Pless stars in shot put for Bates

cus at the Division III championships in Claremont, Calif., this weekend. “I have to reset my goals to see what the limits of possibility are.”

Pless was cut from his eighthgrade baseball team, which led him to track and field. He found the throwing events, but was hardly a star. He chose Bates in part because of its reputed throwing program. The rest of it is the usual ingredients — good coaching, motivating teammates and hard work. The 6-foot-5 Pless weighed 230 pounds as a freshman and is up to 275.

His outdoor best shot put mark is 58 feet, 4 ½ inches, which would have placed him 14th at the Division I championships last year.

His best indoor mark is 60 feet, 6 ½ inches, which broke the Division III championship record by 9 ½ inches in March. The U.S. Olympic Trials “B” standard is 61 feet.

He has thrived away from the spotlight of Division I athletics, as have other Georgia schools noted below.

Despite his success, he said he hasn’t considered transferring to a Division I school. “The situation I have at Bates is perfect,” he said.

The Pirates’ men’s and women’s tennis teams achieved a stunning double Saturday in Louisville, Ky. Both won the Division II team title and both went undefeated, finishing a combined 59-0. The Savannah school’s teams have won titles the same year three times, one of only two Division II schools to double up in the same year.

The men were fueled after coming up short the previous two seasons. Coach Simon Earnshaw, who has won 10 titles coaching the men and women, thought the women might be a year away, as they have one senior on the roster.

“Somehow it all came together at the end,” he said.

Men’s golf coach Jim Owen is a former basketball player and coach, and he coaches his golfers as such. The key, he said, is making sure they give in for the team.

“Sometimes you have to take a bogey [rather than try to save par with a risky shot] for yourself and the team,” he said, “which hurts you, but helps us.”

The Stormy Petrels didn’t take that many bogeys in rolling over the field for the Division III title last week at Mission Inn Resort at Howey-inthe-hills, Fla., winning by 20 shots. It was Oglethorpe’s second NCAA golf title.

The Blazers won the school’s sixth national championship in any sport and first in softball, defeating California-san Diego 4-1 on Saturday for the Division II title in Louisville, Ky. The final out was recorded by third baseman Samantha Posey, the sister of San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey.

“I think the difference between last year and this year is our team chemistry,” coach Thomas Macera said. “It was probably the best team chemistry on any team I’ve ever coached.”

Those were just two of 64 singles matches that were played between the men’s and women’s contingents gathered for the NCAA championships. In all, 67 colleges are represented in Athens this week as the doubles portion of the tournament gets under way today.

Among the contestants were three other UGA men, two UGA women, two Tech women and one qualifier from the Georgia State women’s team.

Panthers sophomore Abigail Tere-apisah, the first GSU women’s tennis player to make the NCAA singles draw, made more history Wednesday. She defeated Katie Le of Santa Clara 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 6-0 to advance to the second round, where she will face Tennessee’s Kata Szekely at 10 a.m. today.

Georgia got wins from Sadio Doumbia, 6-2, 6-4 over Kyle McMorrow of Washington, and Ignacio Taboada, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 over No. 17-ranked Mate Zsiga of Baylor. It was the 100th career victory for the senior Taboada, who came in ranked No. 52 in singles.

“It’s special,” said Taboada, who will play Kentucky’s Alex Musialek at 1 p.m. today. “I was definitely thinking about it in the third set: ‘I have a chance to get 100 here.’ It’s really special to me. Just a lot of hard work, and I couldn’t have done it without my coaches and team to push me to get it done.”

Georgia’s Hernus Pieters fell to No. 12-ranked Costin Paval of Oklahoma 6-3, 6-4, and both of UGA’S female entrants lost, including 2010 individual national champion Chelsey Gullickson.

Gullickson, ranked No. 8, lost to No. 26 Sabrina Santamaria of USC 6-3, 6-2. The Bulldogs’ Maho Kowase was unable to close out, with three match points in the second set and eventually lost to Aerial Ellis of Texas 6-1 in the third set.

Tech’s No. 11-ranked Jillian O’neill was upset by 32ndranked Brynn Boren of Tennessee 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 6-4. O’neill will team with Alex Anghelescu in the doubles draw today. King and Spir will do the same with the Tech men.

“Getting rest is important; get off your feet as much as possible,” said King, who must face Ohio State’s Chase Buchanan in singles today. “Other than that, just focus on eating well and hydrating. That’s about it.”

The team portion of the tournament was completed at 12:54 a.m. Wednesday when the men’s weather-interrupted final between USC and Virginia was decided in a third-set tiebreaker. The Trojans’ 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4) win by Yannick Hanfmann over Virginia’s Justin Shane at No. 5 singles gave USC its fourth consecutive men’s tennis title and 20th overall, according to school officials.

“I considered the possibility that it was going to end in the semis or the finals,” USC coach Peter Smith said. “You’re a coach and you think of different things, but once you are out there, it’s just about competing. ... Tradition lives on, and it’s unbelievable.”

The NCAA announced an alltournament team based on performances in the team competition. Georgia’s Kate Fuller and Nadja Gilchrist made it as a doubles team, going 3-0 in the tournament.