|
NEWS, NOTES &
COMMENTARY
-----
|
The
Bradsher Beat
Friday, June 15, 2007
By Bethany Bradsher |
 |
High points and heroes of
2006-07
By Bethany Bradsher
©2007 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
On the last day of my children’s school last
week, all of the students, teachers and parents filed in for a big awards
ceremony. The kids were recognized for everything from high grades to
physical fitness to reading a lot of books.
Granted, I’m a little tardy (I’ve taken the past
month off from the column to work on a special project you’ll hear more
about later), but it’s still an appropriate time to hold our own little
awards service. The 2006-’07 school year is in the books for East Carolina
athletics, and there are certainly some athletes, programs and events that
deserve a little recognition before we start it all over again in September.
And so, for your consideration and celebration:
-
Most Dramatic
Giant-Killing Victory: On March 11, the Pirate baseball team
completed a sweep of the perennially dominant Cal State Fullerton team
with victories of 6-1, 2-0 and 12-5. It was the first time the Titans
had been swept in three years, and it helped the Pirates turn the corner
on a sluggish start to the season.
-
Outstanding
Newcomer Award: His team might have finished 6-24 and in the
Conference USA cellar, but freshman basketball player John Fields
performed well enough to be named to the C-USA All-Freshman Team. With
9.5 points per game, Fields had the fifth highest scoring average and
the second highest rebounding average (5.8 per game) in the conference.
-
Best Union of
Flash and Substance: The football team’s Nov. 25 victory over North
Carolina State took an emotional rivalry and imbued it with postseason
significance. A 21-16 win in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, keyed by James
Pinkney’s 220 passing yards, would have been cause for celebration any
time. But this win guaranteed the 7-6 Pirates a bowl bid for the first
time in five years.
-
The Best
Embodiment of a Scholar-Athlete: Senior setter Heidi Krug helped
push the Lady Pirates volleyball team to a 19-12 record and set the ECU
record for career assists, but she never let volleyball supersede her
studies. Krug, a biology major, earned a host of honors for excelling at
her sport while maintaining a perfect 4.0 grade-point average. Her
accolades included First Team Academic All-America, three-time C-USA
All-Academic Team selection and two-time
C-USA Scholar-Athlete of the Year
award for volleyball. Just this week, Krug received one of the 12
postgraduate scholarships awarded by the conference. Krug
will apply the $4,000 award toward her next step,
the School of Dentistry at the University of Iowa.
-
Most Likely to
Succeed: The swimming and diving teams, which are entering the 26th
season under the leadership of coach Rick Kobe and recently announced a
25-member recruiting class. The class, one of the largest in swimming
history, includes 11 National Club Swimming Association Junior National
and five YMCA National Qualifiers. Both the men’s and women’s swim teams
finished third at the Conference USA championship in March.
-
The ‘Path To the
Olympics’ Award: Junior Terrance Myers, a hammer thrower who
represented Pirate track and field by placing 12th in his event at the
NCAA Nationals in Sacramento, CA. Myers, who finished third in the East
Regionals in his event, was the only Pirate to qualify for the national
finals in his event.
And, finally…
-
The Best
All-Around Award: To the Lady Pirates basketball team for giving
diehard ECU fans more to celebrate than any other team this season. The
women’s team won its first C-USA title with a 79-70 victory over Rice,
and returned to Greenville to a hero’s welcome. A few nights after that
arrival, hundreds of fans gathered at the Murphy Center to see the women
grab the Holy Grail of college basketball — a spot in the NCAA
Tournament. Not even a 77-34 loss to Rutgers in the first round could
take those moments away from Coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener and her players.
Send an e-mail message to
Bethany Bradsher.
Click here to dig into Bethany Bradsher's Bonesville
archives.
06/15/2007 01:49:47 AM |
