06/15/04
Softball

Signee Update
Courtney Bures, one of the top hitters in the nation, led her Stonewall Jackson HS (Manassas, VA) team to the Virginia Group AAA state title after finishing second last year and the year before. Although I don't know her final stats, I believe she hit over .560 and was Stonewall Jackson's ace pitcher. In the state championship game, she was the winning pitcher and scored the game's only run after an infield single, two stolen bases and a wild pitch against one of the top pitchers in the state.

Pro Update
KELLIE WILKERSON, New York/New Jersey Juggernaut
Has played and started in all 10 games for the Juggernaut at first base ... Currently tied for 2nd in the league (with former college teammate Iyhia McMichael) with a .400 (12-for-30) batting average ... Has also tallied five extra-base hits (1 HR), eight walks, seven RBI and six runs scored ... Tallied a 1-for-3 hitting line with a walk and a RBI in NY/NJ's 4-0 victory over the California Sunbirds on Sunday ... Win helped snap a four-game losing skid for the third place Juggernaut (6-4). NY/NJ will finish out its three-game series with California on Monday and Tuesday evenings, before hosting Akron in a three-game set beginning on Wednesday.

IYHIA MCMICHAEL, Akron Racers
Has played and started nine of Akron's 11 games this season ... Has missed last two games due to nagging back injury ... Currently tied for 2nd in the league (with former college teammate Kellie Wilkerson) with a .400 (6-for-15) batting average ... Has also tallied two's in RBI, walks, stolen bases and runs scored ... Racers currently sit in second place with 5-2 record and are on three-game winning streak. Akron will finish out a three-game set with the Arizona Heat on Monday and Tuesday evening before traveling to Montclair, NJ, Wed.-Fri., for a three-game series with the Juggernaut.

KARRIE RIDER, Texas Thunder
Has played and started in six of 11 games at shortstop for the first place Texas Thunder (8-3) ... Has recorded one hit in 18 at-bats, but also has a walk and a sac hit to her credit ... Has earned her credibility as a steady defensive player in the league as well ... Texas will finish out a three-game series with New England on Monday evening and will then get a day of rest before hosting a three-game set with Arizona beginning on Wednesday.

The Bulldogs, under the direction of first-year MSU head coach Tina Seals, open the campaign with September tournament appearances at the Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball Classic Sept. 3-4 in Lafayette, La., and at the Missouri Tiger Invitational Sept. 10-11 in Columbia, Mo.

State launches its 13-match home schedule Sept. 17-18 entertaining Eastern Kentucky, Louisiana Tech and Memphis in the MSU/Microtel Classic in Humphrey Coliseum. MSU then entertains UAB Sept. 21 in the first of 10 matches at the Newell-Grissom Building.

Mississippi State's 16-match Southeastern Conference schedule features matches against SEC East foes Tennessee, South Carolina, Florida and Georgia and divisional battles with Mississippi, Alabama, Auburn and Arkansas.

2004 MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE
*Sept. 3 vs. Northwestern State (10:00 a.m.), *Sept. 3 at UL-Lafayette (2:00 p.m.), *Sept. 4 vs. Tulsa (10:00 a.m.), *Sept. 4 vs. Air Force (2:00 p.m.), #Sept. 10 vs. Arkansas State (11:30 a.m.), #Sept. 10 Idaho (4:30 p.m.), #Sept. 11 vs. Creighton (9:00 a.m.), #Sept. 11 at Missouri (2:00 p.m.), Sept. 17 Eastern Kentucky (7:00 p.m.), Sept. 18 Louisiana Tech (9:00 a.m.), Sept. 18 Memphis (3:00 p.m.), Sept. 21 UAB (7:00 p.m.), Sept. 24 at South Carolina (7:00 p.m.), Sept. 26 at Tennessee (2:00 p.m.).

Oct. 1 at Louisiana State (7 p.m.), Oct. 3 at Arkansas (1:30 p.m.), Oct. 8 Tennessee (7:00 p.m.), Oct. 10 South Carolina (2:00 p.m.), Oct. 13 Mississippi (7:00 p.m.), Oct. 15 at Kentucky (7:00 p.m.), Oct. 17 Troy State (3:00 p.m.), Oct. 19 at Southern Miss (7:00 p.m.), Oct. 22 Alabama (7:00 p.m.), Oct. 24 Auburn (2:00 p.m.), Oct. 29 Georgia (7:00 p.m.), Oct. 31 Florida (2:00 p.m.).

