No. 4 national seed North Carolina will host East Carolina at Boshamer Stadium in the 2009 NCAA Chapel Hill Super Regional, the NCAA announced Monday. The Tar Heels (45-16) and Pirates (46-18) will open the best-of-three series Saturday with the winner advancing to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. The game is sold out. For more about the series, see TarHeelBlue.com.

TENNIS

CHHS looking ahead

Tryouts for the girls tennis team at Chapel Hill High School have been scheduled to begin Aug. 10 at the CHHS courts. Practice sessions will be held 8-10 a.m. each weekday from then until the beginning of classes, with the team roster selected before the start of school.

The sessions are open to all girls in grades 9 through 12 in the 2009-10 school year. Players must have a physician's exam and completed forms before participating in any practices. Information, physical exam information and permission forms can be picked up Chapel Hill High School or Smith, Culbreth and McDougle middle schools.

For more information, contact CHHS head coach Nick Walker at 929-2106, ext. 2119.

BASEBALL

Panthers done

The Orange High School baseball team, which spent most of the year ranked in the state's top 10 for 2-A schools, will hold its post-season awards banquet at 7 p.m. June 8 in the OHS Gymnasium.

SOCCER

Kadleick named 4-A coach of the year

East Chapel Hill's Mark Kadlecik has been named 4-A Women's Soccer Coach of the Year by his peers in the North Carolina Soccer Coaches Association. The Wildcats (22-2-2) won the PAC-6 league, going undefeated against conference opponents, and went three rounds into the state playoffs before losing 1-0 to eventual state champion Leesville Road.

East Chapel Hill junior forward Taylor Boone and senior midfielder Molly Hrudka were named to the NCSCA's all-state first team for 2009. Junior midfielder Katie Walter earned honorable mention, giving the Wildcats three players with post-season state honors. That's notable because it's more than Leesville Road, the two-time 4-A champion, or state runnerup Ardrey Kell. Leesville Road's Paul Dinkenor, with deep connections to Chapel Hill soccer, was named the NCSCA 4-A Region 3 Coach of the Year.

Carrboro High's Robin Bulieri was the NCSCA 2-A Region 5 Coach of the Year, and she saw two of her players get all-state honors. Senior goalkeeper Marshall Babcock and senior forward Melody Cranfill of Carrboro both made the NCSCA first team. The Jaguars (20-3-1), a top-10 team all year, out-scored opponents 95-12 this year, beating 4-A Chapel Hill and tying then-undefeated and No. 1 Cardinal Gibbons along the way.

Durham Academy placed two juniors on the private schools' first team: forward Molly Pathman and Kelsey Zalimeni.

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

Tar Heels on track

The University of North Carolina track and field team will send 16 Tar Heels to the NCAA National Championships June 10-13 in Fayetteville, Ark., competing in 10 events. Perhaps most pleasing to head coach Dennis Craddock is the fact that most of UNC's qualifiers are underclassmen. The women's track and field team earned 25.50 points and the men earned 11 at the recent NCAA East Regional qualifier.

Dominique Jackson, a sophomore, scored the most points for UNC at the East Regional, recording eight for her second-place finish in the women's 800-meter run. Jackson's time of 2:07.06 gives her good standing in the event at the national championship. Gabby Gioia, a sophomore, threw 44.69 meters in the women's javelin, which earns her a shot at nationals. Gioia's throw also earned the Tar Heels one point for the regional.

The women's 4x100-meter relay -- Vanneisha Ivy and freshmen Malai Walker, Cierra McGee and Tyler Ford -- ran a 44.69 final to capture sixth place to qualify for nationals. Ivy also earned an individual ticket to the national championship with her 13.18 in the 100-meter hurdles, earning the Tar Heels another six points.

Sophomores Christine Johnson and LaToya James and freshmen Elizabeth Mott and Tasha Stanley also took a sixth place with a 3:38.09 in the East Regional in the women's 4x400-meter relay.

Patience Coleman, a sophomore, captured 4.50 points for Carolina and a tie for fourth in the women's high jump. Her 1.78-meter finish sends her to the NCAA National Championships.

For the men's team, field events were unusually productive. Junior Edward Baldwin III will compete in the long jump based on his Friday length of 7.4 meters. Parker Smith will head to the NCAA Championships in the men's pole vault. The sophomore's 5.16-meter vault lifted him into eighth place and earned the men's team one point. Daniel Keller, a senior, also participated in the men's pole vault, reaching 5.06 meters but it was not enough to send the multis men to the finals in that event. However, Keller will go to the NCAA National Championship in the heptathlon with teammate Mateo Sossah. Keller and Sossah qualified in the multis event during the ACC Championship.

In the men's triple jump, Austin Davis, who is a sophomore, secured fourth place in the Regional with a 16.16-meter leap. He tagged five points for the men's team. Although many Tar Heels will represent the University at the national level, some came up just short of a chance to compete again after their participation Saturday.

Addie Bracy ran the 3000-meter steeplechase in 10:36.17 but missed qualifying for the national race by three places. Michelle Newman scored 12.15 meters in the women's triple jump, but did not earn a place alongside Coleman in the finals. On the men's side, Scott Houston did not qualify in the men's pole vault.

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