The University of Missouri-Rolla athletics program is currently in 69th place -- or among the top 26 percent -- among schools at the NCAA Division II level in the latest NACDA Director's Cup standings.

The most recent standings, which came out at the conclusion of the winter sports championships, have the Miners' program in 69th place thanks to a pair of high finishes at NCAA championship events in March. The swimming team placed fourth at its national meet, a week after the men's track team posted a tie for 12th finish at its NCAA meet.

Those two finishes were good for a total of 143 3/4 points (80 points for swimming, 63 3/4 for track) as schools are awarded points based on their finishes in national championship events.

UMR ranks eighth among the 14 Great Lakes Valley Conference schools in the latest standings. Southern Illinois Edwardsville tops the list of GLVC schools as it is in 15th place, one spot ahead of Drury and two ahead of Indianapolis. Wisconsin-Parkside currently ranks 30th, while Lewis is 35th, Northern Kentucky is 47th and Southern Indiana is in 57th place.

All of those schools had at least one of its basketball teams make the NCAA regionals except for Indianapolis, which had top ten finishes in three other sports.

The other GLVC schools with points are Quincy (tie for 140th), Bellarmine and Rockhurst (both tied for 160th). Kentucky Wesleyan, Missouri-St. Louis and Saint Joseph's have not competed in or scored at a national event thus far in the 2006-07 season.

The national leader is Grand Valley State with a total of 699 1/2 points through the winter season. The Laker program won the national championship in football and has six other top ten finishes this season on the national level. A total of 262 schools compete at the NCAA Division II level.

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Rachel Wilkinson

After going scoreless for 11-plus innings on Thursday, the Lady Miner softball team staged a pair of two-out rallies to gain a split with Truman State in a non-conference doubleheader at the UMR Softball Field.

Rachel Wilkinson's single drove in Kandi Wieberg with the winning run in the bottom of the seventh of game two to give UMR a 3-2 victory over the Bulldogs after Truman won game one by a 2-0 count.

UMR was shut out in the opener by Ashley McDougal and by Katie Jeannin for the first four innings of the nightcap before finally getting on the scoreboard. It wasn't until Truman had taken a 2-0 lead in the top half of the fifth with a pair of unearned runs for the UMR bats to come to life.

A two-out error by shortstop Kelsey Musselman kept the Truman fifth alive and the Bulldogs took advantage when Jessie Shelman laced a double with the bases loaded to score a pair.

But after Jeannin retired the first two hitters in the bottom half, Krista Porterfield lined a ball off her leg and reached base. Wieberg followed with a double to left center to score Porterfield, then Wieberg scored moments later when Ashley Winter blooped a single to right center to tie the score.

UMR had a chance to get the lead in the sixth when Emily Tucker doubled with one out, but she was stranded on second.

After McDougal entered the game and got the first two hitters out in the seventh, Wieberg got her fourth hit of the game. Winter, who had two hits off McDougal in the opener, was walked on four pitches and Musselman also drew a walk to load the bases.

Wilkinson got behind in the count, but then hit a shot over the head of Truman rightfielder Christen Belcher to win the game.

Ashley Wallingford got the win for the Lady Miners as she allowed just five hits and struck out three in a complete game effort, improving her record to 5-1 on the season.

The Bulldogs scored single runs off Jen O'Hara in the first and third innings of game one, getting a solo home run from Hallie Blackney in the first and a run-scoring double from Shelman in the third.

UMR stranded seven runners in the opener and missed a golden scoring chance in the first with runners on second and third and nobody out. It also left two runners on base in the fifth as it was shut out for the first time this season.

The Lady Miners (14-7) will face Missouri-St. Louis Saturday in a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader that will start at noon.

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Thomas McCormick

Southern Indiana halted comeback attempts by the Miners in both games of Wednesday's doubleheader at the UMR Baseball Field and came away with a sweep, winning by scores of 7-6 in eight innings and 2-0 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.

UMR rallied from a 6-3 deficit in the sixth inning of game one to draw even, but couldn't get the go-ahead run across in either the sixth or seventh inning before the Eagles won the game in the top of the eighth. The Miners then got runners on base in each of the last four innings of the nightcap, but those threats were halted as well.

The Eagles scored four times in the opening inning off UMR starter Matt Campbell, but the Miners bounced back and scored three runs of their own in the bottom half of the first.

With one out, Cody Bass drew a walk from starter Jeremy Kerht, then a walk to Nick Zurweller was followed by an error on a throw to second on a ball hit by Thomas McCormick. The throwing error allowed Bass to score.

Later in the inning, Robbie Martin delivered a sacrifice fly and Brandon Cogan got a two-out single that cut the lead to 4-3 and eventually led to Kehrt's exit from the game.

Both teams batted around in the first inning which lasted for 37 minutes.

USI added single runs in the third and fourth innings to take a 6-3 lead as reliever Dan Kissel held the Miners down after the opening flurry. However, UMR got to the Eagle bullpen in the sixth, as Cogan and pinch-hitter Joe Montgomery got hits off Kissel to lead to his removal from the contest.

The Miners loaded the bases moments later on a bunt single by Gerad Fox, then Bass singled up the middle to make it 6-4. After the Eagles got the second out of the inning on a force out at the plate, McCormick singled past shortstop Kevin O'Hair to drive home two runs to tie the contest at six.

A passed ball put runners on second and third, but Eaf Redden fouled out to right to end that scoring opportunity. UMR got another chance in the seventh when Cogan doubled with one out, but Eagle reliever Brook Meier got out of the jam to send the game to extra innings.

In the eighth, a one-out single by Chad Bruce brought home Alex Thieroff with the go-ahead run. Meier retired the Miners in order in the bottom of the eighth to get the win.

Cogan had three hits for UMR in the opener, while Bass and McCormick had two hits apiece. Tavish Hill, who entered the game in the eighth inning, took the loss for the Miners.

In the second game, Southern Indiana got both of its runs in the second inning when Bruce doubled home a run with two outs and another run scored on a balk by pitcher Ben Sherman.

The Miners didn't get their first runner on base until Fox led off the fourth with a hit, but he was erased on a double play. UMR got two runners on in the fifth and another in the sixth with two outs but couldn't push anything across.

Cogan led off the seventh with a hit, but he was also erased on a double play that ended the game.

UMR had just four hits in the nightcap, while three Miner pitchers held the Eagles to five hits in the contest.

The Miners (9-14, 2-11 GLVC) will take on Lewis in a three-game series this weekend in Romeoville, Ill., starting with a doubleheader Saturday at noon.

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Justin Taylor

Justin Taylor, the freshman point guard for the University of Missouri-Rolla men's basketball team, has been selected to Division II Bulletin's all-freshman team for the 2006-07 season.

