David Pless was not a very good baseball player, which has been his gain.
Pless, who attended Lovett before finishing his high schooling at a prep school in Asheville, N.C., has found fulfillment and success as a thrower on the track and field team at Bates College, a small liberal arts college in Maine.
A two-time NCAA Division III indoor shot put champion, Pless is approaching qualifying marks for the U.S. Olympic trials in the shot and is better than all but the best Division I shot putters.
“Everything I’ve wanted to achieved in college, I’ve already achieved,” said Pless, a junior who will compete in the shot put, hammer throw and discus at the Division III championships in Claremont, Calif., this weekend. “I have to re-set my goals to see what the limits of possibility are.”
Pless was cut from his eighth-grade baseball team, which led him to track and field. He found the throwing events, but was hardly a star. He chose Bates in part because of its reputed throwing program. The rest of it is the usual ingredients — good coaching, motivating teammates and hard work. The 6-foot-5 Pless weighed 230 pounds as a freshman and is up to 275.
His outdoor best shot put mark is 58 feet, 4 1/2 inches, which would have placed him 14th at the Division I NCAA championship last year. His best indoor mark is 60 feet, 6 1/2 inches, which broke the Division III championship record by 9 1/2 inches in March. The U.S. Olympic Trials “B” standard is 61 feet.
He has thrived away from the spotlight of Division I athletics, as have other Georgia schools noted below. Despite his success, he said he hasn’t considered transferring to a Division I school.
“The situation I have at Bates is perfect,” he said.
Armstrong Atlantic State
The Pirates’ men’s and women’s tennis teams achieved a stunning double Saturday in Louisville, Ky. The teams both won the Division II team title and both went undefeated, finishing a combined 59-0. The Savannah school’s teams have won titles the same year three times, one of only two Division II schools to double up in the same year.
The men were fueled after coming up short the previous two seasons. Coach Simon Earnshaw, who has won 10 titles coaching the men and women, thought the women might be a year away, as they have one senior on the roster.
“Somehow it all came together at the end,” he said.
Emory
Men’s tennis coach John Browning felt the trophy slipping away several times.
“One time you see it going your way and you get kind of excited, and the next moment, you feel like it’s gone,” Browning said.
The Eagles rallied throughout its tournament run, finishing it with a 5-3 decision over Kenyon College on Wednesday in Cary, N.C. Emory finished 25-0 for its third national title in tennis — all under Browning — and the school’s 14th overall.
Oglethorpe
Men’s golf coach Jim Owen is a former basketball player and coach and coaches his golfers as such. The key, he said, is making sure they give in for the team.
“Sometimes you have to take a bogey [rather than try to save par with a risky shot] for yourself and the team,” he said, “which hurts you, but helps us.”
The Stormy Petrels didn’t take that many bogeys in rolling over the field for the Division III title last week at Mission Inn Resort at Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., winning by 20 shots. It was Oglethorpe’s second NCAA golf title.
Valdosta State
The Blazers won the school’s sixth national championship in any sport and first in softball, defeating California-San Diego 4-1 on Saturday for the Division II title in Louisville, Ky. The final out was recorded by third baseman Samantha Posey, the sister of San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey.
“I think the difference between last year and this year is our team chemistry,” coach Thomas Macera said. “It was probably the best team chemistry on any team I’ve ever coached.”
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