Justin St.Germain

With this issue marking the last day of my sports editorship at the Wildcat, Iād like to this space to pass on a few things Iāve learned during a semester at the helm of the sports section. So, without further ado...

The best UA athlete: The best athlete on this campus isnāt on the menās basketball team or the football squad, or even a sprinter on the track team. Believe it or not, the best athlete on this campus is a womenās golfer ÷ sophomore phenom Lorena Ochoa.

Sheās also probably one of the least recognized athletes on campus, even though she won every tournament she participated in this season ÷ an unprecedented seven in a row ÷ until the Pacific 10 Conference championships earlier this month, where she placed second.

And Ochoa has sacrificed a considerable amount in order to lead the UA womenās golf team to the Pac-10 title and a No. 1 seed at the NCAA Regionals. In just three LPGA events this year, the Guadalajara, Mexico, native would have won $43,193 if she didnāt have to compete as an amateur in order to retain her NCAA eligibility. Thatās good enough for 36th on the current LPGA money list, and thatās in only three tournaments.

Iād personally like to thank her for making my job a breeze during the few months earlier this year when I covered womenās golf. Every story was pretty much the same: All I had to do was plug in what event she won and by how much.

Good luck in the postseason tournaments and in your bright LPGA future, Lorena.

Athletes arenāt stupid: It seems like the non-sports world automatically assumes anybody involved with sports must be a small-minded, ESPN catch-phrase-spouting Neanderthal. This stereotype holds especially true for athletes. Truth is, for every monosyllabic, moronic interviewee you see on post-game TV, there are people like UA athletes Dennis Latimore, Brianna Glenn and Jennie Finch ÷ among others ÷ who are more eloquent than your average Joe.

I canāt even imagine trying to say something intelligent extemporaneously with eight journalists and a damn spotlight in my face, like the basketball and football players have to do in the locker room, after theyāve exhausted themselves playing an entire game. Sometimes I canāt even do it in a column.

Not only that, but many athletes excel in the classroom. I had a 1.8 grade point average my first semester here, and I wasnāt toiling under a media microscope on a basketball team that won the Pac-10 tourney. Latimore posted a 3.4 and somehow considered his season a disappointment.

Sophomore baseball player Chris Goodman, who last month received a Mary Roby award for having a 4.0 GPA, still has to contend with the misconception of athletes being sub-par students.

ćI would tell people who think that athletes are dumb jocks to go to the (Roby) awards ceremony, because 117 (athletes) were presented with an award because they had a GPA of 3.5 or higher,ä Goodman said. ćUsually, people who are that dedicated to sports are the same in academics because the two go hand-in-hand.ä

Iāve seen Goodman play since his high school days at Benson ÷ a rival school of Tombstone, my alma mater ÷ and heās a class act and one of many examples that the stereotype of athletes being stupid is ridiculous.

Finally, if you need even more proof, the Wildcat sports desk beat the news desk at Trivial Pursuit two weekends ago. Enough said.

Itās our loss: And lastly, Iād like to bid farewell to a couple of my favorite departing senior athletes in this commencement issue:

Stacy Mitchell ÷ This reigning NIRSA Southwest Conference womenās water polo Player of the Year and longtime Student Recreation Center employee shot down my many attempts to do a feature article on her, but sheās still one of the coolest people Iāve ever met. One of these days Iām going to collect all those cocktail napkins with quotes scribbled on them and put that article together after all, just to get her boss, Mark Zakrzewski, to stop e-mailing me and asking.

Cathie Williamson ÷ One of only two seniors on this yearās womenās golf team, Williamson ÷ another Mary Roby Award winner ÷ represents what college athletics are all about. She walked on to a national championship-caliber team and has steadily improved throughout her career to become one of the teamās leaders this season.

With her dedication and small-town-girl charm ÷ she hails from Shelby, Mont. ÷ itās easy to see how she convinced the coaching staff to make her a Wildcat. Itās also easy to see why sheās so been so successful.

David Stevenson contributed to this column.