Taylor, who hails from Webster Groves, Mo., averaged 9.4 points and a team-high 3.1 assists while starting all but one game at the point guard position for the Miners this year. He had the Miners' top scoring game of the season with a 27-point effort at Kentucky Wesleyan and owned a 1.1-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio during the 2006-07 season.

He was one of 10 freshmen nationwide -- and the only one from a Great Lakes Valley Conference school -- selected to the squad by the national publication for basketball at the NCAA Division II level. Taylor was selected as the GLVC's "Freshman of the Year" following the season.

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OWENSBORO, Ky. -- After dropping the first two games of the weekend series at Kentucky Wesleyan, the Miners won the final game by taking a 4-3 decision in 12 innings Sunday afternoon.

Brandon Cogan's single in the 12th scored Robbie Martin with the go-ahead run as the Miners overcame the Panthers' ninth inning rally that sent the contest into extra innings. Martin had doubled to open the inning, then moved to third on Owen Madison's sacrifice bunt. Cogan followed that with the hit to score him.

Matt Campbell, who entered the game in the ninth, got the Panthers out in order in the bottom of the 12th to get the win in relief. He allowed just one hit in 3 2/3 innings of work, but was victimized by an error in the bottom of the ninth that allowed the tying run to score.

UMR scored twice in the opening inning when Nick Zurweller homered with two outs and Eaf Redden singled home Thomas McCormick, who tripled after Zurweller's home run.

Kentucky Wesleyan got a run back in the bottom of the first, but that was all it would get off of UMR starter Stephen Read through the first eight innings. Read scattered nine hits, but left seven Panthers on base while he was in the game.

The Miners added a run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Martin and that 3-1 lead held up until the ninth, when the Panthers started a rally with one out. An RBI double by Steven Lee cut the lead to one, then a two-out error allowed pinch-runner Tyler Chew to score the tying run. Another error kept the inning alive before Campbell got Tim Wimsatt to ground a ball back to him to close the inning.

Yaimel Javier-Cury had three hits for the Miners (9-12, 2-9 Great Lakes Valley Conference), while McCormick and Martin had two hits each.

Saturday's games

The Miners dropped a pair of one-run contests to the Panthers Saturday, as KWC rallied in the ninth for a 6-5 win in game one followed by a 1-0 victory in a pitcher's dual in the second game.

UMR led for nearly the entire game in the opener, scoring twice in the first and fourth innings to take a 4-0 lead.

In the first, the Miners got a two-run double from McCormick to take the early lead, then got a successful squeeze bunt from Josh Hanrahan and an RBI double from Cody Bass to go up 4-0 through four innings.

The Panthers got single runs off starter Brandon Cogan in the fifth and sixth innings, then tied the game off reliever Brian Rickert in the seventh.

UMR regained the lead in the top of the ninth as Gerad Fox delivered a two-out single to score Zurweller, who walked to start the inning.

However, KWC was able to rally against Andy Draper, who had retired the Panthers in order in the eighth. A bases loaded single by Matt Martin tied the game, then the Panthers won it on a hit by Wimsatt.

UMR had 11 hits in game one, with five different players getting two apiece.

The nightcap turned into a pitcher's dual between UMR's Tavish Hill and KWC's Dean Futrell, as Hill gave up just four hits in six innings of work but was outpitched by Futrell, who shut out the Miners on just two singles.

The only run of the game came via a sacrifice fly by Neil Holmes in the second inning. UMR didn't get its first hit until the fifth when Zurweller singled with one out; that inning provided the Miners their best scoring chance as they loaded the bases but couldn't get a run across.

The Miners will play host to Southern Indiana in a GLVC doubleheader Wednesday starting at noon at the UMR Baseball Field.

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Ashley Winter

The Lady Miners got plenty of hitting Sunday afternoon as they swept a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader from Kentucky Wesleyan at the UMR Softball Field.

With a total of 23 hits in the two games, UMR posted victories by scores of 5-1 in the opener and 9-1 in a second game that was called in the bottom of the sixth due to the eight-run rule.

UMR grabbed the early lead in game one as it scored twice in the opening inning. A leadoff double by Kandi Wieberg was followed by a bunt single by Ashley Winter. Winter stole second and when the throw sailed into center field, Wieberg came in to score. Winter later scored on a hit by Emily Tucker.

Solo home runs by Kelsey Musselman in the third and Coley Naughton to lead off the fourth gave UMR a 4-0 lead.

Jen O'Hara pitched around trouble throughout the first three innings in particular, but still had a shutout until the sixth when Haleigh Ashworth's two-out double scored Erin Bradley. UMR got that run back in the bottom half of the inning when Wieberg delivered a two-out RBI single.

O'Hara gave up nine hits -- but only three after the third inning -- to improve her record to 9-5 on the season. UMR had 12 hits in game one, with four different players getting two hits apiece.

The Lady Miners fell behind in the nightcap as the Panthers put an unearned run across in the third. With runners on second and third, Kaley Wethington lined out, but a throw to second to try and double off a runner was dropped which allowed Bradley to score from third.

UMR bounced back and scored three times in the bottom half of that frame, which started with Becky Davis' infield hit.

After a hit by Wieberg, Winter brought home the tying run with a single to right and stole second. A throwing error allowed Musselman to reach and load the bases, then Rachel Wilkninson blooped a single to left to score Wieberg. A sacrifice fly by Tucker scored the third run of the inning.

While Ashley Wallingford was able to shut down any Panther threats to score, the Lady Miners put the game away with a six-run sixth inning.

With the bases loaded and one out, Davis singled through a drawn-in infield to make it 4-1. A sacrifice fly by Plummer extended the lead to 5-1, then Wieberg doubled home a run and Winter singled home two more.

After Musselman doubled into the left field corner, Wilkinson ended the game with a single to left to score Winter with the Lady Miners' sixth run of the inning.

Winter had three hits and three runs batted in during game two, while Wieberg, Wilkinson and Davis had two hits each.

Wallingford improved her record to 4-1 as she gave up just four hits in six innings.

UMR (13-6, 4-2 GLVC) will host Truman State Thursday at 1 p.m. at the UMR Softball Field.

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ESPN Classic will air an episode of "NCAA On Campus" Wednesday that will feature University of Missouri-Rolla swimmer Bill Gaul and the Miner swimming team.

The show will air at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN Classic (Fidelity Channel 35 in Rolla) and will also be shown four times over the next month on ESPNU.

The air dates for the show on ESPNU are Saturday, March 24 (11:30 a.m.), Sunday, April 1 (6 a.m.), Friday, April 6 (2:30 a.m.) and Thursday, April 12 (5 a.m.).

Gaul, who just completed his senior year with the UMR swimming program, was named as ESPN The Magazine's Academic All-America of the Year following the 2005-06 season. He was one of 12 swimmers to earn All-America honors last week as the Miners finished fourth at the NCAA Division II Swimming Championships in Buffalo, N.Y.

