Local Briefs

February 26, 2008 12:58 am

— From staff reports
sports@joplinglobe.com
Area athletes grab MIAA awards
Four athletes from Missouri Southern and Pittsburg State — two from each school — earned MIAA Athlete of the Week honors on Monday.
MSSU track and field performers Jacob Williams and Jessica Selby-Tallman were recognized for their field efforts.
Williams, a senior from Chanute, Kan., grabbed an automatic qualifying mark to nationals in the pole vault with his third-place finish at the Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolf Invitational. He logged the top mark in Division II this season with a vault of 17 feet, 1 inch — the first time he had cleared more than 17 feet.
Selby-Tallman — a senior from Galena, Mo. — won the weekly award for the fourth time this season after she was the top Division II finisher in the shot put and weight throw with automatic qualifying marks at the UCM Classic. She was third in the shot with a mark of 49-11 and took fifth in the weight throw at 57-7.
Pittsburg State’s Cory Abercrombie was the Men’s Basketball Player of the Week while Jeremy Jackson was named the Men’s Track Athlete of the Week.
Abercrombie, a 6-foot-7 senior from Piedmont, S.C., averaged 23 points and 11 rebounds in Pitt State’s two games last week. He had 26 points and 11 boards in an 88-71 home win over Emporia State and scored had 20 points and 11 rebounds in a 76-71 road loss to No. 18 Southwest Baptist.
Jackson, a junior from Burton, Texas, logged an automatic qualifying mark in his first competition of the season at the UCM Classic.
He won the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.97 seconds, a personal best.
Jackson, an outside linebacker for the Gorilla football team, had missed most of the season recovering from a leg injury.
Three more players
sign with Crowder
NEOSHO, Mo. — Two Neosho High School players and one from Carthage plan to sign soccer commitments to Crowder Junior College at 12:30 p.m. today in the Crowder Student Center.
Players to sign will be James Lane, Collin Crawford and Mario Perez.
Lane, a 2006 NHS graduate, played defense and midfielder, while Crawford, a 2007 NHS graduate, played forward for the Wildcats.
Perez, a Carthage senior, plays defense and midfielder.
Ryan Toombs, a senior forward playing with Bolivar High School, signed with Crowder last week.
Roel Quiroz, Crowder coach, said the signings bring the number of players committed to play for Crowder to nine.
Weaver captures
all-events title
Howard Weaver captured the scratch all-events championship this week in the Greater Joplin USBC Championships at Fourth Street Bowl with a 2,145 total for his nine games of competition in team, singles and doubles.
C.L. King finished second with 2,047 and Bill Dickens and Chuck Horner tied for third with 2,044.
Michael Pendergraft finished atop the handicap all-events standings with 2,160. Scott Drake was second with 2,131 and Todd Amos placed third with 2,097.
Renee Lisle, Joplin USBC association manager, said all results are unofficial pending a check of individual averages. Lisle said tournament trophies will be presented during the annual association banquet May 3 at the Elks Lodge.