Kate Walter continued her outstanding senior season on Sunday as she broke the MIAA Championship meet record in the hammer throw to highlight the three-day event for Northwest Missouri State track and field at Welch Stadium.

Walter broke the 14-year-old mark with a throw of 58.14 meters to eclipse the mark set by Laura Mayo of Emporia State in 1998. Walter’s throw was also a personal best, giving her the sixth best mark in NCAA Division II.

Joining Walter as an MIAA Champion on Sunday was Brittany Poole, who captured the title in the 3000-meter steeplechase at 11:04.55. Although Poole recorded an NCAA provisional time, the Omaha native already clinched her spot at the NCAA Championships with an automatic mark last week at the Drake Relays.

Close behind Poole with a top five finish was Anne Herbert who finished with a time of 11:43.48, good for fourth in the event.

Lekiesha McKnight improved her standing on the provisional list with a fourth place finish in the stacked shot put. McKnight’s mark of 14.54 meters was a personal best and moved her up the provisional list to 12th. Walter also improved her provisional mark in the shot put finishing sixth with a throw of 13.98.

Walter also added a top five finish in the javelin throw finishing fifth with a mark of 41.39 meters. The throw however did not better her provisional distance set earlier in the spring at the ESU Spring Twilight. The Independence, Mo., native has provisionally qualified for three events and earned one automatic making her the first Bearcat in program history to have the possibility of competing in four events at the NCAA Championships in late May.

On the men’s side Porter Groves became the fourth Bearcat male to earn an NCAA provisional mark as the junior finished third in the triple jump. The Lincoln, Neb., native jumped to a mark of 14.92 to earn his spot on the provisional list.

Senior T.R. Pursell earned a runner-up finish in the 3000-meter steeplechase after a time of 9:23.91 and was three seconds shy of a provisional mark as well.

As a team the Bearcat women finished sixth as Lincoln ran away with the team championship while Pittsburg State edged Central Missouri on the men’s side. The Northwest men finished eighth.

The Bearcats have two final events before the NCAA Championships May 24-26 to improve on NCAA marks. Northwest will compete in Chicago at the Dr. Keeler Invitational and Chicago Penultimate on Thursday and Friday with the ESU Last Chance Qualifier on Saturday.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

Chris Green recorded his 12th-career win on the mound Saturday afternoon ranking him tied for ninth all-time as he led the Northwest Missouri State University baseball team to a 4-2 win in game one of a doubleheader with the Lincoln University Blue Tigers.  The Bearcats would fall 6-4 in game two.

With the split, Northwest now sits at 16-32 overall and 15-23 in the MIAA while the Tigers are now 8-38 overall and 8-29 in conference play.

In game one, Green pitched the entire seven inning contest as he allowed just two earned runs while scattering six hits and striking out a career-high eight batters.

The Blue Tigers scored their only runs of game one in the second inning off of three hits and a Bearcat error.

Northwest would take a 3-2 lead in the fourth as hits from Tyler Durant and Jake Kretzer set the table for Geno DeAngelis to deliver a two-out, two-run single.

The Bearcats added a run in the sixth on a successful squeeze bunt by Landinn Eckhardt.

Cameron Bedard led the Bearcats offensively in game one recording two hits.

Game two saw another stellar pitching performance but this time from Lincoln’s Taylor Klugman as he would record the complete game win.

The Bearcats would jump out to an early 1-0 lead in the first but Lincoln would answer in the second taking the 2-1 advantage.

Northwest tied the game at 2-2 in the sixth thanks to hits from Eric Swain and Steven Garber but the Blue Tiger’s bats would come alive in the eighth as they would plate four unearned runs off of four hits to take the 6-2 advantage.

The Bearcats answered with two runs in the bottom of the eighth but that would be as close as they would get.

Chase Anderson recorded the tough-luck loss on the mound for Northwest pitching 7.2 innings while allowing just one earned run, six hits and striking out six.

Cameron Bedard and Eric McGlauflin recorded two hits each for the Bearcats offensively.

Up Next: The Bearcats and Blue Tigers conclude their four-game series and the 2012 season tomorrow afternoon with a doubleheader from Bearcat Field.  First pitch of game one is slated for noon.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

For the second consecutive season the No. 16 Northwest Missouri State men’s tennis team came to an end in the first round of the NCAA Tournament falling to No. 6 Abilene Christian, 5-0 Tuesday at the Eager Tennis Center.