Nov. 5 at Auburn (7:00 p.m.), Nov. 7 at Alabama (1:30 p.m.), Nov. 10 at Mississippi (7:00 p.m.), Nov. 14 Arkansas (2:00 p.m.).

* --- Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball Classic, Sept. 3-4, Lafayette, La.
# --- Missouri Tiger Invitational, Sept. 10-11, Columbia, Mo.
^ --- Mississippi State University/Microtel Classic, Sept. 17-18, Starkville, Miss.

Source: MSU Media Relations

06/13/04
Track and Field
AUSTIN, Texas. - Mississippi State University's Tiffany McWilliams won her third national championship with a win in the 1500m run at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Austin, Texas, on Saturday. She defended her 2003 title with a 4:11.59 performance, breaking the Mike A. Myers Stadium record she set on Thursday.

Trey Hardee broke the MSU decathlon record with his runner-up performance at the championships. He earned 8,041 points breaking the record set by Lee Palles in 1978 with 7,935 points. Hardee finished 130 points behind Rice's Ryan Harlan with 8,171 points.

"We ran great today," said head coach Al Schmidt. "Seven all-Americans, what can you say? That is a great meet for the athletes. The 4x400m team ran outstanding, and Tiffany won her third national championship. What better day can you have? Trey had an amazing competition. The heat was 90 some odd degrees out here, and he handled it well."

The Bulldogs finished the season tied for 20th with 15 points, and the Lady Bulldogs finished tied for 22nd with 10 points.

Hardee scored 955 points in his first event of the second day with a wind-aided time of 14.15 in the 110m hurdles, setting a new career best. Taking third overall, he recorded another personal best with a 146-10 in the discus, scoring 762 points.

He cleared a height of 16-0 3/4 in the pole vault and scored 880 points, finishing in fifth. In the javelin, he threw a 167-1 for 602 points. In his final event, Hardee ran the 1500m in 4:45.86, scoring 644 points.

MSU's Jamel Ashley, Arthur Davis, Keston Nelson and LaChristopher Lewis took third in the 4x400m relay in 3:03.57, scoring six points for the squad. Ashley scored a point for the Bulldogs finishing eighth in the 400m dash with a 45.63 showing.

Source: MSU Media Relations

06/12/04
Track and Field
AUSTIN, Texas. ­ Mississippi State University's Trey Hardee sits in second place going into the final five events of the decathlon at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Austin, Texas. The sophomore earned 4,198 points on Friday, only 34 points behind leader Ryan Harlan of Rice with 4,232.

In his first event, Hardee recorded a career fastest time in the 100m dash with a wind-aided time of 10.48, finishing first with 980 points. His time makes him the eighth fastest U.S. performer ever in the decathlon 100m dash, and the second fastest ever by a college athlete.

"Trey did great," said head coach Al Schmidt. "His 4,198 is a personal best by over 200 points for the first day. He has had a great day. Trey is in unbelievable shape right now and is a great second day guy. He is in the hunt to win a championship."

He earned 850 points in the long jump with his personal best mark of 23-5 1/2, taking seventh overall. In the shot put, he also set a personal best mark with a 44-10 3/4, scoring 709 points in eighth place.

Setting his fourth top mark of the day, he scored 776 points in the high jump with his leap of 6-5 1/2, finishing tied for ninth. He ended the first half of the decathlon with 883 points in the 400m dash, recording another career best time with a 48.54 and second place.

Jamel Ashley advances to the finals of the 400m dash with his 45.70 performance in the prelims, finishing in seventh place overall. He runs in the finals on Saturday at 6:40 p.m.

Source: MSU Media Relations

Chance, who is a rising senior majoring in communications at MSU, will receive one of CoSIDA's two undergraduate awards, which carry with them a $2,500 stipend for the 2004-05 school year. Colorado State University student Nick Kiger won the other undergraduate award.

