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NCAA News Release
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2009 NCAA National Pinnacle of Fitness™ Challenge Championship Finalists Set to Compete in St. Louis
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For Immediate Release
Monday, April 6, 2009
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Contact(s)
Rick Nixon
Associate Director of the Division I Women's Basketball Championship
317/917-6539
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ST. LOUIS---Ninety students from nine middle schools across the nation will compete today for the National Pinnacle of Fitness™ Championship, in conjunction with the 2009 Women’s Final Four in St. Louis. The competition will take place at center court at NCAA Hoop City® Refreshed by Coca-Cola® at America’s Center.
The Pinnacle of Fitness challenge is an NCAA Division I women’s basketball initiative of healthy living and education that has challenged and improved individuals and their communities this year. The Pinnacle of Fitness challenge involved 100 middle schools in nine selected cities, with 74,000 middle school students participating in the program.
Middle schools advancing to the National Pinnacle of Fitness Challenge championship include Woodlawn Middle School, Baton Rouge, La.; Redwood Christian Middle School, Berkeley, Calif.; Franklin-Simpson Middle School, Bowling Green, Ky.; Providence Christian Academy, Duluth, Ga.; Alderson Middle School, Lubbock, Texas; Wake Forest-Rolesville Middle School, Raleigh, N.C.; La Presa Middle School, San Diego, Calif.; Jefferson Intermediate Center, South Bend, Ind.; and Sage Park Middle School in Storrs, Conn..
The cornerstone of the program is the Middle School Challenge, which educates and challenges students to improve their level of physical fitness through leading active lives, goal setting and developing life skills. The program took place at sites that hosted a first- and second-round or regional round of competition during the 2009 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship.
Competing middle schools and individual students have and will be recognized through school rewards that include fitness support funding for equipment, apparel and awards sponsored by Wilson® Sporting Goods Co., the official basketball of the NCAA.
For more information in regards to the Pinnacle of Fitness challenge, go online to http://www.ncaa.com/champ/wbasket-div1-champ.html or contact Deneé Barracato at 317/917-6643 (dbarracato@ncaa.org).
| Advancing Middle School/Host Site |
Participating Students |
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Woodlawn Middle School Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Pete Maravich Assembly Center
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Bryana Craft, Hezekiah Randolph, Samantha Mulina, Aaron Jones, Keristen Christopher, James (Rickey) McAdams, Charika Neal,
Dakota Ball, Kia-Demi Washington, James McManus
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Redwood Christian
University of California
Berkeley, California
Haas Pavilion
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Melissa Edwards, Howard Wikle, Samantha Morris, Jordan Dyson, Christine Lum, Isaias Montenegro, Sonja Chen, Chris Chiu, Elina Rivera, Brian Lin
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Franklin-Simpson Middle School
Western Kentucky University
Bowling Green, Kentucky
E.A. Diddle Arena
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Savanah Farmer, Kelsey Collier, Natalie Shrull, Autumn Babb, Sara Moody, Triston Phillips, Billy Patterson, Chris Holman, JT Arneman, Kevin Flippin
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Providence Christian Academy
University of Georgia
Duluth, Georgia
Gwinnett Center
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MacKenzie Tuttle, Brittany Tuttle, Tayler Tuttle, Caitlin Pozarelli, Daniel (Grant) Brondyke, Robert Noel Clark III, Christina (Alexis) Baldy, Joseph (Drew) Davis, Austin Hoyt, Michael Shealy
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Alderson Middle School
Texas Tech University
Lubbock, Texas
United Spirit Arena
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Tiandrea Denae Russell, Amen Rae Salinas, Je’Tazhai Monaye Johnson, Carl Edward Willard, Zenasha Nicole Johnson, Daquandrick Christopher Moore, Quanesha Tysha Willard, Raymond James Stovall, Alexus Mon’te Phillips, Benjamen Jerell Shipmen
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Wake Forest-Rolesville Middle School
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, North Carolina
RBC Center
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Audrie-Emma Bruce, Andrew Greifinger, Madison Fingers, Sidney Campbell, Mariah Ballen, Christopher Ballen, Emily O’Brien, Logan Barbour, Je’May Ward, Michael Shelton
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La Presa Middle School
San Diego State University
San Diego, California
Cox Arena
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Juliet Garcia, Giovanni Contreras, Sarah Abrenica, Daniel Ortega, Kae’ Shaun Woodfork, Amanda Cuvea, Leslie Chavez, Walt Bailey, Karina Cantera, Ernesto Cantera
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Jefferson Intermediate Center
University of Notre Dame
South Bend, Indiana
Joyce Center
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Madison Paulk, Madison Olivarez, Katelyn Cowden, Nadja Hines, Shannon Hutchinson,
Marcus Charles, Tamine Derrickson, Safet Mecivica, Simeon Teague, Egypt Miller
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Sage Park Middle School/
University of Connecticut
Storrs, Connecticut
Harry A. Gampel Pavilion
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Jordan Phelps, Marquis Ellaird, Kate Elizabeth Ackerson, Terrell A. Huff, Jocelyn Harris, Ryheime Moore, Ashley Morgan Walsh, Christian Lewis, Sydnee Over, Jared Delane
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About the NCAA and Division I Women’s Basketball
The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletic opportunities for more than 400,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships in Divisions I, II and III sports. Visit www.ncaa.org and www.ncaa.com for more details about the Association, its goals and members and corporate partnerships that help support programs for student-athletes.
NCAA women’s basketball is characterized by strong fundamentals, high quality of play, sportsmanship, role model student-athletes and family oriented entertainment. The latest NCAA Graduation Success Rate figures show 81 percent of NCAA Division I women’s basketball players graduate. In terms of the NCAA Academic Progress Rate, which measures term-by-term academic success, the overall score is 960, well above the NCAA benchmark of 925.
For the latest news in regard to the Women’s Final Four, visit www.ncaa.com/finalfour.
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