Hail to the soccer moms. I am never surprised to hear that student-athletes are committed to giving back to their communities and raising awareness about important causes. While each community service activity is certainly worthy of discussion, I have to give a special shout to the Marquette soccer programs for their originality. Last month, the Marquette men???s and women???s soccer teams sponsored their first ???Soccer Mom Clinic.??? More than 50 women took to the field on five consecutive Friday evenings, taking part in a special clinic sponsored by the programs. The clinic not only provided grown women with an opportunity to get out and play, but also helped raised $5,000 for breast cancer research. Congratulations to the student-athletes ??? and the soccer moms ??? for making a difference.

Softball sets records. Not only did the Women???s College World Series set an attendance record for the fourth straight year, but ESPN reports that Arizona???s win over Tennessee in the championship game was the most-watched telecast of the event ever on the network. ESPN estimates that 1.676 million households tuned in to the game, and I don???t see any reason why that number won???t continue to grow in the coming seasons.

Milestones at Mount Olive. It???s been an exciting year at Mount Olive, as a number of milestones were set in the athletics department. On February 28, men???s basketball coach Bill Clingan recorded his 300th career victory in a win over Coker in the quarterfinals of the Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference tournament. Two nights later, seniors Chris Bartley, Elton Coffield and Elijah Rouse became the first Trojan basketball players to win 100 games during their careers. This spring, softball coach Jaime Kylis-Higginbotham won her 100th career game on April 14. The win was also Mount Olive???s 36th of the season, breaking the previous school record of 35.