Arizona Wildcats: Top 30 athletes in school history
The face of American softball, Jennie Finch is a Hall of Fame alumni of the University of Arizona.
Originally from La Mirada, California, Jennie Finch grew up with two older brothers and a father who worked tirelessly with her on her softball skills growing up. She started playing softball at the age of five. By the time she was eight years old, she had begun to hone her skills as a pitcher. The following year, only nine years old at the time, she was playing for a 10-and-under traveling all-star team. A star was born.
Jennie Finch broke and NCAA record while pitching for her Arizona Wildcats softball team by winning 51 consecutive games. She also threw eight no-hitters. She was awarded the Honda Softball Award as player of the year in 2001 and 2002. Finch holds the University of Arizona record for wins in a season, in 2001 she went 32-0, and consecutive wins (60). She places second in college career shutouts at 64.
In the 2001 NCAA World Series, Finch allowed only one run in her first five games. The Wildcats beat UCLA to win the Championship awarded the Women’s College World Series most outstanding player. That year Finch was awarded Pac-10 pitcher of the year honors. Also, she was awarded the National Player of the Year.
Finch participated in the 2004 Olympics in Athens Greece, her USA team won the Gold Medal. In the 2008 Olympics in China, Finch and her team lost in the finals to Japan, earning them a Silver medal. She also won the USA Softball Female Athlete of the Year in 2009.
Softball has since been eliminated from Olympics sports unfortunately as Finch lobbied to the Olympic committee to keep the sport. Here is Jennie in her own words talking about the Olympics and her National Championship from the University of Arizona.
According to her website, coming home from the Olympics started a whirlwind of fame and notoriety:
"Jennie returned home from Athens and her popularity soared. She appeared on late-night shows with David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel; magazines including Glamour and Vanity Fair ran features on her. She was famous. She struggled with the notoriety, which in a team sport is sometimes a problem. Endorsement deals from major brands including Sprint, Bank of America, and Mizuno followed and allowed Jennie to continue to play. She created a signature line with Mizuno that featured a bat, batting gloves, shoes and mitt with her name on them, and together with Mizuno pioneered the use of pink in women’s softball equipment. Pink and black became her signature."
Finch, now 35, is married (2005) and the mother of two boys. She continues to teach young women the sport of Softball and came into her own as a role model. Watch any NCAA softball championship game these days and you will learn all about the game of softball from Arizona’s own Jennie Finch.
Check out what Jennie is up to these days on her fan website www.jenniefinch.com.
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