Henry continues strong run

By John Kean
S&T Sports Information

JOPLIN, Mo. -- Missouri S&T junior Jordan Henry continued his run of strong performances in the pole vault by winning the event Saturday, Feb. 16 at the Radio Shack Invitational at Missouri Southern State University, while Brandon Etzold had a strong showing in the 800-meters a few hundred miles north.

Henry, who has won the last two Great Lakes Valley Conference "Athlete of the Week" awards and who made the NCAA Division II automatic qualifying mark a week ago in the event, cleared that mark again Saturday by going over the bar at 16-6 to win the competition. Three others -- all with ties to the host school -- also went over at 16-6 but Henry had fewer misses to end up on top.

In Ames, Iowa, Etzold posted a school record time of 1:53.95 in the 800-meters in an event that included a number of runners from the NCAA Division I ranks.

The Miners' other top finishes Saturday at MSSU came from Thomas Green, who took second in the mile with a mark of 4:29.16 and Paul Roland, who also finished second in the 800-meters in 1:58.97. Kal-El Waters-Jones had a fifth place mark in the triple jump at 46-4 which put him near the NCAA Division II provisional mark.

The Miners got a sixth place showing from Brandon Cundiff in the 600-yard run with a time of 1:18.02, while Kevin Thompson was 10th in 1:18.30. Thomas Sands was 10th in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.96 seconds and Chris Teel was 12th in the 800-meters in 2:03.63.

Peter Hollenbeck and Dan Hellwig tied for 10th in the pole vault as both cleared 14-8 1/4 and Lucas Jaster came in 13th in the shot put with a mark of 44-11 ½.

S&T also got a time of 3:37.22 from its 4x400-meter relay team.

At Iowa State, the Miners had three other distance runners taking part in the Iowa State Classic, with the top finish coming from Brendan Smith in the mile with a time of 4:23.40 for a 19th place finish. Allen Ernst had a time of 4:27.16 in the event as well, while Kurt Schauwecker posted a mark of 9:17.80 in the 3,000-meters.

The Miners' next meet will be the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships, set for March 1 in Crawfordsville, Ind.

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Several top finishes for Lady Miner track

By John Kean
S&T Sports Information

JOPLIN, Mo. -- The Missouri S&T women's track team has seven finishes in the top ten Saturday -- most of which set or matched a seasonal best -- on the final day of the Radio Shack Invitational at Missouri Southern State University.

The top S&T finishes Saturday came from the pole vaulters, as Jaime Statler placed second with a clearance of 11-1 3/4 and Taylor Hahn who cleared the same height to take third (based on more misses in the competition). The clearances matched the seasonal best for both Statler and Hahn.

The Lady Miners also got a sixth place finish from Leah Morehead in the event at a mark of 10-8 and an eighth place effort from Sarah Zaremba at 10-2.

Katie Bruce came in fifth place in the 400-meters with a time of 1:00.06, with Aubrey Moore finishing two spots behind her in 1:00.51. Moore was also 14th in the 60-meter dash in 8.19 seconds. Meanwhile, Kierra Handley took sixth in the 600-yard run with a time of 1:30.55.

Hannah Terwelp came in 11th place in the shot put with a mark of 38-2 while Rebecca McNally finished 15th in the 3,000-meters in 11:54.49. The Lady Miners' 4x400-meter relay team placed seventh in the event with a time of 4:09.22, a drop of nearly 11 seconds from their previous best time of the season.

The Lady Miners' next competition will be at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships, slated to take place March 1 in Crawfordsville, Ind.

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S&T’s Henry locks up national berth

By John Kean
S&T Sports Information

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. -- Missouri S&T junior Jordan Henry can start making plans to head to Minnesota in mid-March, as he locked up a berth to the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships Saturday by hitting the automatic qualifying mark in the pole vault at the Blue Classic at Illinois College.

Henry, who was last week's Great Lakes Valley Conference "Athlete of the Week," cleared a career-best 16-6 to reach the automatic standard in the event and win it in the process. The clearance assures him of a spot in the field at the national meet that will take place March 14 and 15 in Mankato, Minn.

The Miners claimed the top three spots in the pole vault competition as Jared Anders took second at 16-2 -- improving his provisional mark in the event -- and Peter Hollenbeck taking third at 15-3 3/4 which was his best mark of the indoor season.

