2009 D-I Field Hockey bracket released

Defending champ Maryland hasn’t lost this year, going 20-0 en route to an ACC title. Tonight, the Terps and 15 others learned their fates in the D-I Selection Show.

Five conferences were awarded automatic qualification. In addition, six conferences competed for three play-in berths and the remaining eight teams were selected at large.

The following conferences and their representatives received automatic qualification:

Atlantic Coast Conference       University of Maryland, College Park
Big East Conference                    University of Connecticut
Big Ten Conference                     Michigan State University
Colonial Athletic Assn              University of Delaware
Ivy Group                                       Princeton University

The teams winning the play-in berths were American University from the Patriot League, the University of Richmond from the Atlantic 10 Conference and Stanford University from the Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference.

The NCAA championship bracket lists the eight at-large teams, as well as the pairings, sites and dates.

First- and second-round games will be played on four campus sites November 14 and 15. Wake Forest University will host the semifinals and final, November 20 and 22 at Kentner Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. For ticket information, call 888/758-3322.

In 2008, Maryland claimed its sixth NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship title with a 4-2 victory over Wake Forest at Trager Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky.

To see how the Terps clinched their perfect season and the ACC Championship, check out the video below.

Richards and Isinbayeva share jackpot winnings

American sprinter Sanya Richards, Russian pole vaulter Jelena Isinbayeva and Ethiopian long distance runner Kenenanisa Bekele shared the one million dollar jackpot on offer at the Golden League series after winning their respective events in the final round of six meetings held this weekend in Brussels Belgium.

The jackpot is shared by athletes who manage to win the same events at all six Golden League meets in one season.

World record holder Jelena Isinbayeva failed at breaking her own world record of 5.07 metres, but as she cleared 4.70 with her first jump, she won the competition and her share of the purse.

Sanya Richards dominated the one lap distance by recording a time of 48.83 seconds to win the women’s 400m race – as she has in all five previous Golden League meets this season – and became the first athlete to be assured at least a share of the jackpot.

Coming into the season Richards hadn’t won a world championship or Olympic title so her challenge was immense. Not only did she win a share of the golden jackpot but she also won gold at the world championships last month in Berlin.

Neither Richards or Isinbayeva, who are $333,333 richer, are newcomers to the Jackpot chase. For Richards it was her third six-for-six Jackpot season after sharing the prize pie in 2006 and 2007, and for Isinbayeva her second, after she split the pot with Richards two years ago.

Season Recap

Stop #1 – Berlin’s ISTAF

Isinbayeva got her Golden League season off to a solid start, making her season’s debut with a 4.83m clearance, a world lead and an easy victory. Richards was more impressive, with an overwhelming 49.57 win, more than a second-and-a-half ahead of the runner-up.

Stop #2 Oslo’s ExxonMobil Bislett Games

After winning the notoriously difficult U.S. title in Eugene, Richards didn’t skip a beat when the series resumed in Oslo on 3 July. Facing the strongest field yet assembled this season, and despite a long rain delay, the American produced a 49.23 run, the fourth fastest of her career and her quickest since setting the US record at the 2006 IAAF World Cup in Athens.

Isinbayeva meanwhile suffered a minor scare. In a competition heavily affected by the massive rainstorm that romped through the Norwegian capital, the Russian did just enough to take the victory, winning on the countback from Monica Pyrek at 4.71m.

Stop #3 – Rome’s Golden Gala

Isinbayeva’s victory was a straightforward one, as her opening height of 4.75m would have sufficed. She went on to raise her own world lead to 4.85m before bowing out at 4.95m. Richards meanwhile continued to impress, winning by a massive 0.85 seconds in 49.46.

Stop #4 – Paris and the Stade de France

Isinbayeva’s event was most severely hampered by the weather, with her first and only jump of 4.65m securing the victory. As in Oslo, the rain did little to affect Richards who sped to the finish in 49.34 win, this time more than a second clear of the runner-up. Among the fans at the Stade de France was her fiancé and NFL star Aaron Ross, who watched her compete outside the USA for the first time.

After Paris, the athletes  took a break for the World championships and again made headlines.

For Isinbayeva, it wasn’t quite the sort of news she was hoping to make. In one of the more dramatic moments of the championships, Isinbayeva failed to clear a height – she later admitted to complacency getting the better of her – resulting in one of the biggest implosions in nine thrilling days of competition at the Olympic Stadium

Stop #5 -  Zurich

Eleven days later, Isinbayeva matched her Berlin low with yet another unprecedented high when the series resumed with the Weltklasse in Zurich. With a vault as confident as it was elegant, the Russian scaled 5.06m on her first try to notch the 27th World record of her career.

