Ashton Gronewold

The post-season honors continue to roll in for the UMR football team as two members of the squad were named today to the Daktronics all-Southwest region team for the 2006 season.

Ashton Gronewold, who established a number of records during the course of the recently completed football season at UMR, was named to the first team at wide receiver and will be eligible for All-America honors when that team is released in December. Linebacker Avian Jordan, the Miners' leader in tackles this year, was a second-team choice at his position.

Gronewold, a junior from Carthage, Ill., shared the Great Lakes Football Conference's "Offensive Player of the Year" award with Central State running back Derrick Moss after breaking 12 school records over the course of the fall. Among the records he established were his receiving marks of 78 catches for 1,120 yards and for all-purpose yards with 1,788.

He also broke the UMR career marks in receiving and scoring during the season and set new single-game records for receiving yards (229 vs. Morehead State) and all-purpose yards (294 vs. Saint Joseph's). In all, Gronewold scored 17 touchdowns for the season, 15 receiving, one on a kickoff return and another on a punt return.

Gronewold was a first-team selection to the GLFC team as well as D2Football.com's all-independents squad.

Avian Jordan

Jordan completed the 2006 campaign with a team-high 111 tackles, which ranked him among the NCAA Division II leaders in that category. Six of those tackles were for losses and he also added an interception, a pass breakup and a forced fumble as well as a blocked kick during the course of the year.

Jordan, a senior from St. Louis, was named to the All-GLFC second team and the D2Football.com all-independent first team.

UMR finished the 2006 season with a record of 6-5.

2006 DAKTRONICS ALL-SOUTHWEST REGION FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
OL: Robbie Klinetobe, Sr., Chadron State
OL: Reid Kirby, Jr., Northwest Missouri State
OL: Rayshaun Hollings, Sr., Southeastern Oklahoma State
OL: Allen Barbre, Sr., Missouri Southern
OL: Tony Burson, Jr., Midwestern State
TE: Mike Peterson, Jr., Northwest Missouri State
WR: Charly Martin, So., West Texas A&M
WR: Ashton Gronewold, Jr., UMR
QB: Dalton Bell, Sr., West Texas A&M
RB: Germaine Race, Sr., Pittsburg State
RB: Danny Woodhead, Jr., Chadron State
PK: Kristian Foster, Jr., Midwestern State; Paul Williams, Sr., Tarleton State

2006 DAKTRONICS ALL-SOUTHWEST REGION SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
DL: Brad Hill, Sr., Southeastern Oklahoma State
DL: Josh Knouse, Fr., Chadron State
DL: Garnet Smith, Jr., Texas A&M-Commerce
LB: Avian Jordan, Sr., UMR
LB: Christian Serena, Jr., Western New Mexico
LB: Erick Smith, Sr., Tarleton State
LB: Zach Watkins, Fr., Washburn
CB: Andrew Knight, Sr., Southeastern Oklahoma State
CB: Ranadrick Phillips, Jr., Tarleton State
S: Devon Campbell, Sr., Midwestern State
S: Tony Gibalski, Sr., Adams State
S: Shaylon Carter, Sr., Southeastern Oklahoma State
P: Wayne Durham, Jr., Adams State

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Justin Taylor

Using a strong performance in the paint, the Miners came away with a 76-60 victory Monday night over St. Louis College of Pharmacy in their final non-conference game before the Great Lakes Valley Conference season begins Thursday night.

The Miners scored 54 of their 76 points in the paint against the Eutectics which made the difference in the game. UMR shot 44 percent overall in the contest, but made 31 of their 53 shots inside the three-point line (58.5 percent) to offset a tough night from beyond the arc, where UMR was only two-of-22.

UMR never trailed in the contest as it rattled off 10 straight points after the score was tied at two in the opening minute. Justin Taylor, who scored a season-high 15 points on the night, made baskets on both ends of the early run.

The Eutectics were able to keep the margin around the 10-point mark for much of the half after the run, but the Miners started to pull away with a 17-7 spurt toward the end of the first half. UMR led 44-27 at the intermission.

The Miners led by as many as 26 points in the second half at 56-30 after a basket by Casey Noll, who recorded his first career double-double with a team-high 16 points and 13 rebounds. UMR also got a season-best 14 from Shea Wiemann and 11 from Tyrone Davidson to put four players in double figures for the second time in three days. UMR had four double figure scorers in Saturday's win at Lincoln.

Yamani Ball, who entered the contest as the Miners' leading scorer on the season, had only four points but did dish out seven assists and pulled down six rebounds.

The victory gives UMR (3-2) back-to-back victories for the first time since Jan. 12-15, 2005 when they beat Southwest Baptist and Missouri Western. The next order of business for the Miners is their Great Lakes Valley Conference opener, which is slated for 7:30 p.m. Thursday against defending GLVC champion Saint Joseph's at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

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Jaime Forsberg

TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Lady Miners used some strong three-point shooting in the second half to gain a split of their two games in the Premier Mortgage/WIBW Holiday Classic as they came away with a 67-62 victory over Cameron Saturday night at Washburn University.

UMR connected on six of their 13 three-point attempts in the second half and hit nine in the game as they overcame a tough overtime loss to Lynn on Friday evening to secure the win.

The Lady Miners (3-1) took the lead for good on a pair of free throws by Nicole Dierking with 3:16 to play as they held the Aggies without a field goal for the final 4:20 of the contest. That basket came from the Aggies' top offensive threat of the night, Chelsea Adams, as her bucket gave Cameron its last lead at 60-59. Dierking's two free throws came on the next posssesion and UMR never trailed again.

Dierking hit two more free tosses at the 2:42 mark to extend the lead to three, but UMR couldn't push the lead out any more until Katie McElrath made the second of two free throws with 1:22 to go. Cameron still trailed by just two at 64-62 with 36 seconds to go, but Jaime Forsberg made three-of-four at the free throw line in the last 30 seconds to secure the win.

A slow start put UMR in a 10-point hole in the first half at 21-11, but the Lady Miners chipped away at the lead and took a one-point lead at 29-28 when Katie Bunge hit a driving layup with just over a minute to go in the half. Cameron regained a 30-29 lead at halftime, but three successive three-point baskets early in the second half by Forsberg, Dierking and Chism McEntired gave UMR the lead at 38-35.

Forsberg hit two more three-pointers in the half, one at the 8:45 mark and another with 6:36 to play that gave UMR a 55-53 lead. The Lady Miners got a basket from Tamara McCaskill to go up by four before Cameron scored seven of the next nine points to take its last lead of the contest.

McCaskill and Forsberg led the Lady Miners with 16 points apiece while Dierking finished with 13. UMR made only 37 percent of its field goal attempts, but was 9-of-23 (39 percent) from three-point range and outrebounded the Aggies 39-38.

