May 10, 2008

Henry becomes first Miner to clear 17 feet in pole vault

08mt-jordanhenry.jpg
Jordan Henry

EMPORIA, Kan. -- Missouri S&T's Jordan Henry cleared a height Saturday that no other pole vaulter wearing a Miner uniform ever had -- the 17-foot mark.

Henry cleared that height at the Emporia State Twilight Qualifier, breaking his own school record in the event that he set just two weeks ago. His clearance of 17-feet is the highest ever by an S&T pole vaulter, as Henry also holds the indoor mark of 16-10 3/4 that he set at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships in March.

The junior from St. Charles had already earned a berth to the outdoor nationals after going over the bar at 16-8 at Missouri Southern on April 25. A week ago, he won the Great Lakes Valley Conference championship in the event after winning the league's indoor title two months earlier.

Henry had the eighth-best pole vault mark during the outdoor season prior to Saturday, but his mark at ESU moved him up to possibly as high as fifth, depending on the results of other meets taking place Saturday. He was second in the competition to Kansas' Jordan Scott who cleared 17-7.

Jared Anders and Peter Hollenbeck tied for fourth in the pole vault with clearances of 15-4 1/4. Hollenbeck, who was second to Henry in the pole vault last week at SIUE, had the 15th-best pole vault mark in the country heading into the final weekend of competition while Anders was ranked 19th.

The lone women's competitor from S&T at the meet, Tamara McCaskill, cleared 5-5 1/4 to finish third in the high jump. She was ranked 14th nationally in the event heading into the meet.

The NCAA will release the list of qualifiers for the Division II Championships Tuesday. The national meet begins May 22 in Walnut, Calif.

Results from Emporia State

May 09, 2008

Four from S&T selected to academic all-district team

The Missouri S&T baseball and softball teams had representatives on the District VII Academic All-District team for the 2008 season, with each team getting a first-team selection that will move onto the national ballot for the opportunity to be named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America team.

Senior pitcher Matt Campbell, who has been one of the Miners' top pitchers for the past three seasons, was selected to the first team while Cody Bass, a junior shortstop from Chattanooga, Okla., was named as a second-teamer on the baseball squad.

On the academic all-district softball team, Kandi Wieberg was chosen to the first-team while third baseman Kelsey Musselman, named recently as the "Player of the Year" in both the Great Lakes Valley Conference and Great Lakes region, was chosen to the second team.

Campbell, who hails from St. Charles, Mo., was 3-4 this season with a 5.46 earned run average for the Miners, but finished his career at S&T among the all-time leaders in innings pitched, strikeouts, wins and earned run average. He finished second on the team this season in innings with 61 and recorded a complete game shutout against Rockhurst in late March.

Bass, who started in 42 games at the shortstop position, batted .285 with 16 runs batted in during the recently completed campaign. He scored 27 runs during the season and had a .364 on-base percentage. He is a two-year starter at shortstop for the Miners.

Wieberg, a senior from St. Elizabeth, Mo. who made the All-GLVC first team, finished the year with a .320 batting average, 10 home runs and 17 runs batted in from the leadoff spot in the lineup. She also had a .440 on-base percentage and .567 slugging percentage to go along with a team-high 16 stolen bases; her 32 walks set a new S&T single-season record and she is ranked among the national leaders in walks per game.

Wieberg had a record-setting career at Missouri S&T, finishing atop the all-time lists for doubles with 49, home runs with 34, runs scored with 169 and runs batted in with 105. Her 223 hits are second on the all-time list at S&T.

Musselman led the Lady Miners with a .422 batting average -- which was good for second in the GLVC behind the .430 mark posted by Wisconsin-Parkside's Amanda Miller -- while leading the league in slugging percentage, on-base percentage and home runs.

Musselman, a native of Springfield, Ill., had a school record 14 home runs on the year and drove in 47 runs, while posting a .755 slugging percentage and .500 on-base percentage. Her performance netted her two GLVC "Player of the Week" awards during the year and eventually first-team All-GLVC honors. She is currently 12th in NCAA Division II for home runs per game and also ranks 35th for runs batted in per contest.

