Although the action on the field is winding down for the summer, there is still a lot happening with the ISU athletic department this summer.

Head basketball coach Larry Eustachy made news when he announced he was donating $50,000 to the Ames Youth Sports Complex

The soccer, baseball and softball complex on the city’s southeast side has been in use since 1996, but still has 45 acres to be developed.

“It’s such a special situation for the parents and the youth in this community to be all together in one situation, particularly families with more than one child,” Eustachy said. “You don’t have to travel all over the city. I’m a huge, huge supporter of it.”

Eustachy and his wife Stacy have two sons, 5-year-old Evan and 8-year-old Hayden, who play soccer and baseball at the complex.

“They are deep into a fund drive of a goal they’ve set and it’s just nice to be a little part of it,” said Eustachy, who in March signed a 10-year contract that will pay him an average of $900,000 annually.

Harry McMaken, president of the sports complex, said another $600,000 is needed to finish the work, and Eustachy’s gift will give the campaign some needed visibility.

“This is a very nice boost,” McMaken said. “We would like to finish off this year and it’s contributions like this that will help kick start completing the last $600,000.”

Meanwhile, Cinnamon Gooding of the ISU softball team was recently honored when she was selected to the Midwest All-Region Second Team as a designated player.

Gooding, a native of Phoenix, Ariz., batted .433 this season with 29 hits, two home runs, and 11 RBI.

Gooding finished her career in a Cyclone uniform ranked second on the Iowa State single-season batting average chart with her mark of .433, while ranking third on Iowa State’s career batting average list with a .309 average.

There is good news regarding Desiree Francis and Stacy Frese, former ISU women’s basketball players.

Both were recently selected in the WNBA draft, and so far both players have been kept on their respective squads.

Frese, drafted by the Utah Starzz in the second round, saw her chances of making the team dramatically rise when Utah’s starting point guard Jennifer Azzi went down with an injury early in the preseason.

Frese herself has been sidelined by what she termed a freak back injury, but has returned to play.

Francis was selected in the second round by the New York Liberty, who advanced to the WNBA Finals last season.

Francis has been playing well, including logging 16 minutes in her first game as a professional.