UMR held Cameron to 35 percent shooting in the game.

The Lady Miners will open Great Lakes Valley Conference play at home this week as they face Saint Joseph's in their league opener Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

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Yamani Ball

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- It was Feb. 2, 2005 when the Miner basketball team had last recorded a victory outside the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building -- until Saturday afternoon.

UMR built an 18-point lead by halftime and was able to hold on for a 64-60 victory at Lincoln University. The Miners still had a 13-point advantage with under four minutes to play, but had to hold off a furious Blue Tiger rally to secure the first road win since an overtime triumph at Missouri Southern on that February night in 2005.

The game was tied at 19 after a basket by Tremaine Wilkerson at the 9:29 mark of the first half, then the Miners went on a scoring tear in which they outscored the Blue Tigers 24-6 to finish the half. UMR went in front at 21-19 on a basket bay Marquis Jones, which was the first of six straight baskets made by the Miners to take a 35-21 lead.

UMR continued to build on the lead as Joe Shardo hit a three-pointer to give it a 40-23 lead with 2:45 left in the half. Shea Wiemann closed the half by making three free throws to give UMR its biggest lead of the first 20 minutes of 18 heading into the locker room.

While the Miners shot 48.1 percent in the opening half, the Blue Tigers were held to 34.5 percent overall and failed to connect on all 10 of their three-point tries.

UMR held that double-figure lead until 9:23 remained, when Wilkerson scored to cut the lead down to eight at 51-43. The Miners, however, got the lead back out beyond the 10-point mark again and went up by 13 at 61-48 on a basket by Yamani Ball with 3:44 to go.

That would turn out to be the last field goal scored by the Miners, as the Blue Tigers scored 10 straight points to draw to within three with 1:02 to play. Ball hit a pair of free throws at the 47-second mark to extend UMR's lead to five, but Ralph Mata hit a pair of free throws with 37 seconds left to make it a three-point game again at 63-60.

A turnover by the Miners gave Lincoln a chance to tie the game in the final seconds, but the Blue Tigers -- who finished the day at 2-of-19 from behind the arc -- missed three shots to tie the game before Ball grabbed the rebound of the third miss and made a free throw after a foul to turn it into a two-possession game.

Ball and Tyrone Davidson led the Miners with 12 points apiece, while Wiemann finished with 11 and Shardo with 10. UMR shot 40.4 percent for the game and held the Blue Tigers to 39.7 percent overall as well as to the low percentage from long range.

The Miners (2-2) will host St. Louis College of Pharmacy Monday at 7 p.m. before opening Great Lakes Valley Conference play Thursday at home against defending league champion Saint Joseph's.

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Tamara McCaskill

TOPEKA, Kan. -- Lynn University made the most of its second chances Friday night and sent the Lady Miners to their first loss of the season, handing UMR an 81-78 overtime loss in the Premier Mortgage/WIBW Holiday Classic at Washburn University.

UMR had a 68-65 lead late in regulation time, but Lynn’s Sarah Mahan – who had just missed a three-point attempt to tie the game – got a second chance when the rebound was batted out to her and connected on another long-range shot at the buzzer to force overtime.

UMR had two leads in the extra period, the last at 73-72 on a basket by Katie Bunge with 2:36 to play. However, the Knights (3-0) regained the lead for good when Mahan hit two free throws on Lynn’s next possession, then UMR had a turnover on its next trip down the floor that led to a fast break basket by Jade Williams to give Lynn a three-point lead.

The Lady Miners closed to within one when Bunge scored the next time down the floor, but after getting a stop on defense, Chism McEntire missed the mark on a foul line jumper that would have put UMR ahead.

Williams followed by hitting a 15-footer with just under 30 seconds to go to give Lynn a three-point lead, then UMR committed another turnover before it could get a shot off. Williams made two more free throws to make the lead five before Nicole Dierking hit a three-pointer with 5.1 seconds left to cut the margin to two. However, Williams made one of two at the line to wrap up the win for Lynn.

UMR trailed for a good portion of the first half, but scored the final seven points of the first half to build a 42-38 lead at the intermission. Katie McElrath’s basket in the lane with just under a minute to go in the half gave UMR the lead, then the Lady Miners were able to build the advantage to as many as 10 at 55-45 with 12:53 left in the second half on a basket by Becca Kueny.

Despite shooting just over 30 percent in the second half, Lynn was able to rally by forcing UMR into a number of turnovers and outscored UMR 17-6 over the next 8:19 to take the lead, going in front 62-61 on a three-pointer by Allegra Armstrong.

The Lady Miners got the lead back on a lay-in by Nicole Dierking with 3:25 left, then went back ahead 66-64 on another basket by Dierking at the 1:23 mark. Lynn’s Lisa Sykora made one of two at the line with 37 seconds left to cut the lead to one, then UMR’s Jaime Forsberg increased the lead to three with two free throws with 15 seconds left prior to Mahan’s last-second heroics.

Tamara McCaskill finished with a career-high 23 points for the Lady Miners and added a career-best 11 rebounds as well. UMR also got 20 points from Dierking and 15 from Bunge in a game where it shot 52.5 percent from the field.

The Lady Miners, however, turned the ball over 27 times in the game and Lynn scored 35 points off those mistakes. The Knights also scored 23 second chance points in the game.

UMR (2-1) will face Cameron in its second game in the event Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

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Dan Gravlin

UMR junior forward Dan Gravlin (St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis University High) has been selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America soccer team for the recently completed season.

Gravlin, a civil engineering major at UMR, finished the year with one goal and a team-high four assists in the Miners' 9-9-2 campaign. Gravlin had a four-point game during the season with a goal and two assists in a key GLVC win over Missouri-St. Louis in early October.

He is the first student-athlete from UMR selected as an Academic All-America this season and 21st in this decade, which is one of the top totals in NCAA Division II.

UMR finished at 7-5-1 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and earned a berth to the conference tournament for the second consecutive year.

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NOTE: List updated as of November 21, 2006

The University of Missouri-Rolla has had 16 individuals sign National Letters of Intent to play at UMR in the 2007-08 season during the early signing period that just concluded.

Included in that group are the first four signings for the women's volleyball program that will begin play in the fall of 2007. UMR also had five players sign to play baseball, three to join the swimming team, two to compete in men's cross country and track and one student-athlete with the softball and the women's track program.

The signees to date are:

Volleyball
Katie Herington, Mid-Prairie High School, Kalona, Iowa
Jessica Laughary, Wheaton High School, Wheaton, Mo.
Maddie Owak, Chicago Christian High School, Tinley Park, Ill.
Annie Smith, Incarnate Word Academy, St. Louis, Mo.

Swimming
Jeff Enge, Memorial High School, Edmond, Okla.
Kyle Gordon, Monarch High School, Louisville, Colo.
Aaron Schmidt, O'Fallon Township High School, O'Fallon, Ill.