May 08, 2008

McCormick named to All-GLVC first-team; Javier-Cury selected to third team

Thomas McCormick.jpg
Thomas McCormick

Thomas McCormick's strong finish to the 2008 season and Yaimel Javier-Cury's steady play throughout the year has earned each of them recognition from the Great Lakes Valley Conference on its all-league team for the recently completed season.

McCormick, who broke the Missouri S&T single-season record for runs batted in with 46, was named to the All-GLVC first team as an outfielder while Javier-Cury, the Miners' leading hitter on the year and a force behind the plate, was selected as the third team catcher.

McCormick, a junior from Kingwood, Texas, hit .331 on the season with four home runs and 46 RBI. He had a stretch in April where he drove in at least one run in 10 consecutive games -- during which time he was named as the GLVC's "Player of the Week" -- and in 17 of 18 games. His offensive run coincided with the Miners' late season bid for spot in the GLVC Tournament that went all the way to the final weekend.

In addition, McCormick posted a team-best .531 slugging percentage -- he had 12 doubled and a team-high four triples -- and a .405 on-base percentage.

Javier-Cury led S&T with a .342 batting average and had 52 hits on the season, second only to the 53 posted by McCormick. He had 11 doubles, a home run and 27 runs batted in on the year while also throwing out 13 runners trying to steal.

The senior from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, recorded a .434 slugging percentage and .390 on-base percentage on the season.

The Miners finished the year at 22-26 overall and 15-17 in the GLVC.

2008 All-GLVC Baseball First Team
C: Seth Paul, Indianapolis
1B: Jeff Dillman, Bellarmine
2B: Patrick Brady, Bellarmine
3B: Ben Bartley, SIU Edwardsville
SS: Matt Reimer, Saint Joseph's
UT: Josh Huebner, Southern Indiana
DH: Braxton Graven, Bellarmine
OF: Thomas McCormick, Missouri S&T
OF: Shane Noble, Bellarmine
OF: Jake Shaffer, Northern Kentucky
OF: Matt Wille, Saint Joseph's
SP: Brandon Braboy, Indianapolis
SP: Blaine Cravens, Saint Joseph's
SP: Jeremy Kehrt, Southern Indiana
SP: Ryan Schmidt, Northern Kentucky
RP: Shaun Larsen, Southern Indiana

All-GLVC third team selection from Missouri S&T: Yaimel Javier-Cury, C

Player of the Year: Patrick Brady, 2B, Bellarmine
Pitcher of the Year: Blaine Cravens, Saint Joseph's
Freshman of the Year: Chris Saroff, 3B/P, Indianapolis
Coach of the Year: Deron Spink, Bellarmine

Lady Miner trio lands on second all-region squad

musselman-vs-siue.jpg
Kelsey Musselman

For the second time in as many days, three members of the Missouri S&T softball team have been selected to an all-region team for their performances during the recently completed 2008 season by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

Third baseman Kelsey Musselman, named Wednesday as the "Player of the Year" on the Daktronics all-region team, was named to the NFCA all-Great Lakes region first team along with second baseman Kandi Wieberg and centerfielder Emily Tucker. Wieberg and Tucker were also first team picks on the Daktronics all-region squad.

During the 2008 campaign, Musselman led the Lady Miners with a .422 batting average -- which was good for second in the GLVC behind the .430 mark posted by Wisconsin-Parkside's Amanda Miller -- while leading the league in slugging percentage, on-base percentage and home runs.

Musselman had a school record 14 home runs on the year and drove in 47 runs, while posting a .755 slugging percentage and .500 on-base percentage. Her performance netted her two GLVC "Player of the Week" awards during the year and eventually first-team All-GLVC honors.

She is currently 12th in NCAA Division II for home runs per game and also ranks 35th for runs batted in per contest.

Wieberg finished the year with a .320 batting average, 10 home runs and 17 runs batted in from the leadoff spot in the lineup. She also had a .440 on-base percentage and .567 slugging percentage to go along with a team-high 16 stolen bases; her 32 walks set a new S&T single-season record and she is ranked among the national leaders in walks per game.

