Gronewold, Wieberg are Bullman Award winners

By John Kean
S&T Sports Information

ROLLA – Two of the most celebrated student-athletes in the history of the Missouri S&T athletic program were named as the recipients of the 2008 Gale Bullman Awards Wednesday night, May 7 at the M-Club Awards Banquet held at Havener Center.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PRINT a copy of this story!

top

Miner baseball ends season with loss to SIU-E

By John Kean
S&T Sports Information

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PRINT a copy of this story!

top

Miner baseball falls to Lincoln

By John Kean
S&T Sports Information

JEFFERSON CITY -- The Missouri S&T baseball team ventured outside the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tuesday and dropped an 8-5 decision to Lincoln University.

The Blue Tigers jumped out to leads of 6-0 and 8-1, then held off the Miners' late inning rally as S&T left five runners on base in the final two innings after closing the gap to three.

Lincoln scored twice in the opening inning off starter Caleb Smith, getting an RBI triple from Justin Holliday and a run-scoring hit from Daniel Struemph to take the lead.

LU tacked on four more runs in the fourth, highlighted by a two-run double by Struemph, to extend its lead to 6-0.

Drew Davenport's sacrifice fly in the sixth got the Miners on the scoreboard, but back-to-back homers by Holliday and Struemph in the bottom of the frame pushed the Lincoln advantage to 8-1. Holliday's homer allowed him to complete the cycle, as he singled and doubled after tripling in the opening inning.

S&T loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh, then Thomas McCormick cleared the bases with a double. The Miner rightfielder drove in a run for the 13th time in the last 14 games and now has 41 RBI on the season, four shy of the school's single-season record.

Eaf Redden followed the McCormick double with one of his own to trim the lead to three, but he was stranded at second to end the inning. The Miners loaded the bases again in the eighth and got their first two hitters on base in the ninth, but couldn't push another run across.

Redden had three hits for the Miners while McCormick and Louie Joseph had two apiece; the trio combined for seven of the Miners' nine hits.

Smith threw the first seven innings for the Miners to help save the pitching staff for the upcoming glut of conference games that begin Thursday when S&T hosts Missouri-St. Louis in a make-up doubleheader at 1 p.m.

The Miners (19-23) close the regular season with a four-game series at SIU Edwardsville beginning on Friday. S&T enters this stretch 2 ½ games behind Drury for the second and last guaranteed playoff spot from the GLVC West.

PRINT a copy of this story!

top

Gronewold going to Bears’ mini-camp

ROLLA – The next Devin Hester?

Ashton Gronewold will be giving it his best shot.

Gronewold, the All-America receiver/kick returner from the Missouri Science & Technology football team, accepted an invitation by the Bears to attend the team’s rookie mini-camp, which begins this week at Lake Forest, Ill.

After failing to be selected in the National Football League Draft over the weekend, Gronewold agreed on Monday to accept the Bears’ mini-camp offer.

Gronewold will report to camp Thursday afternoon or Friday morning. There will be two workouts on Friday, two on Saturday and one on Sunday.

Attending the camp will be the Bears’ rookies who were drafted, non-drafted free agent signees as well as other rookie hopefuls, such as Gronewold, who will be trying to earn a non-drafted free agent contract.

Chicago contacted Gronewold on Monday, hours after the NFL draft concluded on Sunday. Prior to the draft teams showing the most interest in possibly selecting him were the Bears and the Philadelphia Eagles.

S&T head coach Kirby Cannon said he figured the Eagles’ interest in Gronewold would dim when they took California receiver/kick returner DeSean Jackson in the second round of the draft.

"All along the Bears were one of the teams with the strongest interest in him," Cannon said of Gronewold. "And when the Eagles drafted DeSean Jackson, you kind of thought they may not be as interested."

Gronewold will be trying to do what former Miner standout receiver Brett Fischer did three years ago.

Fischer earned a non-drafted free agent contract with his mini-camp performance with the Kansas City Chiefs. Fischer went on to spend that summer in the Chiefs’ off-season program and was to go to training camp with the team until he was injured in an automobile accident the night

before the squad was to leave for Wisconsin for training camp. Fischer was later released due to the injuries. The next year he was in training camp with the Detroit Lions, although he did not make the team’s final roster.

"Fischer turned that into a contract at Kansas City," Cannon said of the mini-camp chance. "And he certainly wasn’t offered that opportunity as fast as Ashton was."

Gronewold broke many of Fischer’s records on his way to being the most dominant offensive force in Miner football history. He holds S&T career records for receptions (278), receiving yards (3,708), total touchdowns (58), receiving touchdowns (53), all-purpose yards (5,992) and kickoff return yards (1,828).

This past season Gronewold caught 87 passes for 1,009 yards, had 2,250 all-purpose yards, 953 kickoff return yards and broke the NCAA single-game record with 295 kickoff return yards. He also became just the seventh player in NCAA Division II history to return two kickoffs

for touchdowns in the same game. He was an All-America selection three years.

