Myers leaves name all over the record books
By MATT LOZAR
Sports Writer
As she prepares to leave the Irish, Jarrah Myers left her name all over the softball record book. At the end of the regular season, the senior captain's season statistics in walks, home runs and RBI were in the top 5 in Irish history and Myers was just out of the top 5 in batting average and stolen bases.
But the records mean nothing to Myers. The Observer's 2001-2002 Outstanding Notre Dame Senior Female Athlete wants her name left in Notre Dame softball history for only one reason — qualifying for the College World Series.
"World Series. That's all I want," Myers said. "I don't care if I go 0-for the rest of the year. I just want to go to the World Series; that's fine with me. I just want to be there."
An Ending to Forget
After the most successful season in school history last season, Notre Dame, with a 51-3 regular season record, earned the top seed at the NCAA Regional. The Irish dropped both games to Iowa and saw their chance at earning the school's first trip to the College World Series vanish.
Myers knows the team underachieved in the postseason.
"There was no reason why we shouldn't have won last year," Myers said. "It's not always talent. There are a lot of other things when it came down to it. We just couldn't get it done as a team."
After former head coach Liz Miller retired after eight seasons at Notre Dame, Myers and fellow captains Jenny Kriech and Kas Hoag knew they needed to make the transition as easy as possible for new head coach Deanna Gumpf.
"I think the other two senior captains and I really tried to go out there and lead through actions and creating an intense, but fun environment," Myers said. "That was pretty easy with the freshmen. It's been easy to lead this year since we haven't had any problems."
Smooth Transition
Gumpf was the Irish pitching coach for four seasons before taking over as head coach on July 3, 2001. With a leader like Myers on the team, Gumpf's job was easier.
"Having Jarrah as one of my seniors is like a dream come true with this being my first year," Gumpf said. "The seniors, including Jarrah, made the transition very easy."
Showing confidence in her catcher, Gumpf lets Myers call her own pitches.
"I don't think it's much different from what Deanna would do since I learned the strategy from her," Myers said. "This [past] summer I called my own games. I think it helps out my coach to make her job easier. I still look over at her to get some suggestions."
Myers is having the best season of her career. Starting every one of Notre Dame's 52 regular season games, Myers led the team with 45 runs scored, 11 home runs and 28 walks. She was second on the team with a .384 batting average and 14 stolen bases.
"Offensively, I haven't seen a better catcher than her. She is unbelievable," Irish pitcher Steffany Stenglein said. "Defensively, there is no college player I would have rather as my catcher. I have total complete confidence. She'll block everything I throw up there."
Myers has also helped make the transition to the college game much easier for Stenglein.
"Jarrah has helped me out tremendously," the freshman pitcher said. "Anything there is to know about pitching, Jarrah knows. She's helped me with my fundamentals, what to pitch, like anything there is, whatever she tells me I try to figure out and make it work."
Enjoy the Ride
Playing four full seasons for the Irish, Myers has also made her mark on the career records. Against Virginia Tech on April 20, Myers hit three home runs and broke the Notre Dame record for career homeruns. After the regular season, Myers had 34 homers, but she doesn't think that mark will stand for long.
"I look at the girls younger than me and they are going to crush it, and I hope they do," Myers said. "They should be better than me when they get to my age. I think it is kind of neat to be in the record books."
For her career, Myers is the Notre Dame all-time leader in RBIs, walks and putouts. And she will almost assuredly break the most games played record in postseason action.
Myers is second on the all-time list in runs scored, third in batting average and stolen bases, fourth in at-bats and fifth in hits.
But despite all of her on-field statistical records, Myers takes the most pride in an accomplishment she earned off the field.
"[My favorite is the] first-team Academic All-American. That just shows [the reason] I came here was for the academics," Myers said about the award she won in 2001. "To be able to achieve a little bit in softball and achieve even greater in academics, that's really what matters. That's what I will remember in 20 years. I won't remember any of the other personal awards."
After playing softball for more than 15 years, Myers has enjoyed the numerous parts of her journey.
"It's been a ride. I have come in contact with many great people who have each shaped my life in a weird way that I probably don't even know," Myers said. "From being a little kid playing, to having bad coaches, to having awesome coaches at the collegiate level, and then at the USA camp and the players I have come in contact with."
Myers intends to pursue a graduate degree in forensic science and possibly work in the FBI. She is looking to take a year off and do some research at Yale before hitting the books again.
For the second consecutive summer, Myers has been selected to participate in a team camp for USA softball. However, her original dream of playing in the Olympics has changed.
"It always used to be a goal [to play in the Olympics]. I don't even know if I want to go back to the camp, but I probably will," Myers said. "I am at the point of my life where I am ready to have a real life — have spare time, meet new people, go off to grad school or get a job."
Like her nearly 2000 classmates, the senior appears ready to move on. But she still doesn't want to pass up the opportunity for an experience of a lifetime.
"I don't need softball anymore to go where I need to go. It's something I still really love, to play. To turn down a shot to make an Olympic team, I am afraid I would regret it if I didn't do it. I will probably end up going to camp and trying."
All Sports Stories for Friday, May 17, 2002
