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UA-affiliated athletes scored high and played strong in softball, swimming, track and field, and volleyball in competitions held Friday.

By University Communications
August 15, 2008

Caitlin Lowe and Lovieanne Jung, both University of Arizona alumni, helped the United States softball team in its win against the Chinese Taipei team.

Turns out that only the rain could slow down the softball team.

A day after rain suspended the team’s game against Canada, the U.S. team had to play two matches on Thursday. The team ended up winning both with a 7-0 win over Japan in the first game and a 8-1 win over Canada later in the day.

Lowe went 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored and fellow former Wildcat Jung also went 1-for-3. The U.S. rallied in the nightcap, erasing a 1-0 deficit after five innings to score eight times in the final two frames before beating the Canadians. To date, the U.S. team remains undefeated in softball play.

In volleyball, outside hitter and UA alumna Kim Glass just keeps getting better with each passing match at the Olympic Games.

Glass notched a team-high 15 kills and scored 20 points in the 3-2 win over China. Game scores in the U.S.-China match were 23-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-20 and 15-11. The U.S. women are 3-1 in Pool A and clinched a spot in the quarterfinals.

In track and field, Bernard Lagat easily qualified for the semifinals in the men’s 1,500-meter run.

Lagat, who is trained in Tucson by UA assistant track and field coach James Li, finished fourth in heat two with a time of 3:41.92. Lagat is the reigning world champion in the 1,500- and 5,000-meter runs.

Several UA-affiliated swimmers are still competing at the Water Cube in Beijing.

A total of eight swimmers with Tucson ties – seven Wildcats and one Tucson trainee – represented several nations in the men’s 100-meter medley relay.

UA alumnus Roland Schoeman was a headliner on Friday after qualifying for the finals in the men’s 50-meter freestyle. Schoeman, who is swimming for South Africa, finished third in the second semifinal with a time of 21.74 seconds and is seeded fifth in the final.

In the second heat of the men’s 100-meter medley relay Matt Grevers, who trains in Tucson with UA head coach Frank Busch, swam the lead-off leg for the U.S. team, which won the with a time of 3:32.75.

Grevers’ time of 53.59 seconds was the fastest split of any lead-off swimmer in the heat. South Africa finished fourth in the heat with a time of 3:34.16 with former Wildcats Lyndon Ferns and Darian Townsend and UA student Jake Tapp led off for Canada and helped the squad to a seventh-place finish with a time clocked at 3:35.56.

Also, Venezuelan Albert Subirats, a UA student, and Ferns both advanced to the semifinals of the men’s 100-meter butterfly. Subirats finished sixth in the first semifinal with a time of 51.82 seconds, while Ferns finished seventh in the second semi with a time of 52.18 seconds.

Another UA alumnus, Simon Burnett, helped Great Britain to a third-place finish in heat one with a time of 3:33.83. Burnett anchored the squad and posted a split time of 47.77 seconds. UA alumnus Jonas Persson anchored Sweden to a fourth-place finish in the same heat with a time of 3:35.83. UA student Nicolas Nilo and his Brazilian teammates finished sixth in heat one at 3:38.66.

In baseball, UA alumnus Jason Donald was 0-for-2 with a walk and a run scored. But the U.S. team fell 1-2 in the competition against Cuba, dropping a 5-4 decision in 11 innings.

The schedule on Saturday includes mostly finals in the swimming category. The U.S. softball team will compete against the Chinese Taipei team. Also, in baseball, the U.S. team will play against Canada and the women’s shot put qualifying round and finals will be held.