ST. JOSEPH – The on-field and off-field accomplishments of Missouri Western student-athletes were recognized Monday night during the 18th Annual MWSU/St. Joseph News-Press Student-Athlete Awards Night.

The crowning achievements of the night were awarded to Travis Anderson (football) as the Male Student-Athlete of the Year and Shi Qing Ong (women’s golf) as the Female Student-Athlete of the Year. Anderson and Ong were selected from a pool of 11 nominees, one from each MWSU sport as well as the Griffon Cheer Squad.

All awards were given during an awards show at Potter Theatre with senior recognitions and a dinner held afterward in the Fulkerson Center on the Missouri Western campus. Below is a full list of all awards given Monday night.

Female Student-Athlete of the Year: Shi Qing Ong (women’s golf)

Male Student-Athlete of the Year: Travis Anderson (football)

James J. McMillen Scholar-Athlete Award: Kelsey Olion (volleyball)

Tom Smith Career Achievement Award: Travis Anderson (football), Chelsea Dewey (women’s basketball), David Glaude (baseball), Katie Klosterman (softball), Morgan Rathmann (softball)

Award of Valor: Kendall Short (football)

Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Choice Awards: Newcomer of the Year (Cassidy Menke-women’s soccer), Team of the Year (2016 women’s golf), Intriguing Moment of the Year (2016 women’s golf team clinching spot in national championships)

Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Volunteers of the Year: Danielle Moore (volleyball) and Bridget Blessie (women’s soccer)

Baseball Student-Athlete of the Year: Richard “Richie” Peoples

Men’s Basketball Student-Athlete of the Year: Cole Clearman

Women’s Basketball Student-Athlete of the Year: Chelsea Dewey

Cheer Squad Student-Athlete of the Year: Rachel Allen

Football Student-Athlete of the Year: Travis Anderson

Men’s Golf Student-Athlete of the Year: Patrick McCarthy

Women’s Golf Student-Athlete of the Year: Shi Qing Ong

Soccer Student-Athlete of the Year: Bailey Dervin

Softball Student-Athlete of the Year: Morgan Rathmann

Tennis Student-Athlete of the Year: Sofia Aguilera-Tovar

Volleyball Student-Athlete of the Year: Kelsey Olion

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – Last year was the first-ever trip to the NCAA Division II Central Super Regional for the Missouri Western women’s golf team, and on Monday the Griffons found out they earned their second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Western was one of 12 teams to qualify this year’s event which will be played at Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls, South Dakota May 8-10.

All teams along with the six individual qualifiers, will play 54 holes of golf. The top three finishing teams along with the top-three individuals not with a team in the field, will advance to the NCAA Division II Women’s Golf Championships in Findlay, Ohio.

Last spring, the Griffons won a playoff to finish third in the regional and advance to the national championships.

— Northwest Athletics —

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – The Fifth-seeded Missouri Western softball team went 1-1 on the opening day of the MIAA Softball Championships to advance to Friday’s round of games.

The Griffons avenged two losses at Missouri Southern earlier this season with a 4-2 win over the fourth-seeded Lions in their first round game. In round two, it was top-seeded Central Oklahoma’s turn for revenge as the Bonchos held MWSU to three hits in a 10-1 win over the Griffons.

Morgan Rathmann opened her final MIAA tournament with another broken record. The senior broke the MIAA career triples record by leading off the Missouri Southern game with the 32nd triple of her career. Rathmann went 4 for 4 in the game to tie the MWSU career hits record (263), but was held hitless in the Central Oklahoma game.

The Griffons had just one hit through the first six innings against UCO, a misplayed pop-fly to left that turned into a double for Sydney Washington in the second. They added two more hits and their only run of the game in the seventh.

Missouri Western will face seventh-seeded Southwest Baptist on Friday at 10 a.m. Southwest Baptist lost its opener, 1-0 in 14 innings to second-seeded Pittsburg State before eliminating third-seeded Central Missouri, Thursday night.

The three seed (UCM) and four seed (Missouri Southern) were eliminated from the tournament Thursday. Second-seeded Pittsburg State already has one loss.

Friday’s games can be heard on ESPN 1550 in St. Joseph or streamed live, here. All Missouri Western games Friday will also have live video streaming available at this link.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western baseball team (26-18, 23-11) scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to beat Central Missouri (30-13, 21-10) 4-3 Thursday night at the Griffon Spring Sports Complex.

Jeremy Alvarado’s two-out double down the left field line scored three runs in the eighth inning to give Missouri Western the 4-3 lead.

NOTABLES
– Logan Marston’s eighth inning fielder’s choice scored David Glaude to start the MWSU rally

– Zach Cross struck out all three Central Missouri outs in the ninth inning

– Levi Schreiner broke up the Mule’s Zach Girrens no-hit bid in the sixth inning with a two-out single to left field

– Dusty Stroup singled the next at-bat for the Griffons to extend his hitting streak to 12 games

– Missouri Western has now won 11 of its last 13 games

– Both teams were ranked in the latest NCAA Central Regional poll released on April 26, as UCM was third and MWSU was eighth

TOP PERFORMERS
– Dustin Agnew threw 7 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on seven hits

– Zach Cross tossed 1 1/3 relief innings as he gave up no runs with four strikeouts

– Jeremy Alvarado was 1-for-3 at the plate with three RBIs

– Zach Girrens went seven innings with no runs on two hits and five strikeouts for the Mules

UP NEXT
Missouri Western and Central Missouri will play a doubleheader Friday 2 p.m. Senior day activities are planned to begin at approximately 1:30 p.m. for the Griffons’ 10 seniors. All times are subject to change with impending weather. Missouri Western Athletics social media platforms and gogriffons.com will have schedule changes as soon they are available.

