New role for Marbry

Mike Marbry, a former shortstop for Chapel Hill High School and UNC-Wilmington, made his debut for Colorado Rockies affiliate Tri-Cities Dust Devils on Wednesday night — on the mound.

Having converted to pitcher, Marbry threw 2 1/3 innings in relief and allowed just one hit, retiring the other seven batters he faced to close out the game for the Dust Devils, who fell 1-0 in Vancouver.

The Dust Devils are a Class A club in Pasco, Washington, playing in the Northwest League.

LOCAL

A good week for the Wagners

Young climbers Calvin and Maley Wagner of Chapel Hill both won their age group last weekend at Charlotte’s Divisional USA SCS (Sport Climbing Series) Championships. They are now training for the National Championships July 11-13 in Sunnyvale, Calif.

Calvin, 12, is rising seventh grader at Culbreth, climbing in Male Youth C (12-13 years old). He “flashed” the qualifiers and the final routes, meaning he sped through the Charlotte courses without a fall.

Maley, age 10 and a rising fifth-grader at Scroggs, climbed in Female Youth D (11 and under). She was tied for fourth going into the final route, but she puzzled out the correct route for ascension and made it higher on the wall than any other competitor to get the win.

The divisional competition included entrants from as far south as Alabama and Florida north through Virginia.

Calvin returned home and then zipped back out Sunday to Kernersville to play in the USSSA State Tournament with the Chargers baseball team. The Chargers played three games Sunday and finished second out of 20 teams.

Carolina Alumni Basketball Camp

The annual Sam Perkins Alumni Basketball Camp, for boys and girls ages 8-16, is renowned for a couple of reasons. One, it’s one of the few truly co-ed caps, and, two, with a staff of left-handers, it’s uniquely qualified to teach ambidextrous skills. The staff includes several NBA veterans, such as Sam Perkins himself, and notable local UNC alums like Ranzino Smith, one of the greatest pure shooters ever to pick up a basketball in Chapel Hill.

The CABC will be held June 29–July 3 at Chapel Hill High School, with a cost of $285 per camper. For more information, see www.samperkinscabc.com/info08.htm.

Soccer honors

Paul Dinkenor of Leesville Road was named the high school girls 4-A soccer coach of the year by the N.C. Soccer Coaches Association. As predicted in the preseason by East Chapel Hill’s Mark Kadlecik, Dinkenor’s Pride (24-2) won the N.C. High School Athletic Association 4-A title. Dinkenor’s coaching selection gave Leesville a sweep in the 4-A soccer coaching awards. Last fall, Pride coach Chip Stone was named the boys 4-A coach of the year.

Dinkenor is remembered by many as a former Rainbow Soccer coach, who visited Chapel Hill after his playing days (and master’s degree) at Cambridge.

Kadlecik, by the way, will be the head coach for the East team at the annual N.C. Coaches Association East-West All-Star Soccer Game, July 22 in Greensboro. East Chapel Hill’s Julia Lynds will play for the East.

Golfers finish well

Local golfers did well in the CGA’s N.C. Women’s State Amateur Championship at Sapona Country Club in Lexington. N.C. State golfer Joanna Saleeby of Raleigh shot a one-over par round 72 to tie Madison Overbey of High Point at 220 total, and then won the championship a play-off with a par after Overby hit her tee shot out bounds on the first hole Thursday.

Lisa Mooneyham of Mebane placed third in the second flight with a three-day total of 254, and Ann Miller of Chapel Hill was fourth in the third flight with a 277.

In the State Tee Division, Carole Jones of Hillsborough won by four strokes over Kay Wheeler of Charlotte and Bonnie Montgomery of Jamestown. The State Tee division plays a shorter course.

Park, Leeper reach match play

Meanwhile, the CGA’s 41st Junior Boys Championship at Bradford Creek, Eric Park shot a two-under 70 and Rich Leeper a 74 to qualify for the match rounds of the tournament. Park, who tied for 10th in the qualifying round, fell 3 & 2 in the round of 64 to Zachary Edmondson of Morrisville. Leeper defeated Ben Wright of Shelby, 2&1 before falling 5&4 to the eventual champion, Justin Clement of Lexington. Notably, all of Clement’s matches were decided before the 18th hole.

In a final CGA note, Tradd McCrary of Chapel Hill carded an even-par 72 Wednesday in a sectional qualifier at River Landing in Wallace, good enough for 15th place and a spot in the 94th Carolinas Amateur Championship July 9-13 at Cape Fear Country Club in Wilmington.

Good tour cards for Ward, Brooks

While some girls were at the CGA’s 12th annual N.C. Junior Girls Championship at Bradford Creek in Greenville last week, some Chapel Hillians were competing in the Peggy Kirk Bell Tour Championship. Ninth-grader Casey Ward finished 15th in the top Tour Division with 86-82—168. In the Futures Division, Emily Brooks of Chapel Hill finished fourth with an 87-86—173.

