Diamond Dukes among top performers in summer

Welcome back sports fans. Even though classes ended the first week of May, JMU sports did not. So here's a summary of what you might have missed in the world of JMU sports:

The baseball team rolled through the regular season in '02 with a 41-12 record (15-5 in the Colonial Athletic Association). The Diamond Dukes earned the top seed at the CAA Tournament in Manteo, N.C.

JMU won its first two games of the CAAs, sending the Diamond Dukes into the championship game against Virginia Commonwealth University. VCU topped JMU in the first game, forcing the Diamond Dukes to play a second game for the championship. The Rams again defeated JMU for the CAA title and an automatic bid into the NCAAs.

Though they did not receive an automatic berth, the Diamond Dukes earned an at-large bid. The Dukes were sent to the NCAA Regionals hosted by the University of South Carolina in Colombia, S.C. Also at that regional site were the University of North Carolina and VCU.

JMU drew UNC in its first game, where the Tar Heels shut out the Diamond Dukes, 5-0. JMU moved on to face its CAA foe VCU in the elimination game. The Diamond Dukes got their revenge, knocking out the Rams with a 5-2 win. The win also gave JMU its 44th win of the season, breaking the school record of 43 set in 1988. It was the sixth time the Diamond Dukes had reached the 40-win plateau since 1981.

The Tar Heels fell to the Gamecocks and once again played JMU. North Carolina broke a 7-7 tie in the eighth inning and the Tar Heels went on to beat the Diamond Dukes 9-7, ending JMU's record-breaking season at 44-16.

JMU's junior first baseman, Eddie Kim, was named the CAA Player of the Year after hitting .421, with 99 hits, 24 doubles and 74 RBIs — the latter three all coming one shy of tying the JMU single-season record. In addition, Kim was named First Team All-CAA, First Team All-State and All-East Region.

Junior pitcher Jared Doyle also was named First Team All-CAA, First Team All-State and All-East Region after posting an 11-3 record with a 2.57 earned run average and 92 strikeouts in 101 2/3 innings.

Doyle, along with junior pitcher Dan Meyer, were both drafted in the Major League Baseball draft. Doyle was picked up by the Arizona Diamondbacks and was assigned to short-season Class A Yakima.

Meyer was drafted by the Atlanta Braves and was assigned to Danville of the Appalachian League.

With the signings of Meyer and Doyle, the JMU baseball program has had at least one player sign a professional contract for 26 consecutive years.

• Senior track stars Lauren Burawski and Mollie DeFrancesco each shattered school records in distance races at the May 3 Stanford Invitational. Burawaski finished 11th overall and second among collegiate runners in the 10,000-meter run, where she was clocked in at 34 minutes, 18.45 seconds. Her time lowered the NCAA provisional qualifying time of 35:04.32 she had run earlier this year and broke the JMU record of 34:31.4, the oldest record in the JMU record books, set by Barb Sabitus in 1980.

DeFrancesco finished ninth overall and fifth among collegians in the 5,000-meter run, where her time of 16:03.97 beat the former school record of 16:17.31. Her time met the NCAA automatic qualifying standard and was the 10th-fastest time by a Division I runner this season.

DeFrancesco continued her success as she won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a national-best time at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Women's Track & Field Championships May 17. DeFrancesco was clocked in 9:58.77, the best time by a U.S. collegiate runner this year. She met the NCAA automatic qualifying standard, while becoming the first American collegian to break the 10-minute barrier this year. Her time broke her own school record of 10:02.85, set in early April.

At the NCAA Champion-ships May 29 to June 1 at Louisiana State University, DeFrancesco's set the school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:56.07, placing fourth.

On June 24, DeFrancesco finished fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the USA Track and Field Championships at Stanford University. DeFrancesco finished in 10:0.37 seconds in the steeplechase.

In other news, JMU sophomore distance runner Kelly Baker was named to the 2002 Verizon Academic All-District III Women's Track and Field Second Team.

Baker, a German and French major with a minor in technical translation, currently has a 3.98 grade-point average. This season, Baker earned All-East honors with an eighth-place finish in the 10,000 meters at the ECAC Championships and placed third in the 5,000 meters at the CAA Championships. She was also a member of the Dukes' 2001 CAA Champion, ECAC Champion and nationally ranked cross country team.

• Junior track runner Eric Braxton met the 400-meter qualifying standard for the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America Championships while competing at the George Mason Invitational May 4. Braxton finished with a time of 48.01 and finished fourth among collegiate competitors in the event.

•Junior lacrosse player Lisa Staedt was named to the 2002 Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA)/U.S. Lacrosse (USL) All-America Team.

The midfielder was a second-team selection. Staedt, who led the Dukes in goals (54) and points (76), was the 2002 Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year. She was also a Tewaaraton Trophy nominee for the national player of the year.

It was the second time Staedt was named to the All-America team. During her sophomore campaign, she was a third-team selection.

In addition, Staedt and senior defender Kristen Dinisio were named to the 2002 IWLCA All-South Region Team. Staedt was named to the first team and Dinisio to the second team. Dinisio was JMU's third-leading goal scorer (34) and led the team in game-winning goals (3).

• Senior tennis star Andrew Lux earned several awards and distinctions at the end of last season. Lux won the 2002 Region II Tennis Magazine/ Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sportsmanship & Leadership Award presented by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, which honors a player who has exhibited outstanding sportsmanship and leadership as well as scholastic, extracurricular and tennis achievements.

Lux graduated summa cum laude from JMU in May with a degree in marketing information systems. Lux, who had a 4.0 cumulative grade-point average, was honored as JMU's Male Scholar Athlete of the Year the past two years.

Lux also was named to the 2002 Verizon Academic All-America Men's At-Large First Team. Seventeen athletes were named to the first team, 15 to the second team and 13 to the third team. He was a third-team honoree in 2001.

• The softball team ended its first season of intercollegiate competition, finishing with a 25-24 record. The Dukes placed third in the CAA Tournament.

At the CAAs, the Dukes lost to the University of Delaware 4-3, but turned around and topped Drexel University 1-0 in 10 innings and George Mason 4-3. Towson University then eliminated JMU 3-0.

The Dukes' freshman right-hander Nikki Dunn was named to the All-CAA Tournament Team. Dunn went the distance in JMU's win over Drexel, was credited with a save in the Dukes' win over George Mason and allowed only seven hits in a complete-game effort against Towson.

JMU had several highlights during the CAA Tournament. Freshman catcher Ashlee Schenk hit safely in each tournament game and had five hits and two RBIs overall in tournament play. Freshman first baseman Katie Jaworski also had two tournament RBIs, and freshman shortstop Jesse Gump homered against Delaware.