TIME TO CELEBRATE HOMECOMING 101
It’s the 101st Homecoming at the University of Arizona, which is a time to welcome alumni back to campus. There is nothing better than seeing all of our proud Wildcats wearing the colors and sharing in the camaraderie during the weekend. In addition to the wide array of athletics contests, which are listed in our schedule of events at the end of Wildcat Wednesday, both our A-Club and the alumni association have a number of events planned, so we want to make sure you are aware and can make plans to attend as many as possible.
For information on our A-Club Letterwinners events, click HERE.
For information on the alumni association’s events, click HERE.
We can’t wait to see everyone for what is sure to be an exciting weekend.
TIPS FOR ATTENDING ARIZONA ATHLETICS EVENTS DURING THE DAY
With a number of events scheduled during the day over Homecoming, we want to remind you of some simple steps you can take to ensure you have an enjoyable experience. 1) Wear a hat. 2) Apply sunscreen. 3) Wear loose fitting, breathable clothing such as cotton and avoid synthetic clothing. 4) Avoid alcohol and drinks with large amounts of sugar. 5) Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water. To that last point, we do allow fans to bring plastic water bottles into our venues. Personal-sized clear plastic water bottles filled with water or even empty are allowed into the stadium. We will remind the dedicated members of the A-Team that it’s going to be a warm weekend and to allow the water containers inside the venues.
GEER HONORED AS FINALIST AT NCAA WOMAN OF THE YEAR BANQUET
Last Sunday, I had the opportunity to accompany Margo Geer to the NCAA Woman of the Year Banquet, where she was recognized for being one of nine finalists for the prestigious award. What an impressive group of young ladies and it really was a celebration of everything that is right in collegiate athletics. Each finalist had a laundry list of accolades from athletics, academics and community service, so while there was only one winner, there really weren’t any losers on the night.
Wildcat fans should take great pride in our tradition with this award. As we’ve mentioned, we’ve had four winners, which is more than any school in the country, and five additional finalists since the award’s inception. We believe this is a strong indicator of the type of young women, and men, we are producing in our athletics department, and we want to thank everyone involved, coaches, staff and the fans, for helping create an environment that focuses on the total development of our student-athletes.
Congratulations to Margo, all the finalists and nominees, and Clarion University’s Kristin Day, who was named NCAA Woman of the Year.
If you’d like to read about Margo’s accomplishments and our tradition with the NCAA Woman of the Year award, you can do so by clicking HERE. If you’d like to watch the video feature on Margo that aired at the banquet, you can do so by clickingHERE.
FOOTBALL TAKES ON WASHINGTON STATE
We’re looking forward to seeing everyone at the Homecoming football game this Saturday against a very good Washington State team. There are two alums we are particularly excited to see, former Arizona football greats Bobby Wade and Ka’Deem Carey. These two letterwinners will be officially inducted into Arizona Stadium’s Ring of Honor at halftime. Bobby and Ka’Deem will both be in attendance. Tickets are still available for the game. Get your tickets now by clicking HERE and make your plans to support the current Wildcats vs. WSU and help honor two Arizona football legends. Be There!
WEAR PINK AT MCKALE
After a two-week road swing, volleyball is back home to host their “Think Pink” weekend in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month. To kick off Homecoming weekend on Friday, Oct. 23, we’ll host the Colorado Buffaloes at 8 p.m. Then, on Sunday, Oct. 25 at 11 a.m., we will face off with the Utah Utes. Sunday, one lucky fan will have a chance to win $10,000 if they have the “perfect serve,” so be sure to be in attendance for your chance to show off your serving skills. Don’t miss your opportunity to come out and cheer on Arizona volleyball this weekend and remember to wear pink! Click HERE to buy your tickets today.
ONLY THREE MORE HOME SOCCER MATCHES
Tony Amato and the soccer team are excited to be playing in the friendly confines of Mulcahy Stadium after nearly three weeks on the road. We host Oregon on Friday night at 7 p.m. and Oregon State on Sunday at 1 p.m. The support the soccer program has received this year has been outstanding as many of our highest attended home matches have come during this season. There are only three home matches left, including the two this weekend, so get out and support the program. Click HERE to purchase tickets online and be a part of this memorable season.
SWIMMING AND DIVING OPEN THEIR 2015-16 SEASONS
Our men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams open their 2015-16 seasons this Friday afternoon. The men’s and women’s teams will compete against UNLV and the women will also compete against Washington State. The meet starts at 2 p.m. and admission is free. Swimming and diving meets are held at the Hillenbrand Aquatics Center, which is located just east of McKale.
LEGACY LANE TILES
It’s never too early to start planning for the approaching holiday/graduation season. We’ve had a number of people ask us how they can purchase a commemorative tile in front of McKale Center either for themselves or as a gift for others.