"No question, he’ll line up in several special teams," Cannon said of the Bears’ upcoming mini-camp. "Of course, they already have the best punt returner in the business in Devin Hester. But Ashton can kickoff return, punt cover, kickoff cover. He’s a very good tackler."

And Gronewold will be able to show his stuff as a receiver.

"(Even though there is limited contact in mini-camps) you still get the opportunity to make people miss quickly," Cannon said. "It will be much more physical than you would expect without pads on. His speed and quickness won’t hurt him.

"The Bears went more and more with three-wide receiver situations last year. I don’t know if (Gronewold) is a home run threat on the outside. But he can do a great job as a slot receiver."

Three other former Miners are hoping for a future in professional football.

Both quarterback Evan Gray and defensive back Nathan Williams are currently competing for the Oklahoma City Arena II football league. And receiver Brandon Landry, who was in mini-camps with a couple of NFL teams last spring, is still hoping for another NFL opportunity this year.

PRINT a copy of this story!

top

Miner defenders shine in spring football game

ROLLA – The Missouri Science & Technology football team’s defenders became offensive on Friday, April 25.

The S&T defensive unit outscored the potent Miner offense while using the unique scoring system for the Miners’ annual spring football game Friday at Allgood-Bailey Stadium. And when the scrimmage was over the defense had a 44-31 victory.

The spring game ended the Miners’ spring football drills for 2008. The squad had to battle through an unusually wet spring season. Most of their practice sessions were limited due to wet field conditions.

Miner head coach Kirby Cannon is hoping to see much defensive improvement the upcoming season. And apparently during the spring, it’s so far, so good.

S&T’s defense kept the high-scoring Miner offense off the scoreboard the first five series on Friday and later added a pair of interceptions.

In the spring game format, the defense could score on a series stop (three points) a fourth-down stop (four points) and turnover (three points plus a stop).

In addition after the game Cannon acknowledged his players were a bit "snippy" with each other. There were several incidences of pushing and shoving between offensive players and defenders.

"They had every excuse (not to play hard), after not hitting a bunch during the spring because of the rain," Cannon said. "But I felt they were very sharp on both sides of the ball. The defense was very physical; it’s the best spring game I’ve seen in a long time.

"Our players deserve a lot of credit. When they did come and they did practice this spring, they were ready."

The Miner offense had its share of highlights Friday. Jason Schlueter, who missed all of last season with a preseason ankle injury that required surgery, helped his cause in his battle for the starting quarterback job with a pair of TD passes to tight end Bryan Crider (25, three yards). Other Miner TDs were scored by running backs David Shields on a one-yard run and Jerome Miller on a two-yard run. Joe Drahos also had a 36-yard field goal and four PATs.

Schlueter connected on 18-of-21 passes for 130 yards and no interceptions while Steve Watson, who took over as the Miners’ starting QB as a true freshman for the final seven games of the ’07 season, hit on 8-of-15 passes for 87 yards and no interceptions.

Crider caught 10 passes for 100 yards and Shields caught six passes for 24 yards. Rolla native Jake Drallmeier rushed for 60 yards on 12 carries and Miller rushed for 40 yards on eight attempts.

The spring didn’t change much on the quarterback front for the Miners. Schlueter, Watson and Brad Guidry – who continues to rehab from reconstructive leg surgery – will enter the 2008 preseason looking to win the starting QB post. Guidry, who along with Schlueter came to S&T

as a junior college transfer in 2007, won the starting job last year before suffering his season-ending injury in Week 4.

"The quarterback situation is not resolved," Cannon said. "Steve shown he is capable of being the starter. Schlueter showed he was capable. Guidry will be in there.

"I’m not afraid of the quarterback position."

Cannon said the Miner defense brought pressure throughout the spring game…for a reason.

"We worked constant pressure," Cannon said. "We probably used more stunts than we’ll see all year. We’ve got to get ready for the post-Gronewold era."

Cannon refers to Ashton Gronewold, who finished his All-America Miner career last season and will be trying to win a spot with the NFL’s Chicago Bears during their mini-camp this weekend.

Gronewold, who has nearly all of the scoring and receiving records for S&T, will be replaced in the slot position in the Miner spread offense by returning starters Mike Greaving and St. James native Chad Shockley.

"Chad is all the way back from that broken leg (suffered two years ago in his freshman season)," Cannon said. "He was never 100 percent last year. He’s ready to put up numbers. Mike has already put up numbers. Crider is also an outstanding athlete. We still need to find that third wide receiver.

"(At running back) I thought Jerome Miller was a man running the football. He’s learning how to play American football." Miller is a native of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Miner Notes – The Miners also officially announced their 2008 schedule last week.

S&T’s "money" game will be against NCAA Division I-AA South Dakota on the road Oct. 11.

The Miners will open their home schedule Sept. 13 against Evangel University.

