Sports
Copple set to play for Norse
By Anvil Welch
awelch@joplinglobe.com
Lauren Copple, headed for a fourth season of soccer at Joplin High School, signed a letter of intent with Northeastern Oklahoma A&M; College of Miami on Tuesday.
Copple, primarily a goalie as a freshman, will be operating for the third season as a midfielder/forward this spring for Joplin, Eagle coach Ed Miller said.
NEO coach Lisa Bell, who noted that Copple will be a part of NEO’s second season of soccer, came to Joplin for the ceremony.
“I have high hopes for our second season,” Bell said. “We should have nine or 10 players returning.
“Lauren (Copple) is projected as a midfielder,” Bell said. “But her position really will depend on just how well she fits into the mix. She could be one of our first players off the bench.”
Said Copple (who plans to study nursing): “I believe I can cope with about any position to help the team.”
“She really got along with our kids during her visit to our campus,” Bell said.
Said Miller: “Lauren has played a lot of soccer and definitely understands the game. She needs to work on becoming faster and quicker at the next level. The teams will be faster. Everything will become quicker-paced.
“I’m confident she can make the adjustment,” Mlller said. “She works very hard.”
The Eagles begin practice on March 2, Miller said.
Bell, a native of Miami, is a Choctaw (Okla.) High School graduate. She attended NEO two years before securing her degree from Pittsburg State.
“We scrounged around to find teams to play (including some NAIA schools),” a grinning Bell said of NEO’s first season. “We had some success, too. We played a 4-4 tie with Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa, the only other team in our region, and they’ve had soccer for some 10 years.”
Joplin basketball and football fans frequently have seen the 5-foot-7 Copple perhaps without realizing it.
She’s the eagle mascot.
“Yes, and it does get hot in there,” she said.
- Sports
-
-
Carthage tackles Festus today in state finals
Carthage, although it went 0-2, didn’t play eventual runner-up Festus Post 253 in the 2008 Missouri American Legion AAA state finals. But tonight at 8:30 the teams are scheduled to clash in the first round of the four-team, double-elimination event at Liberty Park in Sedalia.
-
Tom Ellis, Jamie LaSalle adjusting to new jobs
Tom Ellis, the new head football coach at Greenfield High School, was chipper on Tuesday. He has his assistants lined up for the 2010 season. “A month ago, we didn’t have any assistants,” Ellis said with a laugh. Ellis, who was head coach the past four seasons at East Newton, became the winning candidate at Greenfield with the departure of Jamie LaSalle after seven years to Mount Vernon.
-
Southern signs 11 for baseball
Catcher Dallas Burke, a transfer from the University of Iowa, has joined Missouri Southern’s baseball team. The Lions also signed eight junior college and two high school players to complement their early signees from last November.
-
Carthage draws defending champ in Legion state meet
Festus Post 253, Carthage’s opponent in the first round of the Missouri American Legion AAA baseball finals, shapes up as a formidable adversary. Carthage (31-10) and defending champion Festus (24-3) are scheduled to clash at 8:30 on Thursday night at Liberty Park in Sedalia.
-
SouthernFest ‘10 begins Thursday
SouthernFest ‘10, the primary fundraiser fro Missouri Southern athletics, is scheduled for Thursday night and Friday. A dinner auction will be held Thursday at Downstream Casino resort, starting with a social mixer at 5:30.
-
Joplin juniors claim state tourney opener
Joplin grabbed an early five-run lead en route to a 13-9 victory over Carroll County on Sunday night in the opening game of the Missouri Little League Softball Junior Division state tournament at the Blinzler Softball Complex.
-
Fierro bats .800 in zone tourney
Several members of the Carthage American Legion baseball team swung hot bats last weekend as the Merchants won the Zone III AAA Tournament. The Merchants, 3-0 in the double-elimination event, outscored their opponents 41-27 at Carl Junction High School.
-
McHenry caps Twin Hills win with eagle on No. 17
T.L. Hager laced his approach shot on the par-4 17th hole within three feet of the flagstick and tapped in for birdie. And, he fell one shot more off the pace.
-
Carthage overcomes early five-run deficit
The Carthage American Legion baseball team shrugged off a five-run opening inning by Springfield Hillcrest on Sunday to finish unbeaten in the Missouri Zone III AAA Tournament. The 13-8 win advances Carthage, 31-10 with a nine-game winning streak, into Missouri’s four-team finals at Sedalia.
-
Joplin's McMurray wins Brickyard 400
Joplin driver Jamie McMurray followed teammate Juan Pablo Montoya around and around historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway, almost resigned to settling for a second-place finish.
- More Sports Headlines
-
Carthage tackles Festus today in state finals