Chance is currently serving as an intern for the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, writing stories for that group's Fastpitch Delivery publication, while also conducting weekly polls and aiding in website production. She was a volunteer for MSU's athletic media relations' department this past school year, working on statistical crews for football, basketball, and volleyball. She will serve as the media relations' office contact for men's and women's track next year.

Chance came to MSU following two years as sports information director at East Mississippi Community College. She served as a media relations assistant for the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Final Four this past April. Despite all of her media relations' work, Chance maintains a 3.23 grade point average in the classroom.

Source: MSU Media Relations

06/11/04
Track and Field
AUSTIN, Texas. ­ Mississippi State University's Tiffany McWilliams and the Bulldog 4x400m relay team advanced to the finals of the NCAA Track and Field Championships on Thursday at the Mike A. Myers Stadium.

McWilliams recorded a Mike A. Myers Stadium record with her time of 4:11.64. Leading from start to finish in the first heat, her splits were 64.0, 67.8, 68.1 and 51.6. The relay team took second in their heat and fifth overall with a time of 3:03.42 in the prelims.

"The men's 4x400m did great," said head coach Al Schmidt. "We are going in as a fifth seed, but we are right there. I am real pleased with how those four guys ran. Tiffany, of course, ran really, really well in the 1500m. She won her heat by about five seconds and leads the pack by three or four seconds."

Lewis also competed in the long jump, taking 14th with a leap of 24-11 1/4. MSU's 4x100m relay team of Trey Hardee, Jamel Ashley, Arthur Davis and LaChristopher Lewis took 13th in the prelims with a 39.70 performance. Jennifer McPherson also ran in the 1500m, finishing 24th in 4:34.09.

Complete results and updates will be available on Texas's official athletic website.

Source: MSU Media Relations

Mississippi State will face nine opponents who finished 61st or higher in the final 2003 RPI, including the top-ranked Tar Heels who concluded last season's national title run with a 27-0 record. In addition to a very challenging non-conference slate, the Bulldogs will play an 11-game conference schedule for the first time in league history.

The SEC finished second behind the Atlantic Coast Conference in last year's final RPI numbers. The SEC's RPI finish was highlighted by No. 2 Florida, whom the Bulldogs defeated 1-0 in last season's duel in Starkville.

"This is an appropriate schedule for our program at this time," McGuire said. "It will certainly test our resolve, but still leave us with every chance at being successful. Each of our players came here with the intent on playing and beating the best, and now they have that opportunity. We will maintain a high level work ethic throughout the season and will look to represent Mississippi State with both class and pride."

Mississippi State will open its 2004 campaign with a pair of home games, renewing a two-game-old series with Middle Tennessee on August 27, before taking on Northwestern State in a Sunday afternoon contest on August 29. State will then hit the road for consecutive weekends to participate in a pair of tournaments, first taking on Saint Louis (Sept. 3) and Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Sept. 5) at the Kansas Tournament in Lawrence, Kan.

The Maroon and White will gauge their progress the following weekend when it makes the 6-hour trek to Knoxville, Tenn., for the First Tennessee Lady Vol Classic where it will engage in a pair of first time meetings with both Southern Cal (Sept. 10) and North Carolina on Sept. 12. The Bulldogs will close out the early portion of its 2004 non-conference slate over the next five days, battling regional nemesis Memphis on Sept. 14, before traveling to Jacksonville, Ala., on Sept. 17 to take on the Jacksonville State Gamecocks.

Mississippi State will open its 2004 SEC slate with four consecutive home games, beginning on Sept. 24 against Sweet 16 participant Tennessee, and concluding with a Sunday afternoon tilt with SEC West rival LSU on Oct. 3. Four-straight SEC road games will follow as MSU makes its way through the state of Alabama to face both Auburn on Oct. 8 and the Crimson Tide on Oct. 10.

The Bulldogs will put a close on their SEC East Division schedule over the next two weekends, traveling to both South Carolina and Florida the weekend of Oct.15-17. A home game with Vanderbilt on Oct. 22 will precede a road contest at Kentucky on Oct. 24. State will close out its regular season schedule with two more games at home, facing cross-state nemesis Mississippi on Oct. 29, before closing out the schedule against Georgia State on Halloween.

