Sports Briefs


By James Kelley
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Wednesday, June 30, 2004

Wildcats compete at U.S. Track and Field Junior Championships

After standout freshman campaigns, Daniel Marshall and Jarred Sola represented Arizona Track and Field at the United States Junior Track and Field Championships at Texas A&M, finishing in the top 11.

Marshall finished ninth in the triple jump while Sola finished 11th in the shot put.

Marshall qualified for the final with a jump of 15.16 meters. Sola did not qualify for the final after his second and third attempts were foul. The first went a distance of 16.65 meters.

The top two finishers in each event advanced to represent the United States at the 2004 IAAF World Junior Track and Field Championships in Grosseto, Italy in July.

Next up for UA track is the 2004 Olympic trials, beginning July 9 in Sacramento, Calif., in which a number of Wildcats will be competing for spots in the games.

Radenovic, Serbia-Montenegro top Puerto Rico, Verdejo

With five foreign players on the roster this fall, the Arizona basketball team will certainly have an international flavor, and on Sunday sophomore-to-be Ivan Radenovic and incoming freshman Jesus Verdejo got a taste.

In each team's opener at the Global Games, Serbia-Montenegro beat Puerto Rico 81-73. Verdejo scored eight points, shooting 3-for-5 from the field for PR, while the Serbian Radenovic had six points, three rebounds and an assist.

The Global Games, held in Dallas, run through Saturday. Incoming freshmen Chukwuma "Charles" Okwandu (Nigeria), Mohamed Tangara (Mali) and Daniel Dillon (Australia) round out the Wildcats' international players.

Sports Illustrated names Moreno most influential minority figure

UA alumnus Arturo "Arte" Moreno is the most influential minority figure in sports, according to the most recent issue of Sports Illustrated.

Moreno, 57, who owns the Anaheim Angels, moved up from No. 5 last year and his "Outlook" is "Up."

"The first Latino owner of a major U.S. sports franchise, Moreno has hit it big in one of the nation's largest Spanish-language markets. The Angels should set a club attendance record," the blurb said.

Thanks in no small part to the influx of free agents since Moreno bought the team, most notably coveted right fielder Vladimir Guerrero, the Angels (41-24) are 2.5 games out of first as of Monday.

Pacific 10 Conference earns most championship titles... again

Living up to its moniker, "The Conference of Champions," the Pacific 10 won the most national championships in 2003-04, more than double that of any other league.

The Pac-10 won 11 national titles - eight of them female - far out-distancing the second-place Southeastern Conference, which had five. The 11 championships are the most for the Pac-10 since 1997-98.

The Pac-10 has an NCAA-best 84 team national titles over the last 10 years, and has 323 overall. The Big Ten is second with 197.

The Pac-10's tally does not include Southern California's football national championship.