Freshman Brandon Etzold continued his strong running in the middle distance events during the indoor track season Saturday to earn the Miners' other event victory Saturday, winning the mile in 4:24.10. He took the event by more than two seconds over Lindenwood's Titus Tirop and by a little over three over teammate Allen Ernst, who posted a time of 4:27.15. The Miners had four of the top six finishers in that event as Thomas Green was fifth in 4:30.24 and Joffroi Holcombe was sixth in 4:31.26.

Kal-El Waters-Jones posted a second place finish in the triple jump with a mark of 45-1 3/4, while the Miners also got a fourth place finish from Brendan Smith in the 800-meters with a time of 1:59.32 and a fifth from Jeff Pike in the triple jump with a mark of 43-3 1/4.

Charles Melton posted his best time of the season in the 200-meters of 22.83 to place seventh in that event and Anders also had a 12th place finish in the long jump with a mark of 20-0 1/4.

The Miners will compete next weekend at the Radio Shack Invitational at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, Mo.

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Nice results for Lady Miner track

By John Kean
S&T Sports Information

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. -- The Lady Miner track and field team had nine individuals post finishes among the top 10 -- including some seasonal high marks and a school record mark by sophomore Hannah Terwelp – at the Blue Classic Saturday at Illinois College.

Terwelp broke the school record in the weight throw that she set nearly a month ago at Eastern Illinois, with her throw of 47-4 good enough to place fourth in the overall competition.

Taylor Hahn and Jamie Statler shared the highest finish among the Lady Miners at the meet, with the duo tying for second in the pole vault with a clearance of 10-9 3/4. Leah Moreland cleared that height as well, but finished fourth due to more misses, while Sarah Zaremba was fifth at 10-4.

Kierra Handley had a third place showing in the 800-meters with a time of 2:24.13, a three-second improvement over her best seasonal time in the event.

Sarah Stach had a ninth place showing in the long jump with a mark of 15-11 ½, while Kendra Lewis took ninth as well in the 200-meters with a time of 26.93; she also finished 11th in the 55-meter dash with a time of 7.60 seconds. Aubrey Moore placed 10th in the 400-meters with a mark of 1:00.62 and Maggie Mawhiney was 11th in the 55-meter hurdles in 9.82 seconds.

Hillary Griffith was 12th in the 200-meters in 27.32 as was Samantha Schussele in the 800-meters in 2:36.49 and Terwelp in the shot put with a mark of 34-9 ½.

The Lady Miners will compete next weekend at the Radio Shack Invitational at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin.

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Etzold wins mile for Miner men

By John Kean
S&T Sports Information

WARRENSBURG – Brandon Etzold continued his strong start to his Missouri University of Science & Technology indoor track career Friday, Jan. 25 by winning the mile Friday at the Central Missouri Invitational, while down in Joplin Saturday, Jordan Henry became the second Miner to reach an NCAA Division II provisional qualifying mark in the pole vault.

Etzold, who had a second-place finish a week ago in the 800-meters at Eastern Illinois, won the mile Friday in 4:24.83 to outdistance teammate Allen Ernst by a little over three seconds. Ernst finished in 4:28.19, while the Miners had two others among the top seven in the event with

Brendan Smith finishing fourth in 4:29.72 and Thomas Green coming in seventh in 4:32.95.

Etzold also took third in the 600-yard run with a mark of 1:16.44.

On Saturday at the Fazoli's/Baymont Inn Invitational in Joplin, Henry gained his provisional mark in the pole vault with his eighth-place finish, clearing 15-6 1/4 in the meet. The Miners also got a tenth place finish from Jared Anders, who had previously reached the provisional

mark; Anders cleared 14-10 1/4 as did Dan Hellwig to finish 11th.

S&T only had its pole vaulters in competition at Missouri Southern, while the rest of the team competed Friday at UCM.

Ian Packard finished second in the 200-meters with a time of 22.70 seconds, finishing just three-hundredths of a second behind winner Dannon Abney of Central Missouri. He also had a second place effort in the 400-meters in 50.89 seconds, trailing only the mark of 50.34 posted by Lincoln's Rupert Smith.

Joffroi Holcombe had a second place finish of his own in the 3,000-meter run with a mark of 8:53.40, finishing just over a second in back of UCM's Adam Akers.

Kal-El Waters-Jones took fourth in the triple jump with a mark of 42-9 3/4, one-half inch behind the 42-10 1/4 posted by UCM's Markel Wiley for third.

Kevin Thompson came in sixth place in the 600-yard run in 1:18.05 as did Ernst in the 3,000 in 9:07.12, while Thomas Sands placed seventh in the 400-meters with a mark of 54.14 and Chris Teel did likewise in the 800-meters in 2:02.65. S&T had an eighth place showing from Paul Roland in the 800 in a time of 2:02.75.