The Bearcats (19-5) came into Tuesday’s match looking for their first regional title and trip to the Round of 16 since 2007. However, Northwest ran into a Wildcat (20-8) team playing its best tennis and fell one win shy of winning 20 matches. Of the eight losses for ACU, only one came at the hands of a NCAA Division II opponent playing a schedule heavily loaded with NCAA-DI teams.

With both teams battling strong winds gusting upwards to 30 mph it was the home team that found the right ingredients to pull off the win.

Opening doubles play ACU raced out to an early 3-0 lead by sweeping all three matches.

Since returning from injury, Calvin Patterson teamed with Luis Altimires to go undefeated on the second half of the season. However, on Tuesday the luck for the Bearcat duo ran out as Michael Morris and Guilherme Gesser battled to a 9-7 win at No. 3 doubles.

No. 2 doubles was just as hard fought however Northwest came out on the short end again falling 8-5, while the No. 1 doubles team of Mario Jakovljevic and Jose Ortega fell 8-4.

Needing only two points to claim the win heading into singles play, ACU turned to the No. 6 ranked singles player in the nation, Hans Hach. Hach defeated Patterson at No. 1 singles, 6-3, 6-2 to push the Wildcats one point away from the victory.

The Wildcats finished the match at No. 3 singles when Nick Plum won 6-4, 6-1 over Rafael Bugiga giving the top ranked team a 5-0 win.

The loss brings an end to a historic season for the Bearcats that saw head coach Mark Rosewell claim his 800th career win March 31 in Tulsa, Okla., a 5-0 win over Dallas Baptist.

It also marks the end of a stellar career for the Bearcats’ lone senior Calvin Patterson. Patterson finishes his career at Northwest with the second most singles wins in program history at 82-20 and fifth most career wins in doubles at 59-23.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

The Northwest Missouri State University baseball team split with the Washburn University Ichabods Monday winning game one in walk-off fashion, 9-8, before falling 7-5 in game two.

With the split, Northwest now sits at 15-31 overall and 14-22 in conference play.  The game two loss officially eliminated the Bearcats from the post-season MIAA tournament.

Game one saw Jake Kretzer cap a six run, seventh inning rally by belting a walk-off grand slam to give the Bearcats the 9-8 win.

Washburn had jumped to an early 3-0 lead in the second before Northwest answered with two runs of their own in the third on Eric Swain’s tenth home run of the season.

The Ichabods extended their lead in the sixth plating two runs on two hits to take the 5-2 advantage.

Charlie Krueger would pinch-hit in the sixth and plate Kretzer to cut the Washburn lead to two.

Washburn rallied in the seventh extending their lead to 8-3 but the Bearcat bats would get hot in the home half of the seventh as Cameron Bedard would start the hitting with a double to right-center.  Eric Swain would follow with a single through the right side and then Eric McGlauflin would single plating Bedard cutting the Ichabod lead to 8-4.  Tyler Durant would reach base via a hit-by-pitch followed by a Steven Garber single scoring Swain.  With the bases loaded, Jake Kretzer would belt his seventh home run, and first grand slam, of the season to center field giving the Bearcats the 9-8 win.

McGlauflin and Kretzer led the Bearcats offensively in game one with each recording three hits.

Josh Parrish recorded the win on the mound for Northwest pitching two innings of relief.

The Ichabods again jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in game two plating three runs in the top of the second.

Northwest would get on the board in the fifth as Steven Garber, Landinn Eckhardt, JJ Baccari and Cameron Bedard would all record hits helping plate two runs for the Bearcats.

The Bearcats added a run in the sixth thanks to hits from McGaluflin and Garber tying the score at 3-3.

The Ichabods and Bearcats would trade runs in the seventh before the Ichabods would go ahead in the eighth plating three runs off of two hits to take the 7-4 lead.

Northwest would get one run back in the eighth and load the bases in the ninth but were unable to come from behind once again.

Carson Smith suffered the loss on the mound in game two pitching 7.2 innings allowing ten hits and striking out four.

Offensively, Eric Swain and Garber recorded two this apiece in the loss.