Tour leader Katherine Perry from Cary took home the victory, and, the first player ever to go three-for-three in two-day PKB Tour events, she won the season’s points title and the 2008 Peggy Kirk Bell Points Cup.

The girls’ next big event will be in Pinehurst this summer at the U.S. Kids World Championships.

For more information on the Peggy Kirk Bell Girls Golf Tour, check out www.girlstour.tygf.org or call 336-510-4653 and ask for Mike Parker or Jonathan Dudley.

Divers on TV

The 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for diving conclude today, and much of it will be broadcast on NBC 3-6 p.m., including two hours of live coverage. East Chapel Hill’s three-time state champion Nick McCrory was among those set to compete in the 10-meter event. (He was also among the top contenders in Saturday’s 3-meter competition.)

Scores from preliminaries, semifinals and finals will be added together, and the diver with the highest combined score on each event will be nominated to the U.S. Olympic team.

In all, 47 divers are after one of four spots on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team. The rest of the team will be chosen at a selection camp in Knoxville, July 2-6. Divers who finish in the top six individually at the Trials will be invited to the camp. The final roster will be announced July 7.

COLLEGES

Tough challenge in Omaha

The North Carolina baseball team’s College World Series run was paused Thursday night, and again Friday, with the Tar Heels’ backs up against the wall. The Heels lost 5-3 to Fresno State on Tuesday, meaning they would have to beat LSU and then beat Fresno twice in order to get to the Championship Series.

Due to lightning and heavy rains in the Omaha area, Thursday’s College World Series elimination contest between North Carolina and LSU was suspended in the top of the first inning, with the Tar Heels holding a 2-0 lead and the bases load. The contest was halted at 6:27 p.m. local time and was suspended at 9:32 p.m. after a delay of more than three hours.

UNC jumped on LSU starter Blake Martin in the first, scoring a pair of runs on a Tim Fedroff RBI double and a bases loaded walk to Chad Flack. Garrett Gore will be at the plate with the bases loaded and an 0-1 count when the game resumes Friday.

The Tar Heels’ first run was a record-setter, as it was the 81st of the season scored by Dustin Ackley, who moves past Adam Greenberg (80 in 2002) to set a UNC single-season mark.

Then, Friday, teams got as far as the third before lightning hit again. The Tigers’ Jared Bradford (10-4, 4.66 ERA) replaced left-handed pitcher Blake Martin to begin the game and immediately got Gore to hit into a 5-3-4 double play, ending the inning.

UNC freshman Matt Harvey, who was scheduled to pitch Thursday, finally made his College World Series debut in the bottom of the first inning, striking out one as the Tar Heels retired the Tigers’ first three batters. LSU trimmed the lead to 2-1 before more lightning delayed the game, again.

When The Chapel Hill News went to press on Friday, the Tar Heels were up in the top of the seventh inning with the game tied 3-3. See www.newsobserver.com or today’s edition of the News & Observer for more from writer Robbi Pickeral about this weekend’s games.

If Carolina won Friday night, it would have faced Fresno State on Saturday to try for the first of two necessary victories over the Bulldogs.

Honors for Rachel, redux

North Carolina field hockey player Rachel Dawson, the 2007 national player of the year, is among five finalists for the prestigious Honda-Broderick Cup as the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year. Three of the finalists are from the Atlantic Coast Conference: Dawson, Duke golfer Amanda Blumenherst and Virginia Tech softball player Angela Tincher. Tennessee basketball player Candace Parker and Arizona State track and field athlete Jacquelyn Johnson round out the top five.

The finalists were chosen from previously announced Honda Sports Award winners in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports by a vote from among more than 1,000 NCAA-member institutions. The winner will be named at a press conference on Monday at Columbia University in New York.

… and for Fedroff

UNC sophomore outfielder Tim Fedroff earned first-team All-America accolades Tuesday from the American Baseball Coaches Association, giving the Flagtown, N.J., product consensus All-America honors in 2008. Fedroff was joined on the ABCA squad by sophomore right-hander Alex White, who claimed a spot on the second team.

Fedroff and White also were among five Tar Heels that were named to the ABCA All-Atlantic Region Team. First baseman Dustin Ackley, second baseman Kyle Seager and relief pitcher Rob Wooten were second-team choices, while Fedroff and White were named to the first team.

Fedroff, who also added first-team All-America honors from Rivals.com, was a second-team choice by Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America and added third-team accolades from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. He was one of a record four Tar Heels to claim All-America honors, joining White, Ackley and Seager.

Oly team on tap

USA Field Hockey will announce the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team for Women’s Field Hockey on Monday at the Association’s Olympic Celebration Dinner, held at the Virginia Beach Convention Center in Virginia Beach, Va. Dinner starts at 7 p.m. Eastern.

Sixteen athletes will be nominated for the final Olympic Games roster. All nominations are subject to approval by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).

