This Week In Armstrong Atlantic State Athletics, 5-8-00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 5-8-00

This Week In Armstrong Atlantic State Athletics

Monday, May 8
No Events Scheduled

Tuesday, May 9
No Events Scheduled

Wednesday, May 10
No Events Scheduled

Thursday, May 11
Men's and Women's Tennis at NCAA National Championships (Pensacola, Fla.)
• AASU women vs. Hawaii-Pacific, 8:30 a.m.
• AASU men vs. St. Edward's, 4:00 p.m.

Friday, May 12
Men's and Women's Tennis at NCAA National Championships (Pensacola, Fla.)
Softball at NCAA South Atlantic Regional (Kennesaw, Ga.)
• AASU vs. Columbus State, 2:00 p.m.

Saturday, May 13
Men's and Women's Tennis at NCAA National Championships (Pensacola, Fla.)
Softball at NCAA South Atlantic Regional (Kennesaw, Ga.)
• Track and Field at Orange and Purple Track Meet (Clemson, S.C.)

Sunday, May 14
Men's and Women's Tennis at NCAA National Championships (Pensacola, Fla.)

Softball (49-5, 18-2 PBAC, No. 1 – NFCA Coaches' Division II Top 25)

The top-ranked AASU softball squad learned its regional pairings on Monday. The Pirates travel to Kennesaw, Ga., to participate in the South Atlantic Regional on May 12 and 13.

AASU, the top seed in the region, will face No. 4 seed Columbus State on Friday, May 12 at 2:00 p.m., while the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, Kennesaw State and North Florida, will play at noon. The losers of the first games will play again at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, with the winners playing at 8:00 p.m.

Saturday's games will take place at Noon and at 2:00 p.m., with a 4:00 p.m. game if the one-loss team beats the undefeated team in the 2:00 p.m. game.

The Pirates will send 2000 PBAC Player of the Year Annie Sells to the pitcher's circle in the first game against Columbus State. Sells, who ranks in the top 11 nationally in strikeouts, ERA and homeruns, earned the conference's top honor on Thursday. Head coach Marty McDaniel was named the PBAC Coach of the Year, and three other players – juniors Crystal McCracken, Crystal Saccomanno and Tesh Wiewel – joined Sells on the All-Conference team.

Should AASU win the South Atlantic Regional, they would advance to the NCAA Division II Women's College World Series in Columbus, Ga., on May 18-22.

Men's & Women's Tennis (16-6, No. 6 (W), 19-6, No. 6 (M) – ITA/NCAA DII Team Rankings)

Both the men's and women's tennis teams captured South Region championships to advance to the NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Tennis National Championships on May 11-14 in Pensacola, Fla.

The No. 6-ranked AASU men's tennis team defeated Columbus State, 5-1, on Saturday to advance to Nationals, where the Pirates will face St. Edward's in a first-round match on Thursday, May 11, at 4:00 p.m. Should the Pirates defeat St. Edward's, a likely second-round matchup with seven-time DII defending champion Lander University looms large.

The No. 6-ranked AASU women's tennis team defeated North Alabama, 5-1, and North Florida, 5-4, to advance to Nationals as well. Both the men's and women's teams have advanced to the Final 16 in each of the past six seasons, the only team in NCAA Division II to accomplish that feat. North Florida will take on Hawaii-Pacific in the first round on Thursday, May 11 at 8:30 a.m., then possibly face top-ranked and defending national champion BYU-Hawaii in the second round.

Track and Field

Nikki Garland earned her second NCAA provisional qualifying time, finishing second in the 800 meters in a time of 2:10.87, at the University of Georgia Invitational over the weekend. Garland, who has already provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the 1,500 meters, finished just 26 thousandths of a second behind Danielle Thornal of Great Britain. The time is the sixth fastest 800 meter time among DII runners so far this season.

Freshman Rebekah Mackie turned in a solid performance in the women's 3000 meters, finishing second in a time of 10:15.17, but not fast enough to qualify her own provisionally qualifying time.

For the men, senior Robert Crenshaw placed 14^th in the 800 meters with a time of 1:54.50, while senior Gary Ginn finished ninth in the 5,000 meters with a time of 16:05.72, and freshman Paul McRae finished eighth in the 1,500 meters in a time of 3:56.07.

The Pirates will have one last meet to qualify runners for the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships – this Saturday, May 13, at the Orange and Purple Track Meet in Clemson, S.C. In all, three AASU runners – Garland, Mackie and McRae – have earned provisionally qualifying times for the championships on May 26-27 in Raleigh, N.C.

- Pirates -