Wieberg had a record-setting career at Missouri S&T, finishing atop the all-time lists for doubles with 49, home runs with 34, runs scored with 169 and runs batted in with 105. Her 223 hits are second on the all-time list at S&T.

Tucker, a second-team all-region selection as a sophomore, moved to the first team as a junior after batting .409 with six home runs and 33 runs batted in. She led S&T with 14 doubles on the season and also drew 19 walks to post a .478 on-base percentage. Her .642 slugging percentage ranks fourth in the conference, while her batting average and on-base marks are third in the league.

Tucker struck out only 12 times in 137 at-bats on the season and had a league-best .440 average in conference games.

The Lady Miners finished the 2008 season with a 26-21 record and were third in the GLVC with a 17-9 mark.

2008 NFCA All-Great Lakes Region -- First team selections
C: Sarah Berry, Wayne State (Mich.)
1B: Kim Locke, Bellarmine
2B: Kandi Wieberg, Missouri S&T
SS: Kelly Dianis, Lewis
3B: Kelsey Musselman, Missouri S&T
OF: Emily Tucker, Missouri S&T

OF: Jessica Breeden, Indianapolis
OF: Kathy Wood, Southern Indiana
UT/P: Stacy Kraatz, Saginaw Valley State
UT/NP: Sadie Ball, Drury
DP: Sara Loete, Southern Indiana
P: Kaitlin Colosimo, SIU Edwardsville
P: Molly Yetman, Wayne State (Mich.)

May 07, 2008

Gronewold, Wieberg named as 2008 Bullman Award winners

2008mvps.jpg
2007-08 M-Club Most Valuable Players
(Front from left) Ashlyn Balensiefer, Tamara McCaskill,
Bridget Williams, Kierra Handley, Taylor Hahn,
Kelsey Musselman. (Back from left) Ashton Gronewold,
Matt Hug, Joffroi Holcombe, Brandon Etzold, Jordan
Henry, Mike McNamee, Garyion Turner.

Two of the most celebrated student-athletes in the history of the Missouri S&T athletic program were named as the recipients of the 2008 Gale Bullman Awards Wednesday night at the M-Club Awards Banquet held at Havener Center.

Ashton Gronewold, a three-year All-America performer for the Miner football team and Kandi Wieberg, who like Gronewold was a record setting performer while playing for the softball team, were named as the top award winners at Wednesday's banquet.

Gronewold was named to three All-America squads following the 2007 season in which he wrapped up an impressive career with the Miners. He caught 87 passes for 1,009 yards and 13 touchdowns on the year while piling up a school record 2,250 all-purpose yards. The 2007 numbers put his career totals at 278 receptions, 3,708 yards and 53 touchdowns; he also had five return touchdowns for a total of 58 in a career where he set 22 school records.

In addition, Gronewold set a NCAA Division II record during the season when he compiled 295 yards in kickoff returns which included two runbacks for touchdowns to tie another national record at the Division II level.

His performance earned him a berth to the Valero Cactus Bowl -- where he caught a touchdown pass in the game -- and allowed him to be one of the six regional finalists for the 2007 Harlon Hill Award, the first Missouri S&T player to earn such an honor. Over the past weekend, Gronewold participated in a tryout camp with the Chicago Bears.

Wieberg was an All-America performer for the S&T softball team in the 2007 season, when she was named as the Great Lakes Valley Conference's "Player of the Year" and "Student-Athlete of the Year". She is a two-time selection to the All-GLVC and Great Lakes all-region first team at second base and finished her career as a Lady Miner as the holder of four career records.

She finished with the all-time marks in home runs, runs batted in, doubles and runs scored, while ranking second on the career list for hits. Wieberg was also named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America team following the 2007 season.

Two coaches who led their teams to unprecedented success this season shared the "Coach of the Year" award. Doug Grooms, who guided the Miner swimming team to a second place finish at the NCAA Division II Championships, and Alan Eads, who led the women's basketball team to the NCAA Great Lakes Regional championship game, were the selections as the top coaches.

