Northwest Missouri State University senior Kevin Schultz has been named the MIAA’s outdoor field athlete of the week.
Schultz (Platte City, Missouri) scored 7,145 points in the decathlon at the Cactus Cup in Kingsville, Texas. Schultz’s score is the highest this season in NCAA Division II and is a provisional qualifying mark.
The 7,145 points set the Northwest school record and is the highest point total in the decathlon among MIAA participants since 2017.
— Northwest Athletics —
ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Missouri Western Men’s Golf completed the third and final round of the Lindenwood Invitational on Tuesday. The Griffons finished in sixth place out of the 20 teams competing at the event.
The Griffons entered Tuesday in fourth following their 303 team score in the third round, bringing their overall score to 899. Missouri Western was one of four MIAA schools to finish in the top-six, with Lindenwood winning the event with a score of 869.
Patrick McCarthy led the Griffons on the scorecard, tying for 12th with a three-round total of 220. McCarthy’s best round came in the second when he shot a 71, which was also the best single-round score on the team.
Tom Buffington was the next-best score for the Griffons, finishing with a 224 to tie for 23rd. Jake Mikesch tied for 44th with a score of 232. Mikesch had the second-best round on the team when he shot a 72 in the opening round on Monday.
Lucas Horseman and Jett Simmons rounded out the Missouri Western scoring at Lindenwood, finishing with scores of 235 and 239 respectively.
The Griffons will have over one week before making the short trip to Kansas City for NSIC Regional Preview on April 15.
— MWSU Athletics —
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (March 26, 2019) — The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced today the 2019 NABC Coaches’ Division II All-America team. Selected and voted on by member coaches of the NABC in Division II, these student-athletes represent the most outstanding basketball players across America in NCAA Division II.
Northwest Missouri State University senior Joey Witthus (Chanhassen, Minnesota) becomes the third different Bearcat to earn NABC All-America honors. DeShaun Cooper (2014) and Justin Pitts (2017, 2018) are the previous Bearcats to earn NABC All-America status.
Witthus, the MIAA player of the year and most outstanding player at the MIAA tournament, is averaging a team-best 21.5 points per game and shooting 50.8 percent from the field. Witthus has buried an-MIAA high 108 three-pointers, and he is shooting 45.7 percent from beyond the three-point arc. Witthus also leads Northwest in free throws made (157) and is shooting 85.3 percent from the free throw line.
Witthus has scored 731 points this season. He needs 23 more points to equal the Northwest single-season scoring record set by Justin Pitts (754) in 2016-17.
Northwest will take on Mercyhurst at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana, in the Elite Eight.
2019 NABC COACHES’ DIVISION II ALL-AMERICA TEAM
Gage Davis, St. Cloud State, 6-4, Senior, Guard, Bolingbrook, Ill.
Jacobo Diaz, IUP, 6-9, Senior, Forward, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
Adam Eberhard, Bellarmine, 6-8, Senior, Forward, Evansville, Ind.
Tim Guers, Saint Anselm, 6-3, Senior, Guard, Langhorne, Pa.
Chris Hansen, UCSD, 6-7, Junior, C, Lafayette, Calif.
Amir Hinton, Shaw, 6-5, Junior, Guard, Philadelphia, Pa.
Daulton Hommes, Point Loma Nazarene, 6-8, Junior, Guard, Lynden, Wash.
Ryan Richmond, Bentley, 6-1, Senior, Guard, Toronto, Ont., Canada
Johnathan Lawton, Florida Southern, 6-2, Senior, Guard, Williamstown, N.J.
Kendale McCullum, Lewis, 6-1, Senior, Guard, Elgin, Ill.
Brandon Parker, Francis Marion, 6-3, Senior, Forward, Sumter, S.C.
Ryan Quaid, West Texas A&M, 6-6, Senior, Guard, Fort Collins, Col.
Marquill Smith, West Georgia, 6-4, Senior, Guard, Miami Gardens, Fla.
Ben Sonnefeld, Colorado School of Mines, 6-3, Senior, Guard, Katy, Texas
Shaun Willett, Queens, 6-4, Senior, Forward, Palm Bay, Fla.
Joey Witthus, Northwest Missouri State, 6-7, Senior, Guard, Chanhassen, Minn.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the second time this season, Missouri Western baseball’s Anthony Castaneda was named MIAA Pitcher of the Week.
The senior shared the honor this week with Lindenwood’s Blake Beckmann. Castaneda matched his Missouri Western career-high and a Missouri Western single game record with 14 strikeouts in MWSU’s game two, 5-2 win at Lindenwood. It was the first time in nearly two months a team had scratched out more than a run on the senior from Woodlands, California, but Lindenwood didn’t do much else. He held the home team to seven hits across nine complete innings with just two walks to move to 6-0 on the season.
