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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 21, 2007
President Bush Welcomes 2006 and 2007 NCAA Sports Champions to White House
The South Lawn
3:26 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Please be seated. It is a
beautiful day to welcome champs to the White House. And I'm honored to
stand with some of our country's finest student athletes -- and look at
some of our finest student athletes -- and glad to give you an excuse to
skip class. (Laughter.) But I'm really glad to welcome you here and to
congratulate you on being a champion.
I really enjoy a day like today. You didn't get to see, but I got
to shake hands with athletes and coaches and people, some of whom have
come a long way to be recognized here at the White House. And it is
really a lot of fun to be with people who set high standards and work
hard to achieve goals, which you've done.
And there are some others here who want to recognize you, as well:
Senator Lamar Alexander from Tennessee -- thanks for coming, Lamar; Lisa
Murkowski from Alaska; Senator Gordon Smith and Sharon from Oregon.
We're sure glad you all are here. Zach Wamp from the state of
Tennessee, and Kim, glad you all are here, as well. They are here
because the states they represent happen to have teams who are champs,
as well.
I want to welcome all the team captains, the coaches, the school
officials and all the fans who have joined us. You're different --
you've come from different schools, different sports, but you deserve to
be called "champion."
The first champions I want to recognize are the Arizona State
Indoor Track and Field and Outdoor Track and Field champs. (Applause.)
I learned a new symbol. (Laughter.) The Women's Track team from
Arizona State claimed two national championships in one year. In the
winter, the Sun Devils earned the Indoor title; in the spring, the
Outdoor title. It makes Arizona State one of only three schools in NCAA
history to win Women's Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field championships
in the same season.
I congratulate Coach Kraft and all the athletes who joined us
today. Thanks for coming. (Applause.)
Coach Pat Casey and the Oregon State Baseball team have joined us.
(Applause.) Oregon State is here to celebrate two consecutive national
championships in baseball. Earlier this summer the Beavers won all five
of their games in the College World Series. That is hard to do. You
outscored your opponents 42-16. You trailed for only one inning. You
took the lead and never looked back. And as a result, you're the first
college baseball team to win back-to-back titles in 10 years. And I'm
proud you're here, and congratulations on the job you're doing.
(Applause.)
Speaking about repeat champs, the Duke Women's Golf team is with us
today. The ladies of the golf team have now won three NCAA
championships in a row, and five overall. They're really hard to beat.
This spring, the team played through wind and rain to win the
championship tournament by 15 strokes. And I want to welcome Coach
Brooks and the team here today. Coach Brooks picked his 102nd career
win. This is the most in the history of NCAA women's golf. You've got
a good coach, got good players. When you play hard, you end up right
here at the White House. Congratulations, and thanks for coming.
(Applause.)
How about the Johns Hopkins Men's Lacrosse team? (Applause.)
Coach Pietramala and the team won a tough championship game. This is
not the first time they've been here, by the way. They were here back
in 2005. Everybody is going to remember -- at least people who pay
attention to lacrosse will remember that the Blue Jay team scored a goal
in just 12 seconds in the game, and hung on to win 12-11 in a tough
game. This is the ninth Men's Lacrosse championship for Johns Hopkins.
I congratulate you on carrying on a proud tradition at a fine
university. And welcome to the White House. (Applause.)
Pat Summitt knows something about coaching. We're proud to welcome
this soon-to-be, if not already, Hall of Fame coach, and the ladies
basketball team from the University of Tennessee. (Applause.) This
team is upholding a long-time tradition for Tennessee Women's
Basketball. After all, this is their seventh national title under Coach
Summitt. Here's how the coach described the moment. She said, "To win
anything, you have to be a tight team. They believed in each other and
obviously had one goal: to cut down the nets." They did, and we're
proud to welcome you here to the White House. Thanks for coming.
(Applause.)
Brown University Women's Crew is with us today. Brown University
Crew has a lot to celebrate in recent years. After all, they have won
the NCAA title five out of the last nine seasons. These women know how
to row. (Laughter.) Brown is the winningest women's crew program in
the history of the NCAAs. We wish their coaches all the very best as
they deal with a personal problem -- I'm sorry they're not here, but
these women -- if anybody can lift their spirits, because they performed
brilliantly. I also appreciate the fact that we've got Academic
All-Americans and National Scholar Athletes on this team, as well.
Congratulations on achieving excellence on all fronts, and welcome to
the White House. (Applause.)
Coach Robinson and others coach the mighty Golden Gophers of
Minnesota in the University of Minnesota Men's Wrestling team.
(Applause.) Grapplers. This spring you earned the third national title
in team history. And I appreciate the fact that you train hard, work
hard, and as we say in Texas, "out-wrastle 'em." (Laughter.)
Congratulations and welcome to the White House. (Applause.)
Here's the final group of champs. From the great state of Alaska,
the Men and Women's Rifle Team from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.
(Applause.) It is safe to say, this team traveled the furthest to be
here. You earned the trip. This is, by the way, the eighth time in
nine years that the Nanooks have been the NCAA champions in Rifle.
Interestingly enough, guess who they beat? West Point. Anytime you
outshoot West Point, you're really good at what you do. (Laughter.)
And so we welcome you to the White House, and thanks for coming.
(Applause.)
As I explained to some of the teams, one of the reasons why I love
to welcome people here is to remind you that you can be a champ on the
field and you can be a champ off the field. Because you're a champ on the
field, you have a chance to inspire somebody to make right choices in
life. You have the opportunity to set a good example. You don't know
how many youngsters are looking at you, but there's a lot. People are
wondering how champs behave. So by setting high standards and working
hard to achieve them, you're influencing other people.
I also appreciate the fact that you're involved with raising money
for cancer awareness, or collecting toys and clothing for those in need.
Some of the teams have supported the Special Olympics. A lot of the
folks on these teams have volunteered in the communities in which they
live. And I thank you for that. You're proving what I know is true,
that you had to be a dedicated soul to get here in the White House -- to
get here to the White House when it comes to athletics, but it is that
same dedication that makes you achieve excellence in sports that helps
you be an excellent person in life.
And so we welcome you here. We thank you for coming. May God
bless you all. (Applause.)
END 3:36 P.M. EDT
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