The second place finish by the swimming team was the highest finish ever for a Miner athletic team at a national competition, while the Lady Miners' run to the Sweet 16 in the women's basketball tournament was the farthest that the team has ever gone in the NCAA Division II Tournament.

Diana Newman, a former softball player and 1984 graduate of the university, was the keynote speaker for the event and was named as the receipient of the M-Club's M-M Award. Matt Loula, a senior-to-be defensive end for the Miner football team, was named as the Robert Nicodemus Award winner for this year while the honorary M-Club Awards were given to Sarah Moore and Cecelia Elmore.

Moore is Missouri S&T's assistant director of athletics and senior women's administrator; she previously served as a coach in the athletics department, most recently in the track and field program. Elmore, a former softball and basketball player for the Lady Miners, is presently the director of the Women's Leadership Institute at Missouri S&T.

The most valuable player for each of the sports for the 2007-08 season were also honored. The winners of those are as follows:

Baseball: Yaimel Javier-Cury, Sr., Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Men's Basketball: Justin Taylor, So., Webster Groves, Mo.
Women's Basketball: Tamara McCaskill, Jr., Edwardsville, Ill.
Men's Cross Country: Joffroi Holcombe, Sr., Alexandria, La.
Women's Cross Country: Kierra Handley, So., St. Louis, Mo.
Football (Offense): Ashton Gronewold, Sr., Carthage, Ill.
Football (Defense): Garyion Turner, Sr., Phoenix, Ariz.
Men's Soccer: Mike McNamee, Sr., St. Louis, Mo.
Women's Soccer: Beth Babb, Sr., Benton, Ky.
Softball: Kelsey Musselman, Sr., Springfield, Ill.
Swimming: Matt Hug, Sr., Bloomington, Ill.
Men's Track & Field (Indoor): Jordan Henry, Jr., St. Charles, Mo.
Men's Track & Field (Outdoor): Brandon Etzold, Fr., Jackson, Mo.
Women's Track & Field (Indoor): Taylor Hahn, Jr., Salem, Ill.
Women's Track & Field (Outdoor): Kendra Lewis, Jr., Waynesville, Mo.
Volleyball: Ashlyn Balensiefer, Fr., Lafayette, Ind.; Bridget Williams, Fr., Topeka, Kan.

Three Lady Miners named all-region; Musselman selected as top player

musselman-vs-siue.jpg
Kelsey Musselman

A week ago, Kelsey Musselman was named as the top player in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. This week, she can add the top player in the region to her resume.

Missouri S&T's senior third baseman was named today as the "Player of the Year" for the Great Lakes region on the Daktronics Inc., all-region team which was voted on by the region's sports information directors.

Musselman was one of three Lady Miners named to the first team, joining second baseman Kandi Wieberg and outfielder Emilly Tucker. Wieberg and Tucker were all-region selections last season on the inaugural team and Wieberg went on to be named first-team All-America.

During the recently completed 2008 season, Musselman led the Lady Miners with a .422 batting average -- which was good for second in the GLVC behind the .430 mark posted by Wisconsin-Parkside's Amanda Miller -- while leading the league in slugging percentage, on-base percentage and home runs.

Musselman had a school record 14 home runs on the year and drove in 47 runs, while posting a .755 slugging percentage and .500 on-base percentage. Her performance netted her two GLVC "Player of the Week" awards during the year and eventually first-team All-GLVC honors.

She is currently 12th in NCAA Division II for home runs per game and also ranks 35th for runs batted in per contest.

Wieberg finished the year with a .320 batting average, 10 home runs and 17 runs batted in from the leadoff spot in the lineup. She also had a .440 on-base percentage and .567 slugging percentage to go along with a team-high 16 stolen bases; her 32 walks set a new S&T single-season record and she is ranked among the national leaders in walks per game.

Wieberg had a record-setting career at Missouri S&T, finishing atop the all-time lists for doubles with 49, home runs with 34, runs scored with 169 and runs batted in with 105. Her 223 hits are second on the all-time list at S&T.

Tucker, a second-team all-region selection as a sophomore, moved to the first team as a junior after batting .409 with six home runs and 33 runs batted in. She led S&T with 14 doubles on the season and also drew 19 walks to post a .478 on-base percentage. Her .642 slugging percentage ranks fourth in the conference, while her batting average and on-base marks are third in the league.

