Waiting game begins for Queens’ women’s lacrosse

Queens University of Charlotte’s women’s lacrosse team capped its 2015 season with another undefeated run through the SAC and another conference tournament title.

Now the waiting game begins for the Royals: is their season over, or will there be at least one more game?

Queens, ranked 12th in the nation in the latest Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association Division II poll, is waiting to see if it gets one of four available spots in the NCAA Division II playoffs.

“It’s just so tough, because they only take four teams from the south,” Queens coach Julika Blankenship said. “They’re actually expanding it next year, where they take six teams from the south and six from the north.

“We’ve had an awesome run and a huge building year, so we’ll be excited to get back at it this coming fall. This time next year, I think we’ll be in a little different spot.”

The thinking among the Royals – both players and coaches – is that they won’t, considering the teams above them in both the IWLCA poll and the regional rankings.

But that hasn’t stopped them from hoping.

“This is the worst part, the waiting,” senior attacker/midfielder Jena Ready said. “We’re thinking this is probably the last game, and we’re prepared for it to be the last game. But (the SAC title) is just as important to us as an NCAA berth.”

Queens’ 20-10 victory against Lenoir-Rhyne in the April 18 title game at the Queens Sports Complex not only gave the Royals their second straight SAC title but extended their undefeated run against conference opponents to 18 matches.

Ready, a former Charlotte Catholic star and Queens’ leading scorer this season with 58 goals, was named the SAC tournament’s MVP. She had 11 goals and four assists in two tournament games, and was one of six Royals players named all-tournament.

“She’s done some great things here,” Blankenship said.

Ready also earned All-SAC first team honors for the second straight year, and was one of nine Queens players named to the all-conference teams.

“It’s been awesome, and I’m so honored to have been a part of it,” Ready said. “But the thing I’m going to miss the most is definitely the team, more than any accolades or anything like that. The hardest part is knowing I’m not going to be in the locker room with the other 29 girls every day.”

Royals sweep SAC track titles

Queens’ men’s and women’s outdoor track teams swept the team titles at the SAC championship meet, held April 17-18 in Hickory.

It was the second straight SAC title for the Royals women, beating Wingate by 69 points (240-171), while the men edged Wingate by 17 points (178-161) for their first conference title.

The Royals went on to claim 17 individual event titles – 10 by the women’s team, seven by the men’s – with women’s jumper-sprinter Nikia Squire having a hand in four of those.

Squire, a junior, won the women’s long jump and 100- and 200-meter dashes, and ran the leadoff leg on Queens’ women’s 4x100-meter relay team.

Junior long-distance runner Catie Byrd added two individual titles for the Royals, taking the women’s 5,000- and 10,000-meter runs.

Other events winners for Queens were: Khyle Higgs (men’s discus), Florian Bergs (men’s pole vault), Victor Moreau (men’s 1,500-meter run), Johannes Riemann (men’s 110-meter hurdles), Zach Lewis (men’s 400-meter run), James Hollingsworth (men’s 800-meter run), Yannick Stubbe (men’s 5,000-meter run), Johanna Schonecker (women’s javelin), Kim Thiede (women’s pole vault), and Summer McFadden (women’s 800-meter run).

The Royals’ women won in the 4x100-meter relay, ran by Squire, Mystique Ro, Miranda Wood and Silja Muehlebach. Wood also ran on Queens’ winning women’s 4x400-meter relay team along with Lydia Drakeford, Asia Hart and Milan Golding.

This story was originally published April 24, 2015 at 1:29 PM with the headline "Waiting game begins for Queens’ women’s lacrosse."