Mississippi State will return nine starters and 13 letterwinners from its 2003 squad that finished the season 9-8-3. Among those nine victories, the Bulldogs defeated a pair of top 25 squads, including the then-No. 6 ranked Gators and 25th-ranked Missouri.

2004 MISSISSIPPI STATE SOCCER SCHEDULE
Date Opponent Site Time

All Times Local To Game Site. HOME GAMES are in all CAPS and will be played at the Mississippi State Soccer Field.

Source: MSU Media Relations

Thirteen MSU softball players earned league academic laurels in 2004, including one with a cumulative 4.0 GPA. Senior shortstop Jennifer Jessup earned her third academic all-conference accolade and headlined a list of seven Bulldogs who have been decorated with the honor more than once. Tanelda McDonald, Kelli Miller, Stephanie Owens, Brandi Watkins and Callye Williams all earned the laurel for the first time. Meagan O'Nan earned the honor for the first time as a softball player after taking home league academic laurels as a basketball player in 2002.

In the sport of softball alone, Mississippi State stands unchallenged as the leader of academic all-SEC honorees since the sport's inception in 1997. The SEC has decorated an SEC-leading 70 student-athletes with Academic All-SEC honors in the seven seasons that any MSU player has been eligible for the award.

The honors added to the State squad's already impressive list of recognitions earned during the 2003-04 academic year. Among them, the Bulldogs have earned 27 individual academic recognition for their high marks in the classroom.

The SEC Freshmen Academic Honor Roll is expected to be announced later this summer.

Source: MSU Media Relations

06/10/04
Softball
MSU softball signee Ragan Blake, one of the top prep softball players in the nation, completed her season with a 29-0 record in 36 appearances. Her earned run average was an unbelievable 0.08 ERA. In 176 2/3 innings, she allowed 3 runs (2 earned), 50 hits, 10 walks and 257 strikeouts. 75% of her pitches were strikes.

When you break that down, she averaged 10.18 strikeouts per 7 innings and 2 hits per 7 innings.

Included among her 29 victories was 1 no-hitter and three perfect games. She allowed two or less hits (min. 5 innings) in 10 of her other appearances. She also had 8 double-digit strikeout games, including a season-high 15 in a perfect game against Austin High School.

Also a hitter, she wound up hitting .271 with a home run, 15 RBI and 15 runs scored. She finished with a .354 on base percentage and a .371 slugging percentage.

Her team, Elkins High School, finished the season 39-0 and became just the third team in the history of Texas 5A to finish a state championship season undefeated.

As for individual honors, Ragan was named first-team all-greater Houston for the second straight year and was also named the MVP of the Texas 5A state tournament.

Elkins HS went wire to wire as the nation's top team in the NFCA High School top 25.

MSU's 76 spring-sport academic honorees were fourth among all conference schools, trailing only Georgia, Florida and South Carolina. A total of 774 student-athletes were named to the honor roll, which was based on grades from the 2003 Summer, Fall, and 2004 Spring terms.

A complete list of Mississippi State's spring semester academic honor roll members follows (by sport):

Men's Tennis
Romain Ambert General Business Administration
Matt Armstrong General Business Administration
Luiz Carvalho Journalism
Maxsim Fomine General Business Administration
Florent Girod International Business
Jose-Carlos Pinto Business Banking & Finance

Softball
Blaire Brown Psychology
Kathryn Jaspers Psychology
Jennifer Jessup Physical Education
Tanelda McDonald Bus. Risk Mngt/Ins/Financial Planning
Iyhia McMichael Business Marketing
Shannon Miller Biological Sciences
Lindsey Nelson Sociology
Meagan O'Nan Counselor Education
Stephanie Owens Communication
Krystal Tillman Business Marketing
Jennifer Waterman Biological Sciences
Brandi Watkins Biological Sciences
Callye Williams Communication

Baseball
Jon Crosby General Business Administration
Brooks Dunn Physical Education
Eric Ebers Physical Education
Ryan Fesmire General Business Administration
Ben Grisham General Business Administration
Casey Hamilton Physical Education
Ryan Harbuck Civil Engineering
Brad Jones Gen. Business Admin.
Tyler Jones Physical Education
Saunders Ramsey Civil Engineering
Tyler Scarbrough Business Economics
Daniel Tackett Physical Education
Craig Tatum Business Banking & Finance
Josh Thoms Business Real Estate & Mortgage

