The NCAA News - Briefly in the News

August 19, 1996

• Soap suds help rebuild churches
• 1896 Olympic medalist
• News quiz
• Facilities

Soap suds help rebuild churches

But not this group of Gamecocks. On July 20, instead of taking a weekend off at the beach, more than 70 players worked for more than five hours washing cars at Northside Baptist Church in West Columbia.

Responding to the burning of predominantly black churches across the South, including several in South Carolina, Gamecock senior wide receiver Corey Bridges approached his teammates about participating in some type of project to raise funds to help rebuild what had been destroyed.

After talking it over, the players came up with the idea of the car wash. During the event, the Gamecocks often received more than the asking price of $8 per car, and by the end of the day they had raised $1,800.

Northside Baptist Church members were so impressed with the efforts of the players that they took up a special collection the next day and added $1,700 to the cause.

"I can't understand how someone would burn down a church," Bridges said. "I don't know how someone can do something like that. But I feel we did a great deed in raising funds to help rebuild the churches. We all feel good about helping these people out. It could have been one of our parents' churches that burned down."

As a side benefit of the project, the football players developed the type of camaraderie and spirit that can be so important in a team sport like football.

The car wash was part of an ongoing program of community outreach in the South Carolina athletics department, which organized the project called Team Gamecocks three years ago.

Kris Kordonowy, who directs Team Gamecocks, said the money raised from the car wash would go to two organizations -- the Brotherhood Builders of the South Carolina Baptist Convention and the Promise Keepers Organization.

"The players wanted to make sure the money stayed in the state of South Carolina," Kordonowy said. "The guys on the football team came to me with this idea. The car wash and the cause were all their idea."

During the 1995-96 school year, more than 7,600 people in the Columbia area were reached by more than 330 student-athletes participating in 81 community-service projects.

1896 Olympic medalist

Connolly, a 27-year-old Harvard freshman from nearby South Boston and the American record holder in the hop-skip-and-jump (now known as the triple jump), requested a leave of absence from the school so he could compete at the Games. The request was courteously denied.

Undeterred, Connolly withdrew from school and became part of a 10-man contingent -- including five Harvardians -- that represented the United States at the Games.

Two days before setting sail across the Atlantic Ocean, Connolly hurt his back but the injury healed during the 17-day journey.

In Naples, Italy, where Connolly and his teammates switched to rail transportation, his wallet was stolen.

After finally arriving in Athens, the Americans thought they had 12 days to train but learned that the difference between the Greek and Western calendars meant the Games actually were beginning the following morning, April 6. Even worse, Connolly read in the program that his event would be the hop-hop-and-jump -- a variation on his specialty and something for which he hadn't practiced since childhood.

Brief opening ceremonies were followed by the 100-meter trials, where three Americans advanced to the finals. Connolly's event was next and, instead of trials, three jumps were used to determine the victor.

Connolly, the final competitor, walked out of the sandpit after the other jumpers had finished and threw his cap to the point a yard beyond their best effort, indicating how far he would jump. He then shot down the runway, did the hop-hop-and-jump and landed well beyond his cap.

Connolly's effort of 44 feet, 113/4 inches -- although short of his own best and of the world record he would set later in the year -- still outdistanced his closest rival by more than a yard.

With the win, Connolly became the first Olympic champion in more than 1,500 years and started an American domination of the 1896 Games. The American contingent won nine of the 12 track and field events.

Connolly and his schoolmates also started another tradition that continues today, as Harvard has been represented at every modern Summer Olympics -- including eight competitors in this year's games in Atlanta.

Connolly became a noted writer and authored the sea novel "The Gloucestermen," but never earned a Harvard degree. He did, however, receive an honorary varsity letter -- complete with the traditional crimson sweater -- during his class' 50th reunion in 1948.

-- Compiled by Sally Huggins

News quiz

1. True or false: NCAA women's basketball attendance surpassed the five-million mark for the first time during the 1995-96 season.

2. True or false: The annual NCAA Division I Graduation-Rates Report reveals that Division I student-athletes who receive athletically related financial aid graduate at a rate lower than the overall student body.

3. Which of the Association's three membership divisions is considering including student-athletes as voting members of its Management Council? (a) Division I; (b) Division II; (c) Division III; (d) none of the above.

4. Which conference has led annually in NCAA men's basketball attendance since 1977? (a) Big Ten Conference; (b) Atlantic Coast Conference; (c) Southeastern Conference; (d) Big East Conference.

5. How many proposals properly submitted by the membership for the 1997 Convention in Nashville deal with restructuring issues? (a) 10; (b) 16; (c) 22; (d) 28.

6. True or false: A lottery system for ticket distribution will be used for the first time for the 1998 Women's Final Four.

Answers: 1-True; 2-False; 3-c; 4-a; 5-d; 6-True.

Facilities

A two-year project to increase the seating capacity of the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion at the University of Connecticut will result in approximately 800 new seats for the 1996-97 basketball season, bringing capacity to about 9,000. Next summer, during the second phase of the seating project, another 800 seats will be added.

Fall 1997 is the anticipated opening date of the David B. and Georgiana S. Albright Tennis Complex at Wittenberg University. The project, made possible by a $1 million gift from Mrs. Albright in memory of her husband, will include 12 lighted courts featuring a Dynaflex surface, two sunken center courts, and space for seating. The 12 courts, double the number at the current facility (which will be removed when the new courts are ready), will allow Wittenberg to host conference and national tournaments.

The Alumni Center for Athletics and Recreation is under construction at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, with completion anticipated by the beginning of the 1997-98 academic year. The $19.5 million facility will include a competition arena, natatorium, exercise and fitness complex, men's and women's locker rooms, sports medicine complex, administrative complex, athletics hall of fame, two racquetball courts, and a multipurpose/wrestling room.