DATE: Friday, February 28, 1997             TAG: 9702280848

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C3   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: CIAA Report 

SOURCE: JAMES C. BLACK

LENGTH: 43 lines

HAMLER IS CIAA'S COACH OF THE YEAR

Hamler is CIAA's coach of the year

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Elizabeth City State coach Barry Hamler was honored Tuesday night for the Vikings' turnaround this season.

Hamler, a former coach Booker T. Washington High in Norfolk, was named the CIAA Coach of the Year at the men's award banquet.

The Vikings were 8-23 in 1994-95 but improved to 15-12 last year in Hamler's first season. This year, the Vikings (19-5) won the Northern Division title and were considered one of the favorites to win the tournament. They advanced Thursday to the CIAA semifinals.

Southern rising

The Northern Division's dominance of the tournament may soon come to an end.

No Southern foe has won the tournament since ``Bighouse'' Gaines' 1977 Winston-Salem State team. Now, with just one Northern team - ECSU - in the semifinals, the Southern Division appears primed for the ``changing of the guard.''

Enough already

If nothing else, the tournament is guaranteed to have fresh faces in the final.

Norfolk State and Virginia Union, winners of the last five tournaments, will miss the semifinals in the same year for the first time since 1982.

NSU women carry

school's standard alone

Norfolk State's hopes of ending CIAA competition by defending the title are still alive for the Spartanettes. But just like the men's team, the Spartanettes are not considered the team to beat.

NSU (20-7) plays Fayetteville State (23-3) today at noon. If the Spartanettes prevail, they could possibly face Bowie State (26-1), which has won 24 in a row, in the final.

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