MVC Round-up: Vikings on way to regional rodeo title

SENATOBIA, Miss. -- With its eighth championship in nine meets, the Missouri Valley College men's rodeo team has essentially nailed down defense of its NIRA Ozark Region title.

Sophomore Will Smith of Luyoff, S.C., won saddle bronc riding to pace the Vikings' victory with 640 points last week at the Northwest Mississippi Community College Rodeo. With one last rodeo remaining in the regular season, Valley (6,310) leads Tennessee-Martin (5,036) by an insurmountable 1,274 points in the season standings.

The Vikings picked up their usual big points, 250, in saddle bronc riding as juniors Kyle Brennecke and James Earl Carter placed second and fourth, respectively. Junior Adam Gilchrist was third in the all-around cowboy competition, giving Valley 140 points with a third place in team roping -- header to sophomore Jake Shaw's heeler -- and sixth in steer wrestling.

Although he didn't factor into the team points, junior Chance Weldon had a solid meet with a fifth in calf roping and by joining with junior Chris Coulter for sixth in team roping.

Senior Codey Payne was second in calf roping, freshman Will Crain finished third in bull riding and MVC got fourth-place performances from sophomore T.J. Reichert in steer wrestling and the team roping duo of sophomore Tyler Cuppy and junior Colten Butler.

Senior Amy Adametz of Montfort, Wis., was also strong, winning goat tying and coming in fourth in breakaway roping. Unfortunately, her points didn't count towards the Valley women's second-place score of 285, nor did those of sophomore Chelsea Clapsaddle of Geneva, Fla. -- the barrel racing champion.

What did work for the Lady Vikings were senior Kallie Agre's fifth in goat tying and breakaway roping, along with her pairing with junior Krista Staley for seventh in team roping. Freshman Jessica Brown was third in breakaway, one position behind non-scoring sophomore teammate Casey Taylor, and junior Katie Kimble tied for fifth in goat tying.

Valley (2,347) trails Southern Arkansas (3,067.83) in the standings, but has a 491.5-point cushion over Troy (Ala.) in the race for a spot in the College National Finals Rodeo.

The region schedule ends April 16-18 at the Tennessee-Martin Rodeo.

Softball

The Missouri Valley College softball team had a pair of 10-run, 13-hit games Tuesday to claim both ends of the Heart of America Conference doubleheader against visiting Benedictine, 10-8 and 10-5.

The Lady Vikings had to come back from a 5-0 first-inning deficit in the opener, a double by junior Drew Huff and sophomore Katie Welch's single each knocking in a pair of runs for the Lady Ravens.

Valley took a chunk out of the deficit with four runs in its half of the first, senior Kimberly Fuller's two-run single helping to cut the margin to 5-4. Another Fuller single tied the score in the second.

The Lady Vikings took the lead with five runs in the bottom of the sixth. Junior Janae Borrego singled to bring in the go-ahead run. Junior Sara Irminger, Fuller and senior Lindsey Stapp added RBI singles.

Sophomore Katie Welch smacked a three-run homer in the top of the seventh to make matters a little uncomfortable for Valley, but junior pitcher Tatum Hathcock was able to finish what she started.

Hathcock also closed out the nightcap, coming in after the Lady Vikings fell behind 5-2 in the third. She didn't allow a run the rest of the way, tossing four scoreless frames for her eight straight victory.

Senior Heather Sliger plated two runs in the bottom of the first for a 2-1 MVC lead, but Benedictine (17-13, 3-5 HAAC) tallied four runs in the third --two coming in on freshman Allison Salva's double.

Stapp closed the gap to 5-3 with an RBI single in the bottom of the third, but it was the five-run fourth which spurred the Lady Vikes' victory. They caught up quickly on junior Sydney Kaneshiro's two-run homer. Stapp's single put Valley in front, with two insurance runs crossing on Irminger's double.

The Lady Vikings (20-13, 5-1) have won 10 of their last 12 games and will try to keep the hot streak going today at Evangel.

Track & Field

LIBERTY -- Sophomore William Coleman claimed the shot put title for the Missouri Valley College men's track and field team Saturday in the Darrel Gourley Invitational at William Jewell.

Coleman's throw of 14.30 meters topped the field, while a 38.20-meter discus toss was good for fifth place to help the Vikings finish eighth in the team standings with 33 points.

Valley also had solid showings from relay teams, the 3,200-meter (8:24.38) coming in second to Highland Community College (Kan.) by only .90 seconds and the B (3:35.58) and A (3:35.96) units for the 1,600 relay finishing fourth and fifth.

Freshman Sheena Carter led the Lady Vikings with a third in the shot (11.35) and fifth in the discus (38.20). Sophomore Taylor Whitacre was fourth in the 5,000 (20:48.29) and freshman Wava Denito came in sixth in the 100 (13.22 seconds).

Valley was 11th in women's team points with 24. MidAmerica Nazarene took the title with 108 points, while the top men's team was Central Methodist at 105.

The Vikings are still seeking their first NAIA Championships qualifier heading into Friday's Central Methodist Invitational.

Men's Golf

FULTON -- The Missouri Valley College men's golf team was unable to defend its William Woods Invitational title last week.

The Vikings shot 298 on the Tanglewood Golf Course in Fulton during last year's rain-shortened event, but was unable to match that number in either of the two rounds March 30-31 -- shooting a fifth-place 623.

Sophomore Adam Novakowski fired a one-under-par 71 to lead the first round, but settled for third place after a second-round 78 put him at 149 strokes. Senior Adam Lindsay of Iowa Wesleyan, who boasts an impressive 70.5 scoring average this spring, went three-under 69 on the second day for the title -- leading the Tigers (615) to second place behind Grand View (Iowa) at 609.

Junior Tyler Kasubeck was 19th at 156, thanks to a second-round 74, and freshman Tyler Gibson and sophomore Devan Bestgen tied for 26th at 159 to round out Valley's scoring.

The Vikings hosted the MVC Spring Invitational on Tuesday, Monday's scheduled first round wiped out by cold weather, but results are not yet available. Valley will play in the William Jewell Invitational on Thursday.

Men's Volleyball

KANSAS CITY -- Johnson and Wales (Colo.) blew through the Missouri Valley College men's volleyball team in three games Friday in the first round of the MAMIC West Tournament at Kansas City.

The sixth-ranked Wildcats got 11 kills from sophomore Komakana Fernandez during their 30-19, 31-29, 30-23 victory over MVC. Individual statistics for the Vikings were not available.

Johnson and Wales (14-11) dropped its next two matches to finish fourth in the tourney, but received an at-large bid to the NAIA National Invitational Tournament, April 16-18 at Parkville. Lindenwood defeated Graceland in four sets Saturday for the division tourney title.

Valley closed its season with an 8-18 record.