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Thursday, April 11, 2002

By Mike White, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

SCHOOL: Freedom.

WHO IS SHE? A senior track and field performer who excels in the javelin.

	Freedom's Ashley Kaufman threw a javelin 150 feet, 6 inches at the Tri-State Coaches Invitational last week. (Matt Freed, Post-Gazette)

LAST WEEK: Kaufman won the championship of the Tri-State Coaches Invitational at West Mifflin with a throw of 150 feet, 6 inches. It was the ninth-best throw in WPIAL history. She was only three feet from the top five all time.

THE OTHER EVENT: The javelin is Kaufman's specialty, but she also is a talented long jumper. Her best long jump this season is 16 feet, which also is the best in Class AA this season and fourth best in the WPIAL.

CAREER: Kaufman was second in the javelin and sixth in the long jump at the WPIAL Class AA championship last year.

FORCED TO THROW: Kaufman started throwing the javelin the summer before her junior year. It wasn't an event she wanted to try. "But I had signed up for the heptathlon in the Keystone Games and part of the heptathlon is the javelin," she said. "So I had to learn how to throw."

She learned fast and has improved greatly in the past year. Her winning throw at the WPIAL championships last year was 116-9. Her throw at the Tri-State Meet was almost 34 feet farther. Kaufman's goal this year is to throw 160 feet. The only other girl in WPIAL history to throw 160 feet was Knoch's Jenny Crouch, who threw 165-9 in 1989.

BROWNIE POINTS: Kaufman said the person who has taught her the most about throwing the javelin is a Freedom classmate. Matt Brown is the defending PIAA Class AA boys' javelin champion and regularly practices with her.

"He's helped me with so many technical things," Kaufman said. "He's been my main coach. He's taught me just about everything."

THROWING FUTURE: Kaufman also was a three-year starter in soccer and a four-year starter in basketball. She averaged 19 points a game this past season in basketball. But she has accepted a partial scholarship from Akron to throw the javelin. "I love basketball. I wish I was good enough to go to college for basketball. But God gave me my talents in track and field."

SCHOOL: Blackhawk.

WHO IS HE? A senior who is off to one of the best starts -- pitching and hitting --of any WPIAL baseball player.

LAST WEEK: Butler had a marvelous game Saturday in a 7-2 victory against Moon, the defending PIAA Class AAA champion. He pitched a two-hitter, struck out 11 and also had three hits.

SEASON: Butler has a 2-0 record and has struck out 26 batters in 13 innings. He plays third base when he doesn't pitch and has a .571 batting average (8 for 14).

CAREER: Butler has been a starting pitcher since his sophomore season and was 4-2 as a junior with 58 strikeouts in 44 innings. He also has been a standout on Blackhawk's American Legion teams that have reached the state championship the past two summers.

SIZING HIM UP: Although Butler is only 5 feet 10, 150 pounds, he is a hard-throwing right-hander. He said his fastball has been clocked at 89 mph a few times.

"He's like a Billy Wagner [a 5-11 pitcher for the Houston Astros]," said Blackhawk Coach Bob Amalia. "Shaun throws very hard for a guy without much height."

JUST ONE: A number of Blackhawk's players also were members of other sports teams at the school. Butler also used to play football and basketball. "After eighth grade, I gave them all up and said, 'It's just baseball for me,' I figured that was my best sport."

Amalia said, "He's a baseball junkie now."

HOME SCHOOLED: Butler said he learned his pitching mechanics from his father, Jeff, and also his grandfather, Tom Kirkpatrick. "Since day one, my dad's been teaching me," Butler said. "My grandfather was a pitcher, too. He supposedly threw smoke. He's about 6-4, though."

Butler's grandfather, who is 67, usually attends Blackhawk's games. "You can always hear him yelling encouragement," Butler said.

THE FUTURE: Butler already has signed to play at Gulf Coast, a top junior-college team in Florida.