University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC Softball To Honor Greats With All-America/Olympian Reunion
April 25, 2007 | Softball
April 25, 2007
The North Carolina softball program is honored and excited to welcome back some of its greatest players ever this coming weekend, including seven All-America performers and an Olympian - for a reunion in celebration of their incredible athletic accomplishments and their numerous gifts to the program. The eight women will be honored first during an on-field ceremony conducted by Senior Associate Director of Athletics Dr. Beth Miller in between games one (scheduled to start at 1 p.m.) and two of a doubleheader on Saturday against Florida State. As well, a banquet will be held at the Carolina Club Saturday night to recognize the unparalleled achievements of these special athletes.
The honorees include All-Americas Theresa Buscemi (1992), Christine Kubin (1996), Brandy Arthur (1998), Kelly Ramsey (2000), Tiffany Tolleson (2002, 2003), Jaclyn Holden (2003), Crystal Cox (2006) and Olympian Natalie Anter (Athens 2004).
Spanning two decades worth of play, these athletes played and continue to play invaluable roles - both on and off the field - in laying the foundations for the UNC softball program, in pushing it to even greater heights, and in helping it reach and maintain the well-respected and envied status it now holds. Now, it's head coach Donna J. Papa and everyone associated with North Carolina softball's chance to show their appreciation - because it's certainly well-deserved.
Honoree Bios
Theresa Buscemi
Buscemi turned in Carolina's first ever All-America performance with her stellar senior season in 1992, which earned her a spot on the third team and, additionally, All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors. She batted a sparkling .447 for the year - the second-best mark in school history - and the 80 hits she recorded that season ties for the second-highest total as well. Buscemi's accomplishments were hardly confined to her senior season, though; her .346 career batting average is the fourth-best for a UNC player, and she also ranks in the top 10 all-time in hits, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, runs scored and walks earned. Buscemi graduated from UNC with a bachelor's degree in education and went on to earn a master's degree in liberal studies. She now lives in New York with her husband Steve and her three beautiful daughters, Samantha, Alexandra, and Gianna. She is currently the elementary computer consultant for Brentwood School District. In 2004, she was honored as one of the first athletes to be inducted into her high school's Athletic Hall Of Fame.
Christine Kubin
Carolina's second All-America - and the first to be named to the first team - Kubin sits near the top, if not atop, numerous offensive categories in UNC's record book and is a member of the ACC Softball Top-50 team. A two-time All-ACC player and All-Southeast Region player, her most impressive season came in 1996 when she batted a mind-boggling .497 with an .870 slugging percentage and a .587 on-base percentage. None of those numbers have even been approached by another Tar Heel. For her career, she holds Carolina's top slugging percentage (.609) and on-base percentage (.476), and holds the school's second-best batting average, hitting at a .389 clip during her four years. Kubin was also a two-time Academic All-America, earning that distinction in 1995 and 1996. Kubin was no slouch in the field, either, giving the Tar Heels solid defense at third base during her time at Carolina. She received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from UNC in 1998 and now works as a clinical pharmacy specialist in Infectious Diseases at New York-Presbyterian Hospital - Columbia University Medical Center and holds a faculty appointment at the Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons. Kubin continues to excel in her pharmacy career just as she did on the softball diamond and was recently named New York State Council of Health System Pharmacists "Pharmacist of the Year."
Brandy Arthur
Arthur was named a first-team All-America in 1998, the same year she became just the second UNC player to win ACC Player of the Year accolades. The honors were well-deserved; Arthur put together a season that saw her bat .376 and reach base at a staggering .444 rate, UNC's sixth-best mark ever. In recognition of her success, she was named All-ACC for the fourth straight year, one of only two Tar Heels to ever accomplish that feat, and added her third appearance on the All-Southeast Region team. A member of the ACC Softball Top 50 team, she still ranks in the top ten in total bases and runs batted in for her career and comes in fifth all-time in batting average (.340) and on-base percentage (.394), while holding the fourth-highest hit total (224).
Selected as team captain three times, Ramsey was named to the All-Southeast Region first-team and was a third-team All-America performer in 2000, her sophomore season. That year she recorded 48 RBI, 70 hits, and 105 total bases - all of which rank among the best 10 season totals ever at UNC. She added to her legacy with 17 doubles and 29 walks in 2002, both top-five season figures. Defensively, Ramsey was a standout at well, playing third base, first base and catcher during her career, recording a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in 1999. Her incredible consistency over her four years is evident both in the fact that she ranks in the top ten in all-time in games played and games started at UNC and that she appears among Carolina's all-time leaders in numerous offensive and defensive categories. In fact, Ramsey's career marks rank her amid the best in Tar Heel history in slugging percentage, at-bats, hits, doubles, home runs, runs batted in, total bases, walks, hit-by-pitch and putouts. After graduating from UNC in 2002 with a degree in American history, Ramsey returned to her home in San Diego to attend law school. She successfully passed the California bar on her first attempt and is now a practicing attorney in the field of criminal defense.
UNC's only two-time All-America, Tolleson earned second-team honors in 2002 and added a third-team appearance in 2003. She batted .411 and .403, respectively, during those years, the third- and fourth-best marks in school history. She scored a school-best 53 runs and hit safely a school-record 92 times in 2002 on her way to All-ACC and All Southeast Region honors. She made both those teams again in 2003. Tolleson still stands as the all-time batting average leader at UNC with a lofty .407 career mark and sits second in on-base percentage (.440). She graduated from Carolina in 2003 with a B.S. in biochemistry and currently works at UNC Hospitals as a pharmacy technician.
Holden's 2003 season was one of the best in UNC history, and it resulted in a trio of honors, headlined by her placement on the All-America third team as she became UNC's sixth All-America performer. In addition to those accolades, Holden was included on the All-ACC and All-Southeast Region teams. The recognition came on the heels of a season in which she posted a .756 slugging percentage - second-best in school history - while batting .393 and collecting 72 hits. She reached base at a .451 clip and set a school records with 26 doubles. She also tied for the most total bases in school history with 140 while accumulating the second-most RBI (52) and the third-most home runs (12) ever in a season. Holden graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in communications in 2006 in addition to traveling abroad to South Africa and securing an internship with the Treatment for Action Campaign.
Cox fittingly capped her incredible UNC career with a spot on the 2006 All-America third team, her exploits in the circle earning her the prestigious honor after twice being named All-ACC and All-Southeast Region. When it comes to the pitching records at UNC, Cox simply dominates them, her name topping nearly every major category. She set an ACC record with 1,014.1 innings pitched, racking up 1,205 strikeouts in the process - good for a career strikeouts per seven innings average of 8.32. She also holds school-records in career appearances (177), starts (147), wins (96), and complete games (121). In 2006, she compiled single-season records with 33 complete games, 334 strikeouts, and a .156 batting average against in an absolutely dominant year that ensured her place among Carolina greats. A 2006 graduate with a degree in communications, Cox now works as a territory manager for Prestige Wine Distributions and coaches competitive youth softball in her free time.
In 2004, Anter became the first Tar Heel softball to play on the sport's biggest stage - the Olympics - competing on the Italian National Team. A four-year starter at catcher for the Tar Heels, Anter made the All-ACC first team every year of her career, the only Carolina player to ever do so. Moreover, she received All-Southeast Region honors four times as well. The career record-holder at UNC in home runs (34), RBI (164), and walks (84), Anter was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary Softball team as one of the best 50 players in conference history. She also holds the school record for walks in a season, drawing 42 free passes in 2002 when she blasted 15 home runs. A communications major and history minor at Carolina, Anter now works as a pharmaceutical representative for Merck.
