Local college sports briefs
LU-Belleville’s Cavaness signs deal with Twins
After a season in which he broke nearly all the single-season records for the Lindenwood University-Belleville Lynx, Christian Cavaness has become the first player for the Lynx to sign a professional contract. Cavaness has inked a deal with the Minnesota Twins affiliate in the Gulf Coast League. Cavaness has spent this summer in the West Coast League for the Bend Elks, and was recently selected to the All-Star team.
While playing for the Elks this season, Cavaness hit .322 in 32 games, leading the team with 146 at-bats and 37 runs. Collecting 47 hits on the year, Cavaness hit eight doubles, two triples, and three home runs, while driving in 17 runs. He was also second on the team with eight stolen bases.
Cavaness, who just finished his junior season for the Lynx, was named First Team All–Conference in the American Midwest Conference (AMC) and was also named an NAIA All–American.
“Our program is extremely excited for Christian,” said head coach Logan Johnson. “He’s earned this opportunity through his work and dedication to the game. I know one of his goals was to play at the next level, and now he has that chance. It will be very exciting to see him develop, and he knows that he will always have the full support of the Lindenwood-Belleville baseball program.”
In his three years in a Lynx uniform, Cavaness leaves third all-time in hits (145), doubles (30), and games played (143); second in runs scored (131), and walks (66); and first in triples (14), home runs (20), runs batted in (112), total bases (263).
He will report to Fort Myers, Florida to join the Gulf Coast League (GCL) Twins next week and join the team for the final 32 games of the season. The GCL Twins are an affiliate of the Minnesota Twins and are a member of the rookie ball level.
McKendree bass fishing team ranked No. 8 in final standings
In only their second season of competition, the McKendree University Bass Fishing Team finished the year in eighth place in the nation in the Association of Collegiate Anglers (ACA) coveted School of the Year competition.
Over 300 collegiate teams of all sizes competed in the School of the Year competition. In collegiate bass fishing, there are no divisional differences based on the size of the school. The Bearcats finished above many rivals including the University of Illinois, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Illinois State, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Missouri, the University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville, Purdue University, Auburn University, and Kansas State University.
The School of the Year race ranks all schools across the nation based on their finishes at every sanctioned bass fishing event held throughout the season. These events include all three collegiate tournament trails, Bassmaster, FLW, and Cabela’s/Boat US. They also include University Invitational tournaments that are held across the nation. The ranking system is very much like the Angler of the Year Race (AOY) in the Bassmaster Elite division.
The team had several outstanding accomplishments on their way to their eighth place ranking including fourteen top ten finishes in tournaments consisting of 65 to 200 boats. The team finished in third place at the FLW regional tournament on Kentucky Lake, which qualified the team to fish the FLW National Championship on Lake Murray in South Carolina. McKendree finished in 23rd place at the FLW Championship event. They also placed second and third at the Bassmaster/Carhartt Wildcard on Lake Barkley which qualified them for the Bassmaster National Championship on Lake Dubay in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. The McKendree anglers also took 23rd place at the Bassmaster/Carhartt Championship.
The McKendree University bass fishing team consists of sixteen anglers from across the state including local anglers Phillip Germagliotti (Highland, Ill./Highland), Shane Campbell (Highland), Austin Niggli (Highland), Dustin Pendegraft (Lebanon), Brock Wilke (Mater Dei), Jordan Ledbetter (Carlyle), and Taylor Schmitt (Lebanon).
Cougar golfers earn academic honors
Five Southern Illinois University Edwardsville women’s golfers have been honored as All-American Scholars as announced by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association. Madison Frerking, Alison Gorman, Molly Marcum, Brittney Jostes, and Ashton Stair were honored for their academic performance.
Student-athletes must have a cumulative grade point average of at least a 3.50 and play in at least 50 percent of the team’s matches to be recognized as All-American Scholars.
“The WGCA All-American Scholar award is a goal of our team each year,” SIUE Director of Golf Derrick Brown said. “Coach (Lindsay) Wandrey and I are very proud of our five recipients. They are model student-athletes who work very hard in the classroom and are very deserving of this award.”
For Marcum and Stair, this year marks the third consecutive time they have earned the honor. The award is the second straight for Gorman.
Frerking and Jostes are each business majors, Gorman is a nursing major, and Marcum is an English and Mass Communications double-major. Stair recently received her degree in exercise science.
The Cougars’ five selections are the most for the program and are among 28 total golfers recognized from eight Ohio Valley Conference schools.
New turf installation project complete at McKendree’s Leemon Field
A two-month project to replace the artificial turf playing surface at McKendree University’s Leemon Field has wrapped up.