The Miner spring game-scoring summary:

David Shields 1 yd. run, Joe Drahos kick

Bryan Crider 25 yd. pass from Jason Schlueter, Drahos kick

Crider 3 yd. pass from Schlueter, Drahos kick

Jerome Miller 2 yd. run, Drahos kick

Drahos 36 yd. field goal

First downs: 20 (7 rushing, 12 passing, 1 penalty)

Rushing: 40-128

Passing: 28-41-221-2

Total offense: 81 plays, 349 yards

Fumbles: 2, lost 1

Penalties: Offense 0-0, Defense 1-7

Rushing: Jake Drallmeier 12-60, Jerome Miller 8-40, Chad Shockley 5-22,

David Shields 4-9, Steve Watson 5-4, Dustin Prater 1-2, Jason Schlueter

3-0, R.J. Shubatt 1-(-4), Team 1-(-5).

Passing: Jason Schlueter 18-21-130-0, Steve Watson 8-15-87-0, Dustin

Prater 1-4-5-2, R.J. Shubatt 1-1-(-1)-0.

Receiving: Bryan Crider 10-100, David Shields 6-24, Chad Stanley 3-36,

Mike Greaving 3-25, Chad Shockley 3-19, Jared Bahr 2-17, Jake Drallmeier

2-6, Mark Scabarozi 1-8.

Interceptions: Robbie Woodard 2.

Aug. 28…at Truman State

Sept. 6…at Arkansas-Montecello.

Sept. 13…Evangel University

Sept. 20…at Wisconsin-Stout

Sept. 27…Butler University

Oct. 4…St. Joseph College

Oct. 11…at South Dakota

Oct. 18…Kentucky Wesleyan

Oct. 25…at Central State (Ohio)

Nov. 1…at Lincoln University

Nov. 8…Southwest Baptist University

PRINT a copy of this story!

top

Miner spring football game is Friday

By John Kean
S&T Sports Information

ROLLA – A busy weekend of sports at Missouri S&T gets underway Friday night, April 25 when the Miner football team hosts its annual spring game at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.

The game, which will be played as an offense vs. defense format with a scoring system set up for its performance, will start at 7 p.m. Prior to the contest, the team will host a football skills competition on the field starting at 5:30 p.m. All kids ages 6-12 are invited to participate.

Miner head coach Kirby Cannon has been pleased with what he has seen from the team during the month of April, despite the fact that the rainy weather has hampered the workouts to a degree.

"Even though we've been held back in part to field conditions and the inconsistency of practice days as a result, we've been able to get some things done," Cannon said. "I feel that we've shown improvement on defense and offensively we've made progress with a multiple quarterback system. We hope that Friday's game will help us assess where our quarterback situation is right now."

The Miners have three quarterbacks vying for the starting role in Brad Guidry, the starter at the beginning of last year who had his season cut short due to an injury; Steve Watson, a sophomore-to-be who took over for Guidry and started the final seven games of the season; and Jason Schleuter, who missed the entire 2007 campaign with an injury.

Guidry is not expected to play Friday along with a handful of others who are either recovering from injuries, competing in spring sports or taking part in the university's cooperative education program this semester. Watson and Schleuter figure to see the bulk of the snaps, with returner R.J. Shubatt and newcomer Dustin Prater, a transfer from Missouri Southern.

The Miners have competition at running back as well with returners David Shields and Jerome Miller battling for the starting role, but Cannon feels pleased with the situation at wide receiver despite the loss of All-America performer Ashton Gronewold.

Three returning starters -- Mike Greaving, Chad Shockley and Bryan Crider – are back and the Miners will get some reinforcement at the position in the fall with some talented newcomers joining that group.

Defensively, the Miners are replacing two starters at linebacker and also have competition at the safety position with three returners with starting experience -- Brian Jordan, Jon Landstra and Robbie Woodard – seeking to earn the two spots.

Besides the spring football game this weekend, the Miner baseball team will be in action with a four-game weekend series against Quincy University, with double-headers starting at noon on Saturday and Sunday, April 26-27. The Lady Miner softball is also at home this weekend with twinbills on Saturday against Indianapolis and Sunday against Saint Joseph's as they try to lock up a spot in the GLVC Tournament.

In addition, the Miner Booster Club is hosting a trivia night and silent auction Saturday night beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Lion's Club Den in Rolla.

PRINT a copy of this story!

top

Miner men’s track gets seven 1sts

By John Kean
S&T Sports Information

ROLLA – A total of seven first place finishes highlighted the Missouri S&T men's track and field efforts Saturday, April 19 at the fourth annual Dewey Allgood Invitational held at S&T's Allgood-Bailey Stadium.

The majority of the first place finishes came in the running events where the Miners got five of their victories. Charles Melton won the 100-meter dash in 11.17 seconds to edge teammate Mike Wilson, but Wilson beat out Melton in the 200-meters with a winning time of 22.63 seconds.

Wilson was second in the 100 in 11.22 after running an 11.08 in the preliminaries, while Melton's runner-up time in the 200 was 22.81 seconds.

The other Miner wins on the track came from Brandon Etzold in the 800-meters in a personal-best time of 1:55.14, Joffroi Holcombe in the 5,000-meters in 15:15.88 and Allen Ernst in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 10:11.16. The field event wins came from Jordan Henry in the pole vault with a mark of 15-9 3/4 and Kal-El Waters-Jones in the triple jump with a leap of 42-11 ½.