Although she didn’t enter the record books,  Richards produced 2009 world leads in her Berlin follow-up.  She  dipped under the 49-second barrier for the third time in her career, reaching the finish line in 48.94 and winning  by nearly a second.

Stop #6 Brussels and the Memorial Van Damme

Neither woman faced much opposition before collecting their over-sized paychecks in a ceremony that drew the final curtain on the Golden League’s 12 year run. Typically, Isinbayeva started just where her competitors had ended and Richards ran her second fastest performance ever and won by more than a second-and-a-half.

With their gold bars in hand, each is planning something special with at least a part of their winnings. Isinbayeva will again provide gifts for an orphanage in her native Vologograd, Bekele will give some to a development fund in Addis Ababa. Richards, who is getting married this winter, is going to splurge and use some of her winnings to create a dream wedding.

WPS Championship Game Photo Journal

Kelly Clark, Jamie Anderson win Burton New Zealand titles

New Zealand’s largest snowboarding event, the Burton New Zealand Open Snowboarding Championships, came to a close after four intense days of competition. Part of the Burton Global Open Series and the Swatch Ticket To Ride World Snowboard Tour, the 7th Annual New Zealand Open showcased some the world’s top snowboarders competing in halfpipe and slopestyle competitions for over NZ$50,000 in prize money.

Hundreds of competitors from all over the world flocked to Cardrona Alpine Resort to compete, and action got underway on Wednesday with men’s and women’s slopestyle pre-qualifications and qualifications. Men’s and women’s halfpipe qualifications went down on Thursday, followed by men’s and women’s slopestyle semifinal and finals on Friday with Jamie Anderson (USA) and Sebastien Toutant (CAN) riding away with the top spots worth $6,000 each.

Saturday saw a field of 40 men and 21 women compete for the halfpipe titles worth NZ$6,000. In the women’s competition Kelly Clark and Jiayu Liu battled it out in semifinals with huge amplitude and clean spins, while Elizabeth Beerman just bumped Kiwi Kendall Brown from advancing on to final.

Halfpipe finals consisted of three runs each for men and women, with the women first to drop. The Asian contingent finished strong taking four of the top eight spots in the women’s finals, with Zhifeng Sun from China taking third. Her winning run featured an impressive frontside 900. Jiayu Liu (CHN) rode away with second with a run that featured back-to-back 720s and back-to-back 540s. But it was Kelly Clark that pulled it out with a whopping score of 83.67. Her winning run started with a massive frontside air followed by a backside 540 indy, into a frontside 720 tailgrab, followed by a Cab 720, finishing with a frontside 540 indy.

Clark had this to say of her win, “I felt really good today; I got to try new things. I like progressing, and when you ride against a solid group of competitors it pushes me to do more. I’m happy that I did well for my first contest of the summer, especially going in to an Olympic year.”

With the Burton New Zealand Open finished, the next stop in the BGOS is the European Open, taking place January 9-16, 2010 in Laax, Switzerland. The European Open is the second stop on the 2009-2010 Burton Global Open Series.

Jamie Anderson is currently in the lead for the Burton Global Open Series Championship titles and a piece of the $200,000 prize purse. With only two results on her account so far, 08/09 Swatch TTR World Champion Kelly Clark moves into world no. 7 with her victory in New Zealand.

No Teammates, No Problem

This story has been reported quite a bit the last couple days – and for good reason. It demonstrates the power of one.

Bonnie Richardson, from Rochelle, Texas (population 600), has accomplished what no other Texas high school track and field athlete has ever achieved: back-to-back team state championships – by herself.

The story of how tiny Rochelle High School — enrollment: 59 — won the Texas Class A girls team track championship last weekend sounds too good to be true.

For one thing, it was the Rochelle Hornets’ second straight title. For another, the only member of the team both years was Bonnie Richardson.

She successfully defended the school’s state title by outscoring 56 other schools.Her coach was interviewed for an AP article:

“I coached eight years, was blessed to have her for half of those and I doubt I’ll ever see anyone like her again,” said Jym Dennis, who also teaches history at Rochelle.

“But I’ve got to be honest,” he added a moment later. “You don’t start the year with one girl on the team and think, ‘Sure, we can defend our title.’”

Richardson is a tall, freckle-faced 19-year-old who is also the Class A, Division II high school basketball player of the year, valedictorian, National Honor Society member, and the McCulloch County Chamber of Commerce’s “Citizen of the Year.”

