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UD to celebrate football championship Feb. 10 at BCC 8:41 a.m., Jan. 23, 2004--The University of Delaware will celebrate its NCAA Division I-AA championship football team with a special celebration on Tuesday evening, Feb. 10, at the Bob Carpenter Sports/Convocation Center. The event, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 7 p.m. and will be followed by an autograph session with selected players and Fightin’ Blue Hens Head Coach K.C. Keeler in the Bob Carpenter Center lounge. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. Seating is limited and will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Concessions and national championship souvenir items will be available. The festivities will include appearances by the University of Delaware Marching Band, the cheerleading team and the mascot, YoUDee. The cheerleaders finished sixth and YoUDee third in the recently completed national championships held in Orlando, Fla. Mike Corey, sports director at WRDX-FM The River 94.7 and the radio voice of the Hens, will host the event. All members of the 2003 squad will be honored on stage during the celebration, and a video highlight presentation that recaps the season and features outstanding individual accomplishments will be shown. Various trophies earned by the national champion Hens will also be on display. Among those addressing the crowd will be Keeler, co-captains Mike Adams and Jason Nerys, All-American quarterback Andy Hall, UD President David P. Roselle and Newark Mayor Hal Godwin. Parking at the Bob Carpenter Center will be free, and the UD campus bus service will be available for all students from various campus locations. The Hens enjoyed one of the outstanding seasons in college football history, going 15-1 and setting a school record for victories in a season. The national championship was UD’s sixth football title but its first since winning the 1979 NCAA Division II crown. Keeler was a linebacker on the 1979 team, which was led by College Football Hall of Fame coach Tubby Raymond. After winning their seventh Atlantic 10 Football Conference championship, the Hens swept through the Division I-AA playoffs, outscoring opponents by a combined score 149-23. UD rolled to wins over Southern Illinois, Northern Iowa and Wofford, and crushed Colgate 40-0 in the national title game played Dec. 19 at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tenn. As a result of the championship, the Hens were ranked No. 1 in the final Division I-AA polls, were named winners of the Lambert Cup as the top team in the East for the 18th time and were named Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Team of the Year for the 10th time. The Hens will also receive the Delaware Sportswriters and Broadcasters Association (DSBA) State Team of the Year award on Friday, Jan. 30, in Wilmington. To learn how to subscribe to UDaily, click here. |
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