The senior leads the MIAA with six wins, 70 strikeouts and three complete games. His 1.56 ERA ranks second in the MIAA and opponents’ .202 batting average against him is the seventh-best in the MIAA.
— MWSU Athletics —
ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western baseball team has added a previously unscheduled series to its schedule. Missouri Western will host Illinois-Springfield in a doubleheader on April 30 at the Spring Sports Complex.
The twin bill will begin at 3 p.m. and will help to make up for 11 home games the team had to either cancel or move to an off-campus site due to weather conditions.
This week the Griffons are scheduled to play four games, beginning with a non-conference game at Northwest Missouri Tuesday followed by a three-game home series against Central Oklahoma. That weekend series is scheduled to begin Friday, but is subject to change based on the forecast.
— MWSU Athletics —
AMES, Iowa (AP) — Alexa Willard scored 17 points to help 11th-seeded Missouri State stun third-seeded Iowa State 69-60 on Monday, becoming the only double-digit seed to reach this year’s Sweet 16.
Abby Hipp had 11 points and Danielle Gitzen scored 10 for the Lady Bears (25-9), who will compete in an NCAA Tournament regional semifinal for the first time since the Jackie Stiles-led team in 2001. They’ll face either Stanford or BYU in Chicago after becoming the ninth team in 10 years to reach the Sweet 16 as a double-digit seed.
Iowa State (26-9) played much of the fourth quarter within a possession of the lead, only to let Missouri State answer time and time again. Sydney Manning extended the Lady Bears’ lead to 60-54 on a 3, her only field goal of the game, and Willard followed with a jumper.
Gitzen answered an empty Cyclones possession with two free throws, and Bridget Carleton threw the ball away at the 1:07 mark with Iowa State down 65-58. The Cyclones then inexplicably failed to foul Missouri State, allowing the Lady Bears to burn nearly 30 seconds off the clock.
Carleton had 31 points in her final game to lead Iowa State, which shot a ghastly 2 of 17 on 3s and 35.6 percent overall.
Missouri State controlled the first half, jumping ahead 33-30 at the break after Iowa State — which makes 8.9 3s a game — missed its first five tries from deep. A 10-2 run to open the second half gave the Lady Bears a 43-32 lead midway through the third quarter.
Finally faced with the idea that their Cyclones were in trouble, Iowa State’s fans got into the act. The Cyclones followed, reeling off nine quick points to make it a one-possession game. But a crucial 3 by Willard helped Missouri State push its lead to 49-45 entering the final quarter.
It might have seemed as though a game-deciding run was inevitable for the Cyclones. But it was the Lady Bears, fresh off a dominant win over sixth-seeded DePaul, who took control when it mattered.
The jubilant Bears ran into the crowd to celebrate with their band after the final horn, and a few of them picked up coach Kellie Harper’s son in celebration while screaming “We’re going to Chicago!”
THE BIG PICTURE
Iowa State: The Cyclones fell a game shy of matching the school record for wins in a season. This was a brutal way to end the year — but it was still a remarkable turnaround for a program that bottomed out at 14-17 a year ago.
Missouri State: The Lady Bears have beaten three straight ranked opponents — Drake, DePaul and Iowa State — in road or neutral games. They’ll be underdogs the rest of the way, but they’re much more dangerous than their mid-major backstory might suggest. Iowa State was just the fifth opponent in 34 tries to outrebound them, and even then it was just 38-37.
UP NEXT
Missouri State moves on to the Chicago Regional semifinals.
— Associated Press —
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Missouri took the next step in the process of appealing overly-harsh sanctions imposed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) Committee on Infractions by filing its 64-page appeals brief with the organization’s Appeals Committee Monday afternoon.
“We believe that the penalties our programs received were a clear abuse of the Committee’s discretion based upon existing NCAA bylaws. Our staff and legal team have worked tirelessly to research and develop a well-written appeal that accurately reflects our position,” said Mizzou Director of Athletics Jim Sterk. “We look forward to having the opportunity to meet face to face with the NCAA Appeals Committee later this year, and it is our sincere hope that at the end of this process, the penalties assessed are consistent with the nature of the violations and take into account our swift response.”
In its appeals brief, the University argues the following:
– The penalties handed down were contrary to NCAA case precedent;
– They were not supported, or appropriate, given the nature of the violations;
– They could have a chilling effect on future NCAA enforcement processes.