The Miners also got a ninth-place finish from Charles Melton in the 200-meters with a time of 23.04 seconds and Mike Renkowski in the 800-meters in 2:04.32, while a tenth place finish came from Grant Brown in the 3,000-meters in 9:17.45.

The Miners' 4x440-yard relay team finished fifth with a time of 3:32.83.

The Miners will compete next weekend at Indiana University.

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Bruce highlights Lady Miner performance

By John Kean
S&T Sports Information

WARRENSBURG -- The Missouri S&T women's track team got a strong performance from sophomore Katie Bruce Friday night, Jan. 25 to highlight its performance at the Central Missouri Invitational.

Bruce won the 400-meters with a time of 1:00.72 and added a third place showing in the 200-meters in 27.32. She also finished eighth in the 60-meters with a mark of 8.29 seconds and was part of S&T's 4x440-yard relay team that took third.

The Lady Miners also had a second place showing from Samantha Schussele in the 80-meters with a time of 2:36.88 while Kierra Handley finished in fifth place in the 600-yard run with a time of 1:31.34. Kendra Lewis placed sixth in the 60-meter dash with a time of 8.33 in the finals

after she posted a mark of 8.25 in the preliminary round.

The Lady Miners also got a eighth-place showing from Hannah Terwelp in the weight throw with a mark of 41-5; she also placed 10th in the shot put with a mark of 33-10 1/4.

Hillary Griffith finished eighth in the 200-meters in 28.05 and ninth in the 60-meters with a time of 8.36 seconds, while Rebecca McNally was 10th in the 3,000-meters in 11:57.83, just ahead of teammate Teresa Conley's mark of 12:02.85.

S&T's 4x440-yard relay team recorded a time of 4:20.21 for its third place finish.

On Saturday, the Lady Miners had three finishers among the top seven in the pole vault competition at the Fazoli's/Baymont Inn Invitational at Missouri Southern. Taylor Hahn finished third in the event with a clearance of 10-11 3/4, while Jamie Statler came in sixth at 10-6 and

freshman Leah Moreland was tied for seventh at 10-feet.

The Lady Miners will take part in the Indiana University Invitational next weekend in Bloomington, Ind.

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Miners’ Holcombe All-Region

By John Kean
UMR Sports Information

Joffroi Holcombe's performance over the weekend at the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional has earned him all-region honors from the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Holcombe finished in 13th place at the regional meet over the weekend and the top 15 finishers were named to the all-region squad. The senior from Alexandria, La., who was the Miners' top runner throughout the 2007 campaign, covered the 10-kilometer course in a time of 32:12.

Earlier this season, Holcombe earned all-conference from the Great Lakes Valley Conference when he placed 10th at the conference meet. He was also the winner of the Miner Invitational in September and was a two-time recipient of the GLVC's "Runner of the Week" award.

The Miners finished seventh as a team in the regional meet held Saturday in Edwardsville, Ill.

2007 All-Great Lakes Region Jeremy Trein, Ashland Jai Villa Zapatero, Drury Nate Peck, Grand Valley State James Gale, Grand Valley State Robbie Young, Grand Valley State Chris Hammer, Grand Valley State Nick Polk, Grand Valley State Grant Fall, Grand Valley State Ross Faasse, Grand Valley State Joffroi Holcombe, Missouri-Rolla Nick Krus, Saginaw Valley State Paul Jellema, Southern Indiana Chad Roberts, Tiffin Abdullah Saleh, Wayne State (Mich.) Kevin Christensen, Wayne State (Mich.)

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UMR’s Smith 14^th in Pan-Am Games

By John Kean
UMR Sports Information

RIO DE JANIERO, Brazil -- Former University of Missouri-Rolla track and field standout Tyrone Smith finished 14th Monday in the long jump competition during the preliminary rounds of the event in the Pan American Games.

Smith, who was competing for his native Bermuda in the international event, had a top jump of 24-0 1/4 (7.32 meters) to end up in 14th place.

The top 12 finishers advanced to Monday's finals.

After fouling on his first jump, Smith had a leap of 23-6 in the second round and his top mark of the afternoon in round three.

The 12th-place finisher was Jorge McFarlane of Peru, who finished just ahead of Smith with a mark of 24-2 1/2 (7.38 meters). The leader through the preliminary rounds is Panama's Irving Saladino at 27-6; the top American competitor at the moment, Bashir Ramzy, currently sits in ninth place at 24-7.