At this year’s championship, Richardson captured first in the long jump (17-04.50), second in the discus (126-09) and first in the high jump (5-8) on Friday for a total of 28 points. Returning to Myers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas on Saturday, Richardson placed third in the 200 (25.78) and fourth in the 100 (12.51) .

Richardson personally won the team championship, compiling 38 points in her five events.

In winning an outright team track title by herself, Richardson joins James Segrest who won the 2A title for Bangs in 1954 and Frank Pollard who won the Class B title for Meridian in 1976 as the only Texans to win a team title by themselves.

That Richardson won the team title was a testament to her physical talent and internal drive. Her mother, Madelynn, who teaches science at Rochelle, said Bonnie has the most self-discipline she has ever seen.

The youngest of three girls, Bonnie grew up like her sisters, a tomboy in Texas Hill Country, riding horses, climbing rocks and building forts. From the family ranch, it’s 2 1/2 hours to the big city — San Angelo or Abilene — and a 45-minute drive just to see a movie.

Since Rochelle High School has no track, Richardson practices at nearby Brady High School. There she gets to experience the “big” city where there are gas stations and a Wal-Mart.

When Richardson ramped up her performance this season, the college recruiters followed. The call Bonnie wanted most finally came from coach Pat Henry at Texas A&M, where her father, sister and several other family members went to school. She’ll be heading to A&M on full scholarship in the fall planning to major in nutrition.

After two state titles, Richardson does have one regret.

“I wish I hadn’t stuck with the same five events, that I had branched out more,” she said. “I would’ve [liked to] have vaulted, but we don’t have the money or interest in Rochelle to have a pit. I’ve never done hurdles, and I want to.”

What? No relays?

(with info from ESPN, Rivals, & Rise)

Roland Garros 2009: Women’s Final

The two best players on clay this season are Dinara Safina and Svetlana Kuznetsova and they will meet in the 2009 Roland Garros final tomorrow.  The all-Russian final should be a classic match, kinda like an all-Williams final.

No. 1 seed Safina, in pursuit of a maiden grand slam title, has had a bit of a shaky week but that did not stop her beating Slovakian teenager Dominika Cibulkova 6-3 6-3 in the semis.

On the other hand,  No. 7 Kuznetsova was able to beat Serena Williams in one of the best matches of the year in the quarterfinals: 7-6(3) 5-7 7-5 and despite showing some mental weakness in her semifinal against Samantha Stosurm Kuznetsova  was again able to gut out a win 6-4 6-7(5) 6-3 in a match that went on for almost two and a half hours. Can she make it three in a row?

Both Russians are closely matched physically, with huge serves, excellent forehands and backhands as well as exquisite movement on clay. Kuznetsova may be the more talented, but tennis is at least 50% mental, and by getting to #1 in the world, Safina has demonstrated the mental toughness required.

The Russian duo had been the favorites to reach the final before the start of the claycourt major and, after playing in Paris for 12 days, they set up the first all-Russian final at Roland Garros since 2004.

Since becoming world number one in April, Safina has swept to a 20-1 record on clay. Her one loss was to Kuznetsova. Head to head Safina leads their rivalry 8 to 5, although they are tied 4-4 in matches on clay and 1-1 at matches on clay at Roland Garros.

Will Safina keep her edge and win her first major title on Saturday in Paris? If she does triumph, it will also give her family a unique place in the record books. With her brother Marat owning two major trophies, a win on Saturday for Safina will mark the first time a brother and sister have captured grand slam singles titles.

Watch to find out!

Saturday, June 6, 2009
Women’s Final – NBC – 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM (EST) (LIVE)

Update:  Kuznetsova’s wait for a second Grand Slam title is over. The Russian won the 2009 French Open title, emerging victorious 6-4 6-2 in a 75-minute contest.

Washington edges Florida to claim first NCAA softball title

Wow! What a dramatic series. I’ve been glued to the TV the last week watching some of the best college softball players in the country battle it out for the crown.

Last night, Kimi Pohlman raced home, giving Washington the decisive run in a 3-2 victory for its first NCAA softball championship.

Washington (51-12) kept the championship in the Pac-10 by keeping Florida from bringing the Southeastern Conference its first title. The Pac-10 has won 21 of the 27 Women’s College World Series titles, with Arizona State and Washington joining powerhouses UCLA (11 championships) and Arizona (eight) the past two years.

Huskies players tossed their gloves into the air and gathered in a huddle near home plate after Lawrie struck out Ali Gardiner to end the game. (The same Gardiner who hit a walk-off grand slam allowing the Gators to get into the final). The huddle of players soon fell over onto the ground after being handed the NCAA championship trophy.

