Jennie Finch's 60 consecutive pitching victories might be the most impressive individual streak in Arizona history.

The Arizona Wildcats have the now dearly departed Streak in basketball — 25 consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Thanks, Lute.

Arizona has The Streak in football — the upset-filled nine-season unbeaten run against Arizona State, from 1982 to 1990. Thanks, Larry Smith and Dick Tomey.

Arizona has so much more.

With a big boost from coach Mike Candrea‘s eight-time national championship softball program, the Wildcats have plenty of other (lower-case) streaks to celebrate.

Here are 12 of the best team streaks, in no particular order:

1. Softball’s 16 consecutive appearances in the College World Series, from 1988 to 2003. If not for a shocking upset in the regionals when the Wildcats were ranked No. 1 under interim head coach Larry Ray, the streak would be up to 22.

2. Softball’s 17 consecutive seasons with an All-American pitcher, from 1991 (Debby Day) to 2007 (Taryne Mowatt). This helps explain that College World Series streak.

3. Men’s basketball 71-game winning streak in McKale Center (1987-1992). It included a double-overtime win against eventual national champion Duke in 1991 and ended with an 89-87 loss to UCLA on Jan. 11, 1992.

4. Softball’s 18 consecutive years of being ranked No. 1 at some point of the season. That streak ended in 2009.

5. Women’s swimming current streak of 19 consecutive top 10 finishes in the NCAA meet. Thanks, Frank Busch. (The women also have a streak of six top three finishes in a row.)

6. Men’s swimming current streak of 12 consecutive top 8 national finishes in the NCAAs. Thanks again, Frank Busch. (Men’s and women’s swimming each won a national title in 2008.)

7. Men’s basketball 312 consecutive appearances in the AP regular-season poll. But not one week in 2009-10.

Not only was Lute Olson the author of the The Streak, he had significant runs at McKale Center and in the AP poll/Tucson Citizen photo

8. Softball’s 38-game winning streak over Arizona State (1991-2000). All the more amazing because the Sun Devils had a decent program, but Candrea owned his alma mater.

9. Men’s basketball’s 81-game winning streak in Bear Down Gym (1945-51). All that in the watch of coach Fred Enke.

10. Football’s 214-game scoring streak. It started with the 1972 season and ended with a 28-0 loss to Syracuse in the 1990 Aloha Bowl. It was the second-longest streak in the nation at the time.

11. Softball’s 47-game winning streak from April 1996 to March 1997. That’s an NCAA record.

12. And here’s one more from softball: The Wildcats had a 70-game winning streak at Hillenbrand Stadium from 2000 to 2002).

Individually, it’s hard to believe anything tops Jennie Finch‘s 60 consecutive pitching victories from 2000 to 2002. Another super softball streak: Caitlin Lowe stole 56 bases without being caught.

In softball, Amy Chellevold has the school’s longest hitting streak at 30 games. The baseball hitting streak belongs to Brian Anderson (2003) and Jason Donald (2006) at 26 games.

More impressive might be what Jake Thrower did in 1997. He had hits in 11 consecutive at-bats.

Have a favorite streak we missed? Let us know in the comments section or at anthonygimino (at) gmail.com.

Softball is out of the Olympic Games, but there is still a Team USA, and that team retains an Arizona presence.

Two ex-Cats — pitcher Jennie Finch and outfielder Caitlin Lowe — were selected as one of 17 members of the 2010 U.S. national team Monday. Finch is a two-time Olympian. Lowe participated in the 2008 Games.

Arizona junior outfielder Brittany Lastrapes was chosen as one of 13 alternates, as was former UA third baseman Jenae Leles, who completed her eligibility last season. They could still make the final roster, which won’t be set until March, pending player agreement to be on the team.

Team USA will compete in the ISF Women’s World Championships from June 23-July 2 in Caracas, Venezuela, among other events.

For the full roster, go to USA Softball’s official site.

The right arm of Kenzie Fowler could very well be the story of Arizona's season/2008 Tucson Citizen photo by Cisco Medina

The Arizona softball team begins practice Monday afternoon, with coach Mike Candrea back for his 23rd season and pitcher Kenzie Fowler ready to begin her first.

Sounds like a pretty good combination.

Fowler is the hard-throwing 6-foot pitching machine, a local kid from CDO, a two-time national Gatorade Player of the Year for softball, a bright, smart student who grew up going to games at Hillenbrand Stadium, all of 18 years old and already with the inspirational story of overcoming life-threatening blood clots in her pitching shoulder in 2007.

All she is expected to do is descend upon Hillenbrand and deliver a couple of national championships. At least. Right?

All Candrea is expected to do is keep expectations somewhere in the ballpark.

In any case, it’s an exciting new pitching chapter for Arizona, which was last seen giving up an unholy 14 runs to Alabama while getting swept out of the Women’s College World Series. The Wildcats could have used Fowler last season. Maybe the season before.

No doubt, she is the headline story as practice begins, but here are three other subheds to whet the appetite.

Brigette Del Ponte is here
The freshman infielder from Sunrise Mountain High in Peoria didn’t enroll in the fall because of some academic issues, but she made it here for the spring semester and will try to find a role as a utility player. Del Ponte was rated the fourth-best recruit in the nation by ESPNU.

Arizona has only two positional vacancies from last season — third base and first base. Freshman Matte Haack appears to have dibs on third, with powerful freshman Baillie Kirker having designs on first.

Brittany Lastrapes is back
The junior outfielder hit a team-best .481 last season and slugged 17 home runs in 63 games. The lefty-hitting Lastrapes just finished competing at a tryout camp for Team USA, which will compete in this summer’s World Championships. The squad is expected to be announced Monday.

Two former Cats — pitcher Jennie Finch and outfielder Caitlin Lowe, both Olympic veterans — are locks for the team. Another ex-Cat, third baseman Jenae Leles, is up for a spot on the team after getting national team experience last summer.

Candrea hires a Red Sox fan
The Wildcats have a new volunteer assistant coach — a position that is always more valuable than it sounds — and Candrea, the ol’ Yankees fan, must really like the new guy, who is from Boston.

That would be Nick French, who spent the past two seasons as an assistant at Piedmont College in Georgia. French used to cover prep sports as an intern for the Boston Globe, so we’re guessing an unpaid position as a softball assistant is a step up from journalism.

We hear that the left-hander throws a mighty fine batting practice, which means he will more than earn his pay at Arizona.