— MWSU Athletics —

KANSAS CITY – Missouri Western freshman Chong Yong finished tied for sixth with a 243 over three days in her first ever MIAA Women’s Golf Championships at Swope Memorial Golf Course. Missouri Western was fourth as a team with a three-round total of 997.

Shi Qing Ong trailed Yong by just a stroke to finish tied for ninth with a 244. For back-to-back years, Ong has been in the top 10 as she was eighth in last year’s championship. Tiffanie Yabut carded a 257 to make the top 25. Madison Romjue fired a 258 as Jenna Kosmatka recorded a 262 for MWSU.

Northeastern State won the team championship with a 236 and Lindenwood’s Dakota Limkemann took individual honors with a 231. Missouri Western secured its position in the NCAA Regional Championship on May 8-10 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

— MWSU Athletics —

SPRING HILL, Kan. – Missouri Western’s Patrick McCarthy was named 2017 MIAA Men’s Golf Freshman of the Year after finishing top 10 in six tournaments this season. McCarthy along with fellow freshman Kevin Kim were both named to the All-MIAA team after top 10 finishes in the MIAA Championships at Sycamore Ridge Golf Course Wednesday.

Kim finished in eighth place with a four-over par 220 as McCarthy trailed by a stroke and finished 10th. Jacob Majeske posted the lowest score for the Griffons in the final round with an even par 72 and finished the tournament with a 231. Lucas Horseman shot a 245 as Cole Roberts cared a 251.

As a team, Missouri Western placed seventh with a 908. MWSU was edged out of fourth place by just 14 strokes.

Central Oklahoma won the team title with an 884 as UCO’s Alexander Hughes claimed individual honors with a one-under par 215. Listed below is the complete list of MIAA postseason honors.

Men’s Golf All-MIAA
Alex Springer, Central Missouri *Player of the Year
Carson Roberts, Washburn
Yente Van Doren, Lindenwood
Eli Armstrong, Central Oklahoma
Patrick McCarthy, Missouri Western *Freshman of the Year
Shayne Allan, Central Missouri
Tate Williamson, Northeastern State
Cody Troutman, Central Oklahoma
Alexander Hughes, Central Oklahoma
Taylor Lansford, Missouri Southern
Nick Pierce, Central Oklahoma
Kevin Kim, Missouri Western
Travis Simmons, Central Missouri
Cole Dillon, Central Missouri
Jay Cottam, Nebraska-Kearney

Coach of the Year: Josh Fosdick, Central Oklahoma

— MWSU Athletics —

SPRING HILL, Kan. – Missouri Western freshman Kevin Kim sits atop the leaderboard after two rounds at the MIAA Men’s Golf Championships at Sycamore Ridge Golf Course.

Kim shot a 2-under 70 in the second round Tuesday to take sole possession of the lead. Missouri Western is tied for sixth as a team with a 603 two-round total. Fellow Griffon freshman Patrick McCarthy fell to a second place tie with a 1-over 73 on Tuesday. Jakob Majeske improved by nine strokes from round one to round two with a 3-over on Tuesday. Lucas Horesman also improved with a 4-over after shooting an 85 on Monday.

The Griffons will play the final round of the event Wednesday.

— MWSU Athletics —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Western women’s golf team climbed into third place after round two at the MIAA Women’s Golf Championships at Swope Memorial Golf Course Tuesday.

Chong Yong leads the Griffons and sits tied for fourth, overall after two rounds. Yong shaved five strokes off her round one total with a 5-over, 77 Tuesday. Shi Qing Ong is just outside the top-10 after shooting an 83 in round two. Tiffanie Yabut shot an 84 Tuesday and is tied for 16th. The Griffons have a 667 overall after two 334 rounds.

Northeastern State leads the field after a team 314 in round two for a 635 through the first two rounds of competition. Central Oklahoma’s 654 is currently good for second place.

Play concludes Wednesday with tee times beginning at 8:30 a.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western softball team opens play Thursday in the MIAA Tournament at Oklahoma City.

The defending tournament champions are the No. 5 seed as the tournament bracket was released Monday night by the MIAA. Missouri Western will play No. 4 seed Missouri Southern on Thursday at 5 p.m. The tournament will be played at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium complex in Oklahoma City Oklahoma.

The Griffons won eight of their final nine regular season games to finish the regular season 36-16 with a 16-10 mark in MIAA play. Missouri Western finished in a three-way tie for fourth place in the MIAA standings, but Missouri Southern was awarded the fourth seed by virtue of a 2-0 record against the MWSU in the regular season.

— MWSU Athletics —