Bball Girl
03-17-2007, 11:05 AM
After losing to the Sooners :( Arizona beat Pacific to give Coach Candrea his 1100th win!
Arizona head coach Mike Candrea became the fourth coach in Division I softball history to win 1,100 games on Friday. Candrea’s fifth-ranked Wildcats defeated Pacific, 11-0, in pool play as part of Fullerton’s Judi Garman Classic.
“I didn’t even know that this was my 1100th win. It just means there were a lot of victories by a lot of good athletes,” Candrea said. “To be honest, I don’t keep track of that stuff.”
With his 1100th victory, Candrea joined Fresno State’s Margie Wright, Florida State’s JoAnne Graf and Iowa’s Gayle Blevins as the only coaches in Division I softball history to have reached the 1100-win plateau. Additionally, as this is his 21st season in the dugout, Candrea is the fastest of the elite quartet to accomplish the feat. It took Wright 24, Graf 22 and Blevins 28 years, respectively, to get to 1100 wins.
Wright and Graf were both on hand at the Titan Sports Complex with their teams and congratulated their colleague on the rare achievement.
“I don’t think people realize what a difficult feat this is,” Wright said. “It’s very difficult for anyone to get to 1,000 wins and it only gets tougher to get anything beyond that. I’m happy for him and he deserves all the recognition he gets for his achievements.”
“Mike is one of the best coaches in the country and achieving 1100 wins is a credit to his ability and his knowledge of softball,” Graf said. “I think he one of the classiest individuals there is and I congratulate him on his achievement.”
Arizona head coach Mike Candrea became the fourth coach in Division I softball history to win 1,100 games on Friday. Candrea’s fifth-ranked Wildcats defeated Pacific, 11-0, in pool play as part of Fullerton’s Judi Garman Classic.
“I didn’t even know that this was my 1100th win. It just means there were a lot of victories by a lot of good athletes,” Candrea said. “To be honest, I don’t keep track of that stuff.”
With his 1100th victory, Candrea joined Fresno State’s Margie Wright, Florida State’s JoAnne Graf and Iowa’s Gayle Blevins as the only coaches in Division I softball history to have reached the 1100-win plateau. Additionally, as this is his 21st season in the dugout, Candrea is the fastest of the elite quartet to accomplish the feat. It took Wright 24, Graf 22 and Blevins 28 years, respectively, to get to 1100 wins.
Wright and Graf were both on hand at the Titan Sports Complex with their teams and congratulated their colleague on the rare achievement.
“I don’t think people realize what a difficult feat this is,” Wright said. “It’s very difficult for anyone to get to 1,000 wins and it only gets tougher to get anything beyond that. I’m happy for him and he deserves all the recognition he gets for his achievements.”
“Mike is one of the best coaches in the country and achieving 1100 wins is a credit to his ability and his knowledge of softball,” Graf said. “I think he one of the classiest individuals there is and I congratulate him on his achievement.”