Opening day for football changed

The first UA home football game, against Northern Arizona, has been pushed back two days to Saturday, Aug. 31, athletics director Jim Livengood announced Thursday.

The game will still kickoff at 7:07 p.m.

ãWe had scheduled the game for earlier (on Aug. 29) because we were trying to draw a large crowd before Labor Day weekend starts,ä Livengood said. ãBut after further discussion with everyone involved, we decided that the prudent thing to do would be to move the game to Saturday.

ãThat will be the first week of school, and the campus will be very busy. Moving the game back a couple of days will give everyone a chance to better acclimate to the start of the new school year.ä

The Wildcats play four of their first five games at home this season.

Goodman named to All-Academic team

Arizona sophomore pitcher Chris Goodman was named First Team Academic All-Pacific 10 Conference last week.

The right-handed pitcher has posted a 4.0 grade-point average in his two years at Arizona. Teammate Ken Riley, a junior, was named to the second team for the second consecutive season.

Goodman, who is majoring in business, led all pitchers out of the bullpen in 2002 with a 5-2 record in 21 appearances.

The Benson native struck out 31 hitters in 53.2 innings last season while posting a 4.86 ERA. He joins former Wildcat Tony Milo as the only two Arizona players to garner First Team recognition from the Pac-10 since the North and South Divisions combined in 1999.

Riley, also a business major, was honored for the second straight season with a 3.55 GPA. The only junior on the team last season, Riley batted .300 for the year and was the teamâs leading pinch hitter.

To be eligible for selection, a student athlete must have a minimum 3.0 overall GPA and be either a starter or a significant contributor off the bench.

17 track and field athletes receive academic honors

The UA menâs and womenâs track and field teams had 17 athletes earn academic honors for the 2002 season.

Nine men and eight women were honored at the conference level, with two women earning national recognition for their academic achievement. Six of these athletes were NCAA-qualifiers at the 2002 Outdoor Championships.

Sophomore Mark Anderson, senior Chad Martin and junior Mike Mortensen were named to the Pac-10 all-academic first team for their efforts, while senior Mike Kenyon earned second team honors. Chris Chappell, Peter Fabian, Kevin Opalka, Tom Prindiville and Matt Wagner were all given honorable mentions.

On the womenâs side, sophomore Beth Hoge and redshirt-freshman Amanda Underwood were named to the conferenceâs first team. Seniors Jennifer Burris, Tara Chaplin, Cara Cline and Brianna Glenn were named to the second team. Honorable mentions were given to Kim Bates and Amy Linnen.

Chaplin and Glenn were also named to this yearâs Verizon Academic All-America University Division Womenâs Cross Country/Track and Field teams. Chaplin earned first team honors, while Glenn was named to the second team.

These 17 athletes uphold a long-standing tradition of strong academics in the UA track and field program under former head coach Dave Murray.