Articles written by Matt Quillen

Summer league at Cape Cod

jclark — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:23:51 -0400

While Plainsman Park sits quietly this summer, several members of the Auburn baseball team will be making noise in summer leagues all across the country.

This year, seven Tigers were chosen to play among the country’s best amateurs in the Cape Cod Baseball League in Massachusetts.

“It’s a big deal to be here playing, especially with the reputation that goes along with the Cape,” sophomore infielder Joseph Sanders said. “To get invited to and play in it, with all the great players, makes for a good time.”

Men's track places second

coreyshep — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:23:17 -0400

Senior Cory Martin: competes in the shot put championship at Drake University. Martin, the 2007 and 2008 SEC Field Athlete of the Year, won the national title in both the shot put and the hammer throw, besting teammate Jacob Dunkleberger with his final attempt at the hammer. MEDIA RELATIONS

Teammates Cory Martin and Jacob Dunkleberger came into this year’s NCAA hammer throw championship ranked numbers one and two in the country.

After going back and forth and setting three stadium records, Martin bested former champ, Dunkleberger, for the 2008 title.

The Auburn men’s track and field team finished tied for second in this year’s NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship, while the women’s team finished 15th overall.

Head coach Ralph Spry said he was pleased with the outcome of both teams.

“We brought back four All-Americans from the ladies team, so that was pretty exciting,” he said. “For the men, coming in I thought we had a good shot for the national title. We gave it a good fight, but at the end of the day, Florida State had just a little more firepower than we had.”

The men’s team finished with 44 points overall. Their score tied them for second with LSU, trailing only Florida State with 52 points.

All-American honors are awarded to the competitors who make it to the final round of each event. The Auburn men’s and women’s teams combined for nine All-American honors.

Martin began his quest for the title by setting a new stadium record on his first throw of 72.83 meters.

SEC diving champ goes to Olympic trials

coreyshep — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:15:55 -0400

Sophomore Dan Mazzaferro: the 2008 SEC platform champion, will be competing in the U.S. Olympic Diving Trials June 18-22. Diane Phelps / PHOTO STAFF

This summer, SEC diving champion Dan Mazzaferro will be trading out his Auburn gear in the hopes of wearing a new team’s name across his chest: Team USA.

Mazzaferro will join the top divers from around the country at the U.S. Olympic Diving Trials in Indianapolis, Ind., June 18-22.

Already this year the sophomore has shown himself to be one of the best in the nation on the platform, placing fifth at the NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championship in March.

He also gave Auburn its sixth SEC platform title in seven years at the championship in February. Even with the title and a personal high score of 444.65, Mazzaferro said there was still more to do.

“I didn’t do every dive perfect, I know I have more improvements to make,” Mazzaferro said. “I’m excited to see what else I can do in the next two years at Auburn and the Olympic Trials.”

Mazzaferro began diving around the age of 6, but for many years, it took a back seat to his first choice of sport, gymnastics.

“Both gymnastics and diving complement each other,” he said. “They’re similar in their sports, the same flipping, twisting and the same self-awareness and body motions in the air.”

Staff Opinion: Love and basketball

coreyshep — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:02:00 -0400

What a difference a year makes.

For the last decade or so, the NBA has been nothing more than a holdover for me.

Every year, I would count the days till MLB opening day. The crack of the bat, the drama of every pitch, the cracker jacks, all that stuff, I pined for it minutes after the Super Bowl ended.

This year was different. Because this was the year the NBA brought me back.

I have heard all the arguments for the lack of interest in the “new” NBA, i.e. since Jordan left.

Tigers take leap towards title

coreyshep — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 23:58:31 -0400

Junior Raevan Harris: glides over the bar at a tournament earlier this year. The 2008 SEC Champion high jumper will look to add a national title to her resume at the NCAA Championship June 11-14 at Drake University in Iowa. MEDIA RELATIONS

A nice breeze can be a welcome addition to a sunny day.

But in sports that are measured in hundredths of a second or quarters of an inch, even a 3-mph wind can change everything.

Ty Akins and Raevan Harris know a lot about the breeze.

Akins, the 2007 NCAA 110-meter hurdles champion, and Harris, 2008 SEC high jump champion, joined 12 other Auburn Track and Field teammates at the NCAA Outdoor Championship this week.

Both Akins and Harris will be making their second appearance at the Championship. Akins, a senior, said he hopes to finish his college career as one of the few back-to-back champs.

“I know how tough it is to repeat,” Akins said. “There are only a handful of people in the history of college track that have done it. I want to be one of the people in that history book.”