Smith earned three All-America awards in the long jump while competing at UMR and holds the national record in the long jump for Bermuda, which he set at the North America-Central America-Caribbean Games held in the Dominican Republic last summer.

At UMR, Smith finished second in the long jump at both the 2006 NCAA Division II Outdoor Championship and the 2007 indoor national meet, while placing fourth in the event at the 2006 indoor nationals. He won the Great Lakes Valley Conference championship in the event in three straight league meets, doing so at the 2006 and 2007 indoor meets as well as the GLVC Outdoor Championships.

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Former Miner Smith in Pan-Am Games

By John Kean
UMR Sports Information

Former University of Missouri-Rolla track and field standout Tyrone Smith is among the competitors at the 2007 Pan American Games taking place over the next two weeks in Rio De Janiero, Brazil.

Smith, who earned three All-America awards in the long jump while competing at UMR, will participate in that event as a representative of Bermuda at the meet. Smith, who was born in that country, holds the national record in the long jump which he set at the North America-Central America-Caribbean Games held in the Dominican Republic last summer.

Smith will compete in the preliminary rounds of the long jump on Monday, July 23; the finals in the event are scheduled for the following day.

At UMR, Smith finished second in the long jump at both the 2006 NCAA Division II Outdoor Championship and the 2007 indoor national meet, while placing fourth in the event at the 2006 indoor nationals. He won the Great Lakes Valley Conference championship in the event in three

straight league meets, doing so at the 2006 and 2007 indoor meets as well as the GLVC Outdoor Championships.

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UMR’s Kueny places ninth at nationals

By John Kean
UMR Sports Information

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – University of Missouri-Rolla’s senior Becca Kueny reached the finals in the javelin throw on Saturday, May 26 but couldn’t rise any higher in the final three rounds and finished ninth in the event at the NCAA Division II Championships.

Kueny made the finals with a second-round throw of 40.39 meters, which put her in ninth after three rounds. Unfortunately Kueny could not improve on that mark in any of her final three attempts, with the best mark being a 38.39 in the fifth round.

The eighth-place finisher, Jayci Peters of Fort Hays State, had a mark of 41.55 meters. Western Washington’s Monical Gruszecki won the javelin with a throw of 44.40 meters in round three.

The other UMR competition on Saturday, men’s freshman pole vaulter Peter Hollenbeck, did not clear the opening height of 4.70 meters. The even was won by Grand Valley State’s Bryant Wilson at 5.25 meters.

UMR senior Chris Carsten finished in 20^th place in the shot put at the NCAA Division II Championships on Friday, May 25, a day after placing 18^th in the hammer throw competition.

As was the case on Thursday, Carsten fouled on his first two throws in the shot put before posting a legal throw in the third round of 49-9.

The winner of the shot put was the top-ranked thrower coming into the meet, Ashland’s Bryan Vickers, with a throw of 62-7 3/4, which as more than two feet better than the best-best mark.

On Thursday Carsten had a throw of 147-6 in the third round of the hammer. The winner of the hammer was Kibwe Johnson of Ashland, who had a winning mark of 222-8. Johnson entered the meet with the top mark in the nation.

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3 Miners head to NCAA Division II Track Championships

By John Kean
UMR Sports Information

ROLLA -- The University of Missouri-Rolla will have three individuals taking part in the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships over Memorial Day weekend at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C.

Becca Kueny, who earned All-America honors in the javelin throw last season, will have a chance to earn a second award in the event as the lone member of the Lady Miner squad picked to take part.

The men's team, meanwhile, will have a pair of first-time national entrants in senior Chris Carsten and freshman Peter Hollenbeck. Carsten will compete in the two events where he holds the UMR school record, the hammer throw and shot put, while Hollenbeck will compete in the pole vault.

Kueny will go into the national meet ranked 16th in the event in which 18 competitors were selected. She earned All-America honors last season at nationals at Emporia State with a throw of 148-6 to place eighth. Her top throw of the 2007 outdoor season is 138-9 and is a back-to-back

Great Lakes Valley Conference champion in the event.

The national leader in the event is SIU Edwardsville's Alicia DeShasier with a mark of 164-9.

Hollenbeck continues a line of pole vaulters who have earned berths to nationals, as he is the fourth different member of that group to earn a national berth in the last four seasons. His top clearance of the season, 16-1 1/4 set during the Dewey Allgood Invitational at UMR, has

him ranked in a tie for 10th heading into the meet.