Florida State Championship race report

The 2009 Florida State Championship was hosted on May 16th in the City of Sarasota. The track was fast and somewhat technical, making for some great racing! The Championship race is the biggest state race in the nation and we had just under 200 motos hitting the charts.

The girl classes were on fire and leading the packs in the mains were Elite Woman, Mariana Pajon, amateur riders, Kinley Buelvas, Lauren Lanzilotta, Lauren Whitlow, Emily Tatum, Stephanie Lajoie, Rachelle Youtzy, Bianca Dean, Kaitlyn Sheehan, Kathleen Jenkins, Aryanna Wilfork, and Melissa Gremal. There were many other pretty tough girls that were sweeping their classes and placed an awesome 2nd place in their mains.

Our very own Pretty Tough rider Sarah Gross was one of those girls. She is #2 in the State of Florida on both her 20 inch and 24 inch bicycles. Sarah says, “I plan on training the entire summer so I could hopefully take home a top 5 plate at the NBL Grand Nationals this year in September.”

Along with her state awards, Sarah received a special Presidents Cup award for placing 1st for our Florida team at the 2008 Presidents Cup that was held back in December. Only a handful of girls had the honor of receiving this award.

Final results for the 2009 Florida State BMX Championships can be found on www.floridabmx.com

UConn women’s basketball champions visit White House

The benefits of being the best. Win a national championship and you, too, could go to the White House.

A championship ceremony at the White House is standard for many national sports teams. But shooting hoops with the president, now that’s something else entirely.

Moments after today’s event in front of the White House’s South Portico, President Barack Obama hustled the University of Connecticut’s women’s basketball team over to the outdoor half-court.

The president, a former high school player and avid fan who still plays pickup games, prevailed in a brief, impromptu game of P-I-G with a few of the players.

“He was pretty good from 17 feet,” said coach Geno Auriemma. “His shot’s a little unorthodox, but it goes in … He’s got a little bit of that swagger.”

Renee Montgomery, a senior guard, said Obama only missed one shot and that he sank a final fade-away shot from off the court.

After about 10 minutes, Obama walked back to the White House with his sleeves rolled up and his suit jacket slung over his shoulder.

Connecticut dominated women’s college basketball this season, going 39-0 and beating opponents by an average of better than 30 points. They capped the season earlier this month in St. Louis with a 76-54 victory over Louisville. It was Connecticut’s sixth national college championship and third perfect season.

The team gave Obama a basketball signed by the players and a Connecticut jersey emblazoned with “1″ and his name on the back.

“Number One — that’s what I’m talking about,” Obama joked. “I will wear it when I’m playing.”

The Commander in Chief also commended the young women for their off court excellence as well.  Maya Moore was chosen an academic All-American — an outgrowth of perhaps the program’s most impressive statistic, the NCAA recognized the top academic performance of the team which has enjoyed a 100% graduation rate in Auriemma’s 24 seasons.

Obama said that as the father of two young daughters, he especially appreciates the success of female athletes like the Connecticut team.

“My girls look at the TV when I’m watching ‘SportsCenter’ and they see women staring back,” Obama said of the ESPN program, a personal favorite. “That shows them that they can be champions, too.”

Gobama!

Coach Auriemma has a good chance of returning to the White House, along with some of the players from his teams. He has been named coach of Team USA and will be coaching the U.S. team in the 2012 Olympics.

So what about UConn?  Will the women’s team be back in Washington next year? Well, there’s a very good chance. The team lost just one key player, Renee Montgomery, and they have a top recruit coming in so beating them next year will be pretty tough!

A Husky Parade! UCONN Women’s Parade Plans Set

According to media reports, Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell says a date has been set for a parade to honor the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team for winning the NCAA national championship.

The parade will be held next Sunday, April 19, at 3 p.m. in Hartford.

As a Connecticut native, I’m sad to be living 3,000 miles away and miss the chance to honor these amazing, awesome, astonishing women.

Tens of thousands of people have lined the streets of the capital city to celebrate past championships won by the UConn women’s and men’s teams.

UConn beat Big East rival Louisville last week to claim its sixth national championship, and its first since 2004. The Huskies finished the season at a perfect 39-0.

The parade will begin and end at the state Capitol, and run near Bushnell Park, Main Street and Capitol Avenue. A rally will be held after the parade on the north steps of the Capitol.

To all my friends in Connecticut – be sure to get out next weekend to honor a great team and almost-graduate Renee Montgomery!

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