Second place finishes were posted by Bryan Hogan in the 400-meters in 50.78 seconds, Brendan Smith in the 1,500-meters in 4:06 flat, Peter Hollenbeck in the pole vault at 15-3 3/4, Henry in the long jump at 21-0 3/4, Andrew Moore in the triple jump at 41-8, Josh Hesse in the hammer throw with a mark of 126-10 and Heath Groom in the javelin throw as he posted a throw of 180-4.

Paul Roland claimed third in the 800-meters in 1:55.86, as did Grant Brown in the 1,500-meters in 15:52.94, Chris Thielker in the steeplechase in 10:20.76, Jared Anders in the pole vault at 15-3 3/4, Waters-Jones in the long jump with a mark of 20-7 3/4, Hesse in the shot put with a throw of 48-9 and Lucas Jaster was third in the hammer throw at 125-11 that was his best of the season.

Thomas Green was fourth in the 1,500-meters in 4:10.04 as was Wes Everhart in the javelin throw with a top throw of 152-11, while fifth place finishes came from Mike Renkoski in the 800-meters in 2:00.98 and Hollenbeck in the long jump at 20-1 ½. The Miners had five of the top seven finishers in the long jump with Anders coming in sixth with a mark of 19-10 3/4 and Moore finishing seventh at 19-8.

The Miners' had a pair of 4x400-meter relay teams that finished second with a time of 3:19.96, finishing a little over a second behind Truman State's team that was anchored by All-America Sean Bergstedt.

Not only did S&T get seven wins from its current competitors Saturday, but two former Miners were also winners in their events while competing as unattached entries. Jamel Sims won the 110-meter hurdles in a time of 14.79 seconds while Jesse Scott won the high jump with a clearance of 6-0 3/4.

The Miners are expected to send selected individuals to the Drake Relays next weekend in Des Moines, Iowa, the final meet before the GLVC Championships that begin May 2 in Indianapolis.

PRINT a copy of this story!

top

Lady Miner track performs well

By John Kean
S&T Sports Information

ROLLA – The Missouri S&T women's track and field team recorded a number of high finishes, including four first place efforts, at the fourth annual Dewey Allgood Invitational held Saturday, April 19 at S&T's Allgood-Bailey Stadium.

The first place finishes came from Hillary Griffith in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.77 seconds, Kierra Handley in the 800-meters in a seasonal-best time of 2:19.66, Tamara McCaskill in the high jump at 5-5 1/4 and Jamie Statler in the pole vault, where she won with a mark of 11-4 1/4 with fewer misses than the other three that cleared that height.

S&T also had four second place efforts, which were recorded by Kendra Lewis in 100-meters in 12.95 seconds, Aubrey Moore in the 200-meters in 26.14 seconds, Leah Morehead in the pole vault at 11-4 1/4, Sarah Stach in the long jump with a mark of 15-11 ½ which was her personal best in the event.

Third place finishes were posted by Moore in the 100-meters in 13.13 seconds and 400-meters in a season-best 59.29, Griffith in the 200-meters in 26.28, Rebecca McNally in the 3,000-meters in a personal-best 11:45.97, Maggie Mawhiney in the 100-hurdles in 17.95 seconds and Hannah Terwelp in the shot put with a season-best mark of 40-4 3/4.

Lewis had a time of 26.71 in the 200-meters to come in fourth, as did Katie Bruce in the 800-meters in 2:27.14, Taylor Hahn in the pole vault at 11-4 1/4, McCaskill in the long jump at 15-7 ½ and Terwelp in the hammer throw at 127-8, while fifths were posted by Sarah Stach in the 200-meters in 28.85 seconds, Samantha Schussele in the 800 in 2:30.38, Mawhiney in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:17.26 and Sarah Zaremba in the pole vault at 10-4 1/4.

The Lady Miners' 4x100-meter relay team took second in a seasonal-best time of 48.81 seconds, while the 4x400-meter relay team posted a time of 4:10.73.

PRINT a copy of this story!

top

Miner cage teams hope to soon sign recruits

ROLLA – The respective head coaches at the Missouri Science & Technology basketball office have been burning up the phone lines.

But neither Miner men’s basketball head coach Dale Martin or Lady Miner head coach Alan Eads had signed a player on Wednesday, April 16, the first day NCAA basketball programs could sign prep recruits.

The Miner men’s program is looking for help in many areas, particularly scoring.

S&T stumbled to a 3-24 record in 2007-08 and one of the major problems was a lack of scoring punch.

The top scorer back is 6-0 guard Justin Taylor, a sophomore who led the Miners with a 15.5 scoring average. No other Miner averaged double-figure points. Taurance Townsel, a 6-8 junior college pickup, was next at 9.9 while 6-1 freshman guard Aaron Hays was third at 8.5 and 6-0 junior college transfer Curtis Mosley fourth at 8.4.

In addition, the Miners were far from dominant inside. Their leading rebounder, 6-6 freshman forward DeJon Slaughter, averaged just 5.3 boards per game to go with a 3.2 scoring average.

