PG Bayless chooses Arizona over Texas

PHOENIX - Jerryd Bayless, the highest-ranked basketball recruit from Arizona since former Wildcat Mike Bibby, committed to play for Arizona during a press conference Friday afternoon at St. Mary's High School in Phoenix.

A 6-foot-3, 190-pound junior combo guard, Bayless had narrowed down his choices to Texas and Arizona before deciding to stay in-state and become a Wildcat.

"It became clear to me earlier this year that U of A, under the leadership of (head) coach (Lute) Olson, is the school and the basketball program that I wanted to commit myself to," Bayless said in a prepared statement.

Bayless averaged 20.7 points and 7.3 assists per game in his sophomore season and was an All-Arizona selection while leading St. Mary's to the Arizona State-5A Championship game.

Bayless said that Texas was originally the No. 1 school on his list after he made his official visit there.

- Roman Veytsman

Manning, Collier earn first-place finishes in L.A.

The Arizona diving teams capped a successful weekend Saturday in the Trojan Diving Invitational at McDonald's Swim Stadium in Los Angeles.

Wildcat senior Tiffany Manning won the 10-meter platform event with 267.20 points, finishing ahead of Southern California's Ali Tycast.

Manning also won Friday's 3m event with a score of 269.95, just edging out UCLA's Marisa Samaniego (267.95), and placed second in the 1m behind USC's Blythe Hartley.

Senior John Collier took first place in the men's 1m event Friday with 333.15 points, as second place went to Texas' Bailey Gao.

The Arizona swimming and diving teams next compete at home this weekend.

Both teams face USC on Friday at 2 p.m., while on Saturday the Wildcat men meet UC-Santa Barbara at noon and the women take on UCLA at noon at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center.

- Allison Hamila

Women's tennis ends fall season on winning note

Freshman Tina Razloznik defeated San Diego State's Sisse Nielsen 6-2, 6-4 Saturday to take the Flight B singles title at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational in Honolulu.

Juniors Kasia Jakowlew and Jessie Rochefort advanced to the doubles finals but lost to SDSU's Nielsen and Eliska Krausova 8-5.

Arizona opens its spring season Nov. 21 against NAU.

- Tom Knauer

Men's golf takes fourth

After starting the weekend as a No. 13 seed, the Arizona men's golf team finished in fourth place yesterday at the Hooters Collegiate Match Play Championship in Orlando, Fla.

The tournament was a double-elimination bracket event where teams advanced with each win and were eliminated after their second loss.

The Wildcats took their second loss against Stanford in the third-place match, losing 3-1-1.

Sophomore Travis Esway, who finished with a team-best three victories in the tournament, earned Arizona's only win against the Cardinal, defeating Matt Shin 4 and 3.

After defeating No. 5 seed Wake Forest on Saturday behind victories by junior Henry Liaw and sophomore Trey Denton, the Wildcats lost to No. 1 seed and eventual champion Georgia 3-2.

On Friday, Arizona beat No. 4 Duke on a split decision. Each team won two matches and tied on the last one, but the Wildcats moved on because of their better overall team score.

Arizona next travels to El Paso, Texas, to play in the Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic on Nov. 21-22, the final tournament of the fall season.

- Dmitry Rashnitsov

Baseball inks 11 to letters of intent

The Arizona baseball team signed 11 high school seniors to national letters of intent Friday, said Wildcats head coach Andy Lopez.

The group includes two catchers (Dwight Childs, Elk Grove, Calif.; Brice Cutspec, Westminister, Calif.), two outfielders (Eric Castro, Fallbrook, Calif.; Drew Rundle, Bend, Ore.), three infielders (Robert Abel, Woodland, Calif.; Kevin Rodland, Snohomish, Wash.; Mike Weldon, Tucson) and four pitchers (Joe Allison, Highlands Ranch, Colo.; Paul Bargas, Perris, Calif.; Taylor Lewis, Tucson; Jason Stoffel, Agoura Hills, Calif.).

Stoffel, a righthander, is the arguable gem. He went 8-2 with a 2.63 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 69 innings as a junior and is ranked the No. 14 overall prospect in Baseball America's 2006 class.

- Information taken from www.arizonaathletics.com, the USC athletics Web site and golfstat.com.