As the baseball season reaches its twilight, the pieces are starting to fall in place. The excitement of the division races is slowly giving way to reality, and the playoff image is becoming much clearer.
The Hoosiers will finally start their season this weekend in Champaign, Ill., at the Northern Invitational. Their original opening tournament, the Mary Fossum Invitational, was postponed in the wake of terrorist attacks on the United States. Head coach Sam Carmichael will fill out his lineup with sophomore Karen Dennison in the top spot, followed by fellow sophomores Mary Lidester and Danah Ford, junior Cara Stuckey and senior captain Tiffany Fisher. Sophomore Ambry Bishop will travel with the team to compete as an individual.
Looking down the field hockey roster, one might notice something missing from the lineup. There is not a single player on the team from the state of Indiana. The field hockey team is one of only two varsity sports teams that do not have a homegrown competitor on the squad. But it does boast eight players from neighboring Illinois on its roster of 22.
This week, as America has attempted to return to some semblemce of normal routine, athletes have returned to the playing fields. The men's soccer team will resume their schedule Thursday as they head to the University of Louisville. Head Coach Jerry Yeagley said the fact that many people are trying to get on with their lives, in spite of last week's tragedy, makes an important statement.
When junior Jenn Wangerin first arrived at IU, she had no idea what the Little 500 was. She used a rented bike, didn't know much about competitive cycling and was only in it for the recreation. Less than a year later, she was celebrating a Little 500 championship with her team, the Roadrunners. Wangerin now has her own bike and a name recognized in the cycling world. She recently brought home four national championship jerseys from the Collegiate Track Finals at the Major Taylor Velodome in Indianapolis.
The women's volleyball team had few problems holding its ground Tuesday against Indiana State University. The Hoosiers got a quick lead in the first game, dominating the Sycamores by as many as 10 points. After the first timeout, the Hoosiers came back to the court with a 12-5 lead. Sophomore and outside hitter Nikki Hill recorded 13 kills in three games.
A sophomore this year, Karen Dennison has already logged valuable playing experience on her collegiate resume for the women's golf team. Dennison played in 20 rounds, registering a 78.5 stroke average while garnering three top-25 finishes as a true freshman. Now, with the new season opening this weekend in Champaign, Ill., at the Northern Invitational, Dennison looks to begin another successful season.
Head baseball coach Bob Morgan knows Ohio well. A native of Findlay, Ohio, Morgan attended Ohio University and has coached at Wooster College and Kent State.
As the women's cross country team practices, senior Stephanie Magley can only watch. She attends the practices, but only to help time the other athletes. She said she wishes she could be out there running, but for now, she will have to wait. This was going to be Magley's senior year as a member of the cross country and track teams. A car crash with a semi changed all that. She said she's lucky to be alive.
Four games into the regular season and the only side effects sophomore goalkeeper Shaunna Daugherty has experienced are a couple of sore throats. Being a loudmouth is a part of the job description for being a goalkeeper. And being vocal on the field is something at which Daugherty excels. "It can take a number on your voice after games," Daugherty said. "You got to be talking continuously."
Sophomore Melissa Brewer said it was easy to chose where she would attend college. She has always lived in Bloomington and said she plans to spend the rest of her life here. The 6'1" middle blocker said she loves her hometown. That was the deciding factor in where she would attend college. "Pretty much, if they offered me a spot on the team, I was coming here," Brewer said, "I didn't even look at any other schools. I just left it up to IU." Brewer said she noticed a major difference between playing for Bloomington North High School and playing as a Hoosier.
The men's cross country meet scheduled for today at Purdue has been suspended out of respect for those who lost their lives in terrorist acts that have shaken the country to its foundation. The Indiana Intercollegiate meet was canceled along with all other Indiana athletic events this weekend. It follows the precedent set by Major League Baseball and other colleges around the country. Coach Robert Chapman referred his comment to the official IU athletic department press release.
The women's golf team had high hopes for their season debut at the Mary Fossum Invitational this weekend in East Lansing, Michigan. But in the aftermath of Tuesday's national tragedy and the wake of IU's across-the-board cancellation of all weekend athletic events, those hopes -- at least temporarily -- have been put on hold. "We're really wanting to play, because we've worked hard and it's time to go out there and see how we compare to other teams," junior Cara Stuckey said prior to the athletic department's decision. "We're ready to play, but if it does get canceled, we'll just move on to the next tournament."
Last season, in her effort to snatch tickets to a football game, a North Carolina State student ended up in the hospital. Bumps, scrapes and bruises all for a seat in Carter-Finley Stadium. David Lovell wishes he had the same problem. Lovell, the director of marketing and promotions for IU athletics, has a job that doesn't carry much glamour. At least each fall. Lovell heads the effort to fill Memorial Stadium, a 52,180-seat football facility that averaged a crowd of 30,639 fans per game last season, the lowest season-long average since 1964.
Two members of the men's basketball coaching staff were stuck in Maryland Tuesday night following the national tragedies in New York and Washington. Head coach Mike Davis and assistant coach Jim Thomas traveled to Maryland on a recruiting trip and planned to return Tuesday. But the shutdown of all commercial flights across the country left them stranded. Davis and Thomas attempted to rent a car Tuesday, but were unable to do so until Wednesday morning, when they drove back to Indiana.
One of the many affected industries of the terrorist attack on America is the world of sports, which has come to a screeching halt. Since sports is essentially entertainment, it is a very tender issue after such a tragedy.
ST. LOUIS -- Tiger Woods teed off at dawn, when the world was at peace. First reports of terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and then the Pentagon were relayed to him by Joe Corless, a retired FBI agent who heads security for the PGA Tour and walked the practice round with him at Bellerive Country Club.
NASCAR on Tuesday canceled qualifying for the New Hampshire 300 following terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, but the sanctioning body made no decision concerning the race itself.
SALT LAKE CITY -- Stunned Olympic officials said Tuesday that security for the 2002 Winter Olympics will be completely re-evaluated in the wake of terrorist attacks on America. But they vowed the games will go on as planned five months from now.
ST. LOUIS -- The PGA Tour canceled Thursday's starts of the World Golf Championship and two other tournaments because of terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
Solutions by The State News