Men's Track
Matthew Denton Business Information Systems
Clayton Garner Physical Education
James "Trey" Hardee Art Graphic Design
Mark Holley Geoscience
Charles "Matt" Huey Business Real Estate & Mortgage
Daniel Hunter Political. Science
Ryan Irwin Computer Engineering
Jeffrey Montgomery Biological Engineering
Jason Odom Agricultural Science
Kendall Pyant Physical Education
Brad Rowland Landscape Contracting

Women's Track
Crystal Averitt Biological Sciences
Nicole Dunn Business Banking & Finance
Renata Hendrix Business Marketing
Trina Hobyan Business Marketing
Meggan Hodge Human Sciences
Jemila James Physical Education
Lacey Johnson Psychology
Jennifer Johnstone Physical Education
Caryl M. Kinney Business Banking & Finance
Zita Magloire Biological Sciences
Jennifer McPherson Public Relations
Tiffany McWilliams Educational Psychology
Sarah Milam Biological Engineering
Jacquelyn Rentschler Psychology
Jourdan Steinburg International Business
Mina Thorstenson Microbiology
Jasmine Walls English
Mary Francis Wright Elementary Education

Men's Golf
Joseph Deraney General Business Administration
Craig Horrocks Business Marketing
Jared Jimenez Biological Sciences
Kellen Maurer Gen. Business Admin.
Matthew Mooney General Business Administration
Joseph Sutton Mechanical Engineering

Women's Golf
Janet Dyer Business Mngt. of Construction & Land
Beth Irwin Business Marketing
Ashleigh Korzack Gen. Business Admin.
Catalina Olarte Computer Engineering

Women's Tennis
Marcelle Hirt Physical Education
Magdolna Rekasi Communication
Justyna Switala Microbiology
Yumi Ueda General Business Administration

Source: MSU Media Relations

06/08/04
Softball
Former players update...

KELLIE WILKERSON, NY/NJ Juggernaut
Through five games, Kellie has turned in the league's fifth-best batting average, hitting .444 (8-for-18) with four extra-base hits (one HR), three walks, six RBI and five runs scored. Has posted an on base percentage of .545 and slugging percentage of .667. Currently leads the league in RBI and tied for the league lead with one home run. Most recently named Player of the Game after a 2-for-4 performance with a triple, home run (3-R), three runs scored and three RBI in a come-from-behind win over the Arizona Heat, her three-run shot erased an early deficit and helped the league-leading Juggernaut move to 5-0 on the season.

IYHIA MCMICHAEL, Akron Racers
Battling a nagging back injury, Iyhia has turned in a .300 (3-for-10) batting average with a pair of stolen bases, one walk and two runs scored. She has collected a .417 on base percentage (one hit by pitch) and a .300 slugging percentage for the fourth place Racers (2-3).

KARRIE RIDER, Texas Thunder
Through six games of the still young season, Rider has collected one hit in nine trips to the plate (.111) with one sacrifice hit. An All-SEC middle infielder with the Bulldogs, Karrie is splitting time at the shortstop position with the second place Thunder (4-2).

STARKVILLE, Miss. ­ Mississippi State University head track and field coach Al Schmidt announced Monday the signing of Jackson Preparatory School's Joseph Queen to a national letter-of-intent to compete for the Bulldogs this fall.

"He is a great young athlete and young man," said Schmidt. "We are proud that he is a part of the Bulldog family. His family has a history with the Mississippi State, and we are very proud to have him join our team."

Queen is the reining MPSA pole vault champion and holds the MPSA State record in the event at a height of 14 feet. He also holds the record for the top South State time in the 300m hurdles with a 40.04. His junior and senior seasons he was honored as the MVP of the Patriot track team.

In addition to track, he was a baseball and football standout at Prep. He was a member of the 2003 and 2004 State Champion Patriot baseball teams, 2002 State Champion football team and the 2003 and 2001 South State Champion football teams.

