The NCAA News - Briefly in the News

May 27, 1996

• Tennis mom still knows best
• Making time for Girl Scouts
• Running poet
• Milestones
• Facilities

Tennis mom still knows best

They even know about needing to attack the net more. That's the advice that Kay Crawley often gives her daughter, Dahya Ramsey, when they play doubles together for the Coppin State College women's tennis team.

Crawley, 45, who was named the outstanding performer at this year's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tennis championships, went to Coppin State on a whim nearly two years ago. She reluctantly phoned head tennis coach Greg Ogle, whom she knew as tennis director at Wilde Lake Tennis Club in Columbia, Maryland, while a member there.

"I was between jobs, and mutual friends of Greg and mine suggested that now would be a great time to go to school," Crawley said. "I heard Greg needed some players at Coppin."

Ogle initially thought Crawley's inquiry was on behalf of someone else. "I thought she had a player for me," said Ogle, who was at that time beginning his second year as Coppin State's head coach.

After a long discussion with her husband, Ira, about whether she could afford to go to school, Crawley enrolled. "We just decided we would be dirt-poor for years," she said.

Crawley finally took the court March 3. She won her first match and finished her first year with a 4-2 record at the No. 1 singles spot.

Crawley also quickly adapted to life as a student. A social sciences/social work major, she has a 3.300 grade-point average.

"I never knew I would love being a student," she said. She had taken a job right out of high school because she disliked school so much.

Her daughter Dahya followed the same route. A year after Crawley went back to school, Ramsey followed in her mother's footsteps again.

"I saw her in school and doing what she always wanted to do," Ramsey said. "It made it easier to use her as a role model."

Strictly a recreational league player who learned how to play from her parents, Ramsey also joined the Coppin State squad. Eventually, mother and daughter teamed up in doubles and became the Lady Eagles' No. 1 team.

Ogle and the Lady Eagles benefited from the presence of the pair -- especially Crawley's experience, which had a settling effect.

In one grueling match under the Florida sun, Crawley fought her way to victory.

"She showed such a never-give-up attitude," said Ogle of that match. "It was worth more than any sort of inspiring talk I could give. I think it brought us closer together as a team."

Making Time for Girl Scouts

The weekend began on a Friday night when the Green Knights hosted a double-header against Lake Forest College. The games had been scheduled for that afternoon but were postponed until evening because of wet conditions on St. Norbert's field in De Pere, Wisconsin. Not only were the games delayed, but the teams had to travel 15 miles south to find usable fields.

After splitting the games, the Knights boarded a bus at 8:30 the next morning for Waukesha, Wisconsin -- 21/2 hours away. They split another double-header there against Carroll College (Wisconsin), then made a beeline home so several of the players could attend a dance sponsored by student organizations.

And at noon the next day, all 15 players were on hand to spend 41/2 hours teaching Girl Scouts the fundamentals of softball.

Their reward for that hectic 21 hours -- besides splits with two strong teams and more fun with the Girl Scouts than they had anticipated -- was a box of Girl Scout cookies for each player.

Running poet

"Sit, Perhaps Stand," a poem written by former Wake Forest University cross country student-athlete Lisa Kathleen "Kat" Jaske, will be published in a volume of poetry called "Echoes from the Silence, Volume XII." The book, published by Quill Books of Harlingen, Texas, is designed to promote and revitalize an interest in poetry and give recognition to deserving novice poets.

Jaske's work also received a first-place award in the Best of Quill contest, an honor that includes a $1,000 prize. The poem was selected from a field of about 1,500 submissions.

A native of Upper Arlington, Ohio, Jaske graduated magna cum laude from Wake Forest in December. She was a member of the cross country team from 1991 to 1995. Jaske now lives in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and is an associate programmer for the Pepsi Company.

Jaske has published poetic works in numerous collections. She also has completed five novels and has two in progress. Her novel "Baydwen" was a finalist for the Matt McCoy Scholarship.

-- Compiled by Sally Huggins

Milestones

Amherst College head baseball coach Bill Thurston, who serves as secretary-rules editor of the NCAA Baseball Rules Committee, won his 500th career game May 1. The game was a 9-0 victory over Wesleyan University (Connecticut). In 31 years as head coach at Amherst, Thurston's record is 500-230-8.

Plymouth State College's Dennis McManus captured career victory No. 200 April 28 when the Panthers swept a double-header at Rhode Island College. McManus is now 201-193-1 in 12 years as head baseball coach at Plymouth State.

Winona State University head coach Gary Grob recorded his 800th career victory April 25 when his baseball team defeated crosstown rival St. Mary's University of Minnesota. Grob is the most victorious collegiate baseball coach in Minnesota history with a record of 800-466-9 in 29 years.

Head baseball coach Bill Langston recorded his 300th victory in his 16th season at Rockford College with a 2-1 defeat of Illinois Benedictine College April 17.

When Hope College defeated Calvin College, 1-0, in a Division III Women's Softball Championship regional May 10, it was the 800th collegiate coaching victory for Karla Wolters. Wolters has been a college coach for 22 seasons -- 13 at Calvin and the past nine years at Hope.

Facilities

A pizza chain based in Louisville, Kentucky, has committed $5 million to the construction of a 45,000-seat stadium on the campus of the University of Louisville. The gift from Papa John's is the largest single contribution ever made to the Louisville athletics department. In recognition of the gift, the university announced it will name the facility Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. Plans call for the stadium to be built on a 100-acre site adjacent to the south end of the university campus. The Cardinal football team hopes to open its 1998 season in the stadium, which also will accommodate soccer, concerts and a variety of other events. The project is expected to cost $56 million.