Perfect pitch
Sophomore pitcher blazes her way to strike-out record

Sophomore pitcher Katie Burkhart has Olympic-sized aspirations. She was “very upset” when the Olympic Committee recently voted to discontinue softball after the next summer games, though she still hopes to play for the U.S. in Beijing in 2008.

If she keeps putting up numbers like she has for ASU the last two seasons, she may get her chance.

She has followed up her spectacular freshman season stats — 220 strikeouts, good for all-time sixth place in school history, and a 1.52 ERA — with an even more impressive sophomore season. She went into the NCAA record books in consecutive weeks in April, striking out 23 batters against Washington on April 8 and 22 against Arizona on April 14, good enough to earn sixth and fifth place on the Division I single-game strikeout list.

But Burkhart is less interested in the numbers than in her approach.

“I never look at the stats,” says Burkhart. “To me the focus is on every pitch.” She attributes her big strikeout games to this mental preparation. “When I clear my head and go out there that’s usually when I have the most strikeouts,” she says.

“Katie has matured as an athlete,” says her coach, Clint Meyers. “She’s learned how to handle the good and the bad. She’s had quite a year.”

Burkhart handled the good and the bad especially well last season as the team got off to a school record 19-0 start but slowed down a little in the fierce competition of Pac-10 conference play, which Burkhart describes as “a slaughterhouse.”

In 2006, the team earned its 12th trip to the Women’s College World Series with a win over Florida State University at the Tempe Super Regional. A loss to Tennessee on June 3 ended the team’s title run, but even in that loss, Burkhart shone. She pitched a total of 16 innings (including a win earlier in the day against Oregon State University) and struck out 26 batters over the two games. The softball team ended its season with a 53-15 record.

While her in-season focus has been on every pitch, she’s keeping her long-term focus on the Olympics, and remaining hopeful.
“Even if I don’t get the opportunity in 2008, I know that they’ll eventually put [softball] back in, and if Lisa Fernandez can do it at 36, I know I can do the same thing,” she says.

– By Michael Green, a Tempe-based freelance writer.

Keeping her balance
Senior leads gymnastics to regional championship

Surprising even themselves with a first-place finish at regionals, the Arizona State University gymnastics team was a formidable presence on the mats this past season.

Going into the North Central Regional competition, second-seeded ASU was ranked 11th. The victory, however, surprised many, including the team members themselves.

“It was just amazing. I don’t know how to say it, we came in trying to prove ourselves, and we came out winning,” said senior co-captain Ashley Kelly. At regionals, Kelly won the all-around title with a score of 39.525. In her uneven bars and balance beam routines, she scored a 9.9.

The stellar performances for Kelley capped a season full of accomplishment. Kelly scored the highest all-around total in the nation with a 39.875, and was the only gymnast in the nation this season to score a perfect 10 on the balance beam. She won the all-around category in seven of 12 competitions.

The regional crown was the team’s third ever and their first since 1987. With the first-place finish, the Sun Devils automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships that took place in Corvallis, Ore., in April. At nationals, the team saw its season come to an end on day one; the team scored a 195.575 and finished in fourth place in the evening session, which, combined with the scores from the afternoon session, left the Sun Devils in ninth place for the season.

– By Melody Orak, editorial assistant for ASU Magazine.

Two hot tickets (back to top)
Alumni Association, Athletics offer new game packages for members

Recent graduates and other members of the ASU Alumni Association can take advantage of two new ticket offers made available through an agreement between the Alumni Association and ASU’s Intercollegiate Athletics department.

A completely new ticket package is available to recent graduates who join the Alumni Association. Members who have graduated since May 2005 are eligible to purchase season tickets for the football season, or a combination of football and men’s basketball season, as well as a season pass for one guest.

Rates for graduates are the same as the current student season ticket package rates: $60 for football and $85 for the football/basketball combination. One season guest pass can be purchased per person at rates of $85 for football, and $130 for football/basketball. Seating for football will be in sections 244 and 245, next to upper-deck student seating. Basketball seating will be in the upper bowl of Wells Fargo Arena, behind the baskets.

Other members of the Alumni Association can enjoy two-for-one ticket vouchers for one of the following games: Northern Arizona University, University of Nevada, Stanford University, or Washington State University. Members will also be offered two-for-one vouchers good for two men’s basketball games, for games to be announced late summer.

For information on the new ticket packages, call the Alumni Association at (480) 965-ALUM (2586) or 1-800-ALUMNUS.

Great expectations
Feisty baseball team surprises with strong regular-season finish

Last year’s trip to the College World Series wouldn’t mean much to the Arizona State University baseball team coming into this season; coach Pat Murphy lost a big chunk of experience and would have to rely on a team loaded with inexperienced players.

Yet one 30-plus-win season (the team’s 44th consecutive), another trip to the NCAA Tournament (its seventh consecutive), the Pac 10 Freshman of the Year later, and what do you know?

The kids are all right.

“When you have that many newcomers and you finish second in the Pac-10 – and if you asked the kids they’d probably be ticked off that they didn’t win the Pac-10 – you’d be safe to say they stepped up,” Murphy said.

ASU finished the regular season with a 36-19 record. Ike Davis, a freshman pitcher and first baseman, was named Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. He had 65 RBI – a team record for a freshman – and tied for the team lead with nine home runs and 77 hits. And for a school steeped in baseball history, he was the first Sun Devil ever chosen as the Pac-10’s best freshman.

Davis was also named first-team all-Pac 10, along with outfielder Colin Curtis, infielder Eric Sogard and catcher Preston Paramore. Pitchers Daryl Arreola, Tony Barnette and Brett Bordes, along with first baseman Brett Wallace, earned honorable mention honors.

