[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 38 (Monday, September 24, 2007)]
[Pages 1236-1237]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Honoring 2006 and 2007 NCAA Championship Teams

September 21, 2007

    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, proud 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. I learned a new 
symbol. [Laughter] The women's track team from Arizona State claimed two 
national championships in 1 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've joined us today. 
Thanks for coming.
    Coach Pat Casey and the Oregon State baseball team have joined us. 
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.
    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 up his 102d career win. This is the most in the 
history of NCAA women's golf. You've got a good coach; you've got good 
players. When you play hard, you end up right here at the White House. 
Congratulations, and thanks for coming.
    How about the Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team? 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.
    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. 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.''

[[Page 1237]]

They did, and we're proud to welcome you here to the White House. Thanks 
for coming.
    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.
    Coach Robinson and others coach the mighty Golden Gophers of 
Minnesota in the University of Minnesota men's wrestling team--
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.
    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. 
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 9 years that 
the Nanooks have been the NCAA champions in rifle. Interestingly enough, 
guess who they beat? West Point. Any time 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.
    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, that 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 have 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.

Note: The President spoke at 3:26 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Greg Kraft, track and field 
program head coach, Arizona State University; Dan Brooks, women's golf 
team head coach, Duke University; Dave Pietramala, men's lacrosse team 
head coach, Johns Hopkins University; and J Robinson, men's wrestling 
team head coach, University of Minnesota.