Tucker struck out only 12 times in 137 at-bats on the season and had a league-best .440 average in conference games.

The Lady Miners finished the 2008 season with a 26-21 record and were third in the GLVC with a 17-9 mark.

2008 Daktronics Inc. All-Great Lakes Region -- First team selections
C: Mallory Paine, Sr., Lewis
1B: Kim Locke, Sr., Bellarmine
2B: Kandi Wieberg, Sr., Missouri S&T
SS: Kelly Dianis, Jr., Lewis
3B: Kelsey Musselman, Sr., Missouri S&T
OF: Emily Tucker, Jr., Missouri S&T

OF: Jessica Breeden, So., Indianapolis
OF: Jseelica McNurlen, Sr., Mercyhurst
UT: Kara Hensley, Jr., Gannon
DP: Sara Loete, So., Southern Indiana
P: Kaitlin Colosimo, Jr., SIU Edwardsville
P: Courtney Lyons, Jr., Lewis
P: Molly Yetman, Sr., Wayne State (Mich.)

Player of the Year: Kelsey Musselman, 3B, Sr., Missouri S&T
Pitcher of the Year: Kaitlin Colosimo, Jr., SIU Edwardsville

Miners land first signee in Three Rivers' Redeker

The Missouri S&T men's basketball team has announced its first signing for the 2008-09 season as Aaron Redeker, a 6-11, 220-pound center-forward from Jackson, Mo., has signed a National Letter of Intent to play at S&T.

Redeker has spent the last two seasons at Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff, Mo., where he played for legendary coach Gene Bess, and averaged 7.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game a year ago to help the Raiders finish with a record of 29-8. He also shot 50.5 percent from the field and 73.2 percent at the line while finishing as his team's third-leading rebounder.

Redeker was also a force on the defensive end, averaging over two blocked shots per game a year ago and accumulating 128 blocked shots in 74 games at Three Rivers.

"Aaron is a player who will add a lot to our team, particularly on the defensive end and in terms of competitiveness," Martin said. "He really likes to compete and I believe that can help us raise the level of our play on the floor.

"On the floor, he's a strong rebounder who really makes good decisions with the ball and will also be able to do some things for us offensively as he has been a good shooter on an outstanding junior college team at Three Rivers."

Redeker played his high school basketball at Jackson High School, where he was the team's top rebounder in his senior year. He plans to major in civil engineering at Missouri S&T.

May 04, 2008

Cougars end Miner baseball season on down note

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- Playing its sixth game in the last four days, the Miner pitching staff was unable to slow down Southern Illinois Edwardsville's bats Sunday afternoon as the Cougars ended Missouri S&T's season with a 20-8 win.

SIUE scored in six of the eight innings in batted in and scored multiple runs in five of them, banging out 23 hits against four Miner hurlers used in the game.

The Cougars, who entered the game still in contention for a GLVC playoff spot, jumped on Miner starter Caleb Smith for three runs in the first inning, but the Miners tied the score in the second. A leadoff double by Thomas McCormick got things started, then he scored on a one-out single by Eaf Redden. After an SIUE error, Brandon Cogan delivered a sacrifice fly and Owen Madison, who had the go-ahead hit in Saturday's win, tied the score with an RBI single.

SIUE put seven runs on the board in the third to go up 10-3, but the Miners were able to trim that lead down with three runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth.

In the fourth, Madison drove in the first run with an RBI single, then a hit by Andrew Vance and a sacrifice fly by Gerad Fox brought the margin down to four.

S&T drew even closer in the fifth when Cogan doublhed home Redden and Yaimel Javier-Cury, but the Cougars got a single run in the bottom half of the inning and then scored three runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

Cogan had two hits and three RBI to lead the Miner attack. S&T finished its season at 22-26 overall and 15-17 in the GLVC.

