By Staff and Wire reports
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Wednesday May 8, 2002
Second-half surge earns Cats Pac-10 tourney title
March. 9, 2002
Some things just donāt change.
Though he had to wait 12 years, head coach Lute Olson won his fourth consecutive Pacific 10 tournament last night with an 81-71 win over USC, continuing Arizonaās dominance in the tourney.
After the win, UA guards Jason Gardner and Salim Stoudamire were selected to the All-Tournament team, and with his father sitting courtside, junior forward Luke Walton was deemed the most valuable player of the tournament. But before the trophy could be presented, the Wildcats had to face one of their toughest games of the season against the Trojans.
Playing through tragedy
Sept. 12, 2001
As the UA community recovers from the shock of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington yesterday, one large part of the university ÷ the athletic department ÷ is having to deal with it its own way.
ćCollege athletics, especially, is about more than winning and losing,ä said UA head football coach John Mackovic. ćI took the time today to discuss these things with (my players) and I think it was important to do.ä
Mackovic and his team held practice yesterday at the normal time and for many players it was an opportunity to divert attention from the shock of the attack ÷ even for only a couple of hours.
Finch breaks NCAA consecutive wins record
Feb. 25, 2002
UA senior pitcher Jennie Finch earned her 51st straight win yesterday against Cal State Northridge to establish a new NCAA record for consecutive victories by a pitcher.
The historic victory was the third of the weekend for Finch during the Worth Wildcat Invitational, and broke the mark set by Florida Stateās Rebecca Aaseās 50-win streak from 1991 to 1993.
Volleyball defeats USC, heads to Final Four
Dec. 8, 2001
The dream lives on for the UA womenās volleyball team as they defeated USC last night to move on to the schoolās first-ever Final Four appearance.
The Wildcats (25-4 overall) battled the Trojans from the first serve and they were able to prevail with a 3-2(25-30, 30-24, 30-24, 28-30, 15-12).
Gardner to return next season
April 16, 2002
Jason Gardner made official yesterday what many had expected all along ö he will forsake the NBA draft and return to the Wildcat basketball team next season.
The junior guard, who joined four former teammates in declaring for the draft last season but withdrew after the pre-draft camps, said that another year at UA will only improve his draft status.
Ochoa makes it seven in a row
April 8, 2002
UA womenās golf coach Greg Allen said prior to last weekendās PING/ASU Invitational that sophomore Lorena Ochoa could win tournaments even on her bad days.
It would have taken much more than just a bad day for her to relinquish the lead yesterday, as the sophomore cruised to a four-stroke victory in Tempe Sunday ÷ her seventh consecutive individual title and 11th in her short but illustrious UA golf career.
Wildcatsā season ends with 88-67 loss to Sooners
March 22, 2002
SAN JOSE, Calif. ÷ Entering last nightās game, Arizona had never beaten Oklahoma in the NCAA Tournament. In the Catsā Sweet 16 matchup, history repeated itself, and Arizona was eliminated by the Sooners, 88-67.
What started out as a back-and-forth battle in the first half turned into a blowout as Arizona dissolved in the second half and was handed its second-worst tournament loss under head coach Lute Olson.
Track coach Murray retires after 35 years
Feb. 27, 2002
After 35 years as Arizonaās cross country coach and 22 years as coach of Arizonaās track and field teams, Dave Murray will retire at the end of the season.
Murray will be replaced by his longtime assistant head coach Fred Harvey.
Harvey has been coaching with Murray for 15 years, and Murray said he was the obvious selection for the job.
ćIt would have been a crime if (Harveyās hiring) didnāt happen,ä said Murray. ćIn my mind it was the only choice. Iām sure he will continue the tradition.ä
UA Director of Athletics Jim Livengood made the selection to name Harvey as the new head coach.
Chaplin wins national championship
Nov. 21, 2001
The UA womenās cross-country team had only one NCAA Individual Champion in program history ÷ until senior Tara Chaplin captured the national cross-country title Monday, that is.
Chaplin beat Georgia Techās Renee Metivier by seven seconds in Greenville, S.C., to take the title.
While the UA women finished strong with a fourth-place finish, the menās team finished a disappointing 21st of 31 teams.
Chaplin ran the 6,000-meter course in 20 minutes, 24 seconds and set a new record for the Furman University course.
Freshman breaks college pole vault record, flirts with world record
Feb. 12, 2002
Amy Linnen had a feeling she would one day become the college record holder in the pole vault, but she had no idea it would come so soon.
In just her first season at Arizona, and only her second year as a pole vaulter, the freshman set the college indoor record of 14 feet 10 inches, Friday in the Sevigne Husker Invitational in Lincoln, Neb.
ćI felt like I had it in me, but I didnāt think it would happen so soon,ä Linnen said.
Linnen would not stop there.
The 5-foot-10 native of Mt. Siani, N.Y., attempted to break the world record of 15 feet 5 inches but fell short on all three attempts.