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Kandi Wieberg

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- If the Lady Miner softball team was suffering some hangover effects from Saturday's 15-inning loss in its first game Sunday, it found the remedy between contests.

UMR bounced back from a 9-1 loss in the first game of a doubleheader Sunday at Indianapolis, but came back to beat the Greyhounds 7-4 to finish with a split of the twinbill and the weekend of Great Lakes Valley Conference play.

The Lady Miners, who were an out away from a win in the second game Saturday at Saint Joseph's before falling in 15 innings, fell behind right away in the opener Sunday as the Greyhounds got a two-run homer from Jessica Breeden in the opening inning.

UMR cut the lead in half on an RBI groundout by Coley Naughton in the second, but managed only two more hits after that off UIndy pitcher Courtney Smith.

The contest remained a 2-1 game until the bottom of the fifth when Indianapolis touched Jen O'Hara for four runs. The Greyhounds loaded the bases with one out, then Megan Russell unloaded them with a grand slam to give the hosts a 6-1 lead. UIndy put an end to the contest due to the eight-run rule in the bottom of the sixth by scoring three times.

In the nightcap, UMR's first four hitters reached base and the Lady Miners grabbed the lead on Rachel Wilkinson's two-run double that knocked Smith, who got the start in the second game as well, out of the contest. Emily Tucker hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0, then Lauren Feltmann's two-out hit scored the fourth run of the inning.

The Lady Miners tacked on a run in the fifth on a home run by Wieberg before the Greyhounds scored single runs in the second, third and fifth innings off Ashley Wallingford to cut the lead to 5-3.

UMR increased its lead by a run in the sixth when Becky Davis doubled to open the frame and scored on Wieberg's third hit of the game. UIndy got that run back in the bottom half of the inning when Russell hit a leadoff homer, but the Lady Miners added an insurance run in the seventh.

Tucker singled to start the inning, then stole second, moved to third on a ground ball and scored on a hit by Feltmann.

Wallingford, who scattered 10 hits in a complete game effort, pitched around a bases-loaded jam in the seventh by striking out Jill Purdy to end the game. It was the first win for the freshman pitcher since March 2 as she improved to 3-1 on the year.

Wieberg had three of UMR's 12 hits in the second game, while Tucker and Feltmann had two hits apiece.

UMR (11-6, 2-2 GLVC) will be idle until Sunday when it hosts Kentucky Wesleyan in a noon doubleheader at the UMR Softball Field.

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Stephen Read

The Miners were unable to solve Southern Illinois Edwardsville's pitching for a second straight day and suffered a pair of shutout losses to the Cougars in Great Lakes Valley Conference play at the UMR Baseball Field.

SIUE's Luke Vine held UMR to three hits in a 6-0 Cougar win in the opener, then the Miners could only get one hit in the nightcap against James Hertel and dropped a 1-0 decision despite another strong pitching outing by Stephen Read.

Read gave up only five hits over 8 1/3 innings in the second game with five strikeouts, but was touched for the only run of the game in the eighth inning. Cory Bunner's two-out single up the middle scored Michael DalPozzo to break up the scoreless tie.

The senior hurler retired the first 16 batters he faced until Danny Fletcher reached with a one-out single in the sixth. However, Hertel was equally effective as he didn't allow a hit himself until Gerad Fox doubled with two outs in the bottom half of that inning.

UMR had only three runners reach base in the game -- Fox on two occasions as he also walked to open the game and Joe Montgomery when he reached on an error in the seventh.

In the first game, the contest was scoreless until the fourth when SIUE scored two unearned runs with two outs. The first run scored when pitcher Matt Campbell was unable to corral a slow roller, then a balk by the UMR pitcher moments later brought in the second run.

The Cougars added two more runs in the fifth and scored single runs in the sixth and seventh off reliever Andrew Page.

UMR had three hits in the game, one apiece by Robbie Martin, Kris Hamilton and Mark Phillips. The Miners had a good scoring threat in the fifth when Hamilton doubled and Phillips walked to open the inning, but they ended up being stranded on second and third.

The Miners (8-10, 1-7 GLVC) are scheduled to play Missouri-St. Louis Tuesday at 5 p.m. at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Ill.

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Matt Hug

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Miner swimming team posted its highest result at a national meet since 1998 by completing a fourth place finish Saturday night at the NCAA Division II Swimming Championships.

Thanks to two All-America efforts and one more school record performance, the Miners finished with a total of 299 points at the national meet to hold off California-San Diego, which ended up with 287. Drury won the national title by a whopping margin, scoring 665.5 points to beat North Dakota (485) and Wayne State (Mich.), who finished with 360 points.

Matt Hug posted his best finish of the national meet Saturday with his third school record performance of the meet, taking third in the 1,650-yard freestyle in a time of 15:38.75. The time broke the mark he set in the event back in December at Arkansas-Little Rock.

In addition, Hug toppled the mark in the 1,000-freestyle during the course of that race by swimming the first 1,000 in 9:26.60; he had set the record on the first day of the national meet.

UMR also got one more All-America performance from a relay team as the 400-yard freestyle relay quartet of Chris Scheuber, Mark Chamberlain, David Sanchez-Turner and Matt Adams finished in seventh place with a time of 3:05.86.

Andrew Trowbridge took 11th in the 1,650-freestyle in 16:16.58 to gain honorable mention All-America status in the meet, as did Travis Stensby in the 200-yard backstroke in 1:52.26. UMR also got a 14th-place showing from Kyle Kammer in that event as he posted a time of 1:52.97

UMR also had two finishers among the top 16 in the 200-yard breaststroke as Matt Hammond came in 11th in 2:06.18 and David Calcara finished 12th in 2:06.97 in the finals.

Over the course of the four-day meet, the Miners established nine new school records, had all 12 of its individuals in the meet earn All-America honors and those 12 earned a total of 37 All-America awards -- including the relays -- of which 17 came on an individual basis.

NCAA Division II Swimming Championship results

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RENSSELAER, Ind. -- The Lady Miners were one out away from a doubleheader sweep to open Great Lakes Valley Conference play Saturday, but a sudden rally by Saint Joseph's led to a marathon nightcap that ended up in a split when the Pumas ended up winning game two.

UMR won the opener 3-0 behind a four-hit shutout by Jen O'Hara, but Saint Joseph's took the second contest by a count of 9-8 in 15 innings.

Emily Tucker drove in two of the three runs for UMR in game one, starting with her RBI single in the third inning to score Kandi Wieberg to open the scoring.

UMR extended its lead in the fifth when Kelsey Musselman delivered a two-out double to score Ashley Winter, then Tucker hit a two-out homer in the seventh to add an insurance tally.

Saint Joseph's had opportunities in the fourth and fifth innings as it loaded the bases in both frames, but O'Hara induced a ground out to get out of the fourth and got a strikeout and fly out to escape a one-out jam in the following inning.

