NORFOLK, Va. (Oct. 5, 2023)--Morgan State sophomore Johnna Hill, the reigning MEAC Rookie of the Year, was named to the 2023-24 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Preseason Bowling Team. The Morgan State bowling team was picked to finish fifth in Thursday's MEAC Preseason Bowling Poll.
 
North Carolina A&T State graduate student Lauren Tomaszewski was named 2023-24 MEAC Preseason Bowler of the Year, while the three-time defending champion North Carolina A&T State Aggies are the preseason favorites to repeat. All awards were voted on by the league's head coaches and sports information directors.
 
A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., Hill, also earned First-Team All-MEAC honors last season. She bowled a total of 728 frames last season and averaged 20.24 pins per frame and had an overall fill of 85.4%. Hill had a strike percentage of 52.0 and converted 90.7% of her single-pin spares.
 
Joining Hill and Tomasewski on the Preseason All-MEAC Team are Melanie Katen and Chloe Newberry of North Carolina A&T and Brook Roberts (Maryland Eastern Shore).

N.C. A&T, which finished the 2022-23 season ranked No. 6 in the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) Top 25 poll, received 16 of a possible 18 first-place votes and ended up with 160 points in the preseason poll. Maryland Eastern Shore (one first-place vote) was second with 138 points, followed by Monmouth (110 points), Delaware State (one first-place vote, 107 points) and Morgan State (89 points) to round out the top five.
 
The University of Alabama-Birmingham received 88 points for sixth, while Coppin State (43 points), Norfolk State (40 points) were picked seventh and eighth, respectively. Howard was picked ninth with a total of 35 points.

The Lady Bears open the 2023-24 season on the road next weekend in the Penguin Classic at Holiday Bowl in Struthers, Ohio on Oct. 13-15), hosted by Youngstown State. The 2024 MEAC Bowling Championship will be held on March 22-24, 2024 at the Buffaloe Lanes North Family Bowling Center in Raleigh, N.C.
 

About the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is in its 53^rd year of intercollegiate competition with the 2023-24 academic school year. Located in Norfolk, Va., the MEAC is made up of eight outstanding historically black institutions across the Atlantic coastline: Coppin State University, Delaware State University, Howard University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Morgan State University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina Central University and South Carolina State University. For more information about the MEAC, visit www.MEACSports.com.
 
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ABOUT MORGAN
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified high research (R2) institution offering nearly 140 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland's Preeminent Public Urban Research University, and the only university to have its entire campus designated as a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Morgan serves a multiethnic and multiracial student body and seeks to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. For more information about Morgan State University, visit www.morgan.edu.