Staff Reports
Arizona Daily Wildcat
March 10, 1998

Tuesday's Tidbits

Sophomore Trina Jackson came close to setting a new NCAA and American record in the 550-meter freestyle late last month at the Pacific 10 Conference Women's Swimming Championship. Her time of 4:39.96 broke the Pac-10 record (4:42.25). Janet Evans holds the NCAA and American record with a 4:34.39 time. Jackson took home her second Pac-10 championship at the meet in Long Beach, Calif., with her 15:57.73 finish in the 1,650.

Think celebrities only go to Los Angeles Lakers games? The stars find their way to UCLA Bruins games too. On hand for Saturday's UCLA-UA game were actors Bill Murray and John Lithgow. Finding their way into the Wildcats' locker room after the game were Gary Shandling and Jaleel "Urkel" White. Also in Pauley Pavilion were a few basketball legends, including Magic Johnson, Jerry West, and John Wooden. Former Bruins Cameron Dollar and Charles O'Bannon were also in attendance, as was former Kansas star Scot Pollard.

Wonder how the men's basketball team prepares for the NCAA Tournament? Does it break down tape? How about more time in the gym? Nah, the men play EA Sports' "March Madness" for PlayStation.

The game has become a favorite among the players, except for sophomore guard John Ash. He is the only member of the squad that is not featured on the game.

Road trips just wouldn't be as exciting if something unexpected didn't occur on the way.

UA's women's gymnastics team headed out to the East Coast for a four-way meet at Penn State two weeks ago. After braving a 5 a.m. wake-up call to catch the long flight across the country, the Wildcats encountered a flat tire in one of their rental vans on the way to the hotel late that evening.

No problem, though. Assistant coach Karen Tierney and gymnasts Nancy Milberger and Lisha Stone kept head coach Jim Gault company while they waited for AAA to arrive. Though it was pouring rain and the women were tired and hungry, they certainly were not bored. Coach Gault entertained the roadside crew by singing the "National Anthem" with a little rock 'n roll twist.

To know whether the Arizona baseball team has won or lost, one doesn't need the score for both teams. The Wildcats' score always seems to be sufficient. Arizona is 23-0 when it scores five or more runs and 0-4 when it doesn't. The weekend's two losses to Stanford saw the Wildcats score only four runs in each. In their victory they scored nine. Arizona has scored more than 20 runs three times and more than 10 runs 13 times. Just to show that they can pitch, too, the Wildcats have only given up more than 10 runs five times, with only three of those games being losses.

During all of the excitement of finding out who the UA women's basketball team would host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament and that Adia Barnes, Reshea Bristol and head coach Joan Bonvicini had won Pac-10 awards, some awards went unnoticed.

Felecity Willis, Monika Crank, Marte Alexander and Lisa Griffith were all voted All-Pac-10 honorable mention by the league's coaches.

One glaring omission from that list, however, is senior guard DeAngela Minter, whose defense and savvy presence has played a large part in Arizona's season-best 14-4 Pac-10 record.

The honorable mention award goes to players who received votes for the All-Pac-10 team but not enough to get them a spot on the roster.

With five players receiving votes, Arizona was the Pac-10's most represented team.