"We’d like to bring in some size," Martin said. "We’d like to bring in a pretty good wing player and a good point guard as a freshman.

"The guys we return have to get better. But we’ve got to bring in someone with more scoring pop."

Martin said it could be a while before S&T begins signing recruits.

"We have not had anyone in yet," he said. "We’re waiting on some kids. We have no timetable. We think there will be a couple of young men looking to transfer from Division I schools. We’ll probably look at those kids when their schools are over, which will be in May.

"Right now we’re only looking to sign to a scholarship one freshman and a couple of transfers."

Martin has a large number from his roster expected to be back next season, including 2007-08 key players Taylor, Hays, Townsel, 6-2 sophomore guard Marquis Jones, Mosley, Slaughter and 6-2 freshman Lucas Walls. In addition, 6-7 forward Casey Noll, who missed the entire season with injury, is expected back. Noll, who has missed two of the three seasons he’s been on campus to injury, would have two years of eligibility left.

The Lady Miners, coming off their best season in school history, are looking primarily for a couple of point guards to bolster the roster for 2008-09.

S&T is losing five seniors, including three starters, from this past season’s squad, which finished 24-7 overall – a school record for wins – and advance to the NCAA Division II National Tournament for only the second time in school history. And the Lady Miners had their best-ever national finish, advancing to the Sweet 16 before falling to eventual national champion Northern Kentucky in the Great Lakes Regional finals.

The key losses to graduation are 6-0 forward Katie Bunge (11.5 points, 8.4 rebounds), four-year starting point guard Jaime Forsberg (119 assists, 63 steals, 5.8 points) and 5-9 guard Chism McEntire (9.2 points, 64 made three-pointers).

The strength of the returning players lie in the frontcourt, where 5-11 junior forward Tamara McCaskill (14.8 points, 5.5 rebounds), 6-0 junior center Katie McElrath (11.8 points, 6.3 rebounds) and 5-10 junior guard-forward Lauren Dubbert (7.6 points, 4.1 boards) are to be back.

However, Eads says the first priority for next season is bringing help at point guard. He would prefer a duo who can handle the job, like he’s had the past couple of seasons in Forsberg and fellow senior Jennifer Pena, who will also have to be replaced.

S&T signed three high school recruits during the early signing period last fall, but they are all more shooting guard/wing types in 5-9 two-time all-stater Brittany Percival from Hartville High School, 5-9 three-time all-stater Courtney Kemp from Fredericktown and 5-7 all-stater Jenny Dorman from Pella (Iowa) High School.

Eads said the Lady Miners may get a recruit signing the first week, but most will come later.

"We might sign one this week," Eads said. "We’ll probably have four freshman and a couple of transfers. There are a lot of kids transferring from Division I and junior college (schools); kids who are looking for a place to transfer. And we’re looking at a few of them.

"We really need a point guard and a (wing). We’d like to get a high school and a junior college point guard. It would be nice if the wing player is a juco or a transfer kid. Point guard-wise, we’re hoping to sign an in-state kid. Actually the kids we signed early could probably fit in at point guard

"But we’ve got to come up with a couple of good point guards; no question."

Eads feels the recent success of the Lady Miner program (17, 17 and 24 wins the past three seasons) is beginning to help on the recruiting trail.

"We’re probably getting more calls and more e-mails from people about players," he said. "What we need now is to stay at the level we’re at. You’ve just got to get the better athletes. But (the recent success) will help."

PRINT a copy of this story!

top

Drury men’s basketball inks 3 Ozark Conference players

SPRINGFIELD – The Drury University men’s basketball team got in on the recruiting of Waynesville High School all-stater Domonique Long late in the game.

But the Panthers got their man nonetheless.

Long, a 6-5 forward who has helped Waynesville win consecutive district championships and advance to the Class 5 Quarterfinals this past season, said Tuesday night he was planning on signing with Drury.

The first day high school recruits can sign with NCAA basketball programs was Wednesday, April 16. Long said his plan was to sign his letter of intent at home and then go to Springfield Wednesday morning for a signing ceremony at the Drury campus.

Drury didn’t seem to be in the Long recruiting derby. He had considered several other schools, including Southwest Baptist University, Texas-San Antonio, Eastern Kentucky and Evangel College.

However, Long’s performance in the Bass Pro Shop Tournament of Champions this past season – he was named to the all-tournament team as Waynesville placed third – quickly got the Panthers more interested.

Long is the second all-state player from Waynesville to commit to Drury. All-stater Katie Pritchard signed with the Lady Panthers during last fall’s early signing period.

Long and Pritchard were named to both the Missouri Sportswriters/Sportscasters Association as well as the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Class 5 all-state teams.

Long said he will be joined at Drury by a couple of Ozark Conference rivals, Springfield Kickapoo’s 6-5 forward Dusty Allen and 5-11 guard Kyle Vaughan. Long, Allen and Vaughan all played together on the AAU Missouri Titans basketball team last summer.

Long was a three-year starter at Waynesville. The last two seasons the athletic Tigers were among the top teams in Class 5. Long was the team’s top scorer this past season, averaging 15.1 points and 5.7 rebounds. He was the top vote-getter in the All-Ozark Conference selection.