Tucker and Musselman had two hits apiece for UMR, which had seven hits in game one.

The Lady Miners spotted the Pumas a run in the first inning of game two, but got two in the top of the third when Wieberg opened the inning with a home run and Rachel Wilkinson drove home a run with a ground out. UMR extended the lead to 3-1 in the fourth when Winter drove in Becky Davis with a hit, but missed a chance for more when it left the bases loaded.

Saint Joseph's scored four times in the fifth to regain the lead, with Stephanie Kickels' bases clearing double putting it on top. However, the Lady Miners answered by scoring three in the sixth to take a 6-5 lead.

UMR loaded the bases with two outs, then a passed ball brought home Musselman with the first run of the inning. Lauren Feltmann followed with a two-run single to give UMR the lead again.

The Lady Miners added two more in the seventh when an error allowed Allison Plummer to score and Wilkinson doubled home another run.

O'Hara entered the game to pitch in the bottom of the seventh after Ashley Wallingford got UMR through the first six and got the first two batters out. However, following a single by Kickels and a double by Nicole Fetla, Ashley Reed belted a three-run homer -- her only hit of the afternoon -- to tie the game at eight and send it to extra innings.

UMR did not get a runner on base in extra innings against Sara Somogyi until Winter reached on a two-out single in the 12th. Somogyi fanned 16 batters in eight innings of relief and counting her start in the first game, finished with 29 strikeouts in the doubleheader.

The Lady Miners did have a chance in the 14th, as Coley Naughton reached on an error to start the inning and Plummer walked with one out, but that was as close as UMR would get to scoring in extra innings.

Saint Joseph's won the game in the bottom of the 15th on a two-out double by Michelle Hammons that scored Fetla, who had doubled with one out.

UMR had 17 hits in the game, five coming from Wieberg to tie a UMR single-game record and three apiece from Winter and Davis.

UMR (10-5, 1-1 GLVC) will play a doubleheader at Indianapolis Sunday starting at 11 a.m. (Central time).

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ATLANTA, Ga. – The UMR men’s track team opened the 2007 outdoor season Saturday with four winning efforts at the Morehouse Relays and a strong all-around showing in the meet.

The winning performances came from Lucas Handley in the pole vault with a clearance of 15-feet, Chris Carsten in the hammer throw at 164-9, Thomas Green in the 1,500-meters in 4:12.27, Matt Bartels in the 400-meter hurdles in 55.87 seconds. UMR went 1-2-3 in the pole vault, as Jordan Henry was second with a mark of 14-6 and Jared Anders was third at 14-feet.

Jarryd Dean had a second place showing in the high jump as he cleared 6-6, while seconds were also recorded by Carsten in the shot put with a throw of 45-3 3/4, Joffroi Holcombe in the 10,000-meters in 32:23.82, Brett Agee in the 5,000-meters in 16:47.82 and Kal-El Waters-Jones in the long jump with a mark of 22-11 3/4.

UMR got a third place performances from Matt Morrow in the discus with a mark of 127-7 and hammer at 113-10, Wes Everhart in the javelin at 153-1, Andrew Ropp in the 5,000-meters in 16:49.31 and Paul Roland in the 800-meters in 1:56.23, while Matt Osmond took fourth in that event in 1:56.92.

Ropp also took fourth in the 1,500-meters in 4:19.09, while Charles Melton placed fourth in the 200-meters with a time of 22.16 seconds and also recorded a 13th-place effort in the 100-meters in 10.90 seconds.

Mark Spaw had a fourth in the 5,000-meters in 17:11.96 as did Logan MacCash in the pole vault at 11-5 3/4, while Michael Knickerbocker came in fifth in the 1,500-meters in 4:23.83 as did Jesse Scott in the 400-meter hurdles in 58.23 seconds.

Jamel Sims was sixth in the 400-hurdles in 58.45 seconds and seventh in the 100-meter hurdles in 15.51 seconds.

The Miners also got a seventh place finish from Andrew Conrad in the 1,500 in 4:26.78, an eighth from Chris Teel in the 800-meters in 2:03.43 and a tenth from Jeff Pike in the triple jump with a mark of 44-11 1/2.

The Miners got a second place showing from its 4x800-meter relay team as it posted a time of 8:198.05, while the 4x200-meter relay team came in fourth place with a time of 1:30.68 and the 4x400-meter relay squad finished seventh in 3:27.19.

Results from Morehouse Relays

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ATLANTA, Ga. -- The first outdoor meet of the season for the Lady Miner track team saw two winning performances, two school records and ten finishes among the top five in various events at the Morehouse Relays.

Becca Kueny, competing for the first time this season, won the javelin throw with a mark of 129-10 in the event that she won All-America honors in during the 2006 outdoor season. She also placed sixth in the discus with a throw of 117-5.

UMR got a winning performance from Wendy Moore in the 1,500-meters as she posted a time of 5:08.98 in one her two top-five finishes of the meet. Moore also placed fourth in the 800-meters with a time of 2:27.53.

The school records came from Hannah Terwelp in the hammer throw as her mark of 117-8 was good for a third place finish and from Taylor Hahn, who tied her outdoor school record in the pole vault as she cleared 10-6 to finish second in the event to Murray State’s Alicia Tempel.

Kylee Hyzer finished in second place in the 3,000-meters with a time of 11:07.48, while UMR also got third place showings in the pole vault from Jamie Statler with a clearance of 10-feet and from Kierra Handley in the 800-meters with a time of 2:24.07.

Tamara McCaskill, competing in her first outdoor meet at the collegiate level, finished fourth in the high jump with a clearance of 5-5 3/4. Dana Narconis also recorded a fourth place showing in the 3,000-meters in 11:19.69, while Katie Bruce came in fifth place in the 400-meters in 1:01.53.

Jocelyn Bailey came in tenth in the 400-meters in 1:02.93 and Hillary Griffith finished 11th in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.64 seconds to round out the top finishes by Lady Miner competitors on an individual basis.

The Lady Miners’ 4x400-meter relay team had a fourth place finish in a time of 4:04.23 while the 4x100-meter relay team placed seventh in 50.62 seconds.

Results from Morehouse Relays

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Tavish Hill

Tavish Hill pitched well for the Miners Saturday, but couldn't get the offensive support to back his outing as Southern Illinois Edwardsville came away with a 2-0 victory over UMR on a chilly afternoon at the UMR Baseball Field.

Hill gave up just two runs on seven hits on the day -- allowing single runs in the first and ninth innings, but the Miners were unable to come up with the big hit when the opportunities were there as they fell to 8-8 overall and 1-4 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.

SIUE (8-4, 4-2 GLVC) got a run in the first when James Kulovitz drove in Ryan Czyz with a two-out single. UMR got two runners on base in the bottom half of the inning, but Cougar pitcher Adam Tallman got a strikeout to get out of the jam.

