Lindenwood University's best-kept athletics secret may be its Olympic weightlifting team that has produced champions at national and international levels.
The third-year program is the only one of its kind in the country that is fully funded by a university.
"We currently have team members that represent the countries of Brazil, Canada and the United States in international competition and currently hold more than 20 American records," team spokesman Samuel Chatman said. "We are a program that welcomes lifters of all backgrounds, from beginners to advanced."
One of the program's goals is having the team represented in the Olympic Games this summer in London. Among its accomplishments to date include a 2011 American Open men's team championship and sophomore Fernando Reis of Brazil winning a gold medal in last year's Pan American Games. Reis is ranked 10th in the world in the 105-plus kilogram weight class.
The Lindenwood team has achieved national and international success in youth (17 and under), junior (20 and under) and senior (21-plus) levels of competition. Darren Barnes, 17, of St. Louis is the first weightlifter in U.S. history to earn positions on the American youth, junior and senior world championship teams in the same year (2011). A student at McCluer North, Barnes is part of the Lindenwood program that includes high school lifters.
Lindenwood coach Derrick Johnson was named the 2010 weightlifting developmental coach of the year and was the first minority coach to head a Team USA world championship team.
Lindenwood returns to action March 2-4 at the Arnold Classic/U.S. Senior Nationals in Columbus, Ohio.
MORE OF THE SAME FOR URSULINE'S DYBUS?
Senior midfielder Erin Dybus (Ursuline) will be looking to build on her productive junior season for the Regis (Colo.) women's lacrosse team, the reigning Western Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association champion.
An honorable mention all-American in high school, Dybus was a first-team WILA selection last spring after leading Regis in goals (36). She was an integral part of the Rangers' most successful season in school history. Regis finished 12-2 overall, 6-0 in the WILA.
A second local athlete, midfielder Emily Behr (Nerinx Hall), is a freshman on the Regis roster. Behr is Nerinx Hall's all-time leading goal scorer. Regis opens its season Feb. 7 at Colorado.
LU-BELLEVILLE HOOPS TEAM IS OFF AND RUNNING
Lindenwood University-Belleville's fledgling men's basketball program continues to roll.
The Lynx built their win streak to six Saturday with a 93-69 victory over Principia. The recent hot stretch has improved LU-Belleville's record to 13-9, moving the Lynx closer to producing a winning record in only the program's second season.
And the future looks even more promising.
LU-Belleville's top three scorers are juniors, led by 6-foot-6 Matt Sturdivant (Chicago), who is throwing down 18.2 points a game. Another 6-6 frontcourt performer, Devon Weaver (Flint, Mich.) is a shot blocker who is scoring 12.6 a game. Todd Starks (Memphis) is a 6-1 transfer from Idaho State averaging 12.3 points.
"We are playing the best and most confident we have all season," Lynx coach Scott Spinner said. "Heading into February and getting closer to the (United States Collegiate Athletic Association) tournament, it's a good time to be playing the way we are."
The Lynx have stepped up their offense since Janaury, scoring 90 or more points in six of eight games and topping the 100-point mark on three occasions.
TURNBULL RETURNS FOR DARTMOUTH
Dartmouth senior David Turnbull (Holt) figures to be one of the premier outfielders in the Ivy League. Turnbull is one of the centerpieces for Dartmouth, which is coming off a 30-12 season that included a 14-6 Ivy League record. Dartmouth has won five straight Red Rolfe Division championships.
Turnbull hit .279 as a junior and was named Dartmouth's most improved player. He hit .324 with runners in scoring position. His cousin, Keith Turnbull, pitched in the Cardinals farm system 1982-83.
As a junior at Holt, Turnbull was part of the 2007 Class 4 state runner-up team coached by Joel Adam.
BREESE PRODUCT IN MIX AT FLORIDA STATE
Freshman pitcher Bryant Holtmann (Breese Central) is competing for rotation time at Florida State. Seminoles coach Mike Martin said Holtmann is one of several first-year pitchers on the FSU roster who could play a key role.
"Cautious optimism is the two-word phrase that we will use with our pitching staff," Martin said. "We know how difficult the schedule is and that a majority of the people that we are counting on have not been used in the roles that we have planned for them. Bryant Holtmann (and four other freshmen) are guys that have never pitched as starters in college, but these five will be looked at and are expected to battle for starting roles this year."
