Sprints
Short takes from ASU’s sports teams

BASEBALL

Two Sun Devil legends, Coach Bob Winkles, and infielder Bob Horner, were to be inducted with the inaugural class of the College Baseball Hall of Fame on July 4 in Lubbock, Texas, the College Baseball Foundation announced. More than 300 candidates were originally submitted for consideration by universities and foundation members.

Former Head Coach Bob Winkles was ASU’s first varsity baseball coach, working for the team from 1959 to 1971. With the Sun Devils he finished with a 524-173 record, three national championships, and was a three-time NCAA Coach of the Year.

Bob Horner was an infield player, playing shortstop, second base and third base for the Sun Devils, Horner hit 56 homeruns and earned All-WAC honors three times in three seasons with ASU, and helped lead the Sun Devils to three consecutive College World Series appearances, including the 1977 National Championship—where he was named the Most Outstanding Player of the series.

“It makes me very proud to be associated with Arizona State University,” Coach Pat Murphy said of the honor.

“The College Baseball Hall of Fame will be a very nice tribute to college baseball, and I’m sure Arizona State University will have great representation in future Hall of Fame classes.”

TRACK and FIELD

The ASU women’s track and field team may want to consider ordering a new trophy case between now and the start of the school year—the team collected a slew of team and individual awards, providing a great finish to the team’s exemplary 2005-2006 season. The team achieved what is considered the sport’s Triple Crown, winning a trophy (awarded to Top 4 team finishes) at the NCAA Cross Country Championships (fourth place), the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships (third place) and the Outdoor Track and Field Championships (tied for fourth place). ASU is the only school this year to earn a trophy finish in all three major championships.

Heptathlete Jacquelyn Johnson was one of several Sun Devil athletes picking up individual honors during the season. She won her second heptathlon crown at the outdoor championships, and was named the 2006 Women’s West District Field Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Victoria Jackson won the 10,000-meter race at the outdoor championships, as well as setting a school record for the distance. She was also named the 2006 All Pac-10 champion at 5,000 meters.

Other Sun Devils picking up honors during the season were Amy Hastings, who earned All-America honors in the 10,000 meter run at the outdoor track championships and a trio of ASU coaches (Greg Kraft, David Dumble and Louie Quintana) who were named Women’s Coach of the Year, Assistant Coach of the Year and Women’s Distance Coach of the Year, respectively, by the western district of the track coaches’ association.

WRESTLING

In late February Arizona State University men’s wrestling team took home the Pac-10 Championship crown for the second year in a row. This victory tied ASU with Oregon State for the most Pac-10 wrestling crowns in conference history, with each university possessing 16 conference wins.

After their strong showing at conference, the team competed in the 2006 NCAA Wrestling Championships, held March 16-18 in Oklahoma City, Okla. The Sun Devils finished in sixth place, a more optimistic showing than the tenth-seed they received for the tournament. The national finish marks the 19th time in 40 tournaments under Head Coach Thom Ortiz that ASU has placed in the Top 10.

Beyond the conference win and the strong national finish, the team finished with an undefeated season (8-0) within the Pac-10 conference, and Ortiz was named the 2006 Pac-10 Coach of the Year for the third time in Ortiz’ five years with the Sun Devil program.

SWIMMING

In late March, the Arizona State University men’s swimming and diving team finished in 14th place at the NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championship, held in Atlanta, Ga. This marks the 17th straight season the men’s swimming team has finished in the top 20 at the NCAA meet.

The successful season was recognized by the Pac-10 conference and elsewhere with a slew of awards for both athletes and coaches on the swimming and diving team. ASU diver Joona Puhakka received Pac-10 Diver of the Year honors, and Diving Coach Mark Bradshaw was named Coach of the Year for the conference.
Puhakka has won eight Pac-10 diving championships, and first diver to accomplish this in conference history, and was also named the NCAA National Diver of the Year in 2005.

Bradshaw is in his ninth year at ASU. He has coached five All-Americans, three individual Pac-10 champions, one national champion, three Pac-10 Newcomers of the Year and two Pac-10 Divers of the Year.

In addition to performing well on in the pool, the Sun Devil men's and women's swimming and diving teams have 20 athletes who have earned Pac-10 Conference All-Academic honors. A student-athlete must have a minimum grade-point average of 3.0 and be either a starter or significant contributor to the team to be eligible for the recognition.

Spanish Language Broadcasts

ASU athletic contests will be broadcast in Spanish for the 2006-2007 year. LASA Sports Media Group, ASU and CBS Colligate Sports Properties announced on May 30 that the Sun Devil Sports Network will broadcast the 2006 football season, 18 men's basketball games and 15 baseball games on Spanish-language radio station KIDR 740 AM.

“We are very pleased and excited to introduce ASU Athletics to the Hispanic community over the airwaves,” said LASA Sports Media Group General Manager Miguel Sallard.

One of the members of the broadcast team will be Juan Roque, a member of ASU's 1997 Rose Bowl team. He was drafted in the second round of the National Football league draft by the Detroit Lions, and he is one of seven Sun Devil football players who have been selected as consensus All-Americans in school history. He currently lives and works in Chandler.

ASU Vice President for Athletics Lisa Love said of the broadcasting announcement, "This is something we have wanted to accomplish at ASU … we are delighted to be able to bring back a great Sun Devil like Juan Roque to be an integral part of the broadcast team."

— Edited by Melody Orak

On point

Some might call Herb Sendek’s exchange of North Carolina State’s leafy green campus for the desert botanical gardens of ASU an even trade. But taking charge of a men’s basketball program that needs rebuilding, after ten years coaching in the powerhouse basketball conference that is the Atlantic Coast Conference? Maybe not so even.

But Sendek calls it a “challenge,” and says, “This is a time like no other to do great things at ASU.”

After serving eight years as head coach, and compiling a 119-120 record, Rob Evans left the ASU program in March. Vice President for Athletics Lisa Love quickly began an exhaustive search for his replacement, but says that Sendek received the only offer she made.

“This is going to be a wonderful marriage, with Herb as the architect of basketball at ASU,” Love said.

Sendek’s North Carolina State teams were known for their defense. Four times, NC State led the ACC in scoring defense, no small accomplishment in a conference that includes two recent national champions, Duke and North Carolina. But his teams scored a lot of points as well, 76 per game last year, and he envisions building a high-scoring team at ASU.

Sendek acknowledged the great crowds that his teams played in front of at NC State. Tough-nosed, high-scoring teams are just what the Sun Devil program needs to get fans back in the stands after years of declining attendance, and Sendek said he understands that ASU has a lot of work to do to draw fans back in consistently large numbers.

“It really takes a great team effort to have an outstanding sports program,” he said. “We’re going to have to appeal to everybody to help us. We want to be very much in touch with not only the campus community but also the at-large [community] around Phoenix and the state.”

Sendek also expressed a desire to reach out to ASU alumni.

“We want to be connected with our alumni base, as well as parts of all aspects of the university. We don’t see ourselves as an island sitting over here on our own sports land mass. Let’s get everyone fired up!”

— By Michael Green