A man walks on a pier as Hurricane Earl heads toward the eastern coast in Atlantic Beach, N.C.
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EmailWith Hurricane Earl tracking up the East Coast of the U.S., many schools are expecting to get wet.
UNC-Wilmington already was starting to feel the effects of the storm Thursday morning. Seahawks coach Matt Clark noticed a change instantly.
“Two hours ago, it was pretty out,” Clark said Thursday morning. “Now the skies are gray, with some rain starting to come down, but school is still open.”
The university, which began its first day of classes Aug. 18, open Thursday and not expecting to close, Clark said. He added that many local residents expect plenty of rain this afternoon, with a return to seasonal weather on Friday.
The center of Earl, a Category 4 - or major - storm, was about 300 miles south of Cape Hatteras, N.C., at midday Thursday. Officials expanded mandatory-evacuation orders across new areas of the state’s low-lying barrier islands.
Hurricane watches and warnings were posted along the Atlantic coast for most of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and part of Massachusetts.
According to golfstat.com, the only college event scheduled this weekend on the East Coast was the Hamilton Quadrangular in Delhi, N.Y., on Saturday and Sunday. The PGA Tour was playing the second FedEx Cup playoff event at TPC Boston in Norton, Mass.
“I fully expect the bad weather to hit us hard today,” Clark said. “Tomorrow, though, it’s supposed to be sunny, in the 90s and 25-mph winds, and all of that will make for a very interesting qualifying round at The Country Club of Landfall.”
The Seahawks finished the 2009-10 season No. 76 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings and failed to advance to the NCAA Championship after a 10th-place showing at the NCAA East Regional. UNC-Wilmington will begin the season on Sept. 18 at the Maryland Intercollegiate.
Senior Josh Brock is expected to be the team’s No. 1 player after finishing the season No. 131 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings. Freshman Payne McLeod, who won the inaugural North Carolina Match Play Championship in August, and Stephan Brewer, last year’s Colonial Athletic Association rookie of the year, also are expected to be key contributors.