Anybody can purchase a personalized tile which will be displayed on the Eddie Lynch Pavilion walkway leading up to McKale Center. You also become a Wildcat Club member with your purchase. The price of the tile is considered tax-deductible and helps support the Wildcat Scholarship Fund.
The deadline to submit your order to ensure it is installed prior to the end of the year is Nov. 12. Call (520) 621-CLUB (2582) or visitwww.arizonawildcats.com/legacylane for more information.
CATS IN THE COMMUNITY
Arizona’s student-athletes continue to be active in the community. Here is a sample of what they’ve done recently:
Oct. 12 – Members of the women’s basketball team visited Marana Middle School. They spoke to the students about the time and effort they put into their sport in middle school to be successful.
Oct. 15 – Kolton Lapa of the men’s golf team spoke to a tour group about his experience as a student-athlete at the U of A.
Oct. 17 – The men’s golf team met with the participants of The First Tee Program and offered some pointers on how to improve their game.
Oct. 17 – The swimming and diving teams volunteered at the Tucson Firefighters Association Annual Chili Cook Off by working the dunk tank.
Oct. 18 – Student-athletes had a great time at the Make-A-Wish Walk for Wishes event.
Oct. 18 – Some soccer student-athletes volunteered their time at the Cystic Fibrosis Monster Mash 5K event.
Our student-athletes are looking to continue volunteering in the Tucson Community. If you know of a non-profit that would benefit from the helping hands of our student-athletes, please let us know by submitting an online request by clicking HERE. We won’t be able to fulfill every request, but we try to get to as many as we can.
TWITTER GIVEAWAY
Congrats to Ashley Gurevitz (@AshleyGurevitz) for being selected as this week’s winner of the #ByrneTwitterGiveaway. A member of the athletics department staff will DM you with more information on how to secure your prize so make sure you’re following @AZAthletics.
Here is this week’s Twitter giveaway message:
I can’t wait to see everyone at Homecoming this weekend.
@Greg_Byrne #ByrneTwitterGiveaway
Each week, we’ll provide a phrase accompanied by the twitter handle @Greg_Byrne and the hashtag #ByrneTwitterGiveaway for Wildcat Wednesday subscribers to tweet. We’ll select the winner(s) at random and announce in the following edition of Wildcat Wednesday. We hope you’ll have some fun with this and participate each week. As long as we’re seeing a lot of participation, we’ll keep the giveaways going throughout the year.
COMPLIANCE CORNER
As we approach the halfway point of the fall semester for all of our student-athletes, it seems timely to mention the NCAA academic standards these student-athletes are expected to meet as they progress towards their degree. Student-athletes must achieve benchmarks each semester and year of full-time collegiate enrollment in order to remain eligible to represent the University of Arizona in competition. These benchmarks include meeting a certain percentage of credits towards their declared degree each year and maintaining a specified minimum GPA.
Due to demanding practice and competition schedules, student-athletes often take advantage of many departmental resources, including study times with tutors and academic staff members who travel with our teams. Especially in light of current events, the compliance staff continues to closely monitor all areas of academics to ensure academic integrity while each student-athlete works towards their degree.
ARIZONA NUGGETS
This year’s Homecoming parade will have an Arizona Athletics feel as the Mason family, Harvey (Men’s Basketball), Jeannine (Volleyball), Trey (Men’s Basketball) and Mia (Sand Volleyball), will serve as the Grand Marshals … On the strength of a 1-0 victory over No. 16 Washington State, Soccer jumped to 12th in this week’s RPI … Volleyball’s Kalei Mau is averaging 5.25 kills per set in league play, which is tops in the Pac-12 … Lauren Marker and Shayne Austin from Women’s Tennisadvanced to the quarterfinals at the ITA Southwest Regional, while No. 43 Marker advanced to the round of 16 … Naoki Takeda and Trent Botha from Men’s Tennisreached the quarterfinals in doubles play at the ITA Southwest Regional, while Takeda and Harry Busby each advanced to the round of 16 in singles play …Women’s Swimming and Diving will unveil it’s third-ranked recruiting class, according to SwimSwam, at their first meet of the season at 2 p.m. on Friday at the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center … Kaleb Tarczewski from Men’s Basketball was one of 20 student-athletes from around the country named to the watch list for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, which goes to the nation’s top center … Cross Country’sClaire Green finished fourth in the unseeded race at the NCAA Pre-Nationals to help us finish third overall.
WEAR THE COLORS – SHARE THE PHOTOS
Thank you for wearing the colors and sharing your Arizona pride! If your photo submission did not make this week’s edition of the Wildcat Wednesday, please check our “Wildcat Wednesday” album at facebook.com/ArizonaAthletics.
NOTE: Please submit photos for Wildcat Wednesday with an original email touofaad@arizona.edu using the subject line ‘Wildcat Wednesday photo.’ Also, please ensure all submissions are clear and properly lit. We also ask that you identify everyone in the photo so we can highlight them accordingly.
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