Rachel Dawson is a senior back/midfielder and is in her second year as a member of the U.S. national team. She was also the MVP of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Russia, and she is the reigning National Player of the Year. The thinking here is that she’s got a good chance of making the Olympic team.

In fact six current and former Tar Heels competed for U.S. in helping it secure a berth in the 2008 Olympic Games: Dawson, U.S. national team captain Kate Barber, Katelyn Falgowski, Jesse Gey, Carrie Lingo and goolkeeper Amy Tran, regarded as the best women’s goalkeeper in the world.

The USA Field Hockey Women’s National Team is coached by Lee Bodimeade. Bodimeade won a silver medal at the 1992 Olympic Games as a member of the Australian field hockey national team.

The U.S. National Team participated in the Women’s National Championship that just wrapped up Saturday at the National Training Center in Virginia Beach. That round-robin tournament features the top athletes from USA Field Hockey’s six regional High Performance Centers. Athletes competing in the tournament have the opportunity for selection to the National Team.

Prior to Beijing, the U.S. National Team will participate in a four nation tournament in Bremen, Germany with Korea, India, and Germany from July 4-6. They complete their tour with a three game series against the Netherlands, ranked number one in the world, on July 9-12.

The U.S. National Team opens Olympic Games competition on Sunday, Aug. 10 against 2007 Pan American champions Argentina.

Breschi era begins at UNC

Joe Breschi, a 1990 University of North Carolina alumnus, first-team All-America defenseman and former assistant coach for the Tar Heels, became the 12th head men’s lacrosse coach in Carolina history in an announcement Wednesday by Director of Athletics Dick Baddour.

Breschi comes to Chapel Hill from Ohio State University where he has served as the head men’s lacrosse coach for the past 11 seasons. Breschi was an assistant coach at UNC and Brown for seven seasons prior to his stint in Columbus with the Buckeyes and has 18 seasons of collegiate coaching experience overall.

The Baltimore native helped the Buckeyes share GWLL regular-season titles in 1999, 2003 and 2008 and win the conference championship outright in 2004. Ohio State has had seven winning seasons in the last eight years and has made three NCAA Tournament appearances.

Trial Heels

Twenty-seven University of North Carolina former, current and future swimmers are slated to begin competition June 29 in the 2008 United States Olympic Swimming Trials, seeking a spot on the Olympic team that will compete in August in Beijing, China. The trials will run through July 6 and will be held in a temporary facility at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb.

Current and former UNC staff members who will be coaching swimmers at the Trials include Tar Heel head coach Rich DeSelm as well as current and former assistant coaches Catherine Vogt, Mike Litzinger, Eric Stefanski, Ryan Woodruff, Dan Flack and Bill Tramel.

There are four past Tar Heels (Erika Acuff-Erndl ’01, Keith Laabs ’08, Kelsey Morrissy ’08 and Zach Swartz ’08), 16 current Heels (Andy Brake, Hank Browning, Eliza Butts, Alison Clemons, Josh Hafkin, Tyler Harris, Kature Harvey, Jeff James, Rebecca Kane, Joe Kinderwater, Chip Peterson, Vinny Pryor, Whitney Sprague, Megan Steeves and Tommy Wyher) and seven incoming UNC first-years (Layne Brodie, Steve Cebertowicz, Keri McAfee, Laura Moriarty, Evan Reed, Enuf Swanson and Sarah Tanner) who have earned Olympic qualifying standards and will be in the competition.

So soon? Pressure mounts on Roy

Unless you’ve been living under a rock in Wilson Park, you’ve heard that next year’s UNC men’s basketball team is going to be really, really good. And with pencils already scribbling notes into next year’s Final Four weekend (April 4-6, 2009), the pressure is already piling up for Roy Williams’ program to win a national title.

Every pre-season poll that has been produced since Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green decided to return to school on Monday tabs Carolina as the best in the country by a country mile, with ESPN’s Andy Katz stating, “If there is a poll and the Tar Heels aren’t the No. 1 team, it will be a complete shock or someone will be doing it simply for the shock value.”

Carolina returns all five starters, including consensus National Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough, from a squad that won a school-record 36 games and went to the Final Four. With only graduated senior Quentin Thomas and transferring Alex Stepheson gone from the Heels’ rotation, Williams will see 92 percent of his team’s scoring and 87 percent of its rebounding back. Rookie point guard Larry Drew II and senior Bobby Frasor (injured for the second half of last season) will replace Thomas as Lawson’s backup in the backcourt, while Drew’s McDonald’s All-America opponents Ed Davis and Tyler Zeller will make up for the 13-percent rebounding gap.

As for the returning upperclassmen, four (Hansbrough, Frasor, Green and Marcus Ginyard) will be seniors, while three (Lawson, Ellington and Deon Thompson) will be juniors. The seven have started a combined 375 games so far in their Tar Heel careers.

Hansbrough, who could become the nation’s first back-to-back National Player of the Year since Virgina’s Ralph Sampson, should challenge J.J. Redick’s ACC scoring record (see Scoreboard, Page B2).