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Thursday, September 28, 2000

By Mike White and Paul Zeise, Post-Gazette Sports Writers

SCHOOL: Fox Chapel

WHO IS SHE? A senior who won the WPIAL girls' golf championship yesterday at Castle Hills Golf Club in New Castle, Pa.

WINNING IN A PLAYOFF: Shoplik and Upper St. Clair senior Jamie Hays shot 80 and tied for the championship on the 5,530-yard, par 72 course. The two went to a sudden-death playoff, and Shoplik won on the first hole. She bogeyed the par 4, 361-yard No. 1 hole and Hays scored a 6.

Shoplik had never been in a tense situation like yesterday's. About 30 people watched the playoff.

"I had never played in front of a gallery before," Shoplik said. "When I went to hit my drive, every muscle was tense."

	Fox Chapel's Emily Shoplik holds her medal after winning the WPIAL Girls Individual Golf Championships at the Castle Hills Golf Course in New Castle, Pa. (Darrell Sapp, Post-Gazette)

WHAT'S IT WORTH? After Shoplik won the playoff, she went to the parking lot and called her father on a cell phone. Brian Shoplik was watching Emily's brother, Ryan, play in an eighth-grade football game.

"I told him I shot an 80 and made states [the PIAA tournament]," Shoplik said. "Then I said, 'And guess what? I'm WPIAL champion.' "

Emily was flabbergasted when her father told her she would receive a gift for winning the title.

"He's giving me money," she said with a laugh, but refused to reveal how much.

BEATING THE CHAMPIONS: Uniontown senior Lauren George was the two-time defending WPIAL champion, and Hempfield sophomore Katie Miller was the defending PIAA champion. But they finished one stroke behind with 81s. George took a triple bogey on the par 5 18th hole.

Although Shoplik finished fourth at last year's championships, she was a surprise winner yesterday.

"I came out here and played this course Sunday," Shoplik said. "I've been hitting the ball well lately, long and straight."

ANOTHER CHAMPIONSHIP: Shoplik also is the women's club champion at Butler Country Club.

-- By Mike White

SCHOOL: Thomas Jefferson

WHO IS HE? A 5-foot-11, 205-pound senior fullback/linebacker for the Jaguars football team.

THIS WEEK: Jura ran 23 times for a school record 273 yards and three touchdowns in his team's 35-8 win over Uniontown Friday. He also had two sacks and one interception in the game.

SEASON: Jura has rushed for 479 yards on 52 carries (9.2 yards per carry) and scored six touchdowns in four games.

WINTER OF REST: Jura is a two-year starter in football but played in only nine of the team's 12 games last year because of a herniated disc in his back. He was injured during training camp and then returned to the lineup in the fourth game of the year. After the season, he took some time off to rehab the injury and make sure it was 100 percent healed before he started working out in the spring for this season.

"I wrestled in my sophomore year, but didn't want to risk re-injury so I quit last year," said Jura. "I just basically went to therapy and rested until it was completely healed and strong again. Then I started lifting weights and conditioning in the spring, so once training camp hit, I was ready."

This winter, he plans on wrestling again and will most likely drop back down to 189 pounds.

STRENGTH IS STRENGTH: Although Jura has plenty of athletic ability, his best attribute is his physical strength and size. He runs the 40 yard dash in 4.6 seconds, but he gets many of his yards by lowering his shoulder and crushing people. He recently participated in a liftathon and bench pressed 315 pounds.

"He's a beast," said Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak. "He is so big and strong, he doesn't need much of a hole to make some yards."

FUTURE PLANS: Jura has a 3.8 GPA and carries advanced placement classes in physics and history, but he is undecided about what he wants to pursue in college. He is hoping to attend an Ivy League or Patriot League school and play football. His older brother, Mike, is an outside linebacker and 4.0 student at Carnegie Mellon University, which is an option that Tom is considering.

"He is such an outstanding student that he is in a unique situation," said Cherpak. "He could play at a lot of places, but he wants to make sure that he gets the best education possible because that is his priority."

-- By Paul Zeise