Holtmann missed his senior season at Breese Central after needing Tommy John reconstructive surgery on his throwing elbow.
Florida State began preseason practice Jan. 27. The Seminoles were 46-19 in 2011 and reached the NCAA Division I Super Regionals.
AHEARN ON FREE-THROW STREAK
Blake Ahearn (De Smet), a graduate of Missouri State, has made 99 straight free throws for the Reno Bighorns of the NBA D-League. Ahearn established the NCAA Division I career free throw accuracy record (.946) during his 2003-07 career at Missouri State.
Ahearn began his current streak Dec. 21. He has surpassed the NBA record of 97 and the European mark of 93. The streak that is recognized as the all-time professional record is 138 by the legendary John Wooden of the independent Indianapolis Kautskys from 1934-36.
Ahearn also leads the D-League in scoring at 24.9 points per game. He played 15 games in the NBA with Miami and San Antonio between 2007-09.
SOLDAN'S BROWN LEADS NAIA IN SCORING
Soldan graduate Sam Brown is the top scorer in NAIA at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Ark. Brown is averaging a whopping 32 points per game and scored 45, 42 and 40 points his last three games. For the season he’s scored 35 or more points eight times. He’s hit over 38-percent of his 190 3-point attempts.
Brown is the tops in the NAIA with 32.25 points per game, 73 3-pointers made and 645 total points. He’s also collected 70 steals, ranking him fourth in the NAIA for total steals and average per game (3.5).
Philander Smith coach Sam Weaver said several NBA teams have inquired about the 6-foot-1, 155-pound Brown.
DAMICO PART OF NO. 2 GATORS
Jessica Damico (Pacific) is a freshman infielder at Florida, which is No. 2 in the preseason USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association rankings. Damico was named to the 2011 USA Softball Women's Junior National Team, which won the gold medal in the ISF Junior World Championships in Cape Town, South Africa.
Damico was the Missouri recipient of the 2010 Gatorade player of the year as a junior at Pacific. She batted .605 with six home runs her senior season at Pacific. Damico was a two-time Post-Dispatch All-Metro first-team honoree and Pacific's Post-Dispatch Scholar-Athlete honoree in 2011.
HARD-THROWING ROBERTS IS AT ISU
Former Creighton and Southwestern Illinois College pitcher Otto Roberts (Belleville West) could emerge as a key contributor at Illinois State. The hard-throwing Roberts is a junior reliever at ISU, which returns just four pitchers who saw regular duty last spring, when the Redbirds finished 36-18 overall and 13-8 in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Roberts excelled out of the bullpen a year ago at SWIC and has a track record of averaging more than a strikeout an inning since his days in the Southwestern Conference. He led the Southwestern with 101 strikeouts in 59.2 innings in 2008. The 6-3 right-hander is one of just four conference pitchers to strike out 100 or more batters since 2000. He had six saves and 17 strikeouts in 16 innings in 2011 at SWIC.
GORLOKS EARN BRONZE AWARD
The Webster University women's soccer team has been presented with a Bronze Team Ethics Award of Merit by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. The Bronze award is given by the Ethics Committee of the NSCAA to soccer teams that accumulate no red cards and have a maximum of 6-10 yellow cards throughout the season.
The Gorloks (12-6-1) received only seven yellow cards over the course of their 19-game season.
This marks the fifth NSCAA award in the last six seasons for Webster, which received Silver awards (1-5 yellow cards) in 2006, 2007 and 2008. The Gorloks also received a Bronze award in 2009.
ALL NEWS ISN'T GOOD IN AREA HOOPS
Three local basketball programs continue to find rough going this season. The Blackburn and McKendree women, plus the Principia men, have had trouble cracking the victory column:
• Blackburn women:
The bad news: The Beavers are 0-19.
The good news: There are building blocks for the future in place, led by 5-11 freshman Briana Rae (Staunton), who is averaging a team-best 12 points. There is only one senior on the roster.
• McKendree women:
The bad news: The Bearcats have dropped 13 in a row after a 6-2 start.
The good news: The top eight scorers are underclassmen, led by team leader Caty Ponce (Edwardsville), who is averaging 13.8 points.