Baseball
Kyle Boehm, Olathe East High School, Olathe, Kan.
Josh Cole, St. Louis University High School, St. Louis, Mo.
Drew Davenport, McHenry West High School, McHenry, Ill.
Matt Lange, Shawnee Mission Northwest High School, Shawnee, Kan.
Caleb Smith, Calgary, Alberta

Men's Cross Country/Track & Field
Daniel Forbes, Potosi High School, Potosi, Mo.
Brendan Smith, Chelsea High School, Chelsea, Mich.

Women's Track & Field
Leah Moreland, Kirksville High School, Kirksville, Mo.

Softball
Kristen Drage, Union County High School, Morganfield, Ky.

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Matt Adams

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- The UMR swimming team finshed in second place in competition against two other NCAA Division I schools over the weekend at the three-day Western Kentucky Invitational.

The Miners completed competition Sunday with a 1,130 points, finishing over 160 points ahead of Evansville; both teams finished well in back of host Western Kentucky.

David Calcara got the Miners' only individual win in the meet, capturing the 200-yard breaststroke in a time of 2:09.45. He was followed by teammate Matt Hammond, who finished in 2:10.96.

Matt Adams recorded a pair of second place finishes thus far in the meet, doing so in the 200-yard individual medley as he finished with a time of 1:56.56 and the 100-breaststroke in 59.20. Adams completed a strong meet Sunday with a third place finish in the 200-butterfly in 1:56.72.

Matt Hug took a pair of seconds as well, doing so in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:40.37 after posting the best time in the preliminaries and again in the 1,650-freestyle Sunday with a time of 15:59.35 which barely missed the automatic qualifying mark for the NCAA Division II Championships.

Andrew Trowbridge placed third in that event in 16:12.91 after taking fourth in the 500 in 4:43.07. Trowbridge also picked up a third place finish in the 400-individual medley in 4:15.71, while David Calcara had a third in the 100-breaststroke in 59.39 as did Kyle Kammer in the 100-backstroke in 52.72 seconds and Travis Stensby in the 200-backstroke in 1:55.36.

UMR got fourth-place showings from Mark Chamberlain in the 50-yard freestyle in 21.72 seconds and the 100-free in 47.84, Matt Hammond in the 400-IM in 4:18.00, Hug in the 200-freestyle in 1:46.14 and Kammer in the 200-back in 1:56.67, while getting fifths from Dustin Spieker in the 400-IM in 4:19.40, Stensby in the 100-butterfly in 52.22 seconds and Brian Howell in the 200-breaststroke in 1:59.94.

Sixth place finishes came from Kammer in the 200-IM in 1:59.41, Chris Scheuber in the 50-freestyle in 21.75 and the 100-butterfly in 53.03, Howell in the 400-IM in 4:19.52, Hammond in the 100-breaststroke in 1:01.45 and Chamberlain in the 200-free in 1:51.17.

In the relay events, the Miners' 400-medley relay quartet of Kammer, David Calcara, Adams and Chamberlain took second place with a time of 3:30.66. UMR's 200-yard freestyle relay team of Scheuber, Adams, David-Sanchez-Turner and Chamberlain came in third place with a time of 1:25.64, while the B-relay of Andy Shelley, Howell, Paul Reinisch and Hug came in fifth in 1:29.20. UMR also got a fifth from the 400-medley relay team of Stensby, Bill Gaul, Howell and Shelley.

UMR's 800-yard freestyle relay team came in third place Saturday as Trowbridge, Adams, Hug and Howell posted a time of 7:03.15, while the 200-medley team team placed fourth as Kammer, Calcara, Reinisch and Shelley finished in 1:38.93. UMR also had a fourth in the 400-freestyle relay in 3:12.05 which came from the quartet of Reinisch, Shelley, Trowbridge and Howell.

The Miners' next competition is scheduled for Dec. 1-2 at the Arkansas-Little Rock Christmas Invitational.

Complete results

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KYLE BOEHM, an outfielder from Olathe East High School in Olathe, Kan.: Boehm, who plays in center field, has been a two-time all-city selection in Olathe and was also selected to the All-Johnson County second team in 2006.

Head coach Todd DeGraffenreid: "Kyle posses all the tools( plus speed good arm and Left handed bat) to make him an outstanding centerfielder in this conference. We are very exited to a caliber of player like Kyle in our program. Kyle should contend for playing time right away."

JOSH COLE, a catcher from St. Louis University High School in St. Louis, Mo.: Cole, a four-year player at the varsity level, hit .270 with a home run and eight runs batted in during the 2006 season at SLUH. He hit .313 in his sophomore season. He was also the starting catcher in the Triple Crown World Series All-Star game during the summer.

Head coach Todd DeGraffenreid: "Josh is probably one of the better defensive catchesr I've seen in St. Louis in the last year. His bat will only get better once he becomes acclimated to our philosophies and our approach to hitting. He is a big kid with a good up side."

DREW DAVENPORT, a catcher from McHenry West High School in McHenry, Ill.: Davenport was selected as the most valuable player on a summer league team, the McHenry Shamrocks, after earning the team's top hitter award. He played last season with the McHenry County Hurricanes. Davenport was also selected to participate in the Stevenson Showcase. He plans to major in computer engineering at UMR.

Head coach Todd DeGraffenreid: "We are very exited about Drew and the abilites his posses. Drew has a plus/accurate arm behind the plate as well as the tools it takes to be one of the better hitters in the GLVC. Drew is expected to come in an compete for time behind the plate right away."

MATT LANGE, a pitcher from Shawnee Mission Northwest High School in Shawnee, Kan.: Lange was a pitcher and catcher at the high school level, as well as being a member of the school's branch of the National Honor Society.

Head coach Todd DeGraffenreid: "Matt has big upside. Extremely had worker who will do anything to get better. Matt has the frame an make up up to one day be a extremely good pitcher. Matt has the ability to throw lots of innings and should get that chance right away."

CALEB SMITH, a pitcher from Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Head coach Todd DeGraffenreid: "Caleb will be counted on to impact our program immediately both on the mound and at the plate. His possess an excepetional bat and will hit for power. On the mound Caleb is very well polished and should contend for a spot in our rotation as a freshman."

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Yamani Ball

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- For the second straight night, a first half run put the Miners in a hole that they couldn't escape from as they dropped a 76-62 decision to Truman State in the Hillyard Classic at Missouri Western.

UMR grabbed a 3-0 lead on its opening possession as freshman guard Justin Taylor drained a three-pointer, but that turned out to be the Miners' only lead of the contest. Truman scored the next 10 points and led 20-11 before UMR scored eight straight points to cut the lead to one.