May 03, 2008

Hollenbeck hits provisional mark, Etzold one of top freshman in GLVC meet

tffrofyr.jpg
GLVC Freshmen of the Year
Leah Morehead & Brandon Etzold

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- The Missouri S&T men's track and field team posted four first place finishes, gained one provisonal qualifier for the NCAA Division II Championships and had one of its freshmen named as the league's "Freshman of the Year" as it placed fourth at the GLVC Outdoor Championships over the weekend at Southern Illinois Edwardsville.

The winners among the Miner competitors included Brandon Etzold, who earned a share of the GLVC's "Freshman of the Year" award on the strength of his winning effort in the 800-meters in 1:57.22. He was joined on the winner's stand by Kal-El Waters-Jones in the triple jump with a mark of 46-0 1/2, Joffroi Holcombe in the 10,000-meters with a time of 31:38.79, Jordan Henry in the pole vault with a clearance of 16-7 1/2.

Henry's win in the pole vault completed an indoor-outdoor sweep for the Miner junior in the 2008 season.

Sophomore Peter Hollenbeck became the latest Miner to reach a provisional qualifying mark when he cleared a personal best 16-3 1/2 to finish behind Henry in the pole vault. He was one of three Miners to finish among the top four in the event as Jared Anders tied for third at 14-10.

S&T also got a runner-up finish came from Jesse Scott in the high jump with a clearance of 6-1 1/4, while Josh Hesse finished third in the shot put competition with a top mark of 48-6.

The Miners got fourth place finishes from Heath Groom in the javelin throw with a mark of 168-11, Brendan Smith in 1,500-meters in 4:06.94 and Brad Guidry in the discus with a mark of 158-8, while also getting a fifth from Henry in the long jump with a leap of 20-11 1/4.

Andrew Moore placed sixth in the triple jump with a mark of 43-1 1/2 along with Grant Brown in the 10,000-meters in 32:37.70, Mike Wilson in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.16 seconds, Paul Roland in the 800-meters in 1:59.37 and Holcombe in the 5,000-meters with a mark of 15:25.18.

Jeff Pike was seventh in the triple jump at 43-0 1/4 as was Wes Everhart in the javelin at 155-4 and Ian Packard in the 400-meters with a time of 49.71 seconds. Wilson was eighth in the 200-meters in 22.67 seconds.

The Miners' 4x100-meter relay team took fourth in its race with a time of 42.89 seconds and the 4x400 team was fifth in 3:23.30.

The Miners are expected to send some competitors to last chance meets over the course of the next week in a final effort to reach or improve on qualifying marks for the NCAA Championships.

Complete men's results

Morehead wins pole vault, top freshman award at GLVC meet

tffrofyr.jpg
GLVC Freshmen of the Year
Leah Morehead & Brandon Etzold

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- Missouri S&T got a sweep of the top three spots in the pole vault to highlight its showing at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships over the weekend at Southern Illinois Edwardsville.

Leah Morehead, who was the co-recipient of the GLVC's "Freshman of the Year" award, won the event with a mark of 11-8 that broke the conference record. The previous holder of the mark, Taylor Hahn, took second with a clearance of 11-2 1/4 and Jamie Statler was third at 10-8 1/4.

S&T got a third place showing from Tamara McCaskill in the high jump as she cleared 5-3 1/4 and fourths from Katie Bruce in the 400-meters with a time of 59.48 seconds in Saturday's finals and Kierra Handley in the 800-meters in a season-best 2:19.44.

Sarah Zaremba also scored points for the Lady Miners in the pole vault with a clearance of 10-2 1/2, while Hannah Terwelp was seventh in the shot put with a mark of 38-2 1/4 as was Hillary Griffith in the 100-meters in 12.49 seconds. Griffith was also eighth in the 200-meters in 26.35 seconds along with Maggie Mawhiney in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:11.52

Both of S&T's relay teams had fourth place finishes, with the 4x100-meter team posting a time of 48.81 seconds and the 4x400 quartet posting a mark of 4:02.40. S&T had the lead in the latter relay at the midway point thanks to a strong second leg by freshman Aubrey Moore.

S&T finished sixth in the final team standings with 58 points; SIUE won the meet with a total of 323 points in its final meet before it reclassifies to NCAA Division I.

Complete results