Local college sports briefs

LU-Belleville freshman is NAIA all-American in track and field

Freshman Shingai Kusena led the Lindenwood University–Belleville Lynx track and field team at the NAIA Outdoor Championships after finishing seventh in the triple jump. A three-time American Midwest Conference field Athlete of the Week, Kusena earned NAIA all–American after finishing in the top eight on day three of the championship.

Kusena finished with a final jump of 14.43 meters, defeating eighth-place finisher TJ Williams, of Indiana Tech, who finished with a jump of 14.37 meters. Kusena was one of only two freshman to finish in the top eight. With the seventh-place finish Kusena picked up two points for the Lynx.

In the 110-meter hurdles, defending NAIA all–American Christian Herring finished in 13th place in preliminaries, missing out on the top eight by less then half a second. Herring finished with a time of 14.8 seconds. Jose Chorro of Dickinson State finished in eighth in qualifying with a time of 14.55 seconds.

Jordan Haynes was the third Lynx representative at the championships. In the shot put event, Haynes finished in 15th place with a throw of 15.82 meters. Gauge Aebersold of Siena Heights took home the top spot after finishing with a throw of 18.17 meters.

The Lynx finished the NAIA Championships in a tie for 59th.

In just its first year in the AMC, the men’s track and field team won the league championship in the outdoor season. The Lynx look to build on their success as they enter their third season of competition next winter.

McKendree bass fishing duo finishes 31st in national meet

The McKendree University bass fishing duo of Dustin Pendegraft (Lebanon) and Shane Campbell (Highland) finished in 31st place in a field of 160 boats at the Cabela’s Collegiate Bass Fishing National Championship held on Pickwick Lake.

All three Bearcat teams competing weighed in five-fish limits on both Thursday and Friday. Pendegraft and Campbell weighed in a bag at 11.36 pounds on Friday for a two-day total of 27.44 pounds, only .04 shy of a top 30 finish. Curtis Lilly and Brock Wilke (Mater Dei) turned in a bag weighing in at 9.01 pounds for a two-day total of 21.62 pounds to finish in 69th place, and Trenton Robinson (Havana, Ill./Lewistown) and Jordan Ledbetter (Carlyle ) weighed in 9.60 pounds on Friday for a 96th place two-day total of 18.40 pounds.

The finishes mark program high’s for the Bearcats at the Cabela’s Collegiate Championships after the teams highest finish last season was 92nd in the programs inaugural season.

McKendree will return to the water Thursday for the Bassmaster/Carhartt College Series Midwestern Regional Qualifier on the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wis.

SIUE wrestling program lauded for achievements in academics

The National Wrestling Coaches Association released its annual listing of the top All-Academic teams, and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville leaped into the top 10.

SIUE wrestlers Jake Tindle (Triad) and Jake Residori also were among the 118 student-athletes nationwide to be selected to the All-Academic honors.

“What’s extremely promising about the All-Academic standings for the teams and the individuals is there is a lot of competition for the top spots in these rankings,” said NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer. “As you might expect, some of our nation’s finest academic institutions, like the Ivy League schools for example, are represented very well, but when you see schools like Eastern Michigan, SIUE, and South Dakota State, it goes to show the nation that great educations and great educational resources can be found everywhere. These schools know they have top-notch academics and we’re glad to be able to have our student-athletes showcase it through wrestling.”

LU-Belleville hires wrestling coach for men’s, women’s teams

The Lindenwood University–Belleville athletic department has announced the hiring of Angelo Crinzi as the head coach of the men’s and women’s wrestling programs. Crinzi talked about the opportunity.

“Wrestling has always been a big part of my life and I am very excited to be coaching here at Lindenwood-Belleville. This is a great opportunity and I plan on doing the best I can with it,” Crinzi said.

Crinzi was most recently a graduate assistant for the past two seasons at LU–Belleville. Last season Crinzi coached one all–American men’s wrestler and a women’s wrestler that took fifth at the U.S. Open, which qualified her for the World Team Trials.

Crinzi attended Grand View University, where he was a two-time national qualifier. He also helped the team to three NAIA national championships and three National Dual Championships. Crinzi graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history.

Two baseball Cougars honored by the Ohio Valley Conference

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville junior pitcher P.J. Schuster and freshman outfielder Dustin Woodcock have been honored by the Ohio Valley Conference.

Schuster was named to the All-OVC second team, while Woodcock was selected as a member of the All-Freshman team.

Tying for the league lead in wins with eight, Schuster finished the year with an 8-3 record and a 4.93 ERA. He made nine starts after moving from the bullpen. Schuster won his last four starts striking out 31 hitters while walking only two in 29 2/3 innings.

Woodcock led the Cougars with a .323 batting average while starting 46 of the Cougars’ 48 games in the outfield. He added nine doubles, a team-high four triples, six home runs, and 27 RBIs.

Inyart ends McKendree track career in Division II meet

Senior Hannah Inyart (Belleville East) capped her McKendree University track and field career late Thursday night as she competed in the 10,000-meter run at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships in Allendale, Mich.

Inyart posted a final time of 37:08.82 in the next-to-last event on the first day of the three-day national championship meet. She was the lone representative for the Bearcats at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

In her final season as a member of the McKendree track and field program, Inyart set a pair of new program records. Back in the fall, Inyart established a new mark on a six-kilometer course at the NCAA Midwest Regional, crossing the finish line in 21:59.44. Last month, she eclipsed a 16-year-old team record in the 10,000-meter run while competing in the Mt. Sac Relays in California. Inyart was clocked in a final time of 35:29.86.

Two SIUE teams receive recognition for academic success

Two Southern Illinois University Edwardsville teams are among those which received public recognition awards for top academic performance from the NCAA Wednesday.

The SIUE women’s tennis and men’s cross country teams were among 15 Ohio Valley Conference programs that were honored.

Each year, the NCAA honors selected Division I sports teams by publicly recognizing their latest multiyear NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate (APR). This announcement is part of the overall Division I academic reform effort and is intended to highlight teams that demonstrate a commitment to academic progress and retention of student-athletes by achieving the top APR scores within their respective sports. Specifically, these teams posted multiyear APR scores in the top 10 percent of all squads in each sport.

This story was originally published May 26, 2015 at 10:46 AM with the headline "Local college sports briefs."