The Miners also left runners in scoring position in the third and sixth innings, then got their leadoff man on in the seventh but had that erased by a double play.

UMR got a one-out single from Josh Hanrahan in the eighth, but he was stranded when SIUE rightfielder Daniel Thomson ran down Thomas McCormick's drive to end the inning. The Miners had another chance in the ninth when Eaf Redden doubled with one out and Robbie Martin delivered a two-out single, but reliever Adam Schneider retired Kris Hamilton to end the game.

The Miners had seven hits on the day, with McCormick, Redden and Hanrahan getting two apiece.

UMR and SIUE will play a doubleheader Sunday starting at noon.

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Travis Stensby

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Miner swimming team retained its fourth place position in the team standings at the NCAA Division II Swimming Championships while getting all of its participants in the meet to All-America status heading into the final day of competition.

UMR also continued rewriting the record books as it got a pair of third place finishes and a fifth on an individual basis Friday and also received a fourth place showing from its 800-yard freestyle relay team that got Andy Shelley to the All-America level, which gave each of the 12 Miners in Buffalo at least one award for the week.

Travis Stensby, who had a runner-up finish in the 100-yard butterfly on Thursday, took third in the 100-yard backstroke Friday with a time of 50.49. Earlier in the day, he established his second school record showing of the week as he swam a 49.70 in the preliminaries, the best time in the early session.

Matt Hug had the other third place showing Friday and it came after he had the top mark in the preliminaries as well. Hug posted a time of 4:31.47 in the early round, then bettered that by more than two seconds with another school record showing, completing the race in a time of 4:29.14.

UMR had a pair of All-America performances in the 100-yard breaststroke, as Matt Adams earned his second individual award of the meet with a fifth-place effort in 57.04 seconds and Matt Hammond placed 16th -- earning honorable mention status -- in 59.33 seconds in the finals.

The Miners' 800-freestyle relay team of Mark Chamberlain, Shelley, Adams and Hug recorded a time of 6:47.15 to break yet another school standard, topping the old record set in the same facility eight seasons ago by over a second.

As a team, the Miners have established eight new school records over the first three days of the national meet.

NCAA Division II Swimming Championship results

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Travis Stensby

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A strong second day performance has the University of Missouri-Rolla swimming team in fourth place after Thursday's sessions of the NCAA Division II Swimming Championships.

Highlighted by Travis Stensby's second place showing in the 100-yard butterfly and two more school record performances, the Miners moved up one spot in the team standings. The Miners, with 155 points, moved by California-San Diego into fourth and sits 25 points in back of Wayne State (Mich.) at the midway point of the meet. Drury and North Dakota are first and second, respectively.

Stensby broke his own school record in the 100-fly during the afternoon preliminaries when he posted a 48.97, then swam a 49.06 in the finals to take second to Drury's Yiwen Huang, who had a time of 47.86.

Matt Hug, who finished seventh in the 1,000-yard freestyle on Wednesday, took sixth in the 200-freestyle Thursday night as he swam the race in 1:40.10. Hug made the finals by winning a swim-off with UC San Diego's Tim Fuller and won it in a school record time of 1:39.68.

Matt Hammond earned All-America status as well in the 400-yard individual medley by coming in sixth with a time of 4:04.44 in the finals; he swam a seasonal-best 4:03.59 in the preliminaries.

The Miners also got a 12th-place finish from Matt Adams in the 100-butterfly in 50.84 seconds.

Both Miner relay teams also placed among the top seven, as the 200-yard freestyle relay team of Chris Scheuber, Mark Chamberlain, Adams and David Sanchez-Turner took sixth in a time of 1:23.64, while the 400-yard medley relay quartet of Kyle Kammer, David Calcara, Stensby and Chamberlain finished seventh in the finals with a time of 3:24.72.

Earlier in the day, the 400-medley relay team broke the school standard by posting a time of 3:23.15 to make it into the finals.

Through two days of the meet, 11 of the 12 Miner swimmers in Buffalo have earned All-America status.

NCAA Division II Swimming Championship results

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University of Missouri-Rolla women's soccer coach Jon Kiester has announced that the Lady Miners have signed seven players to National Letters of Intent to play at UMR during the 2007 season.

The newest members of the Lady Miners are as follows:

TABITHA AUSMAN, a 5-5 forward from College Park High School in The Woodlands, Texas: Ausman serves as a captain for her high school team and is one of the top scorers for her team that is among the leaders in their district. She has played for the Challenge Soccer Club in the Houston area.

JENNA JEFFRYES, a 5-5 defender from Dimond High School in Anchrorage, Alaska: Jeffryes was an all-region honorable mention pick at the high school level, where she also earned the "Coach's Award" for her play. She was named honorable mention all-conference in 2006 in the Cook Inlet Conference and has also been a part of the Alaska Olympic Development Program and CSC Fury club team.

KELSEY KURILLA, a 5-6 goalkeeper from Edwardsville High School in Edwardsville, Ill.: Kurilla recorded a 0.90 goals against average during the 2006 season and made 122 saves in over 1,200 minutes played. She finished the year with 10 shutouts. She earned second-team all-conference honors in the Southwestern Conference and was a second-team all-area pick by the Alton Telegraph. Kurilla posted a 0.77 goals against average in 2005 with seven shutouts. Kurilla also plays for the Metro United club team.

MORGAN LOCKOWITZ, a 5-8 midfielder-forward from Wesclin High School in Trenton, Ill.: Lockowitz was one of the top prep scorers in the St. Louis area last season, posting 31 goals -- seven of which were game-winners -- and 17 assists for 79 points. That performance, where she was the third-leading scorer in the area, earned her honorable mention all-metro honors in St. Louis as well as all-area and all-sectional honors. She was named as her team's most valuable player last season and as the recipient of the team's top offensive player award. Lockowitz had 14 goals and 11 assists for 39 points as a high school sophomore and had 18 goals and seven assists for 43 points in her freshman season. Lockowitz is also a member of the Metro United club team along with fellow UMR signee Kelsey Kurilla.

STACEY LUQUETTE, a 5-8 goalkeeper from St. Amant High School in St. Amant, La.: Luquette earned first-team all-metro and most valuable player honors for the 2007 season after being a second-team all-state selection and first-team all-district and all-metro selection in 2006. She has been an all-district pick in each of her four years at the high school level. She was named as her team's defensive most valuable player in the 2004 season when her team reached the District 5 semifinals. Academically, she ranks in the top five percent of her senior class and was selected to the NFCA All-America Scholar team in 2004. In addition, she was a member of the Louisiana Olympic Development Program team.