The current leader in the pole vault is Grand Valley State's Bryant Wilson with a mark of 17-1 1/2.

Carsten set new school records this season in the hammer throw with a mark of 182-2 -- which won the GLVC title -- and shot put at 54-1 1/4 which was established during the Miners' home meet this spring.

He is 13th in the shot put and 18th in the hammer throw going into the national meet. The top performances in the events this season have been posted by competitors from Ashland University, with the shot put mark coming from Bryan Vickers of 61-8 1/4 and the top hammer mark is owned by Kibwe Johnson of 241-3.

The NCAA Championships get underway May 24. Carsten will compete in each of the first two days, with the hammer throw taking place on May 24 at 3 p.m. and the shot put at the same time on the following day. Kueny will compete May 26 in the javelin at 2:15 p.m., while Hollenbeck will be in action later that day in the pole vault at 5 p.m.

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Host Miner track sparkles at Allgood Invitational

By John Kean
UMR Sports Information

ROLLA -- Not only was the weather splendid at Allgood-Bailey Stadium on Saturday, April 21 -- so was the University of Missouri-Rolla men’s track and field team in its home invitational.

UMR competitors won 10 events, hit or improved on four provisional qualifying marks and saw several seasonal and personal bests fall by the wayside in the third annual Dewey Allgood Invitational.

Peter Hollenbeck and Jared Anders both surpassed the NCAA Division II qualifying mark in the pole vault as they finished 1-2 in the event.

Hollenbeck won the event with a clearance of 16-1 1/4, the best by a Miner this season, while Anders went over the bar at 15-9 1/4.

Jamel Sims made an provisional qualifying mark with his winning effort in the 110-meter hurdles of 14.54 seconds. Sims later took second in the 400-meter hurdles with a mark of 54.33 seconds.

Chris Carsten improved on his qualifying mark in the shot put and broke the school record in the event with a throw of 54-1 1/4; the mark was good for second behind Lindenwood's Kelley Jackson who threw 57-11 1/4.

Carsten also had second as well in the hammer throw with a mark of 166-3.Charles Melton took first in the 100-meters with a time of 10.66 seconds, his best mark of the season and just a hair off the NCAA provisional qualifying mark, then completed a double later in the day by taking first in the 200-meters in 21.89 seconds.

Other winners included Matt Osmond in the 800-meters in 1:55.57, Thomas Green in the 1,500-meters in 4:03.88, Joffroi Holcombe in the 5,000-meters in 15:27.30, Andrew Ropp in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:54.21 and Kal-El Waters-Jones in the long jump with a mark of 21-10 3/4.

Another winning performance on the day came from Heath Groom, an All-America performer for the Miners in the javelin. He won that event with a throw of 183-10 while competing Saturday as an unattached competitor.

The Miners' 4x100-meter relay team was also victorious with a seasonal-best time of 42.17 seconds.

Ian Packard had a time of 48.50 seconds in the 400-meters to finish second, while Anders and Jarryd Dean tied for second in the long jump at 21-5 1/4. Waters-Jones was the runner-up in the triple jump with a leap of 45-0 1/4, while Nick Windhorst cleared 6-1 1/2 in the high jump to take second and Matt Morrow recorded his best mark of the season in the discus of 140-7.

Ryan Vessell had a third place showing in the 100-meters with a time of 10.92, a personal best for him, while Paul Roland was third in the 800 in 1:56.92 as was Michael Knickerbocker in the 1,500-meters in 4:20.26 and Matt Bartels in the 400-hurdles in 54.79 seconds.

In the field events, Jordan Henry was third in the pole vault at 15-3 ½, Jeff Pike took third in the triple jump at 44-4 1/4 and Wes Everhart had a third in the javelin with a throw of 153-8.

Packard was fourth in the 200-meters in 22.38 seconds along with Kurt Schauwecker in the steeplechase in 10:15.13, Logan MacCash in the pole vault at 13-3 3/4 and Dean in the triple jump at 44-0 1/2. Chris Teel placed fifth in the 800-meters in 2:02.27, just ahead of Ropp's mark of 2:02.31. Phillip Shields was fifth in the discus with a mark of 129-2 as was Morrow in the hammer at 116-11.

Vessell placed sixth in the 200-meters in 22.46 seconds as did Kyle Williams in the 110-meter hurdles in 16.25 seconds, Brandon Marchegiani in the 400-hurdles in 58.49 seconds and Carsten in the discus at 127-5.UMR's 4x400-meter relay team placed second to Truman State with a time

of 3:24.32.