A pair of baskets by Yamani Ball, who led the Miners in scoring Saturday with 17 points, and a three-point basket by Joe Shardo at the 10:14 mark made the score 20-19. However, the Bulldogs rattled off the next 10 points to go up by 11 and never led by less than five points for the duration of the contest.

UMR was down by seven at halftime at 34-27, but that deficit quickly reached double figures after Shea Wiemann scored the initial points of the second half. The Miners had the Truman lead down to 10 with 2:40 to go but couldn't get any closer.

The Miners shot 47 percent in the second half but ended up at 38.6 percent for the game after they made only 11 of their 36 shots (30.6 percent) in the opening half. The Bulldogs (2-1), meanwhile, connected on 46.3 percent of their tries and also outrebounded UMR 44-31 in the contest with Andy Calmes pulling down a game-high 16 boards.

Besides the 17 points Ball provided, UMR also got 16 from Tyrone Davidson and 12 from Shardo on four three-point baskets.

The Miners (1-2) will return to action Nov. 25 with a 3 p.m. game at Lincoln University in Jefferson City.

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Tamara McCaskill

It was a case of better late than never for the Lady Miners Saturday, as they came up with some big plays late in the game to come away with a 60-55 victory over Saginaw Valley State to sweep their two games in the season opening UMR Tip-Off Classic.

Trailing 55-53, the Lady Miners got a three-point basket from Jaime Forsberg with 1:13 to take the lead for good, then got two key defensive stops to preserve the victory in the final minute of play. UMR forced a shot clock violation, then Nicole Dierking got an offensive rebound off a missed three-point shot by Chism McEntire and hit a pair of free throws to extend UMR's lead to three with 17 seconds to go.

The Lady Miners then made one more stop, as Tricia Everett missed a contested three-pointer and Tamara McCaskill came down with the rebound; McCaskill dropped in a pair of free throws with less than a second to play to ice the victory.

UMR struggled with the Cardinals for the bulk of the afternoon, shooting only 36 percent from the field in the opening half and was tied at 22 at the intermission. The Lady Miners had a six-point lead early in the half thanks to an 11-1 run, but SVSU clawed back into the contest as they held UMR scoreless for the final 6:06 of the half.

The Cardinals then built an eight-point lead in the first six minutes of the second half, largely due to the three-point shooting of Brittany Burns who hit five three-pointers in the second half. A long-range basket by Burns with 14:29 left gave the Cards a 38-30 lead.

The teams traded three-point baskets before the Lady Miners rattled off 13 straight points to go up 46-41 with just over seven minutes to go. UMR got the lead when McEntire drilled a three-pointer out of the corner to beat an expiring shot clock with 8:24 to go.

A free throw by Jennifer Pena and a basket by Katie Bunge pushed the lead out to 46-41 before the Cardinals worked their way back on even terms on another three by Burns at the 3:47 mark to even the score at 51. SVSU took the lead when Everett made one of two at the free throw line, but McCaskill got the lead back for UMR by hitting a tough lay-up inside.

The Cardinals got their last lead on their next possession when Burns drained a three from the top of the key at the 2:10 mark, but two possessions later, UMR got the lead for good on the Forsberg three-point shot from in front of the Lady Miner bench.

McEntire and Dierking were the only Lady Miners in double figures with 15 points apiece, as UMR shot 55 percent in the second half. McEntire was named to the all-tournament team along with Bunge, Burns, Henderson State's Samantha Anglin-Smith and Lauren Hill and Wayne State's Chastidy Miller. Anglin-Smith, who averaged 13.5 points, five rebounds, 5.5 assists and three steals in the Reddies' two weekend victories, was named as the event's most valuable player.

Henderson State beat Wayne State (Mich.) 75-63 in the first game on Saturday.

The Lady Miners (2-0) will return to play in another four-team classic over the Thanksgiving weekend, as they will play at Washburn University in Topeka Friday and Saturday. UMR will face Lynn Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Cameron the following night also at 5:30 p.m.

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Katie Bunge

Katie Bunge spent the entire 2005-06 season watching the Lady Miners play from the sidelines as she had to sit the season out due to her transfer.

On Friday night, the Lady Miner fans finally got to see what they have been waiting for, as Bunge scored a career-high 17 points and added nine rebounds to help pace UMR to a season-opening 70-54 victory over Wayne State (Mich.) in the UMR Tip-Off Classic.

Bunge and Tamara McCaskill, who scored 16 Friday, combined to make 13 of their 20 field goal attempts on the night as the Lady Miners captured their season opener for the fifth straight season. UMR was never behind in the contest, bolting out to an 11-2 thanks in large part to McCaskill, who scored six points in that early run.

Wayne State drew to within six at one point in the first half, but Bunge sparked a UMR surge through the latter stages of the opening 20 minutes. After she missed four of her first five shots from the floor, Bunge made her final three attempts of the half and scored 12 points as UMR built a lead that would stand at 18 by halftime at 40-22.

The Warriors, who like UMR were playing their season opener Friday, scored the first eight points of the second half to get to within 10 at 40-30. After the teams traded baskets, the Lady Miners rattled off 15 of the next 18 points in the game to build their biggest lead of the game of 22 when Bunge hit a lay-up at the 12:04 mark. UMR would eventually lead by as many as 24 points in the second half.

Bunge and McCaskill were the only two Lady Miners in double figures in the scoring column, but UMR did shoot 49 percent on the night while holding the Warriors to 36.5 percent shooting. The Lady Miners also went 6-15 from three-point range, with Chism McEntire connecting on three of the six treys for all nine of her points on the night.

Wayne State had four players in double figures, led by Joy Nash with 13 points.

UMR will face Saginaw Valley State (0-1) Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building to close out the UMR Tip-Off Classic. The Cardinals dropped a 68-59 decision to seventh-ranked Henderson State Friday night.

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Shea Wiemann

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- The first regular season venture outside the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building for the UMR men's basketball team was one it would just as soon forget.

The Miners ran into a hot-shooting Missouri Western team Friday night and suffered a
98-49 loss to the host Griffons on the first night of the Hillyard Classic. UMR will need to put that game behind quickly, as it will return to the court Saturday evening to face Truman State in a 5:30 p.m. game.

Truman also lost Friday night in the event as it dropped a 70-67 decision to Armstrong Atlantic State.

The Griffons never trailed in Friday's game, using a 17-0 run in the opening half to help build a lead that would reach as many as 25 points in the first 20 minutes. UMR trailed 15-11 after a basket by Shea Wiemann and moments later was down 21-16 after Wiemann knocked down a three-point shot, but Western followed the trey by going on its decisive run.

Western (1-0), who finished the game shooting 60.7 percent from the field, made seven straight shots at one point during the course of the run. UMR (1-1), which had gone through a six-minute stretch without a point in its season-opening win over Rhema Bible Wednesday, did not score for nearly six minutes again after the Wiemann three-pointer until Tyrone Davidson ended the streak with a dunk at the 5:56 mark.