He was named to the 2004 Clarion Ledger's all-Metro baseball team and the 2003 Clarion Ledger all-Metro football team. He also earned two all-Conference honors in baseball and was a member of the 2004 all-Star baseball team. On the football team, he was a two-time team captain, a 2003 MVP and a member of the 2003 football all-Star team.

Outside of athletics, Queen was named to the 2004 Who's Who in High School Athletics and Who's Who in High School Students. He was also named the 2004 Mr. Jackson Prep and honored with the 2004 American Legion Award.

Queen plans to major in business administration while at MSU.

Source: MSU Media Relations

06/07/04
Softball
MSU signee Ragan Blake and her Elkins High School team took home the Texas 5A State Championship. Ragan gave up her second earned run of the season in the state championship game on a two-out solo homer in the first inning. It was the first time her team had trailed in a ball game since March 6. The win improved the Elkins' Knights record to 39-0.

The win also assures them of the NFCA National Championship. They went wire-to-wire in the NFCA Top 25 (www.nfca.org) and are the first undefeated Texas state champion since Brazoswood in 2000.

06/05/04
Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE, Miss. - After coming just points away from advancing to the NCAA "Sweet Sixteen", Mississippi State's men's tennis team ended the 2004 season ranked 29th in the country in the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association national rankings, released Friday.

Friday's ranking improved upon last year's No. 42 finish by 13 places. The Bulldogs also extended the school's NCAA appearance streak to 14 consecutive years, one of only seven teams (Florida, Georgia, MSU, Southern Cal, Stanford, Texas Christian and UCLA) in the country that have a streak of that magnitude intact.

State, which started the 2004 season 7-3 and 2-0 in the Southeastern Conference, suffered nine consecutive league losses when its top player, all-American Romain Ambert, was hampered with an ankle injury in mid-March. When he returned to full strength in late April, the Bulldogs went 2-2 from that point, all in championship competition.

MSU upset 17th-ranked Tennessee in the SEC Championship before falling to eventual champion Georgia in the quarterfinals. In the NCAA Championship, they defeated Wake Forest to advance to the second round, and then nearly punched their ticket to the round of 16 on the home courts of the NCAA's No. 6 seed, Virginia, a day later, losing to the Cavaliers in a close 4-2 outcome in Charlottesville.

"We are very proud of what we were able to accomplish this season. Given the circumstances, a top 30 finish is a great achievement by our team," MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard said. "After going through some tough times in March and April, the guys gave everything they had and provided us a really good chance to advance to the 'Sweet Sixteen'. We didn't quite make it, but considering we weren't even sure we were going to make the NCAA tournament in late April, it is a credit to our players that we had that possibility within reach in the second round at Virginia.

"We knew at the beginning of the season that we had a good team. After all the adversity, I am proud of the way our guys came together at the end of the year and achieved some positive things that we can build on. I am excited about continuing that momentum as we start working toward next season."

Source: MSU Media Relations

Iyhia McMichael, a two-time all-American with the Bulldogs who recently played her final game in Maroon and White, was the first overall pick in the 2003-04 NPF Senior Draft in December and now makes her home with the Akron (OH) Racers. Through three games in which the Racers have posted a 1-2 record, McMichael is currently hitting .143 (1-for-5) with a walk, a pair of stolen bases and a run scored. Akron currently sits fourth among the league standings and will face the New England Riptide in a three-game home set this weekend.

Four-time MSU all-American Kellie Wilkerson (1999-02) signed a free agent contract with the NY/NJ Juggernaut during the Fall and is an everyday starter with the league-leading Juggernaut (3-0). Through three games, Wilkerson has collected a .333 clip with a RBI double, three walks and a pair of runs scored. Included in her hitting tally is a 3-for-8 hitting line in a 16-inning road victory over the Riptide Wednesday evening. The Juggernaut will again be in action this weekend with a three-game series at Arizona.

Two-time all-SEC standout Karrie Rider (1997-00) also inked a free agent pro contract during the Fall and makes her home in the greater Houston area as a member of the Texas Thunder. Rider collected her first hit of the season Thursday evening in a 1-0 home victory over Akron and is currently hitting .167 on the young season. The Thunder sits second in the league with a 2-1 record and will travel to Sacramento on Saturday to begin a two-game set with the California Sunbirds. Of the three, Rider is the only holdover from the previous professional league, the WPSL, where she played as a member of the Ohio Pride in 2001 and 2002.

