12/15/04 Men's Track and Field - Sprinter Jamel Ashley has been granted a sixth year and will be able to compete with the MSU men's track team this coming spring. Although he is currently not listed on MSU's spring track roster, look for Newburgh Free Academy's Elzie Coleman, one of the top sprinters in the nation, to be added in January once his academics are finalized.

12/10/04
Soccer
Former MSU head soccer coach Neil McGuire was recently named the new head women's soccer coach at Texas Tech. McGuire resigned as head women's soccer coach at MSU late last summer to take an assistant coaching position with the University Texas women's soccer program.

12/09/04
Softball
STARKVILLE, Miss. - A pair of Mississippi high school products, as well as a Georgia prep star, comprise the 2004-05 Mississippi State softball early signing period recruiting class announced Wednesday morning by MState head coach Jay Miller.

Catcher Laura Leigh Reese (Clinton, Miss./Hillcrest HS), as well as infielder Ashley Wroten (Terry, Miss./Hillcrest) round out the Maroon and White's in-state signees, while the Bulldogs inked a Georgia blue chip product with the signing of infielder Sammie Jo Bailey (Lithonia, Ga./Mt. Vernon Christian School). All three are expected to contribute immediately with the Bulldogs.

"We accomplished a couple of things with this class," Miller said. "I felt we did a great job of bringing in some outstanding athletes and some great softball players. We signed the two best players in the state of Mississippi and we signed a first baseman out of Georgia that has played for one of the top 18-and-under teams in the nation for the past few years. I feel really good with where we are at with our recruiting class."

Reese comes to Starkville after helping lead her Hillcrest squad to the class 3A state championship. Complementing 27 career home runs in both high school and travel ball, she hit .492 (63-for-128) and a .638 on-base percentage as a prep senior en route to helping Hillcrest to a 35-10 record, a perfect postseason run and the overall MPSA state championship.

In her final prep campaign, Reese also added three home runs, 45 RBI and 39 runs scored. Her numbers also included one grand slam, 19 multiple-hit games and 13 multiple-RBI outings.

"I think Laura Leigh is the type of player that will give us offensive power and consistency right off the bat," Miller said. "She is a big strong girl that handles pitchers very well and she has a great arm behind the plate. She will sort of bolster our catching and I think she can play some other positions for us as well. I really like the way she swings the bat and she has an opportunity to come in and contribute right away."

As a member of the same Hillcrest squad, Wroten tallied a similar average, producing a .475 (57-for-120) batting average and .595 on-base percentage that complemented 26 RBI and a team-best 46 runs scored. Her lone homer of the campaign, a two-run blast on September 18, helped spark a 15-run outburst for Hillcrest in its triumph.

In Wroten's final prep campaign, the Terry native put together 21 multiple-hit days, including a pair of four-hit outings, as well as 16 multiple-run and eight multiple-RBI contests. Wroten also swiped a pair of bases on the campaign.

Both Reese and Wroten starred with the Mississippi Blast travel ball organization to which Wroten is still a member. Reese has made the transition to Voodoo Gold, a club organization out of New Orleans.

"Ashley is a good athlete with a strong arm and great hands," Miller said. "She played third base for her high school and summer team, but she can really play a variety of positions for us. I thought that losing Tanelda (McDonald) would leave us with a key position to fill and I think that Ashley will be able to come in and step right in and contribute."

Bailey, a member of the Georgia Fire club team that made an appearance at the 2004 Canada Cup international tournament, hit .814 (35-for-53) with 25 RBI as a prep senior and helped carry her Mt. Vernon squad to a 13-2 overall record and the Class 2A GCAA state championship. Included in her numbers were 17 extra-base hits (8 HR), as well as a .944 (17-for-18) stolen base percentage.

A state finalist for the Wendy's High School Heisman award, Bailey was lauded as MVP of the 2004 GCAA state tournament en route to being named as an all-state selection, as well as her school's female athlete and female academic athlete of the year. Bailey helped lead the Georgia Fire to a cumulative record of 87-14-4 last summer, including championships at the South Carolina Dynamites Exposure tournament and the ASA EFSA Nationals in California.

"We felt really good about Sammie Jo," Miller said. "She is one that we have been recruiting for a couple of years and had been watching her play during that time and felt that she would fit in really well with our program. She has a good bat and she is a great defensive player that can play a number of positions. She is a very versatile player with some outstanding experience."

Source: MSU Media Relations

12/08/04
Softball
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Former Mississippi State all-American outfielders Kellie Wilkerson and Iyhia McMichael were among 40 athletes across the country extended an invitation to participate in the 2005 Women's National Team Camp, January 3-7, at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA, the Amateur Softball Association announced Tuesday afternoon.