Most of the scoring damage for the Griffons was done by guards J.R. Reed and Joe Manthe, who combined for 51 points (26 by Reed) and 10-of-13 shooting from three-point land. Western made 12 of its 19 three-point attempts in the contest.

Wiemann led the Miners with 13 points, while Yamani Ball had 12 points and Justin Taylor finished with 10.

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Ashton Gronewold

Ashton Gronewold and Joe Winters, who established a number of records during the course of the recently completed football season at UMR, head the group of Miner players who have been selected to the Great Lakes Football Conference all-league team for the 2006 campaign.

Gronewold shared the league's "Offensive Player of the Year" award with Central State running back Derrick Moss after breaking 12 school records over the course of the fall. Among the records he established were his receiving marks of 78 catches for 1,120 yards and for all-purpose yards with 1,788.

He also broke the UMR career marks in receiving and scoring during the season and set new single-game records for receiving yards (229 vs. Morehead State) and all-purpose yards (294 vs. Saint Joseph's). In all, Gronewold scored 17 touchdowns for the season, 15 receiving, one on a kickoff return and another on a punt return.

Winters, meanwhile, broke the Miner single-season marks for passing yards with 3,724 and total offense with 3,731, a mark that leads NCAA Division II. In his first season at UMR, the graduate student headed up the Miner passing game that also ranks first in the nation at the end of regular season play and was named as the "Offensive Player of the Year" for the Division II independents by D2Football.com.

Gronewold and Winters were among five Miner players named to the first team, while another five were selected to the second team.

Joining that duo on the first team were senior wide receiver Brandon Landry, who caught 52 passes for 742 yards and 11 touchdowns; placekicker Tim Valencia, who went 42-of-44 on extra point attempts and made eight of his 11 field goal tries; and punter Brian Mueller, who led the GLFC with an average of 37.6 yards per punt with 10 punts downed inside the opponents' 20-yard line and no touchbacks.

The five second team selections were running back Matt Padilla (team-high 585 yards rushing and 1,120 all-purpose yards), offensive tackle Ken Pearce, linebacker Avian Jordan (team-high 113 tackles), defensive tackle Derek Drussa (26 tackles and four sacks) and safety Brian Jordan (61 tackles, three interceptions).

On the D2Football.com All-Independent team, Winters, Gronewold, Pearce, Jordan and Valencia were first-team selections, while Landry and Gronewold (as a kick returner) were second-team picks. Padilla, Mueller, Brian Jordan and defensive end Loren Severs (28 tackles, 6.5 tackles for a loss) were honorable mention picks.

UMR finished the 2006 season with a record of 6-5.

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UMR volleyball coach Jason Holt has announced his first class of recruits, as four players have signed National Letters of Intent to play at UMR during the early signing period.

The university will start its volleyball program in the fall of 2007.

The four signees are Katie Herington, a 6-0 middle hitter from Kalona, Iowa; Jessica Laughary, a 5-7 outside hitter from Wheaton, Mo.; Maddie Owak, a 5-10 outside hitter from Tinley Park, Ill., and Annie Smith, a 5-5 defensive specialist from St. Louis, Mo.

"We are very excited about this first recruiting class for the program," Holt said. "This is a group of women who are indicitive of the type of student-athletes that we're looking for in this program. It is a competitive and talented group that is hard working and outstanding on and off the court.

"They are very excited about starting something brand new," Holt added. "It is something that should give us a good start as we begin to build this program. Each of these players were looked at by teams in the conference and the region."

For more information on the four signees, click here.

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Tyrone Davidson

Two big runs in the first half were enough to propel the UMR men's basketball team to a season opening 71-55 win Wednesday night over Rhema Bible at the Gale Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

The Miners opened the game by outscoring the Eagles 11-0, then used a 20-4 run -- including 12 straight points in one stretch -- over the final 5:03 of the half to build a 41-20 lead by the intermission. UMR extended that advantage to as many as 26 points in the second half before settling for the 16-point win.

UMR started the game by connecting on five of its first seven shots, the last coming from Tyrone Davidson to cap the 11-0 opening run. However, the Eagles, who entered the game with a 3-0 record, chipped away at the lead and cut it to three on a three-point basket by Tyron Hall at the 13:31 mark.

Rhema stil trailed by just five at 21-16 after a basket by Gabe White with 8:51 to play in the half, but the Miners went on the 12-0 run to go up by 17. A three-pointer by Owain Hall ended a Miner scoring drought that had lasted nearly six minutes, as UMR scored on six straight possessions starting with that basket. Hall scored six of the points on a pair of treys, while Casey Noll scored four points during that stretch.

The early stages of the second half belonged to Davidson and Shea Wiemann, as they scored UMR's first 12 points of the half to help build the lead to as many as 26 on two occasions. Davidson made seven of his 12 field goal attempts and finished with a team-high 16 points, while Noll ended up with 14 and Wiemann with 13 for the Miners, who won for the first time since Nov. 28, 2006 when they beat Central Bible.

The Miners also enjoyed a 46-33 rebounding edge in the game, with Davidson pulling down nine boards and freshman Justin Taylor dished out six assists in his first official game in a Miner uniform.

Rhema's Tyron Hall led all scorers in the game with 23 points, which included five three-point baskets.

UMR will head to St. Joseph, Mo., this weekend to play in the Hillyard Classic at Missouri Western, facing the host school Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Miners will also take on Truman State Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

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Two members of the UMR soccer program have been named to the inaugural Daktronics all-region soccer team for the Great Lakes Region for the recently completed 2006 season.

Andy Held from the men's soccer team, who was UMR's leading scorer during the past year, and Brittany Parker from the women's soccer team, who was the first-team goalkeeper in the Great Lakes Valley Conference this year, were both second team selections to their respective squads.

Held, a redshirt freshman from Alton, Ill., was named to the All-GLVC second team after a season in which he scored 11 times for a Miner team that reached the GLVC Tournament. Of Held's 11 goals on the season, four of them have been game-winning tallies. He had 22 points on the season with those 11 goals.

Players from GLVC schools took 17 of the 22 spots on the two all-region teams, with Wisconsin-Parkside forward Bojan Jovicic being selected as the region's "Player of the Year."

Parker, a senior goalkeeper from Johnston, Iowa, was selected as the All-GLVC first team player at her position which made her UMR's first player to earn all-conference laurels in all four seasons at the school. Parker was a second-team selection in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association as a freshman and an honorable mention pick in her sophomore year, then earned second-team all-league honors last year in UMR's first season as a member of the GLVC.

During the 2006 season, Parker posted a 1.39 goals against average with 77 saves and one shutout in 1,429 minutes of playing time. For the season, the Lady Miners allowed more than two goals in a game just twice in 18 contests.

