Three Buckeye Connections at USA Softball National Team Camp – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/23/2002 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Sept. 23, 2002
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Kristine Himes (Bolivar, Ohio/Tuscarawas Valley), a senior third baseman for the Ohio State softball team, joins former Buckeyes Jamie Chenevey and Anna Smith at the USA Softball National Team Camp Sept. 26-29 at the ARCO Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif.
USA Softball will select a core group of athletes to return to the 2002 National Team Camp in June 2003. The players invited to the September camp are a combination of players from the 2002 Open Tryouts, members of the 2002 Women’s World Team, 2002 Elite Team and at-large invitees.
Last season Himes garnered OSU’s Most Valuable Defensive Player award for the second consecutive year and the Buckeye Power Club Award (for hard work, dedication and setting an example in the weight room and in conditioning). She started in all 69 games for OSU at third base where she earned third team All-Big Ten honors. Himes already has established herself as the most prolific power hitter in OSU history, setting the season home run mark as a freshman (10) and a career mark last season (32).
“We are really proud of Kristine,” OSU head coach Linda Kalafatis said. “We have always known what a great player she is. She has always done fabulous things for us and to finally see her get some national recognition is wonderful.”
Chenevey is a former four-year letterwinner for the Buckeyes and was a member of the 1999-00 OSU coaching staff. She played one season for the Akron Racers, a member of the Women’s Professional Softball League. Smith, a 2002 First Team All-America (the first in the history of the program) selection, led the 2002 Buckeye squad to a 55-14 record, a second place finish in the Big Ten and NCAA Region XI tournament, OSU’s first since 1990. Smith batted .512 with 106 hits collected, both single-season OSU records.
“It was fabulous for Jamie to get an invitation this far removed from her time as a player at Ohio State,” Kalafatis said. “It shows how dedicated she is to the sport of softball. Anna truly had a remarkable season for us last year and a wonderful Buckeye career. Obviously Anna has previous experience at this level with her involvement with the USA Elite Team and can help her other Buckeye teammates.”
Coaches for the camp will be Michael Bastian (former WPSL head coach), Bob Coolen (University of Hawaii), Roger Dawes (Redding, Calif.), Joan Joyce (Florida Atlantic), Celeste Knierim (Meramec Community College), Eugene Lenti (DePaul University), Dr. Dot Richardson (two-time Olympic gold medallist) and Margie Wright (Fresno State).
