AREA SCENE

Tigers open at NCAA track meet

After the first day of the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Sacramento, Calif., Missouri senior Hans Uldal stood in 10th place in the men’s decathlon. Through five of the 10 events, Uldal had totaled 3,750 points - 14 more than his Day 1 score from last year’s NCAA Outdoor Championships, where he finished third. Uldal ran the 100 meters in 11.48 seconds, leaped 23 feet, 7½ inches in the long jump, threw 46-7¼ in the shot put, cleared 5-10¾ in the high jump and clocked 51.13 seconds in the 400 meters. Junior Bjorn Sommerfeldt fouled three jumps in the long jump and scored 2,485 points on the first day. Sophomore Jason Morris placed 15th in the men’s hammer throw with a throw of 204-7. Sophomore Chris Rohr took 18th with a 202-5 (61.70m) mark. Junior Bobby Musil finished 19th at 201-9 (61.50m). The top 12 advanced to tomorrow’s final. Senior Ashley Patten ran a 2:08.40 in the first round of the women’s 800, placing 26th overall. Junior Marcus Mayes ran a 1:48.86 in the men’s 800 prelim to take 17th. Both fell short of today’s finals. Today, Uldal and Sommerfeldt will wrap up the men’s decathlon, Bill Hobson and Nate Englin will compete in the men’s shot put qualifying round, Amanda Bales will compete in the first round of the women’s 1,500 and Serena Ramsey will compete in the final of the women’s 10,000.

Heinicka is Big 12 sportsperson of year

Former Missouri gymnast Jodie Heinicka was named the 2006 Big 12 Conference Female Sportsperson of the Year, the league office announced today. Heinicka, who completed her eligibility in 2006, was the first Missouri athlete to earn the honor in the award’s six-year history. She was selected alongside Male Sportsperson of the Year Parker Dalton, a Texas A&M baseball player. The award was started prior to the 2000-01 academic year to honor student athletes who displayed an extraordinary degree of sportsmanship and/or community service. Heinicka and Dalton were selected by a media panel. Heinicka, a native of Seminole, Fla., does work for several local charities and also represented MU on the Big 12 Student Athlete Advisory Committee. Heinicka is tied for Missouri’s bar record with a 9.950, which she set in 2004. In 2006, she finished the season ranked fourth nationally on the bars and held the South Central Region’s top bars ranking in 10 of 11 weeks during the season. Heinicka concluded her career with a second-place finish on bars at the NCAA Southeast Regional.

Rockies draft Lowe in 26th round

Recent New Bloomfield graduate Shane Lowe was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 26th round of the Major League Baseball draft yesterday.

Lowe, a shortstop, has signed a letter of intent to play at Nebraska. He hit .514 with 10 home runs and 31 RBI as a senior.

Rock Bridge hires soccer coach

Kelly Gates was named the new head coach of the Rock Bridge girls soccer program yesterday.

Gates, who has been involved with the program as an assistant for the past two years, replaces Marc VanDover who resigned after three years in charge.

Gates has a total of 10 years coaching experience.

Stephens signs recruit from Kentucky

Stephens College recently signed Sabrina Manning, of Harrodsburg, Ky., for the 2006-2007 basketball season. Manning, a 5-foot-11 guard, scored more than 1,100 points during her high school career at Mercer County High School and was a two-time first team academic all-state honoree and her graduating class’s valedictorian. As a senior, Manning averaged 17 points, 6 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 2.2 assists per game and scored in double figures in 27 of 29 games.

"Sabrina has the ability to play all the positions on the court," Stephens Coach Dane Pavlovich said. "She has a tremendous work ethic, a passion for the game, and a desire to continue to improve."

Cougars host soccer camps

There are still openings in Columbia College soccer Coach John Klein’s summer camps. Columbia College hosts individual camps from June 12-16 for players ages 6-12 and July 17-21 for players age 6-16. The team camp is from July 10-14 for teams in the under-7 age group through under-16. And there are two Kiddie Kickers camps for children ages 4-5, from June 12-15 and July 10-13. All camps are for both boys and girls. Contact Klein for any additional information at (573) 875-7413 or jdklein@ccis.edu.