Roo Droppings

By: David Cordill

Posted: 8/25/08

Clark pulls out of golf championship

UMKC senior Stephen Clark, formerly of the Kangaroo men's golf team, withdrew from the U.S Amateur Championships in Pinehurst, N.C. due to a death in the family, Tuesday, Aug. 19.

The 2008 UMKC Circle of Champions award winner reportedly excused himself from action before his scheduled second round tee-off time to return to his native Scotland; Clark originally hales from Glasgow.

Clark became eligible for the event in late July after shooting one under par 143 after 36 holes in the sectional qualifiers held at the Staley Farms Golf Club in Kansas City. He shot eight-over par 78 in the first round on Monday at Pinehurst.

Cross country poll

unkind to Roos

Summit League cross country coaches gave UMKC runners an unfavorable forecast in their annual preseason poll. According to the vote tally, the Kangaroo men and women are picked to finish eighth and ninth respectively in the conference.

The UMKC men received 21 points (zero 1st place votes) in the balloting. Southern Utah led all conference schools with 81 points (nine 1st place votes).

The Kangaroo women fared a bit worse garnering 16 points (zero 1st place votes). Indiana University-Purdue Fort Wayne topped the field with 74 points total (three 1st place votes).

ESPN.com previews Summit League

In assessing the Summit League's upcoming 2008-09 men's basketball season (Summit ShootAround: League Takes Aim at Oral Roberts) ESPN.com's Kyle Whelliston says to look out for the Bison of North Dakota State University.

The Bison joined the conference last year and made a strong statement to its fellow members by throttling the vaunted Golden Eagles of Oral Roberts University 68-55 last March.

"[W]ith a core of senior starters, North Dakota State could emerge as a real March threat," wrote Whelliston.

Concerning the Kangaroos, Whelliston said UMKC Head Coach Matt Brown will draw on his team's positive Summit League tournament performance from 2008 to pump up his squad. The seventh seeded Roos nearly upset the number two seeded Indiana University-Purdue Indianaplis there before falling late in the contest 69-65.

Women golfers schedule five fall tournaments

Beginning with a mid-September trip to the Chip-N-Club Invitational in Lincoln, Neb., the UMKC Women's Golf team will make five tournament stops through late October. Included on the schedule are matches in Lawrence, Kan., Columbia, Mo. and Tulsa, Okla. They will end their autumn session Oct. 27-28 at the Edwin Watts/Palmetto Intercollegiate in Kiawah, S.C.

Returning junior Sally Meiners, whose 85.1 scoring average topped all Kangaroo women on the links, will be among nine UMKC golfers slated for competition this fall.

New hire for Women's Basketball Operations

The UMKC athletic department named former Kentucky Wesleyan College's women's basketball assistant coach Jessica Trahan as Director of Women's Basketball Operations for the upcoming season.

Trahan coached at Kentucky Wesleyan from 2006-08. She was also the associate head women's basketball coach at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kan., for four seasons.

At UMKC, Trahan is tabbed to manage travel for the team, supervise student athlete academics, and participate in standard operations as the program warrants.

Trahan has a Bachelor's Degree in Science and Psychology from Friends University and a Master's Degree in Education/Curriculum and Instruction from Southwestern College according to the UMKC Athletics Department web site.

dcordill@unews.com