ERIC M. JUKELEVICS/Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona sophomore Leneah Manuma slides into third base earlier this month against Long Beach State at Hillenbrand Stadium.

By Brandon Johnson

Arizona Daily Wildcat

900: When the Arizona softball team left on its weeklong road trip over spring break, head coach Mike Candrea was just four wins shy of his 900th career win.

The Wildcats were scheduled to play no less than seven games on the trip, and it looked as if Candrea would reach his mark away from home.

But, thanks to a pair of canceled games against Utah and two losses at the Kia Classic in Fullerton, Calif., over the weekend, Candrea now has the opportunity to go for this prestigious mark in front of a home crowd Friday night when the Wildcats take on Louisiana-Lafayette.

Should he pick up the victory, Candrea will become just the third coach in NCAA Division I history to reach the 900-win mark. He will also become the fastest coach to reach that plateau.

Pillar of strength: Senior pitcher/first baseman Jennie Finch was recognized this week for more than just her achievements on the field.

Her strength and conditioning coach, Carla Garrett, nominated her as a National Strength and Conditioning Association All-American Athlete for the 2002 season.

The honor comes in recognition of Finch's dedication to strength and conditioning off the playing field.

Only 184 athletes representing 84 universities and 19 sports across the country were named as recipients of the award.

Snowball, anyone?: When spring break began, Arizona was scheduled to play its first games of the year in an opponent's ball park when it traveled to Salt Lake City to take on Utah.

The team made the trip, but it may as well have gone for post-Olympic celebrations.

Thanks to snow flurries and temperatures in the low 30s, both games were canceled, forcing the athletic department to waste travel funds.

Prime time television: After spending a cold weekend in Utah, the current members from last year's national championship met up with their graduated teammates and headed to the White House to meet with President Bush in celebration of their achievements a year ago.

The celebration, which took, March 12, included other championship teams such as Miami's football team and drew significant national media attention.

ESPN ran a story during the late edition of "Sportscenter" that documented the history of teams visiting the White House, and Fox Sports Net, Fox News and CNN all showed clips of the day's events at some point throughout their nightly newscast.

Interestingly enough, Finch and former outfielder Lauren Bauer made their way onto all four networks as they presented their jersey to the president.

The jersey given to the president had to be sent in advance for security purposes.

Here we go again: That was how the team must have felt as it struggled yet again at the Kia Classic over the weekend.

Historically, the Wildcats have not fared as well at the Kia as in other tournaments, and this year was no different.

Since 1999, Arizona has compiled a record of 16-7 (a low winning percentage by Wildcat standards) during its annual California trip. Six of those wins came in 2000 when the team reached the tournament's final game only to fall to then-No. 1 Washington.

On a positive note: One thing the Wildcats were able to do over the weekend was preview their next two opponents - both Top 25 teams.

Saturday, Arizona faced No. 18 Louisiana-Lafayette, whom the Wildcats will face this weekend for a three-game set at Hillenbrand Stadium.

Finch shut down the Ragin' Cajuns offense, allowing just one hit over seven innings as she picked up her 16th win of the year.

Sophomore Jenny Gladding and her teammates didn't fair as well during their next game, as they fell to in-state rival No. 8 Arizona State. The Wildcats will travel to Tempe on March 29 and 30 to officially open Pacific 10 Conference play in a pair of games against the Sun Devils.