For more information about the trio, log on to the official home of the National Pro Fastpitch League, ProFastpitch.com. There you will find box scores, updated statistics and a variety of information on every member of the NPF.

Source: MSU Media Relations

06/03/04
Soccer
STARKVILLE, Miss. ­ Mississippi State soccer head coach Neil McGuire announced date changes to MSU's youth day camp Thursday afternoon and will now hold the camp June 14-17 at the Starkville Rec Plex.

The camp, which was originally slated to be held June 21-24, will now be run in conjunction with State's residential camp on the Mississippi State University Campus. Check-in for the day camp will also be moved to the Starkville Rec Plex and campers should still plan on checking in between 7:30 and 8 a.m. on June 14.

Spots still remain open for both camps as well. The MSU Soccer Day Camp is open to both boys and girls ages 6 to 12 and will run from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Monday, June 14 through Thursday, June 17. The cost of the camp is $125 and will include both tactical and technical training in addition to games and other activities.

State's residential camp, which will be held on the MSU campus from Sunday, June 13 through Thursday, June 17, is open to girls ages 10-18. The cost of the camp is $390 for overnight campers and $290 for day campers (commuters). Team discounts are also available for the camp with a minimum requirement of six team members signing up simultaneously. Check-in for the residential camp will be held on June 13 between 3 and 4:30 p.m.

Both camps are designed to generate an outstanding soccer experience that will increase each camper's knowledge of the game. Individual and team practice sessions, combined with competitive matches, will provide each camper with a unique learning environment. In addition, at the residential camp, special evening programs will contribute to each camper's enjoyment while at Mississippi State.

For more information on the 2004 Mississippi State Soccer Camps, or to request a brochure, please contact camp administrators at (662) 325-0204 or 325-2722. Camp brochures can also be downloaded at the official Internet home of MSU Athletics, www.MStateAthletics.com.

Source: MSU Media Relations

With the laurel, Jaspers becomes the first Mississippi State student-athlete in the history of the institution to garner such honors. McMichael earned a national academic honor for the first time in her career and the duo, who earlier marked the first multi-academic all-district honors for MSU, also become the first to earn national academic all-America honors for the Bulldogs. She is also the 13th first team honoree to academic all-American honors in the history of the Mississippi State athletic department.

"This is a tremendous honor, not only for Kate and Iyhia, but also to this program and Mississippi State University," said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. "This is a testament to their hard work in the classroom, in addition to their work ethic on the field. I am very proud of both of them and wish them luck in their future endeavors."

Having maintained a flawless 4.0 cumulative GPA in Psychology throughout her academic stint at MSU, Jaspers also excelled on the playing field as well. After hitting .323 with 15 RBI as a junior, Jaspers exploded for a .390 average in her final season to go along with 13 extra-base hits and 47 RBI. She was one of the main cogs in State's run to a third consecutive NCAA postseason berth and, en route, earned the Newsom Award, which annually honors the top academic male and female student-athletes at MSU, while also earning a share of the SEC's Scholar Athlete of the Year award with South Carolina's Ashley Smith.

A 2004 first team NFCA all-America selection, and the first two-time winner of the SEC's Softball Athlete of the Year award, McMichael turned in a SEC record .475 batting average in 2004 while also matching the league record for single season walks (51). She finished second, nationally, in batting average and led the country in runs per game on the season. A top three finalist for ASA/USA Softball's Collegiate Player of the Year award, McMichael was a member of two all-tournament teams in 2004, including the SEC Tournament. She also took home SEC and national player of the week honors from both the NFCA and ASA/USA Softball after a near-flawless run to 2004 Bulldog Classic Most Valuable Player honors. She is also one of four finalists for the NCAA's Honda Award, which annually honors the top athlete in 12 NCAA varsity women's sports.

McMichael, who, along with Jaspers, received her degree at MSU Commencement ceremonies on May 8, maintained a 3.24 cumulative GPA in General Business Administration at Mississippi State.

Source: MSU Media Relations