Up Next: The Bearcats will host the Lincoln Blue Tigers in a four-game series to conclude the 2012 season.  First pitch of game one is set for Friday at 2 p.m. from Bearcat Field.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

Northwest Missouri State head women’s basketball coach, Mark Kellogg, has announced his first signee for the 2012-13 season with the addition of Monique Stevens from Southeast Community College in Beatrice, Nebraska.

Stevens is the first to sign with the Bearcats in the new Kellogg era as the All-America guard led the Storm in scoring and assists the last two years at Southeast (SCC). She led the Storm to a District Championship and first ever national tournament appearance as a sophomore averaging 13.0 points per game and 5.0 assists.

“We are thrilled to add Monique to the Bearcat family,” Kellogg said. “Monique is our first signee this spring and she will really help solidify our point guard position. We hope that her experience at the junior college level will translate quickly at Northwest. She has a tremendous feel as a point guard and she plays with a great passion defensively.”

Along with leading SCC to an eighth place finish at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Tournament, she set the school record for most assists in a career. She earned All-Conference and All-Region accolades and was also named to the NJCAA All-Tournament Team.

Prior to SCC, Stevens prepped in Australia at Catholic College – Wodonga in Wodonga, Victoria, Australia, where she helped the Wolves to a third place state finish. She won three consecutive gold medals at the Australian National Schools Basketball Tournament and represented Victoria Country at the Australian Junior Country Cup where her under-18 team captured the silver medal.

Stevens joins Tember Schechinger who was signed in early November from IKM-Manning High in Manilla, Iowa. The pair of guards will join a Bearcat squad that lost two 1,000-point guards in Abby Henry and Shelly Martin.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

The Northwest Missouri State softball team saw its season end Friday, but they did not go down without a fight falling 6-4 to Central Missouri in extra innings of the MIAA Softball Championships at the Blue Valley Sports Complex.

Northwest ends its season at 20-31 as the Bearcats made their third consecutive MIAA Postseason Tournament appearance. The Bearcats closed their season winning five of their final eight games as they narrowly missed an opening round upset of second-seed Missouri Western on Thursday.

Turning to staff ace, Jenna Creger, the Bearcats looked poised to advance staving off elimination for the second straight game. However, an 8th-inning double from Central Missouri put an end to the Bearcats season as Northwest was unable to rally in the bottom of the extra frame.

Northwest had taken the lead in the bottom of the second inning when Anastaszia Roseberry belted a 3-run homer giving the Bearcats a 3-1 lead. The blast would come just two pitches before both teams would be forced to sit through a 52 minute lightning delay.

After coming back from the delay both teams continued to pound out hits, but could not score base runners as UCM left 12 on base and Northwest left eight in the game.

The Jennies would make it a one-run game in the third inning and tie the game in the fifth on an RBI double from Ashlea Bengston.

In the top of the seventh fate looked as if the Jennies would steal the game from the Bearcats just as they had during the regular season; however after UCM took the lead in the top of the seventh, Northwest got an RBI triple from Kristen Uthe scoring Jordan Ereth who lead off the inning with a walk.

Heading into extra innings the momentum would shift to UCM as the Jennies scored two runs off the bat of Bengston to seal the win. Bengston led the Jennies going 3-for-4 with 4 RBIs and two doubles.

Northwest would attempt to rally thanks to a lead-off double from Rachael Schmitz; however she would be stranded as the Jennies retired the side with two strikeouts and a fly-out to end the game. Schmitz was one of two Bearcats to finish with multiple hits going 2-for-3.

Kristen Uthe also finished 3-for-4 with an RBI in the loss.

Closing the season Northwest had four players earn All-MIAA Honorable Mention accolades on Friday: Jenna Creger, Jr., P; Hailee Hendricks, Jr., 2B; Kristen Uthe, Jr., 3B; Kayli Schurman, Jr., DP.

Creger finished the season with 117 strikeouts giving her 407 for her career making her the all-time strikeout leader in Northwest history. Schurman finished the season with 15 home runs as she tied the single season record.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

Three singles players and two doubles duos from 2012 MIAA men’s tennis regular season and tournament champion Northwest Missouri State were named All-MIAA First Team to highlight the all-conference team released Wednesday by the league office.

The selections were made by the league’s five head coaches, and coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players.

Mario Jakovljevic, Guilherme Narducci and Jason Harris all earned first team accolades in men’s singles.