The weather finally warmed up for the University of Missouri-Rolla women's track and field team -- and it took advantage of the better conditions to post three wins and four second place finishes.

On a day when temperatures reached well into the 70s in Rolla -- far better than it had been at any meet during the 2007 outdoor season -- UMR got winning performances from Becca Kueny in the javelin throw and Kylee Hyzer in the 3,000-meters.

Kueny won the javelin with a throw of 123-1, while Hyzer pulled away in the latter stages of her race and took the 3,000 in 11:09.05, winning by more than six seconds over McKendree's Linet Birir.

The second place showings came from Katie Bruce in the 200-meters in a season-best time of 58.69 seconds, Tamara McCaskill in the high jump with a mark of 5-5 and Taylor Hahn in the pole vault where she cleared 10-8 1/4.

Kendra Lewis took fourth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.56 seconds, while Hillary Griffith had the team's best time of the season in the event of 12.33 in the preliminary round.

UMR had fifth place finishes from Bruce in the 200-meters in 26.56 seconds, Megan Rodenberg in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:14.72 and Hannah Terwelp in the shot put and hammer throw. Terwelp's mark of 40-1 1/2 in the shot was a five-foot improvement over her previous best this season; she had a top mark of 122-9 in the hammer. Kierra Handley finished sixth in the 400 in 1:02.74.

UMR's 4x400-meter relay team of Wendy Moore, Bruce, Handley and Hahn won that race in 4:05, while the 4x100-meter relay team placed second.

The UMR men and women will send a group of competitors to next week's Drake Relays, the final competition prior to the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships May 4 and 5 at SIU Edwardsville.

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Miner track gets provisional qualifying marks

By John Kean
UMR Sports Information

EMPORIA, Kan. – The University of Missouri-Rolla men’s track team picked up victories from three individuals Sunday, April 15 at the Papa John's Division II Challenge at Emporia State University and also got its first provisional qualifying marks for the outdoor season.

Peter Hollenbeck took first over three teammates in the pole vault with a personal-best mark of 15-6 1/4. He beat out teammate Jordan Henry on misses to take the title and also finished ahead of Jared Anders and Lucas Handley, who took third and fourth in the event with a clearance of 15-feet.

UMR also got wins from Joffroi Holcombe in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 32:29.60 and Kal-El Waters-Jones, who won the triple jump with a mark of 47-5. The jump was long enough to reach the NCAA Division II provisional qualifying standard.

Waters-Jones also placed second in the long jump with a mark of 22-5 3/4, while Jarryd Dean took second in the high jump with a clearance of 6-6 3/4 to set a personal best in that event. Dean also took sixth in the triple jump with a leap of 45-7.

The other provisional qualifying mark came from Chris Carsten in the shot put, as he had a throw of 52-2 1/2 that gave him an eighth place finish in the competitive event.

Charles Melton recorded a second place finish in the 200-meters with a time of 22 seconds flat and also took third in 100-meter dash with a time of 10.99 seconds. Matt Osmond also had a third in the 800-meters in a personal best time of 1:54.69 as did Matt Bartels in the 400-meter

hurdles in 54.98 seconds.

Ian Packard placed fifth in the 400-meters with a time of 49.04 seconds, the best mark by a Miner this season in the event. Ryan Vessell was sixth in the 100-meters in 11.16 seconds as was Andrew Ropp in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 10:01.65.

Brett Agee was seventh in the 10,000-meters in 34:30.00, while Vessell also placed eighth in the 200-meters in 22.57 seconds and Jesse Scott had a tenth-place showing in the 800-meters in 1:58.20.

As a team, the Miners placed third in the team standings with 108 points. Central Missouri won the meet and Fort Hays State took second; UMR finished seven points ahead of host Emporia State.

UMR sophomore Taylor Hahn won the pole vault competition Sunday, April 15 at the Papa John's Division II Challenge at Emporia State by posting a school record mark for the second time this season.

Hahn cleared 11-0 1/4 in the event to beat out a pair of Truman State competitors, Kristin Klesh and Katrina Bierman, winning the event on fewer misses through the competition.

The Lady Miners also got high finishes from several others in one of the biggest regular seasons meets at the Division II level, led by the duo of Wendy Moore and Kierra Handley who came in second and third, respectively, in the 800-meters. Moore posted a time of 2:15.70, which was within a second of the school record, while Handley finished in a personal best 2:17.27.

The Lady Miners also had a third place finish from Kylee Hyzer in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 41:26.60.

