2008 Woodie Awards
Perspective is always a good thing when evaluating results. Central Missouri State, now Central Missouri, had five players selected in the first 11 rounds of the 2005 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. As one baseball publication put it, that is almost unheard of.
When people find out I like sports, I typically receive this question: Which sport is your favorite? I give them a quick answer: baseball. Some then ask me, "Why baseball?" and I give them a name: Mike Morris. Morris stands about five-feet, six-inches tall with the right shoes on and looks like he could use one of those Miami Beach diets.
Southwest Baptist University senior track-and-field runner T. Jay Sanderson briefly had the fastest 5,000-meter time in NCAA Division II after competing at the Stanford Invitational March 30 in Palo Alto, Calif. He placed 16th in the fourth section of the event with a clocking of 14 minutes, 26.
Two undefeated teams, three nationally-ranked teams, two nationally-ranked singles players and a nationally-ranked doubles team-all will be featured in the final regular season home meet of the Southwest Baptist men's and women's tennis teams. The 3 p.m. Friday, April 13 meet will pit the unbeaten Washburn Ichabods and Lady Blues against SBU's Bearcats and Lady Bearcats.
It was another tough week for the Southwest Baptist softball team. First, they traveled to Hays, Kan. to take on the Fort Hays State Lady Tigers. Like many of their other games this season, the Lady Bearcats hit well, but the hits always seemed to be right at a fielder.
Jeff DeLong has taken the cross country and track-and-field programs at Southwest Baptist University from obscurity to the forefront of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association in only two years at the helm. DeLong has done this mainly with a group of young runners whom he recruited with the intention of coaching through their entire collegiate careers.
Carding the best scores of his collegiate career, Southwest Baptist freshman Brad Nipper came out a winner, capturing individual medalist honors at the Central Region Invitational in Kansas City April 9-10. Playing on the rain-soaked par-72 course at Swope Memorial Golf Club, Nipper carded a 67 (the meet's top individual score) on day one.