Rafael Bugiga and Narducci earned first team honors at No. 2 doubles while Calvin Patterson and Luis Altimires were named first teamers at No. 3 doubles.

Northwest head coach Mark Rosewell was selected as the MIAA Coach of the Year for the ninth time in men’s tennis after guiding the Bearcats to a perfect 4-0 league record (19-4 overall) and the conference regular season and tournament championships.

Southwest Baptist junior Domingos Carissimo is the unanimous choice for MIAA Player of the Year after a season in which he went 15-2 at No. 1 singles and 17-2 at No. 1 doubles. The Pohta Nova, Brazil, native was also an All-MIAA First Team selection at No. 1 singles as well as No. 1 doubles.

Southwest Baptist’s Kristof Kinal was named the MIAA Freshman of the Year. The Budapest, Hungary, product went 13-6 at No. 3 singles and 12-7 at No. 2 doubles. Kinal was also an All-MIAA First Team selection at No. 3 singles and was named All-MIAA Second Team at No. 2 doubles.

2012 ALL-MIAA MEN’S TENNIS TEAM

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Domingos Carissimo, Jr., Southwest Baptist

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Kristof Kinal, Southwest Baptist

COACH OF THE YEAR
Mark Rosewell, Northwest Missouri

SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Eric McCollough, Sr., Truman

FIRST TEAM
1S: Domingos Carissimo, Jr., Southwest Baptist
2S: Mario Jakovljevic, Jr., Northwest Missouri**
3S: Kristof Kinal, Fr., Southwest Baptist
4S: Guilherme Narducci, Jr., Northwest Missouri**
5S: Daniel Cardona, So., Southwest Baptist** [r1]
6S: Jason Harris, Fr., Northwest Missouri**
1D: Domingos Carissimo (Jr.)/Jorge Margiotta (Sr.), Southwest Baptist [r1]
2D: Rafael Bugiga (Jr.)/Guilherme Narducci (Jr.), Northwest Missouri**
3D: Calvin Patterson (Sr.)/Luis Altimires (So.), Northwest Missouri**

**Unanimous Selection
[r1] – Repeat first team selection from last season

SECOND TEAM
1S: Calvin Patterson, Sr., Northwest Missouri
2S: Jorge Margiotta, Sr., Southwest Baptist
3S: Rafael Bugiga, Jr., Northwest Missouri
4S: Jorge Palacios, Sr., Southwest Baptist
5S: Luis Altimires, So., Northwest Missouri
6S: Chance Joost, So., Washburn
1D: Jose Ortega (So.)/Mario Jakovljevic (Jr.), Northwest Missouri
2D: Daniel Cardona (So.)/Kristof Kinal (Fr.), Southwest Baptist
3D: Jorge Palacios (Sr.)/Tyler Welch (Sr.), Southwest Baptist

HONORABLE MENTION
Emporia State: Mat Edwards, Jr., 2S/1D; Ethan Deckert, Sr., 4S; Matt Van Horn, Sr., 5S/2D; Andrew Davids, Fr., 1D; Mitch Kibbe, Jr., 2D.

Truman: Mike Merchant, So., 6S/3D; Adam King, So., 3D.

Washburn: Arkadiusz Kozaczuk, So., 1S/1D; Pascal Laucht, So., 2S/2D; Steven Fletcher, So., 3S/3D; Maciej Winiarz, Fr., 5S/1D; Bobby Florence, So., 2D; Dario Munoz, Fr., 3D.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

A pair of Northwest Missouri State singles players highlight the women’s All-MIAA selections as Stephanie Mannix and Emily Hoffman earned first team accolades Wednesday announced by the league office.

Joining Mannix and Hoffman on the All-MIAA First Team was Kim Ho who teamed with Hoffman to earn first team honors at No. 3 doubles. Mannix was named first team at No. 5 singles while Hoffman was named first team at No. 6 singles.

Alexis Bartek earned a spot at No. 3 singles on the second team while Bartek and Camila Quesada were named second team at No. 1 doubles.

The Bearcats also had four players earn honorable mention accolades including Erika Leston, Leslee Feldhaus, Quesada and Ho.