The NCAA Committee on Infractions now has 30 days to respond to Mizzou’s appeal, and following that, an in-person hearing date will be established for Mizzou to appear before the NCAA Appeals Committee.
“A message is sent to the membership every time the NCAA Committee on Infractions adjudicates cases. In this instance, the message is loud and clear that neither proactive self-reporting nor exemplary cooperation is of any value to the committee. I am shocked this is the message the NCAA wants to send to its membership in today’s climate,” Sterk added.
On Jan. 31, the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions imposed severe penalties on Mizzou’s football, baseball and softball programs in the form of postseason bans, as well as scholarship and recruiting restrictions. The sweeping sanctions were completely unexpected because the violations resulted from the actions made by a single, rogue, part-time employee who acted on her own. The university self-reported the incident as soon as officials became aware.
“As the university prepared its vigorous response to these unfair penalties, the spirits of our student-athletes have been buoyed by the widespread support of our students, alumni, university supporters and our elected officials in Jefferson City and in Washington D.C. That unified support has been most gratifying for all of us associated with this great institution,” Sterk said. “We will continue to work diligently to make this situation right for our student-athletes, coaches and fans who are impacted by these penalties as they now stand.”
— Mizzou Athletics —
ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The Missouri Western men’s golf team finished the first and second rounds of the Lindenwood Invitational on Monday. The Griffons are in fourth place after day one, shooting 298 in both rounds for a combined score of 596. Patrick McCarthy leads the Griffons and is tied for sixth entering Tuesday’s third round.
Patrick McCarthy’s score of 144 over the first two rounds is the best on the team. After shooting a 73 in the opening round, McCarthy shaved two strokes off in the second round. His second-round score of 71 was the best single round score by a Missouri Western golfer on Monday.
Tom Buffington is currently tied for 17th after the first two rounds. Buffington shot a 76 and 73 for a combined score of 149. Jett Simmons scored a 77 in back-to-back rounds for a 154, placing him tied for 41st.
Jake Mikesch had one of the best rounds of the day for the Griffons in the first, finishing with a score of 72 in the round. Mikesch enters Tuesday with a total score of 156.
Lucas Horseman finished with a two-round total of 159 to round out the Missouri Western scoring.
The Lindenwood Invitational will resume on Tuesday morning.
— MWSU Athletics —
The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced today the 2019 NABC Coaches’ Division II All-District teams and coaches, recognizing the best men’s collegiate basketball student-athletes and coaches in the division. Selected and voted on by member coaches of the NABC in NCAA Division II, these 88 student-athletes represent the finest basketball players across America.
Northwest Missouri State University head coach Ben McCollum earned central region coach of the year honors after guiding the Bearcats to their sixth straight MIAA regular season title and fourth straight MIAA tournament crown.
Senior Joey Witthus (Chanhassen, Minnesota) and redshirt freshman Trevor Hudgins (Manhattan, Kansas) were each named to the central region first team.
Central
First Team
Kevin Buckingham, Southeastern Oklahoma Javion Blake, Washburn
Ryan Bruggeman, Southwest Minnesota State Brandon Myer, UM Duluth
Gage Davis, St. Cloud State
Trevor Hudgins, Northwest Missouri State Jhonathan Dunn, Southern Nazarene
Cam Martin, Missouri Southern State Ian Smith, Northern State
Joey Witthus, Northwest Missouri State
Coach of the Year: Ben McCollum, Northwest Missouri State
WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Missouri Western Women’s Golf sits in third place after the opening round of the Jennies Invitational on Monday, finishing with a combined team score of 321. Shi Qing Ong is competing for yet another tournament win, shooting a 75 (+4) for the second-best score in the field.
The Griffons sit in the top-three of a field that includes 14 teams, all in NCAA Div. II. The team is just four strokes back of Northwest Missouri for the second slot, while host Central Missouri leads the competition with a score of 313.
Continuing momentum from her first two wins this spring was Ong. Ong’s score of 75 (+4) lands her in second place heading into the second round as she trails Central Missouri’s Molly Saporito by just two strokes. Ong led the field in par-four scoring and was one of only eight golfers with multiple birdies.
Anna Bech also neared the top of the leaderboard with her 79 (+8) on Monday, tying her for 10th. Bech led the entire field of 75 in birdies, as she was the only golfer with three.
Chong Yong is tied for 20th after shooting 82 (+11), finishing the first round with nine pars.
Jenna Kosmatka shot an 85 (+14) and Katie Irvin shot a 91 (+20) for the Griffons.
The second round of the Jennies Invitational will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, with Missouri Western scheduled to tee off at 10:36 a.m.
— MWSU Athletics —