The duo, which comprised two-thirds of the starting outfield for the National Pro Fastpitch All-Star Game in July, were also two of four current or former Southeastern Conference athletes invited to the USA national team event. Former Alabama all-American and Athens gold medalist Kelly Kretschman and current Tennessee righthander Monica Abbott were also notified of their invitation to the camp.

McMichael will make her second appearance at the USA National team camp after successfully earning a spot on the USA Elite team during the Summer of 2003. Having secured spots on three consecutive USA Elite rosters (2001-03), Wilkerson was also a member of the 2000 USA Junior World squad following her senior prep season in 2000.

An 18-member national team will be selected from the camp to represent the United States June 5-12 in Seattle, WA at the Pacific Rim Sports Summit. A second selection camp will be held June 12-17 to choose the 2005 USA Softball National and Elite teams who will compete in the remainder of the year's international events.

"This is a tremendous honor for not only for these two outstanding athletes, but also to Mississippi State and the Southeastern Conference," said MSU head coach Jay Miller. "Iyhia and Kellie have both represented this University with outstanding pride and dignity and, because of their talent and experience, both are very deserving of an invitation to the camp."

Wilkerson, a four-time all-American for the Bulldogs from 1999-02, finished her stint at MSU atop 10 career batting charts and three career pitching charts, turning in a .429 career batting average with 114 extra-base hits (44 HR) and 175 RBI. As a lefthanded relief pitcher for the Bulldogs, Wilkerson compiled a 22-11 overall record with an NCAA record 32 career saves. She also currently holds the NCAA single season record for games saved with 14 in her senior year.

A career .382 hitter, McMichael was lauded three times with NFCA all-America honors during her Starkville tenure (2001-04) and produced an SEC record .475 batting average as a senior last season. She left Starkville at the top of eight career batting lists and currently ranks second on nine others. McMichael finished her career with 141 stolen bases on 157 attempts (.898), while also turning in 113 extra-base hits (37 HR), 182 RBI and 218 runs scored.

Both are current members of the NPF where the duo turned many heads during the inaugural season of the professional fastpitch softball league. McMichael took home NPF Player of the Year laurels, as well as the overall batting title, in leading her Akron Racers squad to a second place finish in the regular season. Wilkerson, who finished second behind McMichael among NPF batting average leaders, helped lead her New York/New Jersey Juggernaut squad to the league championship.

The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing Body of softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. The ASA has become one of the nation's largest sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 89 local associations.

USA Softball is the brand created, operated and owned by the ASA that links the USA Men's, Women's, Junior Boys' and Junior Girls' National Team programs together. USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting these four National Teams to compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women's National Team is one of the only two women's sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive medals at the Olympic Games since 1996.

The U.S. women have also won seven World Championship titles including the last five consecutive. For more information about USA Softball, please visit www.usasoftball.com.

Source: MSU Media Relations

12/04/04
Women's Tennis
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State's Zsuzsanna Fodor, Tarryn Rudman and doubles duo of Fodor and Anastasia Kugakolova are ranked in the top-15 of the South Region, released by the ITA on Tuesday.

"We are extremely excited about the girls receiving regional rankings," head coach Tracy Lane said. "They were all very deserving. They have worked really hard this semester, and it paid off. It gives us a lot to look forward to in the spring."

Newcomer Fodor is ranked seventh in the South region. The Budapest, Hungary, native paced the squad with an 18-3 singles record, more fall singles wins than any other player in MSU history. She won the Flight A of the Roberta Alison Fall Classic to begin the season, advanced to the qualifying round of the Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championship and won the singles title of draw A1 at the Residence Inn North Wolfpack Invitational. She also defeated preseason 16th-ranked Robin Stephenson of Alabama, the highest ranked player she faced, in only her second match in Maroon and White.

Sophomore Rudman, ranked 15th, finished the fall with a.684 winning percentage in singles. She won the Flight C championship of the Roberta Alison Fall Classic in her opening tournament of the fall. A native of Randpark, South Africa, she advanced to the round of 32 at the Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships and won the Draw A consolation championship at the Wilson/ITA South Regional Championship.

MSU's tandem of Fodor and Kugakolova received an 11th-place ranking in the region, recording a 6-2 fall record. The pair competed together at the Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championship, advancing to the quarterfinals of prequailfying. At the SEC Fall Coaches Classic, they defeated Ole Miss's preseason-15th ranked duo of Carlotti and Tomatis, 8-6, to move the championship match of the main draw.

The Lady Bulldogs open their spring schedule on January 21, at the Georgia Invitational tournament in the Athens, Ga.

Source: MSU Media Relations