The Tigers finished the season 22-7 and ranked No. 9 in the final Class 5 state poll.

Drury, a member of the rugged Great Lakes Valley Conference, has been one of the region’s best NCAA Division II programs. This past season the Panthers finished 25-6 overall and advanced to the Great Lakes Regional Tournament.

Another standout player from the Waynesville boys’ team, 6-5 forward Chris Rebuck, has announced he will be playing for the Maryville University men’s basketball team in St. Louis next school year.

Rebuck, a two-time all-conference and all-district performer for Waynesville, averaged 12.5 points and nearly five rebounds a game this past season while leading the Tigers in steals.

One of the area’s premier three-point shooters, Rebuck figures to battle for playing time at Maryville immediately.

Maryville is a NCAA Division III school.

PRINT a copy of this story!

top

Weekend Feature: S&T fights wet weather in spring football

ROLLA – Oh, for a synthetic turf to play on.

That’s what the players and coaches from Missouri Science & Technology football team have probably been thinking the past couple of weeks as the Miners try to make the most of a spring practice schedule on natural turf during an extremely wet spring.

S&T generally waits until the St. Pat’s festivities are over before beginning spring practice drills. The school has 29 days to get 15 spring practices in. That is usually a window of time that makes things fairly flexible.

Not this year.

For the Miners, that clock began ticking on April 2, the team’s first spring workout – which was extremely limited due to the field conditions. Since then the coaching staff has battled poor weather conditions, as the Midwest has been soaked with rain.

This weekend was a perfect example. Not only was it overcast, windy, wet and cold...it also spit some snow.

S&T has natural grass on both its game and practice fields, making practice impossible on several of the recent rainy days. And the school does not have an indoor facility large enough to hold a regular football practice.

"The NCAA’s 29-day window accounts for bad weather," S&T head coach Kirby Cannon said. "It backs it up to a point you have no off-days. Without field turf or an indoor facility for football, that’s the case here."

The annual spring game for the Miners is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, April 25 at Allgood-Bailey Stadium. A punt, pass and kick contest for youths prior to the spring game and run by the Miner players and coaches will begin at 5:30 p.m. (for more information on the punt, pass and kick

contest, call the S&T Athletic Department at 341-4175).

There is a chance that the Miner spring drills will continue on past the spring game due to the bad weather. Spring practices can be held through April 30.

S&T is trying to rebound from an injury-marred 2007, during which the squad finished with a 4-7 record after recording back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in 21 years.

One of the areas getting plenty of spring attention is at receiver, which is extremely key in the squad’s spread offensive attack.

For the first time in several years S&T is searching for bodies to improve receiving depth. The loss of three-time All-America Ashton Gronewold will certainly be felt. Also, starting wideout Nathan Binder (21 receptions for 233 yards in ’07) has transferred and has to be replaced.

Competing for Gronewold’s highly-effective slot position (he had 87 receptions for 1,009 yards and 13 touchdowns last year) are Chad Shockley, a former two-time all-stater at St. James High School who will be a junior in 2008, and senior-to-be Mike Greaving. Both are very athletic and both have ability to pick up yardage after the catch.

Greaving caught 37 passes for 384 yards and three touchdowns while Shockley had 18 catches for 203 yards in 2007.

"Shockley and Greaving will compete for Gronewold’s spot," Cannon said. "And we will add three transfers to the receiver positions in the fall."

Who will be throwing the ball to Greaving, Shockley and Co. is still very much uncertain.

The quarterback position was perhaps the deepest for the squad at the beginning of last season. However, the top two players on the depth chart – junior college transfers Brad Guidry and Jason Schleuter – both went down with season-ending surgery. Schleuter had ankle surgery after a preseason injury and was red-shirted last season. He still has two years of eligibility remaining. Guidry, who won the Miners’ starting quarterback job, went down in the fourth game of the season with a leg injury that required reconstructive surgery. Guidry had completed 63 percent of his passes for 884 yards and seven TDs when he went down. He

has but one season of eligibility left.

Guidry’s injury forced S&T to pull the red-shirt off true freshman Steve Watson, who started the remaining seven games at QB. Watson ended up completing 141-of-248 passes (57 percent) for 1,661 yards, 19 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Watson (6-0, 175), Schleuter (6-2, 210) and Guidry (6-7, 240) are all in spring camp, although Guidry’s work is limited as he continues to rehab his injury.

"Guidry is ahead of schedule," Cannon said. "He’s participating in throwing and non-contact drills. Schleuter should be 100 percent and ready to go.

"I’d like one (of the three) to win the job. Continuity in our offense runs hand-in-hand with a one-quarterback situation. We anticipate that battle in early-season games."

If one player red-shirts, it would probably be Watson. Schleuter used his red-shirt year in 2007 and Guidry is unlikely to red-shirt, as he is on schedule to graduate in December.