MELIA MILLER-OANA, a 5-4 midfielder from J.J. Pearce High School in Richardson, Texas: Miller-Oana was named to the all-district first team and was also selected as her team's "Newcomer of the Year" during her prep career. In addition, she played for the FC Dallas 89 club team and has been a member of the North Texas Olympic Development Program.

RACHEL WILLE, a 5-7 forward-midfielder from Edwardsville High School in Edwardsville, Ill.: Wille is a four-year letterwinner at the high school level and finished with one assist in the 2006 season while playing primarily as a midfielder.

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The University of Missouri-Rolla men's soccer team has added six players to its roster for the 2007 season as they have signed National Letters of Intent to play at UMR.

The six signees are:

MARIO CALDERON, a 5-9, 155-pound midfielder from Mexico City, Mexico: Calderon is transferring to UMR from Lindenwood University after a successful high school career in Mexico, where he was part of a national championship team.

KENNY GRAVLIN, a 5-11, 180-pound midfielder-defender from St. Louis University High School in St. Louis, Mo.: Gravlin, whose older brother, Dan, is a current member of the Miners, was a two-year letterwinner at the high school level. He earned first-team academic honors in each of his four years in high school.

JEREMY McBRIDE, a 6-0, 145-pound midfielder from Oakville High School in St. Louis, Mo.: McBride was a three-year starter at the high school level as a center midfielder. He had a goal and three assists in the 2006 season for a team that finished 17-8-2 and as co-champions of the Suburban West Conference. He also played for the Lou Fusz Premier team in the St. Louis area and on the Missouri Olympic Development Team over each of the last two years.

AFIF NAJJAR, a 5-9, 165-pound midfielder-sweeper from Francis Howell Central High School in St. Charles, Mo.: Najjar is transferring to UMR from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, where he played in 13 games during the 2005 season for the NCAA Division II semifinalist. Prior to that, Najjar spent one season at the University of Memphis and played in eight games with an assist.

SAM SHAFFER, a 5-9, 145-pound midfielder from Oakville High School in St. Louis, Mo.: Shaffer was an honorable mention all-conference selection in the Suburban West Conference after finishing with seven goals and five assists for 19 points during the 2006 season. He had six goals and three assists during his junior year.

DANIEL STOKES, a 6-2, 170-pound midfielder from Vianney High School in Kirkwood, Mo.: Stokes had five goals and five assists last season at Vianney, where he was twice named as his team's most valuable player during his prep career. He served as a team captain during the 2006 season as Vianney reached the Missouri Class 3 semifinals. In addition, Stokes earned the team's top offensive player award during his career.

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Matt Adams

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The University of Missouri-Rolla swimming team gained six All-America performances on the opening night of the NCAA Division II Swimming Championships and find themselves in fifth place after day one of the competition.

Matt Adams broke the school record in the 200-yard individual medley as he recorded the highest individual finish of the night. His fourth place showing in the event came in a time of 1:51.31 after he had the second-best time in the preliminaries of 1:52.17.

Adams broke the oldest standing school record in a non-diving event, as Derek Coon's mark of 1:52.39 had stood since March 12, 1986, or just over 21 years ago.

Kyle Kammer missed the B-final in the event by over a second as he swam a time of 1:56.71.

The Miners also had All-America performances on an individual basis from Matt Hug and Andrew Trowbridge in the 1,000-yard freestyle. Hug took seventh in the event with a school record time of 9:27.46, while Trowbridge earned honorable mention All-America by coming in 14th in 9:42.32.

UMR's 200-yard medley relay team of Travis Stensby, Bill Gaul, Matt Adams and Chris Scheuber placed sixth in that event with a time of 1:32.34, a slight improvement over its time in the preliminary round.

The Miners had nobody in the finals of the 50-yard freestyle; Scheuber was the highest finisher in the prelims with a 20th place showing in a time of 21.11 seconds.

UMR finished the first day of competition with 56 points, which is four points better than the 52 recorded by West Chester and seven in back of fourth place California-San Diego. Drury leads the competition after the opening day with 152 points.

NCAA Division II Swimming Championship results

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Things could have been a whole lot better for the Miner baseball team Wednesday afternoon if they didn't have to play the seventh inning.

Unfortunately for UMR, the seventh was the fateful inning in both games as the Miners dropped both ends of a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader to Missouri-St. Louis at the UMR Baseball Field. The Rivermen scored four runs in the top of the seventh to win the opener 6-2, then rallied from a seven-run deficit with a 10-run seventh frame in an 11-8 game two victory.

In the first contest, the Rivermen scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to take a 2-0 lead, but the Miners put together a rally to draw even in the bottom half of the sixth. Gerad Fox opened the inning with a double down the line and scored on a two-out hit by Eaf Redden to cut the lead in half. Moments later, Nick Zurweller singled past short to tie the game.

Joe Montgomery followed with a hit, but UMSL reliever Linds Prestia entered the game and got the Rivermen out of the jam.

The Rivermen got to UMR pitcher Brian Rickert in the seventh, taking the lead on Matt Ayers' two-run triple and adding two more runs before the inning ended.

UMR had seven hits in the opener, with Fox and Montgomery getting two hits each.

Game two started out well for the Miners, as they scored in the opening inning and then knocked out UMSL starter Justin Laramie in the second when they scored four times.

Fox opened the Miner first by getting hit by a pitch, then stole second and reached third on a throwing error. With one out, Zurweller hammered a double into the left field corner to give UMR the lead.

UMR loaded the bases to open the second, then Josh Hanrahan singled home Cody Bass to extend the lead to 2-0. A wild pitch scored Brandon Cogan, which was followed by a two-run single by Redden that made it 5-0.

An RBI single by Fox in the third pushed the UMR lead to six before UMSL got on the board with an infield groundout in the fourth, but the Miners got single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to take an 8-1 lead into the seventh.

Cogan scored the seventh Miner run on a passed ball, then an RBI triple by Bass in the sixth brought home Zurweller.

UMR starter Ben Sherman, who was making his first start of the season, held the RIvermen to four hits over the first six innings. However, the Miner bullpen was unable to hold onto the large advantage as UMSL sent 13 batters to the plate in the seventh.

The big blow in the inning was a bases-clearing double by Cole Williams off Rickert, who had entered the game after both Andrew Page and Andy Draper had failed to retire any of the first eight hitters of the inning. Williams' hit gave UMSL a 10-8 lead. The Rivermen (7-1, 4-1 GLVC) got their 10 runs in the inning on just six hits, as three UMR errors and a pair of walks were part of the equation as well.

The Miners had 12 hits in game two. Kris Hamilton had three of the hits, while Fox, Zurweller and Redden had two hits each.

UMR (8-7, 1-4 GLVC) will host SIU Edwardsville in a three-game series this weekend at the UMR Baseball Field, with a noon doubleheader scheduled for Saturday and a single game on Sunday at noon.