The new playing surface that covers Leemon Field is manufactured by Shaw Sports Turf, which is based in Calhoun, Ga. Shaw Sports Turf has been installed at professional and collegiate facilities across the country, with a client base that includes M & T Bank Stadium (home of the Baltimore Ravens), Vanderbilt University, Georgia Tech, the University of Arkansas and Furman University. In the St. Louis area, Westminster Christian Academy and Vianney Catholic High School use Shaw Sports Turf product.
“We are extremely excited to see the results of this much-anticipated project,” said Chuck Brueggemann, director of athletics at McKendree. “The folks at Shaw Sports Turf have produced a first-class product for our student-athletes to use and showcase their abilities. This addition also enhances our branding efforts with a crisp and modern look, while creating a top-level experience for our student-athletes and fans alike. We cannot wait until our teams can get out and use this new surface on a daily basis.”
Byrne and Jones Sports Construction of St. Louis handled the project on-site, which included the removal of the old turf playing surface, site preparation and installation of the new turf. Byrne and Jones has been involved in field construction for teams and organizations of all sizes from the New Orleans Saints and Denver Broncos of the National Football League, to Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer as well as projects at the University of Missouri, the University of Illinois, Saint Louis University, Missouri State University and Illinois State University.
The Legion brand of Shaw Sports Turf that was installed at Leemon Field features a combination of high-performance monofilament fiber and a durable slit film fiber that provides a soft and resilient playing surface with the performance and durability required from multi-use fields. Leemon Field is currently home to McKendree’s football, men’s and women’s soccer, and women’s lacrosse programs.
Removal of the old playing surface began in mid-May before the site was prepared to receive the Shaw Sports Turf. The month of June was spent installing the new turf along with the intricate process of placing logos and other required field markings. The infill layers of sand and rubber were distributed around the field before the facility was approved for use just after the Fourth of July holiday.
The McKendree football and soccer teams will be the first programs to utilize the new surface when pre-season practices begin in mid-August.
LU-Belleville lands eight programs on NAIA scholar-team
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics has announced the 2014-15 athletic programs that were named NAIA Scholar–Teams. A total of 1,502 teams were given the distinction of Scholar–Teams for the 2014-15 academic year, with Lindenwood University-Belleville having eight programs receive recognition for their efforts in the classroom. In order to be considered for the NAIA Scholar–Team, a program must have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale and includes all eligible varsity student–athletes.
“We are extremely proud of our student-athletes’ success in the classroom,” says assistant director of athletics, Annie Reis. “We look forward to further accomplishments as we continue to make academics a priority in our department.”
The men’s tennis team led all Lindenwood-Belleville athletics with a 3.59 GPA and finished with the fourth best team GPA in the nation for men’s tennis. As a whole, the LU-Belleville athletic department added three scholar–teams from last year while the men’s and women’s tennis, volleyball, softball, and women’s soccer all repeated as scholar–teams.
Here are the teams and their averages: Men’s Tennis: 3.59. Women’s Cross Country: 3.43. Volleyball: 3.33. Softball: 3.19. Women’s Soccer: 3.18. Women’s Tennis: 3.18. Men’s Soccer: 3.14. Women’s Basketball: 3.00.
SIUE adds JUCO all-American softball player
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville softball head coach Sandy Montgomery announced the addition of junior college All-American Monica Islava.
Islava will have two seasons of eligibility with the Cougars after playing the last two seasons at Butler (Kansas) Community College.
“Monica is going to come in and bring experience to the infield,” said Montgomery. “Her numbers speak for themselves. She can swing the bat. She can hit for average. She has been an RBI producer for Butler. She is an athletic player who has hit in the No. 3, 4 or 5 hole for them.”
An NJCAA third team All-American shortstop last season, Islava led Butler in several offensive categories, including batting average (.447), home runs (15), runs batted in (61), doubles (19), on-base percentage (.513) and slugging percentage (.943).
She started all 49 games last season for Butler, stealing 17 bases and scoring 48 runs. She helped the Grizzlies to a 34-15 record and a fifth straight conference crown. In addition to starting at shortstop, Islava also played third base and left field.
In addition to receiving All-American honors, Islava was named a first team All-Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference selection. Islava also was named KJCCC Jayhawk West Player of the Week for March 9-15 as she hit .739 at the plate with four home runs, eight doubles and 20 runs batted in. She also was a second team All-KJCCC selection at shortstop as a freshman.
“One thing everyone will find out about Monica is that she is a very selfless person. She will fit right into our mentality and work ethic,” said Montgomery. “We are very happy to have her as part of the program.”
This story was originally published July 21, 2015 at 12:16 PM with the headline "Local college sports briefs."