Tamara McCaskill placed fourth in the high jump with a clearance of 5-5, which was just shy of her best mark of the year. Becca Kueny was fifth in the javelin throw with a mark of 130-6 and also placed 11th in the discus with a throw of 121-6.

UMR had two of the top seven finishers in the 100-meter dash, with Hillary Griffith coming in fifth in 12.75 seconds and Kendra Lewis in seventh in 12.84; Lewis had a 12.72 in the preliminaries. Lewis later finished eighth in the 200-meters with a time of 26.18 as did Katie

Bruce in the 400-meters with a time of 59.61 seconds.

UMR's 4x400-meter relay team of Moore, Bruce, Handley and Griffith took fourth in the event with a time of 3:59.63.

As a team, the Lady Miners finished eighth in the team standings with 58 points. Pittsburg State won the team competition with 130 points.

The UMR men’s and women’s teams will host the Dewey Allgood Invitational on Saturday, April 21 at Allgood-Bailey Stadium. The competition will start at 11 a.m.

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UMR’s Kueny hits provisional qualifying mark

By John Kean
UMR Sports Information

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- Becca Kueny reached the NCAA Division II provisional qualifying mark in the women’s javelin throw Saturday as the University of Missouri-Rolla men’s and women’s track teams competed Saturday, April 7 at the Cougar Classic at Southern Illinois Edwardsville.

Kueny recorded a throw of 138-9, which made the provisional qualifying mark in the event that she earned All-America honors in last season.

That effort was good for second place in the event and Kueny also had a third place finish in the discus with a throw of 130-4.

In addition to Kueny's efforts, Tamara McCaskill returned to her old stomping grounds Saturday and claimed first place in the high jump to post one of three winning performances for the Lady Miners at SIUE.

McCaskill, competing in her hometown of Edwardsville, Ill., cleared 5-4 to win the event by two inches over Allison Chappell of Saint Joseph's on a cold, breezy afternoon in the St. Louis area and was just shy of her 5-5 3/4 mark she posted at Morehouse in mid-March. Later in the day,

McCaskill also ran a time of 28.05 seconds in the 200-meters.

UMR also got two other winning performances from distance runners, as Kylee Hyzer in the 5,000-meters as she had a time of 19:23.87 to beat out a quartet of runners from Saint Joseph's and Laura Ruf won the 3,000-meters in 11:22.19.

The Lady Miners' other top efforts Saturday came from Wendy Moore in the 800-meters with a time of 2:22.33 which was good for second and Hillary Griffith finished third in the 100-meters with a time of 12.60 seconds.

Katie Bruce was fourth in the 400-meters in 1:00.08 -- she also finished eighth in the 200-meters in 27.76 seconds -- while Megan Rodenburg finished fifth in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:17.64.

UMR got an eighth-place finish from Jamie Statler in the pole vault with a clearance of 9-11 3/4 and from Kierra Handley in the 800-meters in 2:40.94, while getting ninths from Hannah Terwelp in the hammer throw at 127-5 (a school record mark), Kendra Lewis in the 100-meters in 13.21 seconds and Jocelyn Bailey in the 400-meters in 1:02.75.

Taylor Hahn was tenth in the pole vault at 9-11 3/4.

UMR's 4x100-meter relay placed third in a time of 51.39 seconds as did its 4x400-meter team in 4:05.47.

Despite contending with cold and windy weather Saturday, the Miner men’s track team posted a number of solid performances in its first outdoor competition of the season with a full squad at the Cougar Classic.

Two Miners came away with victories in their respective events, as Joffroi Holcombe came away victorious in the 5,000-meters with a time of 15:48.04 and Jarryd Dean, competing near his hometown of O'Fallon, Ill., won the high jump with a mark of 6-2. Dean also had a third place finish in the triple jump at 43-5 3/4.

UMR also had a number of second place finishes, which came from Ian Packard in the 400-meters in 50.67 seconds, Charles Melton in the 100-meters in 10.97 seconds, Matt Bartels in the 400-meter hurdles in 56.25 seconds, Kyle Williams in the triple jump at 43-10 1/2 and Chris

Carsten in the shot put at 48-8 3/4.

Kal-El Waters-Jones had a third place showing in the long jump with a mark of 20-5 and a fifth in the triple jump at 42-2 1/4, while Steve Berg finished third in the high jump with a mark of 5-8 as did Wes Everhart in the javelin throw with a personal best throw of 167-1, Ryan

Vessell in the 100-meters in 11.22 seconds and Matt Osmond in the 800-meters in a shade over two minutes.