Cannon and his staff are always looking for transfer help to beef up needy areas. However, this spring most of the new players will be freshmen coming off their red-shirt season. Among those players the coaching staff is looking for immediate impact from include safety Brandyn Mueller (6-0, 190), defensive lineman Joe Ridpath (6-5, 245), tailback Michael Wilson (5-8, 175) and big offensive lineman Travis Abbott (6-7, 335).

"The biggest boost in the program will come from the red-shirt freshmen," Cannon said. "We have good enough numbers to have a full-scale spring program.

"Offensively we return so many starters we should be able to jell in the spring (heading into the start of the regular season practice sessions in August). Defensively we lose a lot of players. We’re young over there, but we’re fairly athletic and we’re quick. We want to make sure we’re emphasizing that kind of defense in the spring."

PRINT a copy of this story!

top

Sidelines: S&T golf tourney gets facelift

The annual Missouri S&T fund-raising golf tournament for the Miner Athletic Department is getting a facelift.

Joe Gorman, of Key Sport Shop, is the coordinator of this year’s S&T golf tourney, which will be held Monday, May 5 at Oak Meadow Country Club.

The event will be called Team Up for Missouri S&T Athletics.

The event will be a four-person scramble. And on each team there will be a Missouri S&T coach or other school official.

Entry fee is $100 per person. Persons can enter as three-person groupings or as individuals.

There will be lunch beginning at 11:30 a.m. with a shotgun start at 1 p.m.

In this tourney there will be some unique ways that teams can whittle their respective scores, such as one throw for one team member, the use of 12 inches of string to finish off one or more putts; one male per team can tee off one time from a women’s tee box; one mulligan for one person, and one "buy" to subtract a stroke from a team’s score.

Merchandise gift certificates will be going to top teams in each flight. There will also be prizes for long drive and closest-to-the hole contests.

In addition, the tourney is still seeking hole sponsors for $100, green sponsors for $200 and business sponsors for $500. Business sponsorships include the $100 entry fee for three players.

To enter a team please send fees to Joe Gorman, 12690 Cinnamon Court, Rolla, MO 65401.

For more information on the tournament contact the S&T Athletic Department at 341-4175.

—

Another upcoming fund-raiser for the S&T Athletic Department is the S&T Athletic Booster Club’s Trivia Night and Silent Auction, to be held Saturday, April 26 at the Rolla Lion’s Club Den.

Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. to begin the silent auction bidding. Trivia starts at 7 p.m.

Cost is $100 per table (eight people). There will be a cash bar and persons can bring their own snacks.

For more information contact Frank Bridges at (573) 308-7272 or Robin Witzke at (573) 308-7199.

—

Joel Wells, former football head coach at Washington High School and Nix High School, has resigned his coaching and teaching post at Nixa to become the football head coach at Liberty High School, a Class 6 school.

Taking over as head coach at Nixa will be longtime defensive coordinator Richard Rehagen, who has been on the Nixa football staff for 13 years.

After spending 11 years at Cassville, Wells took the head coaching job at Washington when the Blue Jays were still in the Four Rivers Conference. Wells spent three years at Washington and then moved on to Nixa, where he has spent the last 11 seasons turning the Eagles into a southwest Missouri football power. Nixa won at least eight games is six of Wells’ seven seasons there, including a perfect 10-0 regular-season mark in 2003. Wells led Nixa to the first football playoff victory in the program’s history (2003).

PRINT a copy of this story!

top

Weekend Feature: Miners’ Gronewold to wait by phone on Draft Day

ROLLA – When NFL scouts watch Missouri Science & Technology All-America Ashton Gronewold on the football field, he’s hoping they’re thinking of Wes Welker.

Welker was the possession receiver who became a Pro-Bowler with the New England Patriots with his precise routes and glue-like hands this past season. Welker proved there is a place on an NFL roster for a little guy who can make a big impact.

Which is what defined Gronewold’s career with the Miners.

Gronewold (5-10, 190), from Carthage (Ill.) High School, is the most potent offensive force in the long history of S&T football. And he’ll be waiting anxiously by his cell phone during the National Football League Draft. He is hoping to be selected sometime on the second day of the

draft. If not, he’s hoping to be signed as an undrafted free agent.

"The best-case scenario would to be drafted, get three or four invites to mini-camps and then, hopefully, to training camp," said Gronewold, a wide receiver/return man for the Miners.

For a player from a small college, Gronewold certainly has the resume to get NFL scouts’ attention.

He holds nearly all of the Miners’ receiving and scoring records. This past season Gronewold caught 87 passes for 1,009 yards, had 2,250 all-purpose yards, had 953 kickoff return yards and broke the NCAA single-game record with 295 kickoff return yards. He also became just the seventh player in NCAA Division II history to return two kickoff returns for touchdowns in the same game.

For those accomplishments Gronewold was selected to the Associated Press Little All-America Team as well as the Daktronics Division II All-America Team.

For his career he holds S&T school career records for receptions (278), receiving yards (3,708), total touchdowns (58), receiving touchdowns (53), all-purpose yards (5,992) and kickoff return yards (1,828).

He is the first player in the 115-year history of Miner football to earn All-America honors in three different seasons.

