THE

SCORE

Quick Hits

Connaughton competes in Olympics. Former track standout Jared Connaughton represented Canada in the Olympic Games in Beijing in August. A Maverick from 2004-07, he competed in the 200-meter dash and the 4x100-meter relay for the Canadian team. The Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, native clocked 20.34 in the 200 meters to finish first at the Canadian Olympic Trials at Windsor, Ontario, in July. This was his first trip to the Olympics.

Longtime administrator honored. Former Athletics Director Bill Reeves was inducted into the Southland Conference Hall of Honor in May. Now the senior associate athletic director for compliance, Dr. Reeves has held a variety of roles in his 42 years at the University. He earned three varsity basketball letters and graduated from Arlington State College (now UT Arlington) in 1962. He was assistant basketball coach, instructor of physical education and assistant athletic director before taking the athletics director position in 1975. He served in that capacity until 1989.

Freshman All-America. Center fielder Michael Choice was named to five Freshman All-America teams after a solid spring season. He is one of four outfielders on the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association team and was among 20 outfielders selected by Collegiate Baseball. He was named to the second-team Freshman All-America teams by Baseball America magazine, Rivals.com and Ping!Baseball. As a Mavericks leadoff hitter, the Mansfield product posted a team-leading .376 batting average and was named Southland Conference Freshman of the Year.

Tough to strike out. Senior infielder David McLeod received the NCAA award as the nation's Toughest Batter to Strike Out in the 2008 season. He fanned only five times in 200 at-bats while earning honorable mention All-Southland Conference honors. In 26 games at Clay Gould Ballpark he batted .411 with 11 doubles, nine walks and no strikeouts. He finished the regular season leading the SLC with a .391 batting average.

Tracksters excel at regional. Senior Quinchun Carey placed seventh in the long jump with a leap of 24-7 at the NCAA Midwest Regional Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Lincoln, Neb., in May. The men's 4x400-meter relay team of Takeshi Fujiwara, Jarid Vaughn, Cordero Gray and Eddie Beckwith finished ninth in a season-best 3:08.42.

Athletes honored for academics. Pitchers Laura Jones and Cara Hulme were named to the first-team Southland Conference All-Academic softball team. Jones, a senior, also received UT Arlington's B.G. Wilson Student Athlete of the Year award, compiling a 3.70 grade-point average while majoring in architecture. Hulme, a sophomore, posted a 3.62 GPA in kinesiology. ... Senior Zack Reeves and sophomore Michael van de Venter were named to the SLC All-Academic golf team. Reeves posted a 3.12 grade-point average in marketing while van de Venter had a 3.49 GPA in management. On the course, Reeves turned in the best three-round score in school history with a 201 at the Turtle Bay Invitational. Van de Venter averaged 73.74 strokes and recorded three top 10 finishes during the season. ... Sophomore Dmitry Minkin was named to the SLC All-Academic men's tennis team. The St. Petersburg, Russia, native is an interdisciplinary studies major and was the conference's 2007 Newcomer of the Year.