Eaves named 2002 Development Coach of the Year

USA Hockey announced that Wisconsin men’s hockey head coach Mike Eaves has been named the 2002 Development Coach of the Year. As the U.S. National Development head coach, Eaves led the 2001-02 U.S. National Under-18 Team to a 37-21-4 record during the regular season. The squad went on to win the gold medal this past April at the 2002 IIHF World Under-18 Championship in Piestany, Slovakia, the first gold medal for the U.S. at an A-Pool IIHF World Championship, excluding the Olympics, since 1933.

Eaves also guided the U.S. National Under-18 Team to a silver medal this past February at the 2002 Five Nations Cup in Tyumen, Russia. The team compiled an 8-8-3 regular-season record against college teams.

This year, Eaves saw additional success with the USA Hockey NTDP as 19 of his athletes committed to Division I colleges and a record of 19 NTDP alumni were selected in the 2002 NHL Draft.

Eaves created an innovative coaching co-op program, in which two coaches from each of USA Hockey’s 11 districts are invited to stay for four days and become part of the NTDP coaching staff. During their stay, these coaches have the opportunity to learn new coaching techniques from the NTDP coaches and take that knowledge back with them to their own players and to help teach other coaches.

Eaves has also been a guest speaker for the 1999 and 2001 National Hockey Coaches Symposiums, a program for coaches at the master’s level, the highest level of coaching certification offered by the USA Hockey Coaching Education Program. Eaves has completed the Level IV coaching status in the USA Hockey program.

During his USA Hockey affiliation, Eaves represented the United States in international competition as both a player and a coach. Eaves was a forward on Team USA in 1981 and in 1984 at the Canada Cup tournaments and a member of the 1976 and 1978 U.S. National Teams at the IIHF World Championships. He also acted as assistant to Bob Johnson for the 1991 U.S. National Team at the IIHF World Championship in Finland.

Canchola named cross-country Athlete of the Week

Wisconsin senior Elaine Canchola was named Big Ten women’s cross-country Athlete of the Week after winning the Oz Memorial Meet last Saturday in Minneapolis, Minn. Canchola, a transfer from UCLA running in her first season of cross-country for the UW, completed the six-kilometer course in 22:01. That was 20 seconds faster than teammate Jackie Mulrooney, who captured second.

The Badgers were victorious as a team at the Oz Memorial, capturing the top four places and placing seven runners among the top 11 finishers. Minnesota was second, followed by Mankato State and Bethel College. Wisconsin’s next meet is Sept. 28 at the Stanford Invitational.

With the victory, Wisconsin entered the national rankings, climbing all the way to No. 21. The Badgers were tops among others receiving votes in the preseason FinishLynx/ Women’s Cross Country poll. Minnesota dropped from 17th to 25th after falling to the UW. Only Michigan State (No. 9) is ranked higher than Wisconsin among Big Ten teams.

Volleyball falls to 16th in coaches poll

The University of Wisconsin volleyball team dropped four spots to 16th in the third regular-season USA Today/AVCA Top 25 Coaches poll released Monday. The Badgers lost to now-12th-ranked UC-Santa Barbara, 0-3, in the first round of the Duke Classic last weekend. Wisconsin changed its lineup to record wins over American and Duke in the tournament to improve to 6-2 on the season.

USC (6-0) moves into the top spot in the poll and received 44 first-place votes. Hawaii (8-0) moves up one spot to second, while Florida (7-1), which defeated former top-ranked Stanford 3-0 over the weekend, moved up three spots to third. The Cardinal (8-1) fell three spots to fourth. Nebraska (7-1) rounds out the top five teams.

The Big Ten Conference has five teams ranked among the top 25. Minnesota (10-2) jumps up five spots to eighth, while Penn State (9-0) moves up two spots to ninth. Ohio State (5-3) falls four spots to 13th, while the Badgers fall to 16th. Michigan State (7-2) falls two spots to 21st, and Illinois falls out of the poll completely. Wisconsin wraps up the non-conference portion of its season when it hosts the Badger Invitational Friday and Saturday in the UW Field House. The Badgers will take on Bowling Green State (3-5) Friday at 7 p.m. Saturday, Wisconsin takes on Tulane (7-4) at noon and Illinois-Chicago (9-2) at 7 p.m.