Each month, the United States Sports Academy selects the athletes whose performances were outstanding. The winners for the month of September are as follows:
FEMALE
Mia Hamm: Rochester, N.Y., 17 September. Hamm scored twice in Saturday's rout of Mexico in the opener of the four-team round robin, moving past teammate Michelle Akers, who has 97 for the all-time U.S. lead
a. Rochester, N.Y., 21 September. Hamm scored her 100th and 101st career international goals in a weekend that also saw the women's national team capture its fifth consecutive U.S. Women's Cup. Hamm scored her historic goals in a 4-0 victory against Russia. Hamm's 101 goals in 155 international matches puts her seven goals short of tying the women's world scoring record.
Lindsay Davenport: New York, 13 September. Davenport won the U.S. Open and her first Grand Slam tournament ending a fantastic summer by defeating No.1 Martina Hingus 6-3, 7-5 in the women's final. The 22-year old Californian became the first U.S.-born women to win the U.S. Open since Chris Evert in 1982.
Marion Jones: Berlin, 2 September. Unbeaten this year, Jones won the women's 100-meters in 10.81 seconds at the ISTAF Golden League meet.
a. Moscow, 8 September. She had a profitable weekend at the Grand Prix final, earning $633,333,33 by winning the 100-meters (10.81 seconds) and the long jump (23 feet, 4 ¾ inches). The victory gave her victories in all seven Golden League meets.
b. Johannesburg, South Africa. She won the 100m with a time of 10.65 and 200m sprint with the second fast time ever 21.62 in the Grand Prix finals. The times were also personal bests and lead the world for the 1998 season.
Michelle Kwan: Charleston, SC, 27 September. Kwan, a World Champion figure skater won the Grand Slam of Figure Skating and earned the first place prize of $40,000.
MALE
Sammy Sosa: Chicago, 3 September. After Sosa hit his 56th home run in a 4-2 victory against Cincinnati, he became one of the greatest home run hitters of all time, along with Hack Wilson. Chicago, 9 September. He has 58 home runs, which totals an impressive 23,329 feet (4.4 miles) of how far he has hit his home runs. Sosa has hit 58 runs this season, 4 behind McGwire, after going 0-3 with a strikeout in the Cubs' 5-3 victory against Pittsburgh. Chicago, 14 September. Batted .308 (8-for-26) with 4 HR's, 8 runs batted in, 7 walks and 20 total bases. He led the NL with 10 runs scored and posted a .769 slugging percentage. On the 13th he belted his 61st and 62nd HRs of the season in aiding an 11-10 Chicago come-from-behind victory over the Brewers. He leads the NL in RBI (148), runs (123), total bases (390) and is tied for the lead in extra-base hits (81). He is hitting .314 in 146 games played and has set career highs in every major offensive category. Milwaukee, 23 September. Sosa hit number 64 and 65 to pull even with McGwire in baseball's great home-run chase. Sosa ended an 0-for-21 slump with two homers and three walks. In the fifth he slammed a 1-0 fastball which went 344-feet. It was off the same pitcher who gave up McGwire's 64th, Rafael Roque. At his next at bat in the sixth, Sosa connected on 2-2 fastball that went 410 feet. Chicago, 29 September. Sosa finished the 1998 season with 66 home runs, four behind Mark McGwire.
Mark McGwire: St. Louis, 2 September. The first baseman broke Wilson's 68-year-old National League record by hitting his 56th and 57th home runs, leading the Cardinals' 7-1 victory against the Florida Marlins. Miami, 3 September. Hit home runs number 58 and 59 in St. Louis' 14-4 win against the Florida Marlins. St Louis, 8 September. The first baseman hit his 61st home run, to tie the single-season home run record set in 1961. St Louis, 9 September. With his shortest homer of the year, McGwire eclipsed the revered record set by Maris. McGwire hit his 62nd home run of the season and became the first player in history to do so in a single season. The Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 6-3. St. Louis, 16 September. Increased his output with a pinch-hit, ninth inning shot to left center in the Pittsburgh Pirates' 8-6 win of a double header opener. Milwaukee, 21 September. He hit his 65th home run, but was denied what appeared to be No.66 in the St. Louis Cardinal's 11-6 victory against Milwaukee. St. Louis, 26 September. McGwire went 2-for-5 with his 67th and 68th homerun and 3 RBI. 27 September, McGwire went 3-for-3, and finished the 1998 season with his 69th and 70th homerun..
Terrell Davis: Denver, 13 September. Davis led all rushers in the month with 489 yards and all players with 6 touchdowns as the Broncos became only the sixth Super Bowl champion to start the next season 4-0. He also had an NFL-high 3 100-yard rushing games in September and his 5.2 yards per carry average leads all AFC rushers with at least 300 yards. Davis also had 4 catches for 22 yards. In the Kickoff Weekend opener on Sept. 7, Davis rushed for 2 touchdowns, providing the game-winning points with his 1-yard run in the fourth quarter. In Week 2 against Dallas, he rushed for an NFL season-high 191 yards on 23 carries and became only the third player in NFL history with 2 touchdown runs of 50-or-more yards in the same quarter when he scored from 63 and 59 yards on consecutive first-quarter carries.
Patrick Rafter: New York, 13 September. Rafter became the first Australian to capture consecutive U.S. Open titles by defeating fellow country man Mark Philippoussis, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 in the men's final.
For more information on the Awards of Sport program, visit the American Sport Art Museum and Archives (ASAMA) home page.