Parker ended her Lady Miner career with nine shutouts, which ranks fifth on the career list at UMR, and 411 saves which is good for third on the UMR all-time list. She finished up with a career goals against average of 1.77.

She was one of nine players from GLVC schools to earn a spot on the all-region team. The regional "Player of the Year" was Grand Valley State's Katy Tafler.

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The University of Missouri-Rolla athletics program scored well in the initial NCAA Division II Academic Success Rate that was released recently by the national organization.

The Academic Success Rate, or ASR, is a measurement similar to the Graduation Success Rate used in Division I but also tracks transfer students and student-athletes who are not on athletically-related financial aid.

Of the 12 UMR athletic programs that were in effect in 1999, the year the study started from, nine of them had 100 graduation rates. The three programs that did not have 100 percent marks still had ASR rates that were at least 14 percentage points higher than the average at all NCAA Division II schools and were also higher than the federal rate, which did not factor in the student-athletes who transferred or did not receive athletic grant-in-aid money.

The highest-ranked sport in terms of its ASR at the Division II level was men's water polo at 95 percent, followed by men's volleyball at 83 percent. The top women's program was field hockey at 91 percent. Of the sports that UMR sponsored in 1999, the highest ranking on the national level was achieved in women's soccer at 82 percent.

The overall ASR in NCAA Division II was 69 percent.

The 12 UMR athletic programs that were factored in the study were baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country and track and field (combined), football, men's golf, men's and women's soccer, men's swimming, softball and men's tennis. UMR discontinued its golf and tennis programs after the 2002-03 academic year, but both of those programs scored at the 100 percent level in the study.

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Derek Drussa (77) and Brian Jordan

Senior Day turned into a record setting show for the Miner football team as it finished the 2006 campaign with a 62-6 win over Kentucky Wesleyan at Allgood-Bailey Stadium Saturday afternoon.

The win allowed the Miners to finish above .500 for the second straight season at 6-5, the first time UMR has done that in over two decades. In addition, the 62 points tied the UMR modern day record for points in a game, tying the total scored in a 62-14 win over Pittsburg State in 1984.

UMR needed only a minute and five seconds to get the ball rolling Saturday, as Joe Winters -- one of the record setters in the game -- hit Mike Greaving down the sideline for a 70-yard touchdown pass, as Greaving was able to break away from two Panther defenders on his way to the end zone.

Tim Valencia followed by kicking the first of his eight extra points in the game that both tied the UMR single-game record and broke the single season mark established last year by Marc Armbruster. Valencia finished the year by making 42 of his 44 extra point tries.

Valencia added two field goals in the opening quarter of 23 and 32 yards before the Miners found the end zone again. This time, it was Ashton Gronewold who hauled in a 24-yard scoring pass down the middle of the field that gave the Miners a 20-0 lead after only 11:04 had expired.

Winters, who threw three scoring passes on the afternoon to finish with 35 on the season, scored his first via the run 10 seconds into the second quarter on a two-yard scamper to cap a 52-yard drive. Entering the game as the NCAA Division II leader in total offense, Winters would finish the afternoon by completing 25 of 43 passes for 326 yards and running for a team-high 54 to end up with 380 yards on the day.

For the season, Winters set new records at UMR with 3,731 yards of total offense and 3,724 yards through the air.

The Miner defense, which showed great improvement in the second half of the season, got the next two scores for UMR. Daudi White picked off a pass and ran it back 27 yards for a touchdown midway through the second quarter, then blocked a punt early in the third period that Robbie Woodard ran back 10 yards for another touchdown.

In between the two scores, the Panthers got their only points in the game when Vance Woods caught a deflected pass from Ward Tanner for a 21-yard touchdown reception with 1:44 left in the first half.

Following Woodard's touchdown, the Miners added three more scores with Matt Padilla scoring on a 25-yard pass from Winters and then getting the final two scores with redshirt freshman Jason Aubrey at the controls.

Aubrey threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Gronewold on a fourth down play to make it 55-6, then wrapped up the scoring on a short drive after a turnover by scoring on a two-yard run in the final minutes.

Gronewold finished another impressive season for the Miners with six catches for 102 yards and the two scores, putting his season totals at 78 catches for 1,120 yards and 15 touchdowns. Through three seasons at UMR, Gronewold has 191 receptions for 2,699 yards and 39 touchdowns; he has 42 career scores counting three kick returns.

On top of those marks, Gronewold set several single-game and career receiving marks during the year and also broke the single-season record for all-purpose yards as he finished with 1,788, one of three UMR players to end up with over 1,000 yards in that department with Padilla and Brandon Landry.

UMR's leading receivers in the finale, however, were Padilla with nine catches for 75 yards and Greaving with 127 yards on his seven receptions. Seven different Miner players caught passes in the contest.

The defensive unit, meanwhile, forced six turnovers as it held the Panthers to 266 yards of total offense. Avian Jordan and Tommy Humphrey also had interceptions for the Miners.

In addition to the individual records that fell Saturday, the Miners also broke team records for passing yards (3,860) and extra points scored (42). UMR also had five returns for touchdowns during the season.

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Chism McEntire

The Lady Miners plan to use the three-point shot more often in the 2006-07 season and Friday's exhibition game showed why that decision was made.

UMR put on a shooting display from long range as it made 13-of-22 shots from three-point range and 61.5 percent overall in a 101-63 romp over St. Louis Gold Star in an exhibition game at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

Junior guard Chism McEntire, who was making her UMR debut Friday night, hit six of the three-pointers in 10 attempts to score a game-high 18 points. She was one of four players in double figures for UMR as Nicole Dierking scored 12, Maggie Thompson had 11 and Emily Petrea, another newcomer to the program, ended up with 10.

UMR was able to take the drama out of the affair rather quickly in the first half, as McEntire hit a pair of three-pointers in an early 10-0 run that gave the Lady Miners a 12-2 lead just 4:48 into play. UMR pushed that lead out beyond 20 points before the second media timeout, going up by as many as 29 points in the opening half at 42-13 with just over five minutes to go before halftime.

The Lady Miners led 52-25 at halftime after shooting 59.5 percent from the field, including a 6-of-12 showing from behind the arc. UMR made seven of its 12 three-point shots after the intermission, with McEntire connecting four times in that stretch.

UMR, which used a number of players for extended periods of time in the game, led by as many as 45 points in the final 20 minutes before setting for a final margin of 38.

The Lady Miners also enjoyed an 11-rebound edge in the game, with Jaime Forsberg and Petrea pulling down a team-high seven apiece. Forsberg also had nine assists in the game as UMR had assists on 28 of its 40 field goals.

Two former Lady Miners, Tiffani Rhodes and Janel McNeal-Lewis, led the Gold Star squad in scoring with 15 and 13 points, respectively.