UMR also got fourth place showings from Jeff Pike in the triple jump at 42-2 3/4, Carsten in the hammer throw at 167-0 and Thomas Green in the 1,500-meters in a time of 4:10.87.

Jared Anders took fourth in the long jump at 19-1 1/4 while coming in fifth place in the pole vault by clearing 14-feet, the same height cleared by Lucas Handley and Peter Hollenbeck as they finished sixth and eighth, respectively.

Jamel Sims placed fifth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.71 seconds, while Kurt Schauwecker was fifth in the 5,000 in 16:32.65 and Paul Roland in the 800-meters in 2:03.03. Brett Agee was sixth in the 5,000-meters in 16:38.01 as was Jesse Scott in the 400-meter hurdles in 57.40 seconds.

Matt Morrow finished seventh in the shot put with a mark of 42-2 as did Brandon Marchegiani in the 400-hurdles in 59.98 seconds. Jens Rodman took eighth in the 5,000 in 16:55.56 as did Holcombe in the 1,500-meters in 4:22.30 and Chris Teel in the 800-meters in 2:05.39.

UMR's 4x100-meter relay team came in third place with a time of 43.56, while its 4x400-meter relay squad was fourth in 3:26.85.

The Miner teams will compete next weekend at the Godfather's Division II Challenge at Emporia State, one of the top Division II regular season meets in the nation.

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Miner track in Missouri Relays

By John Kean
UMR Sports Information

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The University of Missouri-Rolla track and field teams had a handful of individuals competing over the weekend at Missouri Relays with most of the team being off for the university's spring break.

The lone competitors for the Lady Miners at Mizzou were Wendy Moore and Kierra Handley, both of whom ran in the 800-meters. Moore finished 13th in the overall standings with a time of 2:21.74, while Handley came in 21st place in 2:24.03.

On the men's side, Jamel Sims came in 13th place in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.12 seconds to record the Miners' highest finish. Sims also posted a time of 1:03.52 in the 400-meter hurdles as well.

Brandon Marchegiani had a time of 57.72 in the 400-meter hurdles, Paul Roland had a time of 2:01.57 in the 800-meters, while Bryan Hogan posted a time of 52.56 seconds in the 400-meters. The only field event competitor was Jeff Pike, who posted a mark of 43-3 1/4 in the triple jump.

UMR will send full contingents to the Cougar Classic April 7 at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

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3 All-Americas for Miner track; UMR 12^th as team

By John Kean
UMR Sports Information

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, March 10 in the pole vault.

On Friday, March 9 UMR’s Tyrone Smith placed second in the long jump, giving him the third All-America finish of his Miner career.

As a result 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.

Smith earned his second, 2nd-place national finish.

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 ½. 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. Skola finished second in the pole vault in the 2003 meet.

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3 Miners going to NCAA Indoor Track Nationals

By John Kean
UMR Sports Information

The University of Missouri-Rolla will have three representatives at this week's NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships in Boston, as the national fields were released by the NCAA.

Tyrone Smith, who finished fourth in the indoor long jump last season and second in the nation during the outdoor season, will have a return appearance in the event which will take place Friday, March 9 at 6:45 p.m. Smith made the automatic standard in the event with a leap of 25-2

3/4 at the University of Arkansas on Jan. 19.

Smith won the Great Lakes Valley Conference title in the long jump over the weekend and comes into the national meet seeded third behind Morehouse's Randall Flimmons, who has the nation's best mark of 25-6 1/4, and defending champion Wilbert Walker of Lincoln whose best mark this season has been 25-5 1/4.

The Miners' other two competitors at the national meet will be in the pole vault, where Lucas Handley and Jordan Henry will be part of the 13-member field that will compete Saturday, March 10 at 2:15 p.m.

Handley competed at last year's indoor meet and then took sixth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, comes into the meet fresh off tying the UMR school record in the pole vault of 16-5 1/2 as part of a second place finish at the GLVC Championships over the weekend.

Henry, who competed at the outdoor nationals last year as a freshman, took third at the conference meet with his best mark of the season of 16-1 ½.

Kyle Dennis of Abilene Christian has the best mark of the 2007 indoor season in the pole vault of 17-0 3/4.

The Miner men’s track and field team is ranked 16^th in the final power rankings, as released by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

UMR is the third-highest ranked team among those in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, behind Southern Illinois Edwardsville (fourth) and Lewis (ninth). The Miners finished third to those two schools at the GLVC Indoor Championships last month.

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