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The University of Missouri-Rolla swimming team is one of three teams that tied for the top spot for NCAA Division II on the College Swimming Coaches Association of America's all-academic list for the 2006 fall semester.

The Miners posted a 3.23 grade point average as a team, which matched the averages posted by Truman State University and the University of Indianapolis. UMR was one of just 14 schools at the Division II level to have a team grade point average of at least 2.80, which is the minimum standard to make the list.

It is the third consecutive semester in which the Miners have been the top academic team in NCAA Division II.

The Miners have 12 individuals competing this week at the NCAA Division II Championships in Buffalo, N.Y.

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- After dropping its first two conference games of the season Saturday, the UMR baseball team salvaged the final game of its three-game series with Bellarmine by beating the Knights 7-1 Sunday afternoon.

After giving up a run on three hits in the opening inning, Stephen Read shut the door on the Knights over the next seven innings as he gave up just two hits and fanned three without a walk to improve his record to 3-0. Brian Rickert pitched the ninth to finish off the Miners' eighth win of the season in 13 games.

The Miners tied the game in the second on an RBI single by Cody Bass, then took the lead by scoring three times in the third.

Gerad Fox led off the inning with a hit and stole second, then after being sacrificed to third scored on Robbie Martin's infield hit. The MIners then loaded the bases and added to the lead when a passed ball scored Martin. Nick Zurweller followed with an RBI single to make it 4-1.

UMR got two more runs in the fourth when Martin hit a sacrifice fly to score Fox and Joe Montgomery's ground out brought home Thomas McCormick. The Miners got their final tally in the seventh when a throwing error allowed Zurweller, who had stolen third, to come home to score.

Read retired 10 straight hitters in one stretch and allowed only two hitters to reach base from the second through the seventh innings. One of the two reached an an error and was later caught stealing, while the other was erased on a double play.

UMR had 11 hits in the game, with Martin collecting two to go along with his two runs batted in. McCormick, Eaf Redden and Zurweller all had two hits as well.

The Miners (8-5, 1-2 GLVC) will open a five-game homestand Wednesday with a noon doubleheader against Missouri-St. Louis.

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Jordan Henry (left) and Lucas Handley

BOSTON, Mass. -- All three of UMR's competitors at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships are coming home with All-America honors as Lucas Handley and Jordan Henry earned those awards Saturday in the pole vault.

As a results of the three All-America finishes, the Miners also posted their highest team finish ever at an NCAA track meet, as they came in a tie for 12th overall with 16 points. UMR finished even with Minnesota State and was the highest-ranking GLVC team at the national meet.

Handley finished third in the event with a school record -- indoors or outdoors -- mark of 16-8. He cleared the 16-8 mark on his third effort to break an indoor school mark of 16-5 1/2 that he shared with J.R. Skola and left him as one of three in the competition at that point. Handley and Minnesota State-Moorhead's Derik Brugger both missed on all three attempts at the next height (5.18 meters), but Brugger had fewer misses to take second in the final standings.

Handley's previous best indoors or outdoors was 16-7 1/4 and his effort Saturday earned him his second All-America award in his third national meet. He finished sixth at the 2006 NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships.

Henry, meanwhile, finished seventh overall as he cleared the opening height of 15-6 1/4 and then went over at 16-feet even on his first effort. He missed on his three tries at 16-4 but had fewer misses than the other two who dropped out of the competition at that point.

The All-America award is the first for Henry, who competed at last spring's outdoor nationals as a freshman.

The pole vault winner was Grand Valley State's Bryant Wilson, who went over the bar at 17-5 3/4.

Tyrone Smith was the third Miner to earn All-America honors, which he accomplished with a second place finish in the long jump on Friday.

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JOPLIN, Mo. -- The Lady Miners' wacky weekend in Joplin came to an end on a high note Saturday as UMR knocked off Central Missouri 7-6 to salvage a split of its four games in the Teri Zenner Memorial Classic.

The win came after UMR had allowed a seven-run lead to get away earlier in the day against host Missouri Southern in a 9-7 loss to the Lady Lions.

In the Central contest, the Lady Miners spotted the Jennies a run in the opening inning but tied the game when an error allowed Emily Tucker to score. UCM regained the lead with two runs in the second, but UMR evened things up again in the third by scoring twice.

Kandi Wieberg reached on an error to start the frame, then a hit by Ashley Winter and another error loaded the bases. A squeeze bunt by Rachel Wilkinson scored one run, then Becky Davis drew a two-out walk to tie the game at three.

UMR took its first lead of the contest when Wilkinson belted a three-run homer with two outs in the fourth, then after the Jennies drew to within one in the fifth, the Lady Miners got a needed insurance run in the sixth when Winter delivered a sacrifice fly to score Allison Plummer, who had tripled to open the inning.

UCM got back to within a run in the bottom of the sixth on a bases loaded walk, but pitcher Jen O'Hara got Katie Bauer to ground out to keep the lead in UMR's hands. O'Hara then retired the Jennies in order in the seventh to wrap up the win.

Earlier in the day, UMR built a 7-0 lead after two innings against Missouri Southern, but the Lady Lions scored seven unearned runs in the fifth to tie the game and won it in the eighth on J.T. Taylor's two-run homer.

Wilkinson's RBI single got the Lady Miners on the board in the first, then two more runs scored after an error by Taylor on a ball hit by Coley Naughton. UMR tacked on four more runs in the second, two scoring on a double by Wilkinson. Kelsey Musselman scored on a wild pitch after the Wilkinson hit, then Tucker drove home a run with a hit.

After the Lady Lions had tied the contest, UMR had runners on base in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Davis doubled to open up the seventh, but was stranded on second.

Winter and Wilkinson had two hits apiece in each of the two games Saturday, with Wilkinson driving in seven runs on the afternoon.

UMR (9-4) will open Great Lakes Valley Conference play March 17 at Saint Joseph's.

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The Miners' solid start to the 2007 season hit a bump in the road as they opened Great Lakes Valley Conference play Saturday, as Bellarmine swept a doubleheader from the Miners by scores of 2-0 and 3-2.

The Miners were shut out by Knights' starter Nate Nevin on four hits in the first game, then were unable to hang onto a one-run lead in the late innings of the nightcap as they fell to 7-5 overall and saw their seven-game winning streak come to a halt.

UMR got its first two runners on base in the second inning of game one but a pickoff scuttled that threat. UMR also had a runner picked off in the third after a two-out hit and had runners on base in three of the final four innings, but couldn't push across a run.

Bellarmine got its only runs in the third off starter Matt Campbell, which came on Adam Chester's two-run homer.

In the second game, UMR spotted the Knights a run in the fourth, then took the lead by scoring twice in the sixth inning. With two outs, Joe Montgomery drew a walk and Cody Bass singled; an error on the play allowed both runners to move up. Nick Zurweller followed with a two-run single to put UMR on top 2-1.