• Principia men:
The bad news: The Panthers are 0-18.
The good news: Leading scorer Kenny Sydness (Wellesley Hills, Mass.), who is averaging 14.8 points, is a sophomore.
AROUND THE AREA
• Washington University senior Dylan Richter (Lincolnshire, Ill.) is 19 points away from becoming the 20th men's player in school history to reach 1,000 points. The 6-foot-3 Richter, averaging 17.3 points per game, is next in action Friday when Washington travels to the University of Rochester, N.Y.
Richter scored a career-high 33 points Sunday in a 99-88 victory over Emory (Ga.). He hit nine of 13 3-point field goal attempts. Washington is 14-4 overall and 6-1 in the University Athletic Association.
• Freshman Seth Jackson (CBC) is leading the Truman State basketball team in scoring. The 6-3 Jackson is averaging 12.2 points for the Bulldogs, who are 5-14 overall, 3-9 in the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletics Association.
Jackson was a three-year starter at CBC, helping the Cadets to a third-place finish in Class 5 as a junior. Jackson averaged 21 points a game as a senior, earning second-team honors on the All-Metro team.
• Ashley Brentz (Parkway South) is a sophomore infielder for the Missouri State softball team picked fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason coaches poll. Illinois State, Northern Iowa and SIU Carbondale were picked ahead of Missouri State. Brentz batted .250 as a freshman in a part-time role a year ago for the Bears, who were 30-25 overall and 14-9 in the MVC.
• Lindenwood saw its 14-match men's volleyball winning streak at home snapped by Quincy on Friday. Quincy won the encounter 3-2.
• Freshmen Will Childs-Klein (Ladue) and Javier Duren (Oakville) are seeing part-time duty on the Yale basketball team. The 6-11 Childs-Klein has appeared in six games and is averaging 1.2 points. The 6-4 Duren has played in 12 games and is averaging 1.4 points. Yale is 13-5 overall, 3-1 in the Ivy League.
• Drury senior forward Nicole Williams (Troy) has been honored by the NCAA and National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Williams was named to the Division II All-Midwest Region third team after leading Drury (8-8-2) with nine goals and tying for the team lead with 18 points. She also was selected as an NSCAA All-Central Region Scholar third-team choice after posting a 3.5 grade-point average as a biology/secondary education major. Williams is Troy's single-season goal record holder (24) and career assists leader (45).
• SIU Edwardsville's Division 2 team in the Mid-America Collegiate Hockey Association continues to put up strong numbers. The Cougars (18-6-3) lead the nine-school Gold Division that also includes Iowa, Missouri, Illinois State, Missouri State, Northern Illinois, Loyola-Chicago, St. Louis University and Kansas. SIUE is No. 8 in the Division 2 rankings.
The Gold Division playoffs will be Feb. 17-19 at the Ice Valley Centre in Kankakee, Ill. The top six teams in the division qualify, with the top two earning byes.
The Cougars have three players with more than 20 goals, led by Jared Ippolito (Rockford, Ill.) with 28. Cory Beck (Peoria, Ill.) has 23 and Traig Henson (Edwardsville) 21. Alex Garrand (Grand Junction, Colo.) is the top goaltender with an 11-4 record.
• SIUE freshman basketball player Katie Hempen (Highland) continues to earn more playing time. Three times this season she has earned freshman of the week honors in the Ohio Valley Conference. The 5-foot-8 Hempen leads SIUE in scoring (10.1), despite having not started a game.
• McKendree women's lacrosse coach Brittany Poist, a defender on the U.S. national team, recently participated in the Champion Challenge at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The U.S. team played the national team from England and four exhibition matches against U.S. university teams.
• Southwestern Illinois College will dedicate the Jay Harrington Basketball Court today in honor of its longtime men's coach. Harrington, who has won more than 740 games, will be the focus of the ceremony that is scheduled in between the women's and men's games against Wabash Valley. The women's game starts at 5:30 p.m. There is no admission fee.
• NCAA Division I figures released last week showed the SIUE men finished No. 25 in average home soccer attendance. The Cougars drew an average of 1,003 fans for their seven home games in 2011. UC-Santa Barbara led the nation with 4,782 fans per game.
