Southern Miss Standout Courtney Blades Readies for U.S. Olympic Trials

HATTIESBURG, Miss. In one week, Southern Miss senior pitcher Courtney Blades will embark on one of the biggest challenges in her softball career as she will be one of 39 players vying for one of 15 coveted spots representing the United States on the 2000 Olympic Softball Team.

Blades will leave Hattiesburg on Wednesday, September 1, to attend the United States Olympic Softball Trials held in Midland, Mich., September 2-4. The team will be announced at a formal press conference, Monday September 6, in San Diego. Blades is the first Golden Eagle to attend an Olympic Trial since Donnie Young did it in 1984 as a 200-meter sprinter. Blades is the first woman from Southern Miss to attend an Olympic Trial, and she is also trying to become the first Golden Eagle to compete in the Olympics.

But even with such a big challenge facing her, the Golden Eagle standout isn't the least bit nervous.

"I think they (Olympic Softball Selection Committee) have an idea of who they want on the team," Blades said. "If anybody really impresses them at the trials, that player will have a good shot of making the squad. I think I have a decent chance to make the team. It's a lot better than the chances I had before I went to the Olympic Festival at Fresno earlier this summer. But, no matter what happens, this has been an incredible learning experience."

Blades helped lead her team at the U.S. Olympic Softball Festival to a silver medal, losing in the championship game to the U.S. National Team. From there, she was picked to compete for the No. 2 USA National Team (USA Blue) which toured the country and played the USA National Team in a series of doubleheaders. During the Challenge Series, Blades had a record of 3-2-1 against America's top squad, including a pair of shutouts. Blades outdueled '96 Olympic Gold Medalist Lisa Fernandez in one contest, tossing an 11- inning shutout, winning the game 1-0. The team finished with a 4-6-1 record, far exceeding the expectations national officials had set for them, which was basically for them to take their lumps against the national team.

Blades and her teammates also took third place at the prestigious Canada Cup featuring the top teams from around the world. The tournament featured all three medalists from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics (USA-Gold, China-Silver and Australia-Bronze). "We didn't really have anything to lose," Blades said. "We never really talked about what we were doing, as far as how big some of those wins were. The entire team was so nice. I came away from the summer making some really good and close friends."

Blades became friends with some of the top collegiate players in the nation including UCLA's Amanda Freed, Texas' Christa Williams, Alabama's Kelly Kretschman and Oklahoma's Lisa Carey.

The entire summer has only made one of the game's top pitchers even more ready for a run in 2000 at the National Championship. Southern Miss returns its entire team from a squad that went 52-9 last year and became the first softball program in the history of the NCAA to make the Women's College World Series in its first year. Blades, along with senior shortstop Amy Berman were named First Team Louisville Slugger/NFCA All- Americans. She helped lead her team to No. 8 in the final USA Today/NFCA Division I Coaches Softball Poll of the Year.

What makes Blades' story even more impressive is the fact that as a senior out of Belaire High School in Baton Rouge, she was offered just two scholarship opportunities, one from Northeast Louisiana and the other from Southern Miss Head Coach Lu Harris, who was then head coach at Nicholls State. Blades signed with Harris at NSU and then transferred two years later when Harris took the job at USM. A little over three years after signing her scholarship with Coach Harris out of high school, Blades is considered one of the 10 best pitchers in the world.

"Courtney is living proof that you don't have to be that 'blue-chip' player out of high school to be a top collegiate pitcher," Harris said. "She possesses a great attitude and has worked hard mentally and in the weight room to make herself better. I can't say enough about what (USM Strength and Conditioning) Coach (Charlie) Dudley and his staff have meant to the success of our team and Courtney. She is also the first to tell you that if she didn't have a great cast around her, she wouldn't be the pitcher that she is. She has such a great fight and will to be the best."

As the 1999 season progressed, Blades became the NCAA single-season strikeout queen, passing Michele Granger of California, finishing the year with 497 strikeouts. She also became the second junior in NCAA history (along with Granger) to record 1,000 strikeouts by their junior season.

Blades' accomplishments have had a far reaching effect that has put women's fastpitch on the map in the Southern Mississippi, South Alabama and Florida panhandle. In Southern Miss' only two home dates of last year, over 1,200 people packed Tatum Park each day to catch a glimpse of Blades and the nationally-ranked Lady Eagles as they took on Jacksonville State, McNeese State and Louisiana Tech. USM went 5-0 in the tournament, with Blades notching all five wins. She finished the season leading the nation in victories with a record of 43-6.

"Courtney is a tremendous athlete and individual who has certainly made her mark at Southern Miss and in the Hattiesburg community," USM Director of Athletics Richard Giannini said. "We wish her the best in her efforts to make the Olympic team and more importantly, have her back this year to make another run at the Women's College World Series."