Gold Goes For Home Run Title Thursday
6/12/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 12, 2002
OMAHA, Neb. - Eight student-athletes, including Gonzaga University's Nate Gold, will exhibit their home-run hitting skills Thursday in the third NCAA Home Run Challenge presented by Rawlings Sporting Goods Co., Inc.
The NCAA Home Run Challenge will be staged at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium, home of the College World Series, and will be televised on ESPN2 at 6 p.m. Pacific time. The Series begins its week-long run Friday.
Gold, who leads the NCAA Division I ranks nation with a school-record 33 home runs, will be joined in Thursday's competition by Todd Meyer, Alvernia College, and Shaun Rice, Ohio Wesleyan University, both Division III institutions; Heath Mason, Carson-Newman College, and Junior Medina, Stonehill College, both Division II institutions; and Brad Eldred, Florida International University, Ryan Kenning, New Mexico State University, and Bubba Lavender, Morehead State University, all Division I institutions. All participants have completed their senior season and no longer have eligibility remaining.
Participants were selected based on two criteria: total home runs for the season and the number of home runs hit per game. Participants must have played in a minimum of 75 percent of their team's total games. Totals were computed throughout the regular season, but did not include the championships or regionals of any of the divisions.
Members of the eight teams that qualified for the 2002 NCAA Men's College World Series in Omaha, were not eligible to participate in the NCAA Home Run Challenge. Rawlings has invited Tommy Lasorda, Hall of Fame member and manager of the 2000 Olympic Gold Medal baseball team, and Hall of Fame member Bob Gibson to participate in the festivities. They will be joined by Ted Sizemore, former major league player and Rawlings executive, who was the 1969 Rookie of the Year as a second baseman with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Grand prize for the NCAA Home Run Challenge champion will include two round-trip domestic airline tickets on Delta Airlines and hotel accommodations, a $500 Sears gift certificate, as well as a PlayStation 2 with game pack. Rawlings also will provide a two-year equipment and apparel contract to the winner of the NCAA Home Run Challenge. Each participant's institution will receive a $1,000 donation from Rawlings to their general scholarship fund.
Note: Home Run Challenge is a registered trademark of the Gillette Company.