UMR opens its 2006-07 regular season Nov. 17 in the UMR Tip-Off Classic with a 7:30 p.m. game against Wayne State (Mich.). The Lady Miners will then face Saginaw Valley State the following day at 3 p.m.

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Matt Hug

The Miners nearly knocked off the defending NCAA Division II champions Friday evening, but came up about 50 yards short of pulling out the victory.

Drury's Yi Wen Huang used a strong finish on the anchor leg of the 400-yard freestyle relay to pull out the meet victory for the Panthers by a score of 104-100 over the Miners at the UMR Pool.

Huang overtook UMR's David Sanchez-Turner by finishing the final 50 yards of the race in 23.15 seconds, the fastest leg in the race. That allowed the Panthers to overcome UMR's lead heading into the final event of the day.

The Miners got two victories in the meet from Matt Hug, as he swept the distance freestyle events in times of 9:32.67 in the 1,000-yard freestyle and 4:39.01 in the 500-free. The other UMR win came from freshman Andrew Trowbridge as he led a Miner sweep of the top three spots in the 200-freestyle in 1:45.66. Brian Howell finished second in 1:47.97 and Andy Shelley was third in 1:48.47.

UMR also had second place efforts from Mark Chamberlain in the 50-freestyle in 21.86 seconds, Matt Adams in the 200-individual medley in 1:57.38, Howell in the 200-butterfly in 1:58.38, Kyle Kammer in the 200-backstroke in 1:56.64, Trowbridge in the 500-freestyle in 4:43.77 and David Calcara in the 200-breaststroke in 2:10.95.

In addition, the Miners' 400-medley relay team of Kammer, Calcara, Travis Stensby and Sanchez-Turner placed second by just 0.11 seconds in a time of 3:30.58, while the 400-free relay team of Howell, Paul Reinisch, Shelley and Sanchez-Turner posted a time of 3:11.12.

Third place showings were posted by Chris Scheuber in the 50-free in 21.89 seconds, Stensby in the 200-butterfly in 2:00.20, Chamberlain in the 100-freestyle in 48.38 seconds, Dustin Spieker in the 200-backstroke in 1:57.30 and Matt Hammond in the 200-breaststroke in 2:13.94.

UMR's next competition will be at the three-day Western Kentucky Invitational which starts next Friday in Bowling Green, Ky.

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Gabriel Cunha

Adam Keithly

UMR had four individuals selected to the ESPN The Magazine academic all-district football team today for their play both on the field and in the classroom.

Two of the four -- offensive lineman Adam Keithly and linebacker Gabriel Cunha -- were selected to the first team and will be eligible for Academic All-America honors when that team is released in December. The other two, wide receiver Ashton Gronewold and defensive tackle Derek Drussa, were named to the second team.

Keithly is a first-team selection for the second consecutive year and has started on the Miners' offensive line throughout the 2006 season. The Miner offense ranks 11th nationally in total offense and No. 1 in passing heading into the team's season finale Saturday against Kentucky Wesleyan. Keithly is majoring in aerospace engineering at UMR.

Cunha, a business major at UMR, is one of the Miners' top tacklers on the year from his linebacker position. He is third on the team in tackles with 58, including 25 solo stops, one sack and three tackles for losses. In addition, he has forced three fumbles, two of which came during the Miners' comeback win at Morehead State that earned him the Great Lakes Football Conference's "Player of the Week" award.

The Miners swept the GLFC weekly awards after the Morehead State game, as the offensive award went to Gronewold after he had one of the best single-game performances in Miner history. The junior wideout, who is majoring in engineering management, had a school record 229 yards in receptions that night and is on the cusp of breaking his own receiving records that he established a year ago.

Gronewold has 72 catches for 1,018 yards and 13 touchdowns and has scored 15 times overall on the season. He has a school record 1,686 all-purpose yards and set a UMR single game mark when he had 294 in a game against Saint Joseph's in September. Gronewold is ranked among the top 10 in NCAA Division II in four statistical categories, including a No. 2 ranking for receiving yards per game.

Drussa leads the Miners in quarterback sacks with four and is among the team leaders in tackles for a loss with six. He has a total of 25 tackles during the 2006 season. His older brother, Cole, was a two-time Academic All-America selection when he played for the Miners from 2001-04. Drussa is majoring in mining engineering at UMR.

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Miner defense vs. Wayne State

WAYNE, Neb. -- The Miner defense had another good outing Saturday, but its effort wasn’t enough to overcome a turnover-plagued performance by the UMR offense.

Five turnovers in the second half – four of them in enemy territory – doomed the Miners as they fell back to the .500 mark with a 14-9 loss at Wayne State. The loss dropped the Miners to 5-5 heading into their season finale next week.

UMR nearly pulled the game out in the final minutes, as backup quarterback Mark Becker engineered one touchdown drive and put the Miners into scoring position again in the final minute, but the last hope ended with an interception in the end zone with 11 seconds to play.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Wildcats got on the scoreboard first on a six-yard run by Tyler Jones. Wayne State was able to keep that drive alive by converting on a third-and-14 play as Zach Molacek, who led all rushers with 142 yards Saturday, ran for 30 yards to the Miner 25. Jones scored four plays later to put WSC on top.

The Miners came back down the field and thanks to a 23-yard run by Padilla, moved inside the Wildcats’ 10-yard line. However, the drive stalled and UMR had to settle for a 27-yard field goal from Tim Valencia with 9:13 left in the second quarter.

UMR moved into Wayne State territory twice in the third quarter, once when Joe Winters connected with Ashton Gronewold for 45 yards to get the ball down the WSU 10. However, Winters’ next pass that was intended for Brandon Landry was deflected and picked off by Luke Hoffman in the end zone.

The Miners got back to the Wildcat 21 on their next possession, but Winters fumbled while running upfield and the Wildcats’ Matt Greenway recovered the loose ball.

Another turnover by the Miners, this one on a interception that came after a big hit on wide receiver Mike Greaving as the ball arrived, gave Wayne State the ball at the UMR 30 early in the fourth quarter. That set up a 24-yard touchdown run by Molacek on a fourth-and-four play that gave the Wildcats a 14-3 lead with exactly 11 minutes to play.

Winters drove the Miners back into WSU territory after the Wildcat touchdown, but threw his third interception of the half when Robert Manuel picked off a ball at the five -yard line.

Becker entered the game at quarterback when the Miners got the ball back and on his second play, hit Gronewold on a slant pattern for a 38-yard touchdown reception to draw the Miners to within five at 14-9; UMR missed the two-point conversion attempt.

UMR got the ball back after a punt at its own 22 with 1:36 to play and Becker threw a pair of key completions – one to Landry on a fourth down play – to keep the drive going. However, the last chance ended on an interception in the end zone on a play where contact was made with Gronewold but no penalty was called.

