March, 9, 2003. Datelines, Ithaca, New York; Stony Brook, New York; Elon College, North Carolina; Boston, Massachusetts; and Fairfield, Connecticut. In all of these towns on a seasonal Sunday afternoon, the refrain of a UMBC Retrievers' victory was heard loud and clear.

The first dispatch came in from Head Tennis Coach Keith Puryear. Despite his women's team enormous success over the past several years, UMBC (6-1 this season) had never defeated the strong program from Cornell University. But on this day, the ladies used four singles victories to edge the Big Red, 4-3, and extend their winning streak to six straight.

Then, word came down from Long Island, New York, where Don Zimmerman's men's lacrosse team had the unenviable task of playing Stony Brook, an NCAA qualifier a year ago, as the Sea Wolves opened their new 8,200-seat Stadium. The Retrievers had not played in 16 days, but held USB scoreless for over 42 minutes as they built an 8-0 lead and posted a 12-6 victory. UMBC will put their 2-0 record against 6th-ranked Georgetown's 2-0 mark on Saturday in the first game the squad will play at home in 2003.

Next to phone in was Head Softball Coach Joe French. The Retrievers had posted a dramatic victory over James Madison to win the Elon (NC) Phoenix Classic. UMBC had blown a 4-2 lead in the top of the seventh, but collected a pair of two-out RBI hits in the bottom of the frame to defeat JMU, 6-5. Senior Abbie Kahn (Fairfax, VA) got the game-winning hit and was named Tournament MVP.

An exuberant Murray Davis left word that senior Huguens Jean had rewritten the record books at the ICAAAA Indoor Track & Field Championships at Boston University. Jean, who recently won the high and triple jumps to become the Most Valuable Athlete at the NEC Championships, won Sunday's high jump with an effort of 7'1.25". That mark was a new facility record and propelled the Oakland Mills graduate to next weekend's NCAA Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

To cap it off, the women's basketball team continued its improbable run, as the 7th-seeded Retrievers knocked off #3 Monmouth, 48-40, to become UMBC's first Division I basketball team to reach a conference championship game. A day earlier, Phil Stern's team had knocked off #2 Quinnipiac at the NEC Tournament held at Sacred Heart University. They take on #1-seeded St. Francis (PA) this Saturday at 4 p.m. in Loretto, PA.

The final record of the day belonged to The Retriever Sports Hotline. Running Time: 7:31.