New basketball arena bid accepted

coreyshep — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:29:09 -0400

Media Relations

Auburn basketball’s new home will begin construction this summer.

Athletic director Jay Jacobs announced the winning bid on primary construction for the new $92.5 million arena June 5.

The new arena will seat approximately 9,600, have a two-court practice facility for the basketball teams and will house the new Lovelace Museum.
Jeff Steele, Associate Athletic Director for Facilities and Operations, said the renovation of 40-year-old Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum was not cost efficient, compared to a new facility.

“In infrastructure improvements alone, we could spend over $20 million, and you would walk in the door and not see it,” Steele said. “What we quickly learned was it was less expensive for us, and we were getting more for our dollar to build a new arena.”

Intimacy was kept in mind when the new arena’s plans were made, Steele said.

The new “tightly packed” home of the Tigers will bring fans as close to the game as NCAA regulations will allow. The farthest seat will be 65 feet closer to the court than the worst seat at Beard-Eaves.

A season of no excuses

coreyshep — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:38:28 -0400

Originally, this column was to be titled, “Dude, where’s my Boubacar?”

The Auburn men’s basketball team recently lost 7-foot-1 center Boubacar Sylla to Wyoming, only a month after 6-foot-9 forward Matt Heramb announced his plans to leave for Kennesaw State.

No fewer than 10 players have transferred to other schools since Jeff Lebo took over as head coach. These last two departures could have left the team even more short-handed (and short) than ever before.

From the perspective of one Tiger fan, it looked like it was time for a change.

But I may have judged too soon.

Tuberville returns from Middle East tour

coreyshep — Thu, 29 May 2008 15:58:00 -0400

Coach Tuberville: sits in the cockpit of a military aircraft while being instructed on the controls by a soldier during the visit to a U.S. air base in the Middle East. This is just one of many experiences Tuberville enjoyed on the coaches tour overseas.

with Katie Beasley, Assistant Sports Editor

Coaches spend a week visiting troops overseas to lift spirits

Auburn Head Football Coach Tommy Tuberville returned on Memorial Day from a 7-day Middle East tour.

Tuberville boarded a military aircraft May 20 along with Mark Richt of Georgia, Randy Shannon of Miami (Fla.), Jack Siedlecki of Yale and Charlie Weis of Notre Dame at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois.

The coaches spent the week visiting bases in the Middle East. Activities included signing autographs, participating in question and answer sessions and coaching a flag football game.

“We were around each other nearly 24 hours a day for seven days and we never talked about football,” Tuberville said of the time spent with his fellow coaches. “There was so much to do, so many people to talk to.”

The five coaches began their tour visiting Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where they spent three hours visiting with soldiers.
“It was very emotional,” Tuberville said. “We talked to several people that had lost a leg or limb. But their emotions were very good, very positive.”

Tuberville and others also got to meet the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Nassau. While on board, they coached soldiers at drills on a “practice field."

“We had a combine for some of the troops who had signed up,” Tuberville said. “They ran 40-yard dashes on the deck of the ship and cone drills. We timed them and we gave awards out.”

Auburn standout wins SEC Freshman of the Year

coreyshep — Thu, 29 May 2008 15:46:04 -0400

Morris

A .351 average with 11 homers and 49 runs batted in. An impressive year for anyone, even more so when the numbers were put up by a true freshman.

But the most impressive number might be the one he did not get: $393,750.

hat was the estimated signing bonus Hunter Morris walked away from as a second round draft pick (84 overall) in 2007’s MLB First-Year Player Draft.

Talk about waiting for your pitch.

Morris, Auburn’s first baseman and rookie phenom, was named the SEC Freshman of the Year by the league office May 20.

He is the first Auburn player in history to receive the award.

“I felt good about the year I had,” Morris said. “I felt like I made the jump [from high school to college] pretty smoothly, but I felt like there was a lot of room for improvement.”

The Huntsville native is no stranger to recognition. He was named to several All-American teams and was Sony Playstation’s 2007 Offensive Player of the Year as a senior at Grissom High School.

Slater resigns, search begins for new coach

coreyshep — Thu, 29 May 2008 22:46:24 -0400

Auburn’s baseball team will be led by someone new next season.

Tom Slater has resigned as head coach,finishing his four-year tenure with a 115-113 overall record. His teams were 43-77 in SEC play.

Athletic Director Jay Jacobs made the announcement Saturday, May 17, the same day the Tigers finished their season with an 11-7 loss to LSU.

Jacksonville State Head Coach Jim Case has been rumored as a possible replacement.