Bush to honor last year's national champions

While spring break brings some much-needed rest and relaxation for the majority of UA students, it brings the busiest week of the season for the Arizona softball team.

The Wildcats will spend most of their spring break on the road - but not just playing softball. The week will include competition against some of the nation's best, sandwiched around a trip to the White House and a tour of the nation's capitol.

After a two-game series in Utah this weekend, the 2001 UA national championship team - which includes five returning members of this season's squad - will be honored by the president at the White House on Monday. After the rare and prestigious trip, the Wildcats (24-2) will head to Fullerton, Calif., Thursday for the annual Kia Classic to conclude their eventful break.

While his team cruised to 18 consecutive victories during three weeks of play within the friendly confines of Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium, head coach Mike Candrea knows things will be much different for his young team next week.

"The road trip will be a real test," said Candrea, whose team finished 4-2 during its only other weekend away from home this season. "Every year, the Kia is kind of a halfway point for us, and we usually stumble."

Things get underway for UA with a visit to the Olympic hangover that is Salt Lake City and contests with the Utah Utes tomorrow and Sunday.

The Utes return home after playing on the road for the entire month of February and will be greeted by the No. 2 Wildcats. While Utah's 10-21 record is not very impressive, the team has lost several close contests this season including a 4-2 defeat to No. 3 Stanford last Sunday.

From there, the handful of Wildcats remaining from UA's sixth national championship season of a year ago will head to the nation's capitol during one of the most important times in our country's history.

President Bush will pay tribute to the team that defeated UCLA 1-0 in last season's national championship game, marking the first time that the program has received an invitation to Washington.

"Obviously, we're excited; I think it's an honor for these young ladies," Candrea said. "I feel bad for the five other (past Arizona championship teams) that didn't get this opportunity, but it's nice to see that President Bush is going to make an honest attempt to make this an annual event for spring and fall sports."

While the 2002 season nears its midway point, the trip to the White House will mark the first time the championship team has been together since last year's College World Series.

"We're really excited; it's going to be neat to get everyone back together and see everyone and just hang out for a few days," said senior pitcher/first baseman Jennie Finch, who was named the Series' Most Outstanding Player. "We're really looking forward to it."

Monday's tribute and dinner will be followed by a tour of Washington on Tuesday, including visits to the Supreme Court, the Capitol building and back to the White House. Yet, the Wildcats realize that they must put first things first, and no one wants to head to Washington coming off a loss.

"I think that's gonna be one trip that I'll never forget - a good experience," said sophomore catcher Mackenzie Vandergeest, who delivered a memorable home run against Oklahoma to keep last year's title hopes alive. "But first we have to play those two games over the weekend."

After the few historic days in the nation's capitol, UA will pick up its freshmen and head to Fullerton for its most difficult challenge of the season to date. The Kia Classic is a tournament that even the best Arizona teams have had difficulty winning over the years.

"If you look at past history, we've won that tournament a few times but most of the times we go there, we usually find a way to struggle," Candrea said. "Obviously, there's 16 good teams there, so it will give us an opportunity to kind of see where we're at right now, and hopefully, we'll be playing for the championship on Sunday."

The Wildcats will face Notre Dame (5-7) and No. 11 Cal State Fullerton (17-9) - both of whom they defeated earlier this season - as well as Texas Tech (10-15) in the tournament's preliminary round. For UA's lone returning senior, a Kia Classic tournament championship is one of the few things missing from her resumŽ.

"Every year's a new year, but it's just something about the Kia Classic - I don't know," Finch said. "The freshmen don't know anything about that though, so that's a good thing. Hopefully we'll go in there and win it for the first time since I've been here."