Southwest Baptist freshman Fanni Varga was the unanimous selection for MIAA Player of the Year and was also voted MIAA Freshman of the Year after a season in which she went 21-1 in singles play (16-1 at No. 1 singles) and 21-3 at No. 1 doubles. The Budapest, Hungary, native was also an All-MIAA First Team selection at No. 1 singles and was a unanimous All-MIAA First Team pick at No. 1 doubles.

Southwest Baptist head coach John Bryant was voted MIAA Coach of the Year for the second time in women’s tennis after leading the Bearcats to an unblemished 7-0 conference record (22-2 overall) and the conference regular season and tournament championships.

Truman senior Ellen Russell was voted as the Sportsmanship Award winner.

2012 ALL-MIAA WOMEN’S TENNIS TEAM

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Fanni Varga, Fr., Southwest Baptist

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Fanni Varga, Southwest Baptist

COACH OF THE YEAR
John Bryant, Southwest Baptist

SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Ellen Russell, Sr., Truman

FIRST TEAM
1S: Fanni Varga, Fr., Southwest Baptist
2S: Mehak Singh, So., Southwest Baptist** [r1]
3S: Adrienn Kovacs, Jr., Southwest Baptist**
4S: Andjela Panovski, So., Southwest Baptist
5S: Stephanie Mannix, Fr., Northwest Missouri
6S: Emily Hoffman, Jr., Northwest Missouri
6S: Alyssa Castillo, Sr., Washburn
1D: Mehak Singh (So.)/Fanni Varga (Fr.), Southwest Baptist**
2D: Morgan Rainey (Sr.)/Whitley Zitsch (Sr.), Washburn
3D: Kim Ho (So.)/Emily Hoffman (Jr.), Northwest Missouri

**Unanimous Selection
[r1] – Repeat first team selection from last season

[Note: Tie in voting created an additional spot at No. 6 singles]

SECOND TEAM
1S: Nicole Jara, So., Emporia State
2S: Brittney Ricci, Fr., Fort Hays State
3S: Alexis Bartek, So., Northwest Missouri
4S: Jamie Blackim, Sr., Washburn
5S: Faiga Schmidt, Jr., Southwest Baptist
6S: Abby Morris, So., Emporia State
1D: Alexis Bartek (So.)/Camila Quesada (So.), Northwest Missouri
2D: Adrienn Kovacs (Jr.)/Faiga Schmidt (Jr.), Southwest Baptist
3D: Crystal Guiot (Sr.)/Andjela Panovski (So.), Southwest Baptist

HONORABLE MENTION
Emporia State: Alex Crowe, Jr., 4S/2D; Somer Schmidt, So., 6S; Nicole Jara,So., 1D; Taylor Smith, Fr., 1D; Jennifer Gerhardt, Fr., 2D.

Fort Hays State: Caitlyn Wark, Fr., 3S; Camille Caron-Bedard, Fr., 2D; Laura Johnson, Jr., 2D.

Northwest Missouri: Camila Quesada, So., 1S; Erika Leston, Sr., 2S/2D; Kim Ho, So., 4S; Leslee Feldhaus, So., 2D.

Southwest Baptist: Crystal Guiot, Sr., 6S.

Truman: Maggi Schutte, Jr., 4S.

Washburn: Sophie O’Neill, So., 2S/3D; Whitley Zitsch, Sr., 3S; Casyn Buchman, Fr., 5S/3D.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

The Northwest Missouri State men’s tennis team will compete in the NCAA South Central Region for the seventh straight year announced by the NCAA Tuesday evening. The Bearcats will travel to top seed Abilene Christian for a rematch with the Wildcats Tuesday, May 1.

The No. 26 Bearcats enter postseason play with a 19-4 record while No. 16 ACU stands at 19-8 on the year. It will be the first meeting between the two schools in the NCAA tournament although they both met during the regular season with the Wildcats taking a 7-2 win.

Northwest is coming off its third consecutive MIAA Championship after knocking off No. 29 Southwest Baptist 5-4 on Sunday. This will be the 16th postseason appearance for the Bearcats who are looking for their fifth ever trip to the Round of 16.

Abilene Christian is also coming off a conference title as the Wildcats claimed their fourth straight Lone Star Conference Championship with a 5-1 win over Incarnate Word last Saturday.

The winner of Tuesday’s NCAA Preliminary Regional round will advance to the Round of 16 May 16-19 in Louisville, Ky. Times have not yet been announced.

— NWMSU Sports Information —