The team made it into the NCAA Tournament, but dropped two games to Baylor in as many days in early June, ending their season with an overall record of 37-21. Murphy pointed to the Sun Devils’ winning history as a factor in the successful regular season, as well as creating hope for future seasons.

“To come back and to play pretty well with a brand new team says something for our tradition,” he said. “I think we have a nice blend – we have a bunch of kids who care. Our tradition carries us. They come in here and they expect to win.”

– By Bill Goodykoontz, a Chandler-based freelance writer.

Progress report
Women’s basketball sets sights on next season

When the fourth-seeded women’s basketball team lost to Utah in the second round of the NCAA tournament, many felt that the Sun Devil team had not lived up to its potential. But Coach Charli Turner-Thorne dismisses any idea of dashed expectations. With a host of new players, a freshman and sophomore backcourt, and a team of only average overall experience, she knows that they performed exceptionally well.

“I really felt that this team came about as close to doing what they could do,” she said. “Even though our post-season was less than we [hoped], I felt that we took a step forward in our program in terms of how consistently we performed and our mentality.”

That consistency was manifested in some amazing stats last season, including winning 14 games in the Pac-10 — the best in the program’s history — a 10-game winning streak, and most impressively, going undefeated at home.

For the 2006-07 team, the Sun Devils have what Turner-Thorne calls “very exciting additions.” The team has recruited four new players, including two 6-foot-1 post players and Gabby Fage, a 5-foot-11 guard from Australia. The team also returns four starters from last season: guards Jill Noe and Reagan Pariseau and forwards Emily Westerberg and Aubree Johnson.

The team has some exciting events lined up for the season, including a game with Texas Tech at home and an away game with powerhouse Tennessee that has been on the docket for two years. Turner-Thorne looks to the fans and the alumni to continue to help grow the program.

“The fans make a huge difference to us,” she says. “The thing that I noticed [last year] was a larger crowd, consistently, game in and game out. You really have some atmosphere when you can get 2,000 or more (at games) and we are definitely looking for our fan base to grow.”

–By Michael Green

Making a Splash
Young water polo team builds fan base

One needn’t have a full understanding of something to enjoy it.

Good thing when it comes to water polo. Typically a sport casual fans pay attention to once every four years during the Olympics, it’s also a sport in which Arizona State University is making a name for itself.

The Sun Devils finished their fifth season as a varsity program in May with a 15-13 record and a No. 6 national ranking. What’s more, their two offensive leaders, Rowie Webster, of Victoria, Australia, and Addison Doud, of Laguna Beach, Calif., were both freshmen.

“It’s great down the road just to have those players for three more years to build, to bring in some other players,” Coach Todd Clapper said. “Those are explosive players that could be playing on any team in our conference, any team in the country. Those are players who are going to help us take the next step – winning the national championship.”

A lofty goal, to be sure, but the team has come a long way in a short time. The addition of Webster and Doud certainly helped.

“I think the potential has been there,” Clapper said. “I think a big part of what the team had was some really good role players. The addition of these two really strong offensive players has really launched us into the top group.”

Indeed, Webster was selected second-team All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, the league in which ASU competes, and to the federation’s all-freshman team. Clapper, meanwhile, was chosen in May as the head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Youth Team.

And yet to a great many at ASU, water polo remains a mystery.

“Most people will say, ‘Yeah I kind of watch a little in the Olympics, it kind of seems like they’re just wrestling around in the water,’” Clapper said. It’s not that this is an inaccurate description; it’s just that there is also more strategy going on than just that.

“You can be pretty physical with someone, but it’s not a dunk-fest,” Clapper said.

Getting people to the games is key. It helps that the team hands out a brief rules guide at the games, to explain what’s going on more clearly. It’s not a bad idea, and the way things are going for the Sun Devils, it might be smart to start studying up.

--By Bill Goodykoontz

Twice as Nice (back to top)
Doubles team builds synergy to excel on tennis court

When Roxanne Clarke and Kady Pooler, doubles partners for the Arizona State University women’s tennis team, hit a rough patch during the middle of the season, they didn’t panic.

Instead, they talked.

“I don’t know if it was the pressure, or maybe we just started to expect the wins,” Pooler said. Whatever the case, they were squeaking by in matches they should have dominated, she said, and even losing some matches they should have won. But the two “have a good chemistry together,” so instead of blaming each other, they sorted things out.

“We came together off the court,” Pooler said, “and just talked about some things, about how we could get better on the court.”

“We worked our way out of it and played better in the end,” Clarke added.

The duo lost in a first-round upset in May in the NCAA doubles championship – to the eventual winner of the tournament – but they posted a 26-9 record for the regular season and ended with a No. 16 national ranking.

Clarke, whose 25-13 record gave her the rare feat of winning more than 20 matches in both singles and doubles in a season, was named honorable mention All-Pac 10. Pooler, meanwhile, won second-team honors on the Pac 10 All-Academic team; Rebecca Rankin won first-team All-Academic honors, while Jessica Leitch and Wendy Pilecka were named honorable mention.

Overall the Sun Devils finished 13-9 for the season, with a No. 22 ranking, and lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Pooler and Clarke, as you might expect, are hoping for bigger things next season, particularly as a doubles team.

“We set our goals pretty high,” Clarke said. “Our goal is to win the NCAAs, the doubles tournament.

“It doesn’t really matter if one of you is playing well or you’re both playing well,” she continued. “You have to be playing well together, if that makes sense. Basically you’re like one on the court.”

And if you get along off it, all the better.

– By Bill Goodykoontz