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SPORTS
The Red & Black | Friday, April 29, 2005 | 11
Seniors hope to end careers on top
SEC SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT STANDINGS
(records only SEC play):
8. LSU
9-15
9. Ole Miss
7-17
1. Georgia 24-3
10. Arkansas
4-19
2. Alabama 19-5
11. Kentucky
3-20
3. Auburn 19-7
4. Tennessee 14-8
>- South Carolina owns the tie
5. Florida 15-9
breaker against LSU 2-1
6. Miss. St. 11-16
>- Only the top eight teams
7. South Carolina 9-15
advance to the tournament
FILE | The Red & Black
A The Georgia softball team celebrates as
teammates score during a game earlier this month.
By RYAN CRAWFORD
rcrawford@randb.com
When No. 12 Alabama
comes to Athens for a three-
game series this weekend, sev
eral Georgia players will not
only try to bring a good end to
the team’s regular season, but
also to their careers.
Seniors Kim Wendland,
Michelle Green and Katie
Lewis will play in their final
regular season games this
weekend.
“It’s going to be sad to leave
all my teammates,” Lewis said.
“But we have a chance to do
something special this sea
son.”
All three players have con
tributed a lot to the Bulldogs
success over the past four sea
sons.
Wendland leaves as the
school’s all-time leader in
home runs (36), RBIs (230)
and doubles (64).
“It’s a little bittersweet,”
Wendland said. “It’s been a
long five years for me personal
ly, but it’s still hard to leave.”
Green holds several school
records of her own, including
wins (98), ERA (1.26) and
strikeouts (1,029).
“I haven’t really given much
thought to (the end of my
career coming up),” Green
said. “I’m just trying to go out
and play ball — do what I love.”
Lewis is the school and
SEC’s all-time sacrifice leader,
with 127 in her career.
“I’ve come a long way since
I first came here,” Lewis said.
“I’ve had a lot of help in my
career to do what I’m doing.”
Head coach Lu Harris-
Champer said she was excited
to have the opportunity to
coach these three players in
particular.
“I’ve loved coaching them,”
Harris-Champer said. “They’re
all three just spectacular
people and very irreplaceable.”
The seniors have helped
contribute to the team’s 217
wins over the four years they
have played and were a part of
the school’s first SEC champi
onship in 2003.
“With all the successes
we’ve had, our goal right now is
this weekend and taking as
many games from them as we
can,” Green said.
The No. 11 Bulldogs (46-11,
24-3 SEC) play an Alabama
(49-9, 19-5) team they have
had little success again in the
past.
Last year the Bulldogs lost
the series at Alabama, and the
team has a 6-14 record all-time
against the Crimson Tide.
But Wendland said she
thinks this year’s Georgia
team is different than
teams she has played on in the
past.
“I think our team has more
determination and harder
working people than in the
past,” Wendland said. “We
have more team-oriented
people than personal-stat
people.”
With one win over the
Crimson Tide this season,
Georgia can clinch the best
conference record in the SEC
after the Bulldogs won the
SEC Eastern division crown
last weekend.
“They bring big hitters and
good pitching,” Wendland said,
“so it should be a great match
up this weekend.”
Georgia plays Alabama at 1
p.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday
and 1 p.m. on Sunday. The
games will be played at the
Soccer/Softball complex on
Milledge Avenue.
Many track athletes take break for exams
By SARAH KING
sking@randb.com
Although final exams take
top priority with many
University students, some
members of the Georgia track
and field team are forced to
split time between their stud
ies and competition.
That is why only 20 of the
98 members of the team will
be competing at this week
end’s Drake Relays track
meet in Des Moines, Iowa.
Among those the team is leav
ing in Athens will be the men’s
throwers and the women’s
sprinters.
“We will be limited by avail
ability and won’t be able to
compete in many events, but
it won’t hurt us much,” said
head coach Wayne Norton.
“At least the athletes back
home will get an extra two
days of training.”
Among those staying in
Athens is senior thrower John
Newell. Newell, although
missing one of his last colle
giate meets, said he is looking-
forward to the break.
“I think it’s essential. This
is just a bad weekend for a
meet. I’m getting burned out
TRACK AND FIELD
@ Drake Relays
When: Today and Saturday, All
day
Where: Des Moines, Iowa
real fast,” Newell said. “I did
n’t get a lot of rest between
indoors and outdoors, and I
definitely have been over
training, so a break will be
good for me.”
Newell added he feels the
semester has gone by quickly.
“I’ve been out of town so
much, and I feel like I’ve
missed so much class,” he
said. “It’s crazy to think that it
is already time for exams.”
As for the athletes compet
ing this weekend, sophomore
Jenny Dahlgren, who took
first in the hammer throw
competition at last year’s
meet, said that despite the
small group of Georgia com
petitors attending the meet,
this weekend will allow ath
letes on the team to work on
individual marks.
