Mike Candrea has staked his claim as the best softball coach in the nation. He's headed the nation's best program in recent years, won six national titles and seven Pac-10 Championships, and made 16 straight World Series appearances.

Now, he is out to conquer the world.

Candrea, Arizona's head coach, will lead Team USA into the Olympics this summer after leading Arizona to the status as best national program, according to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll. [Read article]

The picture of Olympic glory is arguably the most beautiful in all of sport. Fists rise to the heavens in triumph, anthems fill the arenas, and tears of joy stain victors' cheeks.

But ask some of the 12 UA swim and dive team members with a chance to participate in the Olympic Summer Games in Athens, Greece, this August, and they have a hard time imagining the scene.

Take freshman swimmer Whitney Myers, for example. [Read article]

Eleven Arizona track and field athletes will compete in this summer's Olympic trials in hopes of punching their ticket to Athens for the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Head coach Fred Harvey says his Wildcats have their work cut out for them.

"Quite frankly, all of them, in my opinion, are underdogs to make the team," Harvey said. "The Olympic trials are of such a high caliber that even the favorites going in have to be ready on that day. If you're not geared on that particular moment, you won't make the team." [Read article]

Henry Liaw is the semester's final Wildcat Athlete of the Week after the freshman golfer won the Pacific 10 Conference Championships last week and led Arizona to the team title as well. He followed that up by taking Pac-10 Freshman of the Year honors a few days later. The Wildcat sat down with Liaw to find out how it feels to be the big fish in the sea how many strokes his head coach would need to beat him and what he thought of the Olsen twins. [Read article]

Forgive head softball coach Larry Ray if he's not dwelling on his team's two losses in the last two weeks. He has more important things on his mind - like winning the Pac-10, which is possible with a sweep this weekend.

"It really doesn't matter what happened last week," he said of the UA's 2-1 loss to Stanford on Sunday. "We can take care of our own destiny this weekend if we win all three games. We can take care of business." [Read article]

For the Arizona baseball team, this weekend is the calm before the storm.

The Wildcats (23-19-1, 7-8 Pacific 10 Conference) travel to Westwood to play UCLA in the team's final nonconference series of the year with games on Friday at 6 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. at Jackie Robinson Field.

The UCLA series will be the last before Arizona embarks on a nine-game stretch, six of which are against nationally ranked teams, which will determine whether it makes the playoffs. [Read article]

For UA students, this is the last day of classes, but for the Arizona track and field teams, this is just the beginning - the beginning of four grueling weeks of championship competitions.

Action begins Friday with the Pacific 10 Conference Combined Events Championships hosted by the Wildcats at Drachman Stadium.

Junior heptathletes Amanda Underwood and Jessica Corkill are prepared to represent Arizona in the women's heptathlon. Every Pac-10 school will be in attendance, with the exception of Oregon State, which does not have a track and field program. [Read article]

After fairing well in the Pac-10 Championships, the Arizona men's tennis team will sit in front of the television and wait for the first and second round draws to be announced on ESPNews.

The Wildcats gained three spots in the last rankings to move up to No. 21 in the nation, tying their season high. The top 16 teams according to the committee will host the regionals.

"We don't know exactly what to expect, but we know that wherever we go, we believe that we have a good chance to get to the Sweet 16," said assistant coach Tad Berkowitz. [Read article]

With summertime approaching, the Arizona women's tennis team prepares itself for the NCAA championships to be held from May 13-16. The draws will be announced on today at 3:00 on ESPNews.

"We're just hoping that we get selected," said assistant coach Petar Danolic. I'll be surprised if we don't, given our strength of schedule. We're still not a hundred percent sure that we get in."

Arizona finished the season ranked No. 40 and tied for sixth in the Pacific 10 Conference, in front of ASU and Washington State. The Wildcats ended the season on a positive note by beating ASU for the second time this season and hope that win will give them momentum for the NCAA championships. Arizona's best win this season came against New Mexico. [Read article]

Splashcats win top club sport award

The UA synchronized swim team was honored with the 2004 Outstanding Club Sports Program after a second consecutive top-two finish in the Pac 10.

"With all the amazing clubs on campus, I was hesitant to even hope we would win," head coach Jill Ranucci said.

Arizona struggled against injury for the duration of the season, swimming with six women rather than the traditional eight-swimmer squad fielded by other teams. [Read article]