The Virginian-Pilot
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, January 15, 1995               TAG: 9501150221
SECTION: SPORTS                   PAGE: C11  EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY KEVIN DOEPP, STAFF WRITER
                                             LENGTH: Medium:   94 lines

NORFOLK STATE'S NEW BASEBALL FIELD WON'T BE READY FOR 1995 SEASON

The Norfolk State baseball team won't be playing any home games this season.

Due to construction delays to the proposed new field, the Spartans will be using Poplar Hall Field, a city park field located near the Military Circle mall, for home games.

The new million-dollar Spartan complex won't be ready for use until the 1996 season.

``The new field will be ready sometime in April or May, but the bleachers and the press boxes won't,'' said sports information director John Holley.

Right now Poplar Hall Field is under renovation. The infield and the pitching mound are the focus of the work being done.

``I don't think that playing on this field is going to hurt us,'' said Spartan baseball coach Marty Miller. ``We play fairly well away from home.''

The Spartans open the season on Feb. 19 at Elon College.

OLD DOMINION REPORT: The Monarch men's and women's swimming season has begun.

In a meet against the College of Charleston, the men's team prevailed, 139-61, and the women's team won by a point, 116-115.

In the meet Old Dominion set four school records. John Wenham set a record in the 800 freestyle with a time of 8:31.86 and in the 400 freestyle with a time of 4:11.21. Lady Monarch Shelly Sadler set a record in the 800 freestyle with a time of 10:14.10. Amanda Quinn also set a record in the 400 freestyle with a time 4:49.27.

Brian Wehner (Green Run) won the men's one-meter diving.

NORFOLK STATE REPORT: The Spartan wrestling team boasts four players from South Hampton Roads.

Co-captain Corey Williams (Princess Anne) is 8-0 overall and 6-0 in dual matches with two pins in the 134-pound weight class. Williams also wrestles at 142 pounds, where he is 6-2 overall and 2-1 in duals. Co-captain and 1993-94 All-American Charles Daniels (First Colonial) is 13-3 overall and 7-2 in duals at 167 pounds. Nathan Kennedy (Deep Creek) is 5-4 overall and 0-1 in duals at 142 pounds. Felton Woodson (Deep Creek) is 8-8 overall and 3-6 in duals at 158 pounds.

The Spartans next action is Saturday and today in the South Regionals at Garner-Webb.

The women's basketball team is off to a roaring start. They are 11-1 overall and are 6-0 in the CIAA. Kristi Greene leads the team in scoring (19.8 ppg. and 8.3 rebounds). Michelle Sessoms (Wilson), cousin of Old Dominion's Petey Sessoms, is averaging 4.2 points and 3.7 rebounds.

VIRGINIA WESLEYAN UPDATE: The men's basketball team improved its record to 4-4 in the conference and 7-6 overall with Saturday's 82-59 victory over Roanoke.

James MacLeod is the Marlins' leading scorer and ranks 11th in the conference. MacLeod is averaging 13.3 points and 4.1 rebounds. Freshman Percy Slight (Indian River) is second on the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 13 points and 4.8 boards. Slight is right behind MacLeod on the conference scoring leaderboard, ranking 12th.

Sean Blackwell (Manor) leads the team in rebounding with 7.7 boards per game, fifth in the conference. Ryan Bradford leads the ODAC in 3-point field goal percentage at 57.8 percent.

The Lady Marlins dropped to 4-4 in the conference and 6-4 overall after Saturday's 75-69 loss to Roanoke.

Point guard Amy Beisch (Kempsville) garnered ODAC Player of the Week honors, tallying 19 points and eight assists in a 77-60 victory over Emory and Henry. She also scored 23 points and added seven assists in a 68-57 victory over Washington and Lee. Beisch leads the team in scoring and assists, averaging 13.4 points and 3.9 assists. Ericka Bynum (Manor) leads the team in rebounding (8.1) and is second in scoring (13.0). Kris Hopkins (Norfolk Christian) scored a season-high 26 points in a 78-76 loss at Guilford.

CAPTAINS REPORT: Christopher Newport freshman basketball player Eric Vaughan (Bayside) is tearing up the Dixie Conference. Vaughan leads the conference with 10.1 rebounds per game and is second on the team in scoring (15.4) . He is 26th in the nation in rebounding in Division III. Vaughan was named Dixie rookie of the week for the third straight week. He was also named South Region player of the week by Columbus Multi Media. He had a career-high 31 points and 22 rebounds against Newport News Apprentice. . . . Matt Bryant (Deep Creek) is averaging 7.9 points and 2.9 rebounds per game for Newport. He has started in 9 of 12 games.

For the Lady Captains, Keisha Joseph is seventh on the team in scoring (6.4) and rebounds (7.2), off the bench. Tennille Smith (Deep Creek) has contributed 6.8 points and seven rebounds per game. Dana Edwards (Isle of Wight), who has played in five games, is recovering from a knee injury.

ALUMNI UPDATE: Erin Adesso (Salem High), a senior forward at Monmouth College in New Jersey, was named New Jersey Collegiate Basketball Coaches Player of the Week and was also named Northeast Conference co-player of the week. Adesso had a career-high 34 points in a victory over Robert Morris. She was 15 of 24 from the field and ripped down 12 rebounds. Adesso is second in the conference in scoring, averaging 17.5 points. She has also recorded five double-doubles this season. . . . Mary Washington's Ashley Seekford (Churchland) scored 16 points as the Lady Eagles' downed Knoxville College, 96-46. Seekford was 8 of 10 from the floor. by CNB