today's home opener against No.6 Old Dominion at 3p.m.

Greyhounds bond on trip

The 10-day trip to Italy was supposed to bring the Loyola women's basketball team together.

Mission accomplished, said coach Joe Logan, whose charges returned Sunday from the European jaunt with a 3-1 record.

"The players' cell phones didn't work over there, so they were forced to rediscover the art of conversation," Logan said. "They also had to come together to figure out everything from money conversions to directions on going places.

"Yes, we made big strides in bonding. We're definitely closer as a team."

Want proof? Check out the video that guard Erica DiClemente made during the trip.

"On one bus ride between cities, a couple of us taped the players and coaches sleeping, snoring and bobbing their heads," DiClemente said. "We've got good footage of humiliation."

And the games? One-sided but rough, DiClemente said. "The refs were difficult at times," she said. "They didn't know too much English, so we could have yelled at them. But we didn't."

Overall, Loyola (13-17 last season) handled the mix of basketball and culture well, the coach said.

"By day, we'd tour the Vatican or a castle in San Marino and then play a game that night," Logan said. "For us, it was a different game-day experience, but it worked. When we play at George Washington [University] this year, maybe we'll visit the White House that morning."

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For pole vaulter, Obama a high