Winters threw for 194 yards as he completed 18 of his 34 pass attempts, while Becker hit on five-of-nine for 78 yards in his two series at quarterback. Landry caught nine passes for 89 yards, while Gronewold had 125 yards in receptions on his seven catches. Padilla led the Miner ground game with 64 yards.

Linebacker Avian Jordan led UMR with 15 tackles on the afternoon, while Loren Severs had nine stops from his linebacker position. Daudi White had an interception for the lone turnover forced by the Miner defense.

UMR closes its season next Saturday at home against Kentucky Wesleyan. Game time will be at 1 p.m. at Allgood-Bailey Stadium; the 14 Miner seniors will be honored prior to the game.

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Joffroi Holcombe

KENOSHA, Wis. – The University of Missouri-Rolla men’s cross country team finished 13th Saturday at the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional meet held at Wisconsin-Parkside.

UMR finished with a total of 343 points, finishing well ahead of the other 10 teams in the competition. The Miners were 20 points in back of Northwood University in the team standings.

The Miners’ top finisher was Joffroi Holcombe with a 51st place finish in a time of 34:02 over ten kilometers. Gary Black came in 67th place in 34:28, while Chris Thielker came in third among the Miner runners in 72nd place in a time of 34:40, just ahead of Chris Murray in 74th place.

Kurt Schauwecker rounded out the Miner quintet in 78th place with a mark of 34:52.

MEN'S RESULTS FROM NCAA GREAT LAKES REGIONAL

TEAM SCORES: Grand Valley State 36, Wayne State (Mich.) 60, Saginaw Valley State 119, Northern Kentucky 170, Southern Indiana 177, Hillsdale 187, Lewis 188, Ashland 193, Tiffin 290, SIU Edwardsville 294, Lake Superior State 316, Northwood 327, Missouri-Rolla 343, Drury 411, Bellarmine 426, Indianapolis 447, Michigan Tech 467, Findlay 499, Wisconsin-Parkside 535, Ferris State 542, Mercyhurst 554, Saint Joseph's 588, Gannon 667.

UMR INDIVIDUALS (10K):
51. Joffroi Holcombe, 34:02
67. Gary Black, 34:28
72. Chris Thielker, 34:40
74. Chris Murray, 34:40
78. Kurt Schauwecker, 34:52
82. Nathan Young, 34:53
83. Andrew Ropp, 34:54

Complete men's results

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Laura Ruf

KENOSHA, Wis. – UMR’s women’s cross country team finished 21st Saturday in the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional held at Wisconsin-Parkside.

The Lady Miners finished 21st among the 24 teams in the meet, getting their top finish from senior Laura Ruf with a time of 24:24 over the six-kilometer course. Ruf finished in 84th place in the final standings.

UMR’s other finishers in the top five included Silvey Britton in 101st place in in 24:24, Kierra Handley in 129th place in 25:30, Wendy Moore in 133rd place in 25:37 and Kylee Hyzer in 136th place in a time of 25:44.

The regional meet is the last of the season for the Lady Miners.

WOMEN'S RESULTS FROM NCAA GREAT LAKES REGIONAL

TEAM SCORES:
Grand Valley State 47, Wisconsin-Parkside 91, Findlay 136, Southern Indiana 139, Indianapolis 192, Northern Michigan 228, Hillsdale 231, Northern Kentucky 256, Wayne State (Mich.) 270, Ferris State 270, Michigan Tech 271, Ashland 286, Drury 310, Saginaw Valley State 319, Lake Superior State 371, Northwood 391, Bellarmine 392, Lewis 441, Saint Joseph's 482, SIU Edwardsville 478, Missouri-Rolla 583, Gannon 630, Mercyhurst 641, Kentucky Wesleyan 752.

UMR INDIVIDUALS (6K):
84. Laura Ruf, 24:24
101. Silvey Britton, 24:44
129. Kierra Handley, 25:30
133. Wendy Moore, 25:37
136. Kylee Hyzer, 25:44
144. Jamie Calvert, 26:01
154. Dana Narconis, 26:50

Complete meet results

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COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The first meeting between the Miner basketball team and the University of Missouri in 84 years ended up as many would have expected – with the Tigers winning the exhibition contest 105-67 at Mizzou Arena Friday night – but the Miners were able to keep the Tigers within their sights for much of the evening.

The Tigers, playing with a more aggressive and up-tempo style of play under new head coach Mike Anderson, jumped on the Miners right from the outset as they scored the first five points of the game before Yamani Ball hit a three-pointer to put UMR on the scoreboard.

The Miners trailed 15-10 after a pair of free throws by Casey Noll at the 14:45 mark, but the Tigers scored 16 of the next 19 points to build an 18-point lead. Mizzou pushed its lead out to as many as 27 points in the first half.

UMR was able to stay within reach for a while thanks to its three-point shooting, hitting six of their 14 first half attempts from behind the arc. However, the Tigers were able to take advantage of numerous UMR turnovers with its full court defense and were able to score 42 points off UMR turnovers on the evening.

Missouri led 60-36 at halftime as it shot 51.1 percent in the first half and forced 22 UMR turnovers. The Miners did make 12 of their 27 shot attempts in the the opening half, getting 11 points from freshman Justin Taylor. Taylor and Tyrone Davidson finished with 17 points apiece to lead UMR. Davidson finished with a double as he led all rebounders with 12.

UMR held its own against Missouri on the boards as it was outrebounded by just one at 47-46. UMR won the battle of the boards two nights earlier at Arkansas State.

The Miners will be idle until their season opener Nov. 15 against Rhema Bible at the Gale Bullman Multi-Purpose Building. Game time will be at 7 p.m.

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Zach Crane

Derek Pelate

Three members of the University of Missouri-Rolla men's soccer team have been selected to the ESPN The Magazine academic all-district team for District 7.

Seniors Zach Crane and Derek Pelate, along with junior Dan Gravlin, were all first-team selections to the squad for the 2006 season and all three will be eligible for Academic All-America honors; that team will be annoucned next month.

Crane was named to the squad for the second straight year as a defender, as he played as a wing defender during the year. He helped a defensive unit that included Pelate, an honorable mention selection by the Great Lakes Valley Conference, that held its opponents to just over 1.5 goals per game and four shutouts during the year.

Crane, a civil engineering major, had one goal during the 2006 season. Pelate, who is majoring in electrical engineering, had a goal and two assists during the 2006 season while playing as the Miners' sweeper.

Dan Gravlin

Gravlin is majoring in civil engineering and finished the year with one goal and a team-high four assists in the Miners' 9-9-2 campaign. Gravlin had a four-point game during the season with a goal and two assists in a key GLVC win over Missouri-St. Louis in early October.

UMR finished at 7-5-1 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and earned a berth to the conference tournament for the second consecutive year.

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