Rival coach helps Baldwin-Wallace athlete win race for life

John Carroll University head cross country coach Mark McClure recently provided the ultimate example of good sportsmanship when he literally saved the life of Jamie Luketic, a competitor from rival Baldwin-Wallace College.

Near the completion of the 17th annual Mel Brodt Invitational at Bowling Green State University, the runner in front of Luketic kicked up a rock. The stone flew into Luketic's mouth and lodged in her throat.

"At first I thought it was a bug or a fly that flew in my mouth," Luketic said. "But I couldn't catch my breath. I began to get scared."

Luketic said she began looking around for someone to help her.

"I lost my sense of where I was but could feel someone behind me," she said.

That someone was McClure, who said he knew Luketic was in trouble when she turned pale.

"It was in the middle of the afternoon, and it was a warm day, so my first reaction was to believe she was not feeling well," said McClure.

Luketic was able to indicate she was choking by whispering the word "rock" and pointing to her throat. McClure dislodged the rock with a thrust to the abdomen.

Luketic is training again despite being understandably shaken by the experience. "I am so grateful to Coach McClure for helping me," she said. "He saved my life."

Vols to celebrate 25 millionth fan

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville's Neyland Stadium is expected to play host to its 25 millionth football fan this season.

To celebrate the milestone, Tennessee has dubbed this season as the "Year of the Volunteer Fan." At each of the seven scheduled home games, a "Fan of the Game" will be chosen to receive a prize package valued at $4,000, courtesy of the select corporate partners of the athletics department.

A grand-prize winner, who is expected to push through the turnstiles November 22 for the contest against Vanderbilt University, will receive a prize package that includes two season tickets to all Tennessee athletics events in 2004, a $250 gift certificate from each promotional sponsor and a chance to run through the "T" with the football team.

East Stroudsburg has creative top 10

Posters offering advice on academic success are a familiar part of the college campus decor.

But the posters being displayed around campus at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania feature top tips for excelling in the classroom given by student-athletes.

The responses were compiled into a top 10 list, similar to those seen on David Letterman's late-night television show, and turned into a poster. The poster also features the photos of five-student athletes along with their best advice.

The project was the brainchild of Nancy Jo Greenawalt, academic coordinator for intercollegiate athletics at the school, who got the idea after attending a team meeting where upperclassmen were asked to offer advice to freshmen.

"The best thing is that it is peers speaking to peers," said Greenawalt. "The recognition of someone who has been successful both in the classroom as well as a leader on their team has really helped get the message across."

Greenawalt compiled the list of top tips by polling senior student-athletes who attended an athletics director's honor roll reception. The most frequently given answers were incorporated into the list.

The No. 1 tip given by the student-athletes for academic success: Time management.

Regular class attendance and packing homework to away games also made the list.

-- Compiled by Leilana McKindra

Number crunching

Looking back

10 years ago

Here's what was happening within the NCAA in September 1993:

For the first time in Association history, membership in the NCAA tops 1,100. The increase, helped by 31 new member schools, marks the biggest one-year growth in active membership since 1982. Seven new conferences also join the NCAA. Division II has the most new members with a net increase of 23.

In the first decision addressing alleged gender bias against men, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois ruled that the University of Illinois, Champaign, did not violate Title IX or the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution when it eliminated only the men's swimming team and not the women's team. Eight members of the men's swim team challenged the decision to eliminate the team, claiming that the university had discriminated against them on the basis of sex.

The Association reports that the percentage of student-athletes ruled ineligible for positive drug tests was .3 percent during the spring of 1993. That ties the record for the lowest rate since the Association's drug testing program began in 1986.

Those who feared college football would be hurt by new NCAA rules requiring bleeding players to leave the game for treatment were relieved to find that the rule seemed to have little effect. Some had predicted frequent stoppages of play, wholesale substitutions and the loss of key players for crucial plays.