After his Miner career was completed Gronewold competed in the Cactus Bowl, a post-season all-star game for Division II seniors. In that game, held Jan. 11 in Kingsville, Texas, Gronewold scored a TD on a 10-yard pass reception and totaled 86 yards in all-purpose yardage.

"He had good reviews out of his Cactus Bowl participation," said S&T head coach Kirby Cannon. "He also competed in pro days at Mizzou and Northwest Missouri (State, in Maryville). "I think the (Philadelphia) Eagles and (Chicago) Bears have expressed the most interest to us in him."

Gronewold is the third receiver in recent years to come out of the Miners’ high-octane passing attack and draw interest from professional football scouts.

Three years ago Brett Fischer – who had been the team’s career receptions leader before Gronewold passed him, was signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Kansas City Chiefs. He has spent time in training camps of both the Chiefs and Detroit Lions.

And last year Brandon Landry, who finished with 121 receptions for 1,649 yards in just two seasons as a receiver at S&T, was in mini-camps of both the New York Jets and Lions, although he wasn’t signed by either organization.

Cannon feels that Gronewold could be a better NFL fit than Fischer or Landry because of his extensive experience on special teams.

"He has that special teams component, which Fischer and Landry really didn’t have," Cannon said of Gronewold. "I think that helps him a great deal."

"I think that’s the tipping point," Gronewold agreed. "That makes me versatile; that’s sometimes the difference in a Division I guy and a Division II guy – you’ve got to be as versatile as you can. I’ve shown I can play on punt return, punt block and returning kickoffs."

Not the biggest or fastest receiver, Gronewold has proven to be a slick route runner who makes would-be tacklers miss. And since the 2007 season ended Gronewold has continued to try and polish his skills.

"The last five or six weeks I’ve been going to St. Louis to a place called Acceleration," Gronewold said. "It has different setups for different sports. It has specific training for NFL combines. No doubt it has helped me. Without going down there I wouldn’t have been able to

perform at the level I have (in pro days and other combine-type workouts)."

He says he’s run the 40-yard dash in around :04.5 during his pro days, which he felt went well. "Especially at Mizzou," he said. "I felt I ran really good routes and caught balls well. There were a lot of Mizzou receivers there and I felt I fit in fine with them."

Gronewold says he hasn’t got a good feel of what the pro scouts are thinking concerning his chances of being drafted or signing a free agent contract.

"I really don’t know what to expect," he said. "Probably the two most interested so far have been the Eagles and Bears. But they haven’t been specific at all. I think they like to keep you in the dark as much as possible. They may call me a few days before (the draft) or they may not

call at all until Monday or Tuesday after the draft. I’ll definitely keep my phone close."

"The best comment I had is from a scout who said he could go in the sixth or seventh round, or the first day (after the draft) as a free agent," Cannon said.

Either drafted or signing as a free agent, going to a NFL training camp would be a dream come true for a little receiver from a little hometown who went to a little college but who has already done some mighty big things on a football field.

Gronewold is on target to graduate from S&T in December with a degree in engineering management. However, that degree and related job can certainly be put on hold for a possible pro football career.

"If I had to come back here in five years (to finish the degree) it wouldn’t hurt my feelings at all," he said.

PRINT a copy of this story!

top

Lady Miner recruit is Miss Show-Me finalist

ROLLA – One of the high school recruits for the Missouri University Science & Technology women’s basketball team has been chosen as a finalist for Miss Show-Me Basketball for the 2007-08 season.

Brittany Percival, a two-time Missouri Class 2 All-State Selection from Hartville High School, is one of the Miss Show-Me Basketball finalist for this past season.

Percival led Hartville to the Class 2 state championship two years ago. This season Hartville again advanced to the state playoffs but didn’t return to the state semifinals.

Percival, a guard who averaged around 18 points per game last season, signed during the early signing period with the Lady Miners.

Other area players were also finalists for Mr. and Miss Show-Me Basketball, which is Missouri’s version of the high school player of the year awards.

On the Mr. Show-Me Basketball finalist list includes Taylor Sirois of Salem High School and Dusty Allen of Springfield Kickapoo. And also on the Miss Show-Me Basketball finalist list is Waynesville’s Katie Pritchard as well as Kathleen Scheer of New Haven.

A total of eight boys and 11 girls were Show-Me Basketball finalists. The winners will be announced at the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association (MBCA) Academic All-State Banquet, which will be held April 13 at the Reynolds Alumni Center on the campus of the University of Missouri in Columbia.

Other nominees for Mr. Show-Me Basketball are Johnny Coy of St. Joseph Benton, Drew Hanlen of Webster Groves, Torres Roundtree of McCluer North, Kramer Soderberg of St. Charles West, Scott Suggs of Washington and Ryan Willen of Cape Girardeau Notre Dame.

Other girls’ nominees are Yvonne Anderson of Hickman, Casey Garrison of Bolivar, Patrice King of St. Joseph's Academy, Myrtie Reilly of St. Joseph Academy, Kayla Rice of Westran, Brandi Roberts of Cairo, Kassie Walker of Arcadia Valley and Kelsey Wolfe of DeKalb.

PRINT a copy of this story!

top