August 2006 MEN'S BASEBALL Under the direction of veteran skipper Mike Stockton, the baseball team finished 39-20 overall and in third place in the Heart of America Conference standings. The 2006 season marked the third consecutive year the Cardinals qualified for regional play. The baseball team has averaged 43 wins its last three seasons; no other team in Jewell history has averaged that many wins in a three-year period. The Cardinals were represented by three players on the Heart of America All-Conference First Team. Those players were Mike Herr, first baseman; Adam Hill, catcher; and Keith Smith, outfield. Jewell also saw three players named to the second team HAAC list: Hank Lanto, designated hitter; Mark Brackman, pitcher; and Zach Kohan, third base. Herr, Hill and Smith were also named to the All-Region team and more impressively, all three were named NAIA All-Americans. Zach Reed, Dan Asbill and Zach Kohan were also named NAIA Academic All-Americans. Senior left-fielder Eric Dickson signed a free-agent contract with the Kansas City Royals and played in Surprise, Ariz., during the summer. WOMEN'S SOFTBALL The softball team finished 32-25 overall, good for fourth place in the final standings. During the MIAA regular season, Jewell finished 12-8 and finished 7th in the final Region V Standings. At the conclusion of the season, Kristen Marshall and Lindsey Thorpe were selected to the All Conference first team. Ashley Hughes and Megan Suelter were selected to the All Conference second team and Julia Nurse was an honorable mention selection. Lindsey Thorpe also was selected as an all region performer. Thorpe batted .372 this spring and finished third in the league batting race. She also finished fifth in the conference in RBIs (40), home runs (8), hits (61), doubles (17), and fourth in total bases (102). Suelter and Nurse led the Cardinal pitching staff with 13 and 10 wins, respectively. Nurse finished sixth in the conference with a 1.75 earned-run average, and Suelter led the conference in strikeouts with 146 Ks in 153 innings pitched. MEN'S TENNIS The men's tennis team was led by first-year head coach Paul Worstell this spring and produced an overall record of 1-21 in dual match play, including 0-6 in the HAAC. Jewell saw a number of tight finishes that did not go their way this season, but Worstell is looking forward to the upcoming men's season. "There's no doubt that I am extremely optimistic about this upcoming season," said Worstell. "We only lost one senior to graduation and I have an outstanding recruiting class coming that, when combined with our returnees, will make us a better team." WOMEN'S TENNIS The women's tennis team recorded an impressive 2006 campaign as the Cardinals finished 18-2 in dual match play, a Jewell record. Led by first-year head coach Paul Worstell, Jewell opened the year by going 11-0 but then lost a tight dual match to rival Baker University 5-4. However, the Cardinals were able to claim first place in the conference by avenging the loss to Baker in the conference championship 5-3. The Cardinals were ranked 23rd in the nation heading in to regional play as Jewell quickly disposed of the University of Illinois Springfield five matches to one in the regional semi-finals. In the region final, the Cardinals took on McKendree, a team that defeated Baker in the other regional semi-final. William Jewell jumped out to a four match to two lead, but McKendree rallied to win three straight singles matches to take the regional crown and advance to national play in Mobile, Ala. Coach Worstell was proud of his team's effort but also knows this loss will sting. "It hurts quite a bit. To come so close to the goal we set for ourselves at the beginning of the season and to fall just short, it will take some time to heal," said Worstell. "I told the girls I was very proud of them and proud of the season they had. How many teams could go 18-2? I also told them that real character is shown in how one handles a loss, and our team shows great character." Next season looks to be another exciting one for the Cardinals as they will return four of the top six positions and have three outstanding recruits. TRACK AND FIELD William Jewell College was well represented with 11 track and field team athletes competing in the NAIA Outdoor National Meet held May 25-27 in Fresno, Calif. On the women's side, first-year Amber Parker finished 19th in the nation in the 800-meter run with a time of 17.63 seconds. Junior Jennifer Reinhardt came in 23rd place in the discus throw event with a throw of 39.14 meters. For the men, senior Brad Begemann finished 16th in the nation in the hammer throw with a throw of 163 feet, five inches. He followed up that performance with a discus throw of 40.43 meters that ranked him 24th in the nation. Junior Wade Smith finished 23rd in the nation in the hammer throw with his toss of 46.11 meters. First-year Luke Geisinger continued his outstanding hurdles season with a 19th-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.04 seconds. Senior Tom Eisenhauer placed 28th in the nation in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 58.26 seconds. Rounding out the competition for Jewell, the 4x100 relay team of Austin Williams, Chris Glenn, Tim Bressman and Ike Nwabuonwu made it to the semi-final heat but missed a handoff and were unable to finish that heat. Coach Terry Yee was excited about the performance. "These 11 individuals did well in representing William Jewell College track and field and we can all be very proud of them," said Yee. "This was the best competition in many years, with very strong fields in most events. We look to a bright future and hope to return many more athletes to Nationals next year." WOMEN'S GOLF The Lady Cardinals finished the season fifth in the conference and seventh in Region V play. Junior Jayme Boyd took home a second-place medal at the Missouri Valley Invitational and sophomore Ashley Mansfield took home the fourth-place medal. Their performances helped the Cardinals land a second-place finish. Boyd also was a medalist in the Graceland Invitational. Junior golfer Emily Wales received a huge honor off the course as she was named a '06 Truman Scholar. With no graduating seniors on the squad this season, things look bright for the women's team in 2007. MEN'S GOLF The Cardinals took a page from the women's golf squad as they also finished fifth in the conference and seventh in Region V. The Cardinals hosted a 16-team invitational this season and senior Matt Smith led the Cardinals with a sixth-place medal and helped the team finish in sixth place as well. Sophomore Joey Hall took home a second-place medal in the Graceland Invitational. Jewell finished in third place as a team. The Cardinals also finished in third place in the Culver Stockton Invitational and saw two fifth-place finishes at the Evangel University Invitational and the Bethany College Invitational, respectively.