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10 | Wednesday, February 14, 2001 | The Rf.d & Black
SPORTS
► Freshman
Corrie
Drakulich has
already made
an impact for
Georgia,
setting a
women’s
indoor pole
vaulting
record in her
first meet
STEPHEN JONES | The Red * Black
Freshman vaults
into record books
By KAREN JOHNSON
For The Red & Black
Corrie Drakulich knows the
importance of a first impression.
At her first track meet Jan. 20
in Kentucky, the freshman from
Portland, Ore. placed first in the
women’s indoor pole vault with a
12-05.50 score.
Not only did Drakulich place
first, she set a new school record
and qualified for the NCAA
Indoor Championship.
As this was Drakulich’s first
meet at the coUegiate level, she
admits to feeling some anxiety.
“I expected to choke because
of the pressure,” Drakulich said.
“It felt great to prove to myself
and to my team that I could han
dle the step up from high school
to coUege.”
Finishing her high school sea
son, Drakulich was ranked sixth
in the nation out of high school
women’s vaulters.
Georgia recruited her for
track, but she had some other
options to consider. Out of
Stanford, Harvard and
Princeton, she chose to come to
Athens.
“An athlete of her caliber adds
to the credibility of an institu
tion like the University of
Georgia,” head coach Wayne
Norton said.
Drakulich said when she came
to the University for a visit last
year, she fell in love with the
campus.
Being offered a Foundation
Fellowship Scholarship, which
pays for her schooling, was the
deciding factor for her; Drakulich
committed to coming to the
track team.
“Corrie gives women vaulters
coming to Georgia and girls in
high school someone to look up
to,” pole-vaulting coach Aaron
James said. “It’s immeasurable
the contribution she has made to
our vaulting team and to our
team as a whole.”
Drakulich, who first tried
pole-vaulting in the eighth
grade, has trained with a coach
for three years. She said she
liked the sport as a child because
no one else her age did it.
“I wanted to be one of the first
girls to do it,” she said, “because
most girls couldn’t.”
Along with track, Drakulich
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participated in both soccer and
basketball in high school. After
tearing both of her ACLs playing
soccer by her senior year in high
school, she had to quit playing
soccer and basketball.
The tearing of her ligaments is
what inspired her to want to
become an orthopedic surgeon.
She is majoring in genetics, and
is considering a minor in
Spanish.
“I’m real ambitious right
now,” said Drakulich, who will
travel with the Foundation
Fellows to Hungary and England
this summer.
As for the remainder of the
season, Drakulich hopes to clear
13-5 in order to automatically
qualify for the NCAA Outdoor
Championship, which is held in
her home state at the University
of Oregon.
Drakulich and the rest of the
track team can next be seen at
the SEC Championships in
Lexington, Ky. on Feb. 24 and 25.
Shrieves prepares for rival Alabama
By GENTRY ESTES
gestes@randb.com
It’s doubtful that any of the No. 4 Gym
Dogs are more motivated for Friday’s dual
meet at arch rival, second-ranked
Alabama, than Kathleen Shrieves is.
Landing a vault awkwardly in the sec
ond rotation of last season's battle in
Tuscaloosa, the Georgia senior hyper-
extended both knees, crying out in pain
before a packed Coleman Coliseum crowd.
As the final moments of a Crimson Tide
victory played out, a fan taunted Shrieves
as she hobbled back from the training
room.
“(Georgia coach) Suzanne Yoculan and I
were walking over toward the beam,”
Shrieves said. “This lady was sitting right
above the beam. She sits there every year.
She looks down at me and screams, ‘You’re
pitiful!’ I looked up at her and I’m like, ‘I’m
not even competing.’ You know, this is a
gymnastics meet. It’s not football.”
Shrieves’ injury sent the Gym Dogs into
an emotional downspiral, culminating in a
196.5-195.8 defeat.
Upon a return visit to Alabama to open
the 2001 season, Shrieves’ Tuscaloosa trou
bles continued. She fell twice at the Super
Six, off the beam and the uneven bars, an
event where she is a two-time All-
American.
“Alabama has never been a good place
for Kathleen to compete,” Yoculan said.
“She’s always had trouble over there. I
think she gets so much emotion into the
meet; she never has her best performance
there. Kathleen is going to be a big key to
the meet this weekend.”
The best adjectives to describe the
Dayton, Md., native are competitive and
strong-willed. Shrieves returned to the
Gym Dogs two weeks after last year’s
injury at Alabama, which was initially
thought to be as bad as two ACL tears.
The senior has certainly experienced
that before.
She suffered a tom ACL in the 1999 sea
son opener, resulting in extensive surgery
and a medical redshirt.
Those problems should add fuel to
Shrieves’ fire for Friday night, her final trip
STEPHEN JONES | The Red a Black
a Gym Dog senior Kathleen Shrieves
looks forward to the upcoming meet
in Tuscaloosa, a city that has not
been kind to her in past seasons.
to Tuscaloosa.
“There has been adversity and disap
pointments on a regular basis for her,”
Yoculan said. “There’s also been a lot of
rewards, but it’s been back and forth, like
an emotional roller coaster her entire
career.”
As opposed to previous years, Shrieves
is in more of a leadership role this time
around. One of four seniors on this year’s
team, She’s helped guide Georgia’s six
freshmen through the rigors of collegiate
gymnastics.
According to Yoculan, Shrieves’ ability
to lead the younger pups comes naturally.
“Everyone on the team has a real close
relationship with Kathleen,” Yoculan said.
“She’s like the mother of the team. She
always looks out for everyone else.
Kathleen’s very outspoken, and she has a
real strong aura. People don’t go against
her —they follow her. If Kathleen’s not
doing well, it affects the atmosphere in this
gym tremendously.”
After stumbling a bit to open this year,
Shrieves has turned into one of Georgia’s
top performers. She scored a 9.95 on bars
and a 9.85 on beam in Saturday’s tight win
over Michigan. Both marks tied her sea
son-highs.
“I think it’s starting to come together,”
Shrieves said. “I had an extremely rough
start. My first meet, generally, since I’ve
been here hasn’t been real good. I came
back in and started working. My beam rou
tine is coming along. On bars, I learned a
new skill and decided to throw that in.”
The 21-year-old Shrieves, like two other
seniors, is a specialty gymnast. She only
competes on her two events, rather than
many of the freshmen who compete as all-
arounders on all four.
Having noticed at the Super Six what an
Alabama crowd can be like, the rookie Gym
Dogs know how important it is to beat the
Crimson Tide.
“I think they’ve picked up on the rivalry
with Alabama,” said Shrieves of the fresh
men. “Just at the Super Six, seeing some of
the fans heckle and what not, I think they
picked up on it already. They feel the same
way we do about it.”
The Gym Dogs will enter Coleman as an
underdog.
Since the two teams tied at January’s
Super Six, Alabama has been ranked ahead
of Georgia nearly all season, and has
scored above a 197 several times.
Meanwhile, Georgia had lagged behind
with a top score of 196.675.
Nevertheless, Shrieves and the other
Gym Dogs eagerly await a chance at
redemption.
“Just from Alabama last year, from what
happened, I think that makes us want it
that much more,” Shrieves said.
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