Coca-Cola, NACDA announce community-service honors

 The Coca-Cola Company and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) recently named the 2005 national Coca-Cola Community All-Americans.

One winner from NCAA Divisions I-A,
I-AA/I-AAA, II and III, as well as one each from the NAIA and the junior/community college ranks, was recognized for community-service efforts. In addition to being honored during the NACDA convention June 16, Coca-Cola will donate $5,000 to the community or philanthropic cause of each recipient's choice.

The four NCAA student-athletes selected (and their philanthropic causes) are Sarah Carlson, Boston College, women's ice hockey (Women's Connecting Affecting Change); Erin Ashton, East Tennessee State University, women's soccer (Global Health Outreach and Children's Hospital of Johnson City, Tennessee, Medical Center); Crystal Covington, Emporia State University, women's cross country, and indoor and outdoor track and field (Lyon County Restricted Emergency Fund); and Hannah Leigh Williams, Shenandoah University, women's volleyball [Shelter for Abused Women and Glenvar (Virginia) High School Volleyball].

Each year, athletics administrators, coaches and student-athletes at participating institutions nominate student-athletes who demonstrate a high level of commitment to community service. Directors of athletics select one student-athlete from the nominations as the school's Coca-Cola Community all-American. National winners are chosen from designated campus community all-Americans.

Carlson, a nursing major at Boston College, has completed mission trips to Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and Mexico. A biology major at East Tennessee State, Ashton has participated in medical mission trips. She also reads to children and volunteers with Girls, Inc. Covington, a marketing major at Emporia State and community-service chair for the school's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, logged more than 400 hours of service while at Emporia State. A psychology and sports administration major at Shenandoah, Williams has helped build two homes through Habitat for Humanity.

Sul Ross' star blocker becomes star donor

Sul Ross State University senior basketball student-athlete Rockland Owens closed out his career as the school's all-time leading shot-blocker. In May, though, Owens did his best to block the path of a different kind of opponent when he donated peripheral blood stem cells to a leukemia patient.

With the barest knowledge of exactly who he was helping (a 19-year-old female), Owens still was happy to assist. Initially, the kinesiology major was scheduled to undergo the procedure in April, but those plans changed when another donor was identified as being a closer match. When that effort proved unsuccessful, Owens was called back into action.

Owens traveled to Fort Worth, Texas, to undergo a physical exam, sign the necessary paperwork and learn the details of what would take place. He also took two injections daily for four days and drank milk to help increase his blood calcium level.

An admittedly nervous Owens returned to Fort Worth two weeks later to spend six hours over the course of two days sitting in a recliner, watching movies while the procedure was completed.

"It wasn't that bad of a procedure," he said of the experience. "I'd do it again, if needed. There's a slight chance she will need more white blood cells or even bone marrow. They could call and ask, and I would do it."

Owens is shooting for a December graduation from Sul Ross, after which he plans to pursue a career as a coach and teacher.

New book emphasizes student side of athletics

Student-athletes use practice and hard work to polish skills unique to their sports. Now book publisher Houghton Mifflin Company has provided student-athletes with a tool to help them sharpen their academic skills as well.

Houghton Mifflin recently produced the text, "Becoming a Master Student Athlete," to assist student-athletes in managing the demands of academics and athletics. The book, based on the principles of the best-selling "Becoming a Master Student," focuses on a number of key areas, including the pressures on time, the body and interpersonal relationships; studying on the road; and the importance of choosing a major and planning for life after college.

The text also features articles written by instructors and coaches; a Web site with self-quizzes, activities and exercises; and student profiles from well-known athletes.

For more information, visit http://college.hmco.com/info/masterstudent and click on Becoming a Master Student Athlete or call 800/733-3656, extension 4618

-- Compiled by Leilana McKindra

Number crunching

Looking back

 10 years ago

Here's what was making NCAA news in July 1995:

• The NCAA membership submits 72 proposals for the 1996 Convention in Dallas, including a measure that would protect championships in Olympic sports from being discontinued, regardless of sponsorship. Also proposed is a measure to create a National Collegiate championship in women's rowing, which with 71 sponsoring institutions, meets criteria for the establishment of an NCAA championship.

• The NCAA Visitors Center changes its name to the NCAA Hall of Champions. Officials at the facility housed in the first floor of the national office building in Overland Park, Kansas, make the change to better reflect the Hall's focus on champions in intercollegiate athletics -- both on and off the fields and courts.

• Kent State University President Carol Cartwright joins the NCAA Council as a representative from the Mid-American Conference. Cartwright will go on to serve on the Division I Board of Directors in the Association's federated governance structure and chair the NCAA Executive Committee through April 2005.

• A U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee passes an amendment that would eliminate funds to the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights if the OCR does not clarify how institutions can comply with prongs two and three of the three-part test in Title IX.

• The United States Olympic Committee officially recognizes USA Shooting as the national governing body for rifle after the National Rifle Association withdraws from that capacity.

• C. Vivian Stringer leaves her women's basketball post at the University of Iowa to take on head coaching responsibilities at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick. Stringer replaces Theresa Grentz, who earlier took the head coaching job at the University of Illinois, Champaign. Signing a seven-year contract, Stringer reportedly will be the highest-paid women's basketball coach ever.