Southeast's Tarina Nixon goes up for a shot against Eastern Illinois' Megan Edwards during the first half on Thursday, February 14, 2008. (Aaron Eisenhauer)

Southeast women begin quest for third straight OVC tourney title

By Marty Mishow ~ Southeast Missourian
Don't worry say members of the Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team. The Redhawks will have no problem taking Jacksonville State seriously, not even after beating the Gamecocks by 43 points at home three days ago. Not with so much at stake... More > >

Player of the Week John Unterreiner, Notre Dame Notre Dame‚s John Unterreiner is certainly not the Bulldogs top offensive player as his...

Delta shuts out Rams (08/28/08)
The Delta softball team opened its season Wednesday with a 1-0 victory over Scott City. Jodi Menz went 2-for-3 and drove in the game's lone run for the Bobcats. Kendra Burnett earned the win, while the Rams' Melanie Lacey suffered the loss Scott City0000000--052...

Scott City: Running game gets burst of speed (08/28/08)
Senior running back Caleb Gray has good reason to be excited about the regular season starting this week after sitting out much of last fall with three second-degree torn ligaments in his right shoulder. The 5-foot-9, 170-pound Gray said his shoulder feels 100 percent and he's ready to go...

Southeast hopes to ride experience to top-three finishes (08/28/08)
Southeast Missouri State cross country coach Miles Krieger knows his teams are long shots to contend for Ohio Valley Conference titles. That's mainly due to the presence of perennial OVC power Eastern Kentucky, which swept last year's championships and are favored heavily to repeat...

Redhawks open season tonight (08/28/08)
It's highly unlikely the Southeast Missouri State football team will overlook its season-opening opponent. Even if Division II Southwest Baptist University went 0-11 and was outscored 494-240 last year. All the Redhawks have to do to muster plenty of respect for SBU is remember what happened against the Bearcats in 2007...

Reinagel perfect in Notre Dame's season opener (08/28/08)
Wednesday was the opening day of the high school softball season for Notre Dame, but junior all-state pitcher Lauren Reinagel was in midseason form. Reinagel pitched a perfect game against host Central in a 5-0 victory, striking out the first 13 batters she faced before the Tigers put a ball in play. She finished with 17 strikeouts, including the final three batters she faced...

Chaffee: Winning season provides spark (08/28/08)
The challenge for the Chaffee football program will be following the school's best season since 1990. But that's better than following the 16 losing seasons that took place in between. Coach Charlie Vickery heads into his fourth season in his second tenure at his alma mater with a different challenge — replacing important players at some key positions after the 6-4 campaign...

New coach stresses continuity (08/28/08)
(Editor's note: Reporter Christopher Smith spent Aug. 11, the first day of fall practice, with Jackson's new football coach, Van Hitt. Here is an account of Hitt's first day of practice as Jackson's coach) By Christopher Smith Southeast Missourian...

St. Vincent: Perennial winner seeks answers (08/28/08)
Forgive St. Vincent football coach Keith Winkler if he seems a bit out of sorts this month. First, he is trying to turn around the Indians following their first losing season in Winkler's eight years. And now, he has just three weeks from the opening of practice to the opening of the season to get the Indians on track...

Redhawks' vocal leader hopes to go out a winner (08/28/08)
Senior Kendall Magana's attitude about his time spent at Southeast Missouri State has changed significantly since his freshman year. "Being 10 hours away from home ... I didn't know what my future held," the Texas native said. "Now I have a much clearer picture. I wouldn't change coming here at all."...

Jackson: New line, same old Zweigart (08/28/08)
Senior running back Adam Zweigart is on a mission to help lead the Indians to their first football state title in school history. "I think our team's goal is that we're going to actually make it through the playoffs this time and we're going to win state this year," Zweigart said. "I'm calling it. We're going. And we're winning."...

Players must find balance between health, size (08/28/08)
Jackson linebacker Blake Peiffer recently engaged in a conversation about the size of high school football players with his father, Dan Peiffer, a former National Football League center who played for the Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins before retiring in 1980...

Central: Can Cantrell do it for Tigers? (08/28/08)
Cantrell Andrews is well aware of who was the best local running back in 2007. The Central senior is ready to prove that he can be the best area back in 2008. "My focus is [Jackson's] Adam Zweigart," Andrews said. "I'm in competition with him right now. He doesn't know right now, but I'm looking at him."...

Perryville: These Pirates will travel by land (08/28/08)
Senior Brent Roth is not trying to become another Kris Cottner. "Cottner is gone," Roth said. "He ran his way, and I'm going to run my way." Roth will take over the duties of starting running back for the Pirates, replacing Cottner, a 2008 graduate who was considered one of the top running backs in Southeast Missouri over the past two falls. Cottner sprinted for 2,382 yards and scored 18 touchdowns...

Redhawks: Year 3 - Significant improvement? (08/28/08)
Southeast Missouri State football coach Tony Samuel believes year three of any rebuilding program often results in significant improvement. That happened to Samuel at Division I-A New Mexico State, when he led the Aggies to a 6-5 record in 1999 for only their third winning season in 32 years...

Offenses capitalize on technology, innovation to light up scoreboards at unprecedented level (08/28/08)
Football teams are giving scoreboards a tougher workout then they did 25 years ago. The 10 football teams in the SEMO North and South divisions were involved in a combined 33 games in which 40 or more points were scored by at least one team last fall...

Redhawks: Nowhere to go but up for defense with eight starters back (08/28/08)
The graduation of star linebacker Adam Casper left some big shoes to fill for Southeast Missouri State's defense. Casper, a two-time first-team all-Ohio Valley Conference selection, led the OVC in tackles last year. But as good as Casper was, the 2007 Redhawks finished next-to-last in the OVC in scoring defense (35.2 points per game) and total defense (424.4 yards per game)...

Brewers extend lead (08/27/08)
ST. LOUIS -- Finally, Ben Sheets had the upper hand against the St. Louis Cardinals. He picked a perfect time to best a team that has given him fits, beating them in a game with postseason implications. Sheets worked six scoreless innings in a 12-0 victory Tuesday night that provided some breathing room for the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL wild card race...

Baseball to use instant replay on 'boundary calls' (08/27/08)
NEW YORK -- Replay ball! Umpires will be allowed to check video on home run calls starting Thursday after Major League Baseball, guardian of America's most traditional sport, reversed its decades-long opposition to instant replay. "Like everything else in life, there are times that you have to make an adjustment," baseball commissioner Bud Selig said following Tuesday's announcement. ...

Ivanovic avoids history-making loss (08/27/08)
NEW YORK -- Ana Ivanovic raised her racket, ready for an easy overhead slam in what was shaping up as an easy match. Then she somehow spiked the ball right into the net from just a few feet away. Out of whack lately because of an injured right thumb, the world No. 1 was suddenly out of sorts. Ivanovic recovered in time Tuesday to avoid becoming the first top-seeded woman to lose in the first round at the U.S. Open, rallying past Vera Dushevina 6-1, 4-6, 6-4...