Hamner closer to full speed

Courtney Hamner's (Osbourn Park '07) return to the basketball court is almost complete. The James Madison University junior guard is participating in everything except scrimmages as she continues to heal from the anterior cruciate ligament injury she suffered last April.

Hamner, who had surgery in May, was out four to five months before being able to get back on the court. Dukes head coach Kenny Brooks hopes to have Hamner back by early December.

"She's doing everything except playing five on five," Brooks said. "She's beating everyone in sprints."

Hamner, who has played a key role in helping James Madison go 48-20 over the Past two seasons while setting school records for most games played as a freshman and sophomore (34), was penciled in as a starter before the injury.

"Regardless of whether she starts or not, she's going to be a major player for us," Brooks said.

Brooks said Hamner improved a great deal in the offseason.

"She's going to be more than just at athlete, but a shooter," Brooks said.

Jessica Taylor (Woodbridge '07) has been out for the last three weeks with a pulled hamstring. Virginia Commonwealth University women's basketball coach Beth Cunningham said Taylor was injured in the preseason and then came back and hurt it again. Cunningham said Taylor's status would be evaluated by the end of this week.

"For us to be successful, she will play an integral part," Cunningham said. "She's ready to do that, but it's been frustrating for her. She worked so hard in the preseason and it is unfortunate to have her miss this time. But we're excited to get her back into practice."

The 5-foot-8 Taylor played in 33 games last season with one start in helping the Rams (26-7) tie a school record for wins and reach the program's first-ever NCAA tournament.

Ariene Jenkins (Woodbridge '06) will continue to be relied on by Delaware for her rebounding abilities this season. But she also has expanded her shooting range as well.

"She's worked on her 3-point shot and that's going to help us a lot," Blue Hens head coach Tina Martin said. "But she's definitely going to be a force on the boards."

The 6-1 junior forward has made 45 starts the last two seasons. For the 2008-09 campaign, she led the team with an 8.1 rebounding per game average, while finishing fourth in scoring (8.6).

Danni Jackson (Forest Park '09) is a member of the Atlantic 10's top recruiting class for women's basketball. Jackson joins four other players who make up a group ranked 42nd nationally by ESPN.

Old Dominion University men's basketball coach Blaine Taylor said he is considering the possibility of redshirting Chris Cooper (Forest Park '08) this season. Depth in the frontcourt is a big reason why Taylor might make that move. The Monarchs, who have been picked as the CAA's preseason No. 1 team, return five starters from last year's 25-10 that won the inaugural CIT championship. Among the returners are senior forward Gerald Lee, the league's preseason choice as co-player of the year.

Another reason behind Taylor's thought process is that an extra year could benefit Cooper's development.

"We've got some young post players that we are thinking about red-shirting," Taylor said. "Chris is one that we're going to eyeball on that. [An extra year] could make him that much more tougher as a player."

The 6-9 sophomore forward played in 24 games last year, but was particularly effective in practice down the stretch, challenging the more veteran front court players.

"His contribution was in practice and making them wars," Taylor said.

Taylor said a decision on Cooper's status this season doesn't need to be made until the middle of November at the earliest. Even then, once the regular season starts, Taylor could keep Cooper on the bench and see how things fare from there.

Soccer

Maryellen Derenda (Osbourn Park '08) scored the game-winning goal in overtime a week ago to lift Radford University to a 2-1 win over Winthrop in a Big South Conference game.

SharDavia Bell (Gar-Field '07) tied the game for the Highlanders with her first goal of the season in the 80th minute.

Derenda is third on the team in scoring with six points off three goals.

Latrice Lee (Forest Park '07) has two assists, while Casey Burdette (Woodbridge '09) and Jackie Cozza (Gar-Field '06) each have one assist.

Radford is 8-7 overall and 5-1 in the conference.

Sports editor David Fawcett can be reached at or at 703-878-8052.