UMR starter Tavish Hill, who had held Bellarmine to four hits over the first six innings, ran into trouble in the seventh and the Knights were able to get the lead back. A one-out single by pinch-hitter Cameron Howell and a run-scoring double with two outs off the bat of Patrick Brady put the Knights back in front.

After going down in order in the eighth, UMR got the tying run on base in the ninth but could only get it as far as second.

Zurweller had two of UMR's seven hits in game two.

The Miners and Knights will wrap up the three-game series with a single game on Sunday starting at 11 a.m. (Central time).

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JOPLIN, Mo. -- The Lady Miner softball team staged two late inning rallies Friday night to beat Southwest Baptist 9-7 in nine innings to gain a split on the first day of the Teri Zenner Classic at Missouri Southern.

Earlier in the day, after play had been delayed for several hours due to rain, UMR had its five-game winning streak snapped in a 4-2 loss to Pittsburg State.

UMR and SBU swapped runs throughout the second game, with the Lady Miners winning the game on Becky Davis' two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth. That came after UMR had rallied from a 5-4 deficit to force extra innings and again from 7-5 to score twice in the bottom of the eighth.

The Lady Miners got on the board first with two runs in the second as Kandi Wieberg singled and scored on Ashley Winter's double. After a wild pitch sent her to third, Winter scored on a hit by Kelsey Musselman.

SBU scored two in the third and a run in the fifth to take the lead, but the Lady Miners tied it in the bottom half of the frame when Musselman scored on a wild pitch. The Bearcats regained the lead by scoring twice in the sixth, then UMR cut that lead in half when Wieberg hit a solo homer with two outs.

After the Bearcats were retired in the top half of the seventh, Musselman led off the bottom half of the inning with a home run to tie the contest at five. UMR then proceeded to load the bases in the seventh, but couldn't push the winning run across.

The Bearcats got the lead back on Amanda Orchard's two-run double in the top of the eighth, but UMR staged another rally -- this one with two outs and nobody on base -- to extend the contest. A walk to Winter and a double by Musselman led to a two-run double off the bat of Rachel Wilkinson that drew the Lady Miners even again.

UMR held SBU scoreless in the top of the ninth, then with one out and the tie-breaker runner on base, Davis belted her first career homer to give UMR the victory.

Jen O'Hara got the win in relief, but the Lady Miners got a good start from Ashley Wallingford as she fanned eight and scattered seven hits over 5 2/3 innings.

In the first game of the day, UMR was unable to overcome a 4-0 deficit as its five-game winning streak came to an end. Pittsburg State scored two runs in the third and single runs in the fourth and fifth innings off O'Hara.

The Lady Miners got their runs in the sixth on an RBI single by Wilkinson and a run-scoring double by Emily Tucker.

UMR (8-3) will face Missouri Southern and Central Missouri on Saturday.

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Tyrone Smith

BOSTON, Mass. -- Tyrone Smith earned a second place finish in the long jump Friday at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships, picking up his third All-America award in the process.

Smith, who took fourth in the indoor long jump last March and followed that with a runner-up finish at the NCAA-II outdoor championships, posted a mark of 24-10 1/2 to take the second place award.

He did beat out Lincoln's Wilbert Walker, his rival from last year's national meets who won the national championship in both the indoor and outdoor seasons. However, it was the individual who came into meet with the best jump of the season in the event -- Morehouse's Randall Flimmons -- who won the long jump with a leap of 25-4 3/4. Walker ended up third with a mark of 24-5 1/2.

Smith's best jump came in the opening round as he posted the mark of 24-10 1/2. Flimmons, who was competing in the second flight during the preliminaries (Smith was in the first flight), had jumps in the first two rounds that came close to Smith's mark. He ended up posting his winning jump in round five, then Smith got his second-best jump of the competition in the final round but not quite far enough to catch Flimmons.

The second place effort recorded by Smith tied the highest finish ever for a Miner at the NCAA Indoor Championships. J.R. Skola finished second in the pole vault in the 2003 meet.

UMR will have two pole vaulters competing at nationals on Saturday, as Lucas Handley and Jordan Henry will take their shot at a national championship when that event goes off in the afternoon.

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Lauren Feltmann

JOPLIN, Mo. -- For the second time in three days, the Lady Miner softball team proved that it is never completely out of a game.

On Tuesday, UMR came back from a six-run deficit to complete a doubleheader sweep over Lincoln. Then after winning game one over Missouri Southern by a count of 8-1, the Lady Miners found themselves down by four early in game two.

But UMR got the game tied on Lauren Feltmann's two-run single in the top of the seventh and won it in the eighth by scoring three times to pull out a 7-5 win to complete the sweep on the first day of a three-day trip to Joplin.

UMR spotted the Lady Lions four runs in the first inning, then chipped away at the lead over the next six innings. The Lady Miners got on the board in the second on a bases loaded walk to Allison Plummer, then drew to within two in the sixth when Becky Davis delivered a two-out single to score Krista Porterfield.

Jen O'Hara shut down the Lady Lions after the four-run first, allowing UMR a chance to come back. In the seventh, the Lady Miners completed the rally by taking advantage of an error by shortstop Andrea Childs to force extra innings.

Ashley Winter reached on the error, then Rachel Wilkinson doubled with two outs to set up Feltmann, who singled to left to bring home the tying runs.

Playing with the tie-breaker rule in effect when the game reached the eighth, UMR broke the tie right away. A throwing error on a sacrifice bunt brought in Emily Tucker with the go-ahead run, then Winter brought home two insurance tallies with a two-run single before the frame came to a close.

Missouri Southern got its tie-breaker run home in the eighth, but O'Hara closed the door to improve her record to 5-1 on the year.

Davis had three hits in the second game, while Wilkinson and Feltmann had two hits apiece.

In the opener, the Lady Miners jumped on Lady Lion starter Lacee Craig as she was knocked out of the contest after facing only seven hitters. Winter reached on an error with one out, then a hit by Kelsey Musselman and another error loaded the bases.

Feltmann, who had been struggling at the plate, delivered a single up the middle to give UMR the lead. Tucker followed with a two-run double and Coley Naughton followed that with a single to score two more runs and knock out the MSSU starter.

After Missouri Southern got one run back in the bottom half of the first, the Lady Miners answered with a run in the second when a two-out error allowed Winter to score. UMR tallied two more runs in the third when Kandi Wieberg doubled home Davis and scored herself moments later on a hit by Winter.

O'Hara picked up the win as she scattered four hits and struck out three in a complete game effort. UMR banged out 12 hits in the opener, three off the bat of Davis as part of a six-hit day for the freshman.

The Lady Miners, who extended their winning streak to five and improved to 7-2 on the season, will play in the Teri Zenner Memorial Classic on Friday and Saturday. UMR will face Pittsburg State and Southwest Baptist on Friday.

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