Women's field primed for Coaches vs. Cancer Challenge tip-off

Match-ups are set for the 2000 Coaches vs. Cancer Challenge, a women's college basketball tournament that will be played this year at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin.

The University of Georgia will tip off against the University of Oklahoma, and the University of Notre Dame will face the University of Wisconsin, Madison, on November 22. The championship and consolation games will be November 24.

All four teams had impressive seasons last year, with Georgia, a No. 1 seed in last year's Division I women's tournament, advancing to the quarterfinals, and Oklahoma and Notre Dame reaching the Sweet Sixteen. Wisconsin won the Women's National Invitation Tournament.

"We are thrilled and flattered to be the host of this year's Coaches vs. Cancer Challenge," said Wisconsin head coach Jane Albright. "This event will showcase some of the best women's basketball teams in the country and raise a significant amount of money for Coaches vs. Cancer. You couldn't ask for a better combination."

The 1999 event, which featured the University of Connecticut, Old Dominion University, the University of Kentucky and Clemson University, raised more than $90,000 for Coaches vs. Cancer.

Since 1995, the Gazelle Group -- producers of the Coaches vs. Cancer IKON Classic in men's basketball and the women's Coaches vs. Cancer Challenge -- has raised more than $1 million for Coaches vs. Cancer, which is a collaboration of the American Cancer Society, the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.

The Gazelle Group will announce ticket information and television details for the tournament later.

Final answer?

While there isn't a million-dollar prize and Regis Philbin won't be participating, those interested in officiating can test their knowledge of the subject on the new "Sports Quiz" section of the National Association of Sports Officials Web site.

Found at www.naso.org, the free quizzes are available now for baseball, football and soccer. A basketball quiz will be available in November. The quizzes cover rules situations for college and high-school level play.

NASO sponsors the Referee quiz program as part of its efforts to provide continuous officiating education.

Three times a charm

Andy Waddle, a junior defensive back at Wittenberg University, had an amazing day recently in a game against Urbana University.

Waddle blocked three punts in the span of about five minutes, helping Wittenberg to a 42-17 victory.

Waddle, playing in his first game with the Tigers, is likely to be a name that opposing punters remember in the future.

Wrestling with books

The National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) has announced the 2000 NWCA Division I Wrestling Academic Teams, recognizing the top 30 Division I wrestling teams based on academic performance. The group also honored individual academic all-Americans.

The NWCA's top Division I selection for 2000 was Princeton University, with a team grade-point average of 3.374. Stanford University was second with a 3.308 grade-point average, followed by Brown University, Boston College and Drexel University.

Iowa State University led academic first-team selections with three: Cael Sanderson, Cody Sanderson and Joe Heskett. Others on the first team were Robert Rohn of Lehigh University; Brandon Eggum of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; Richard Springman of the University of Pennsylvania; Kirk White and Larry Quisel of Boise State University; Nick Muzashvili of Michigan State University; Zachary Breitenbach of North Carolina State University; and Mark Munoz of Oklahoma State University.

For more information about the awards, see www.ncaawrestling.com.

NACWAA fall forum

The National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators is having its 21st annual fall forum October 20-24 in Denver.

The agenda this year includes programs on hiring for diversity, professional development, harassment in athletics, mentoring and sports promotions.

The keynote speaker will be Robin Roberts of ESPN and ABC Sports. Other speakers include Benita Fitzgerald Mosley of the U.S. Olympic Committee, Neena Chaudry of the National Women's Law Center and Janet Judge of the law firm Verrill and Dana.

For registration information, see www.nacwaa.org.

--Compiled by Kay Hawes

Number crunching

Several of the all-time division rushing records are in jeopardy this season. The Division III record seems likely the first to go since R.J. Bowers of Grove City College needs just 16 yards to top the mark of 6,125 set by Carey Bender of Coe College. The next mark to fall could be in Division I-AA because of Charles Roberts of California State University, Sacramento, who is just 674 yards short of breaking the Division
I-AA record of 6,193 set by the University of New Hampshire's Jerry Azumah. Other potential record breakers are South Dakota State University's Josh Ranek, only a junior, who quickly is climbing the Division II ladder. On the Division I-A level, Texas Christian University's LaDainian Tomlinson and Lamont Jordan of the University of Maryland, College Park, are neck and neck as the active career leader, but neither will reach the mark set last season by Ron Dayne of the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Looking back

September 1990 -- NCAA Executive Director Richard D. Schultz and Paul Fulton, president of Sara Lee Corporation, announce a three-year corporate-partner agreement involving the largest financial commitment ever by an NCAA corporate partner -- all of it to be used in promoting women's athletics. Sara Lee commits a minimum of $6 million to the program, which includes the establishment of an NCAA Woman of the Year award. "You can only imagine what will happen (to women's sports) over the next few years from the exposure provided by this agreement with Sara Lee," Schultz said. (The NCAA News, September 24, 1990)

"I think it's the problem of the 1990s and beyond. In the past, we have talked about things of no consequence -- such as basketball camps where guys got an advantage and things like that. Are you kidding me? Compared to this, we have been wasting our time. If we don't get it in check by the year 2000, it will be awful."

-- John Calipari, then-head men's basketball coach at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, talking in 1995 about the problem with agents in college athletics