“This meet will be great
competition before (the SEC
tournament). Instead of
having the team to fall back
on after a bad performance,
individuals will really have to
step up to improve scores,”
Dahlgren said. “As for myself,
I just need to throw far. I need
to try and defend my title in
the hammer.”
Norton agreed, adding
that this weekend’s meet pro
vides a chance to take on
teams from schools such as
Missouri, Wisconsin and
Minnesota, among others —
competition Georgia rarely
gets to see.
“With the Drake Relays
being a traditionally
prestigious meet, we are given
the opportunity to go against
teams outside of our region,”
Norton said. “The experience
in competing against different
types of competition can only
help us to be better
competitors.”
Dahlgren said that final
exams next week will be
tough on the team, but the
week-long break before the
SEC tournament, which
begins on May 12, will be
beneficial to the team’s
performance.
LAUREN CARROLL | The Red & Black
▲ Greg Mays, a high jumper from Chickamauga,
competes at the Spec Towns Invitational in Athens
on April 23. The track team competes this
weekend at the Drake Relays in Iowa.
BCS opens its doors to mid-major schools
PHOENIX — The Bowl
Championship Series is open
ing its automatic bids to all
Division I-A conferences
starting with the 2007 season,
part of a new plan under
which the leagues will be
judged from top to bottom.
Currently, only the six
conferences that comprise
the BCS can earn automatic
entry into college football’s
four major bowl games,
including the national title
game. The previous standard
for holding on to that qualifi
cation was based on the aver
age BCS standings finish of a
conference’s top team over a
four-year period.
That still will be a factor,
but not the only one.
“In addition, we will look at
a conference’s overall
strength,” BCS coordinator
and Big 12 commissioner
Kevin Weiberg said
Wednesday, the final day of
meetings with officials from 11
major college football confer
ences and Notre Dame’s ath
letics director.
The BCS also will take into
account the number of teams
in a conference that finish in
the BCS top 25 over a four-
year period.
In addition, there is a pro
posed appeals process if a
conference doesn’t match up
with the others under the new
formula but still believes it
belongs in the BCS.
Weiberg said the new
evaluation system could lead
to more — or less — automat
ic bids.
The Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-
10, Southeastern, Atlantic
Coast and Big East champi
ons have had automatic entry
into the Rose, Orange, Sugar
and Fiesta bowls since the
BCS was implemented in
1998.
Other standards were set
to allow teams from outside
the BCS conferences to quali
fy automatically, but not until
last year when Utah earned a
spot in the Fiesta Bowl had a
team from outside one of the
big six conferences played in
the BCS.
The BCS also decided to
expand to five games.
Starting with the 2006 season,
10 teams will qualify for the
BCS, with the top two meet
ing in a newly created cham
pionship game to be played a
week after the four major
bowls.
— The Associated Press
Baseball confidence
soars after big win
>- From Page 1
Sophomore first baseman
Josh Morris said the team
feels differently about itself
after the win over Georgia
Tech.
“It just goes to show
you that something is start
ing to click, and we’re just
hoping it keeps clicking,”
Morris said.
Morris said he is confident
Georgia will get great start
ing pitching for the rest of
the season.
In his last two starts, jun
ior Michael Hyle — who
starts tonight against
the Crimson Tide — has
allowed just three earned
runs over his last 16.1 innings
pitched.
Senior Sean Ruthven —
who is expected to start
Saturday — had his longest
outing of the year last week
end (6.2 innings), while giv
ing up only one run.
Over the last three week
end series, junior Will
Startup has started on
Sundays after coming in as a
reliever on Friday.
Better team defense also
has helped out the Bulldogs.
Over its last four games,
Georgia has committed only
one error. In the team’s first
36 games, Georgia had
committed 49 errors.
“It makes you feel a lot
more comfortable as a pitch
er with guys like that behind
you,” junior relief pitcher
Rip Warren said in reference
to Georgia’s improved defen
sive play.
Morris said the team has
put in a lot of work in
practice on its defense over
the past couple of weeks.
ERIK S. LESSER | The Associated Press
▲ Georgia left fielder
Kyle Keen leaps but
can't get to a grand slam
hit by Georgia Tech’s
Wes Hodges in the
second inning at Turner
Field in Atlanta on
Wednesday.
The Diamond Dogs are in
the middle of a 14 game
stretch where they play a
nationally ranked opponent.
On top of that, the final eight
games of that stretch are on
the road. Georgia is 5-6 in
those 14 games.
“You do it enough and you
figure out ways to win,”
Perno said about playing
on the road. “Instead of
seeing those other teams cel
ebrate, you start
figuring out ways you can
celebrate.”
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