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Hegeman and Soendker-Nickolson to debate Missouri’s Amendment Three Wednesday night

October 14, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Southwest Missouri’s Drury University will host a virtual forum Wednesday evening about Amendment Three, which will appear on your November ballot. The issue has been a controversial one at the Statehouse in Jefferson City.

Tonight’s one-hour forum begins at 6, and you’ll be able to watch it live on this link. The event is being hosted by Drury University’s L.E. Meador Center for Politics and Citizenship. Drury is located in Springfield.

Missouri voters approved “Clean Missouri” in November 2018. It had several provisions, including one requiring a nonpartisan demographer to draw state legislative districts.

Amendment Three would roll back the provision involving redistricting, transferring the responsibility of drawing the districts from the demographer to a governor-appointed bipartisan commission.

During tonight’s forum, State Sen. Dan Hegeman, R-Cosby, and “No On 3” director Sean Soendker-Nickolson will be speaking via zoom. Senator Hegeman sponsored the legislation to place Amendment Three on the ballot. Soendker-Nickolson led the effort for Clean Missouri in 2018 and directs “No One 3” now.

Drury University spokesman Mike Brothers tells Missourinet that the forum will also include questions submitted by the public. Dr. Dan Ponder, the Meador Center director, will serve as moderator.

The League of Women Voters of Southwest Missouri, NAACP Springfield and Missouri State University’s public affairs office are also partnering with Drury for tonight’s forum.

Amendment Three has been a key issue in Missouri’s heated gubernatorial race, and was discussed by both major candidates at Friday’s debate in Columbia.

Governor Mike Parson (R) opposed Clean Missouri and supports Amendment Three.

“None of the big money behind this ever talked about how the redistricting would work, they talked about everything but that (in 2018),” Parson said Friday. “This is a major shift in how we do elections in the state of Missouri.”

Democratic State Auditor and gubernatorial nominee Nicole Galloway disagrees. She supported Clean Missouri in 2018 and opposes Amendment Three.

“In November of 2018, over 60 percent of voters said they want a fair, transparent government and they wanted to get rid of gerrymandering,” Galloway said at Friday’s debate.

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Filed Under: Elections, History, Legislature, News Tagged With: Clean Missouri, Cosby, Drury University, governor mike parson, League of Women Voters of Southwest Missouri, Missouri Amendment Three, Missouri State University, NAACP Springfield, No on 3 Director Sean Soendker-Nickolson, Springfield, State Auditor Nicole Galloway, State Sen. Dan Hegeman

Mizzou esports program, among others in state, competes nationally, awards scholarships (VIDEO)

February 12, 2020 By Ashley Byrd

In the first semester of its esports program, the University of Missouri brought home a national win. The school’s Rocket League video game team is the national champion and the first SEC university to join the National Association of Collegiate Esports.

“Every single school in the next 10 years is going to have a program that resembles something like what we have here and we are the innovators in this space,” says program coach and general manager Kevin Reape. “I have no doubt that this is going to be the future: football, basketball and esports.”

Reape explains that esports gamers are treated like other university athletes. Some get academic scholarships or housing and they must attend regular practice and review tape of their games as a team.

“We will have students that will graduate from here and go on and play these games professionally and we’ll have students that don’t,” he says. “But it’s no different than a traditional sport where students can go, can come here, they can have some of their college paid for because of their experience with our esports program while they are majoring in whatever they want to major in. Then they can graduate and do whatever they want to do. But esports is a way for them to connect to the community and make friends and represent the university while they are here on campus.”

And these teams represent their schools in a live arena environment with at least 20,000 people watching online.

Reape says the school is not looking for elite gamers only.

“A young kid that wants to get involved in esports at the collegiate level should focus on proper behavior when they do play, that’s important to me and every other college coach across the country. They should make sure their grades are good. I want students that are not just good enough to get accepted into Mizzou but want to come here and to accomplish great things after college as well. I want students that are driven to graduate.”

View the  University of Missouri esports program web site

See video of Mizzou esports training room

Later this month, Drury University varsity esports will co-host the Springfield Esports Festival – a tournament for competitors and casual gamers- as well as a scouting opportunity for esports programs.

According to Drury, the festival is part of a circuit of events for the Midwest Esports Conference, of which Drury is a member. The Midwest Esports Conference is the first esports specific collegiate conference of its kind and includes the University of Missouri, Wichita State University, Robert Morris University, Midland University, Grandview University, and Illinois College.

Filed Under: Education, News, Science / Technology Tagged With: Drury University, esports, Kevin Reape, Mizzou esports, MU, Rocket League

Central Missouri, Drury women advance to D-II’s Sweet 16

March 12, 2018 By Bill Pollock

Central Missouri is back in the Central Region Championship game after defeating Fort Hays State 66-59.  The Jennies advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 28 years.  Their last appearance in a Sweet 16 game came in the 1989-90 season.  UCM had been 0-6 in regional semi-final games between 1990 and Saturday night.

Central Missouri will face host and No. 1 seed Augustana for the Central Region Championship. The game will be played in Sioux Falls with a 7:05 p.m. (Central) start time Monday.  The Jennies 26 wins this season are tied for the most since UCM won 29 in 1989-90. It is tied for the sixth most wins in a single season in team history.

For Drury University, advancing to the Sweet 16 is becoming a habit.  The Lady Panthers advanced to their third straight regional final after a fourth-quarter rally to beat Lewis 63-49 in Ashland, Ohio on Saturday.  Drury, ranked third in NCAA-II and seeded second in the regional, trailed the Flyers 39-36 with 8:25 remaining but outscored Lewis 27-10 the rest of the game to move on to the next round.

The Lady Panthers raised their record to 31-2. Their 31 victories are the second most in program history behind only Drury’s 2004 national runner-up team that finished 36-2.  Drury will play top-seeded Ashland on Monday in the NCAA-II Midwest Regional championship at 6 p.m. (Central) in Ashland, Ohio.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: Central Missouri, Drury University

Former Drury University swimmer says hazing ended his athletic career

January 18, 2017 By Bill Pollock

Evan Petrich (photo/Drury Athletics)

A former Drury University swimmer alleges that his athletic career ended after a hazing incident back when he was a freshman in the fall of 2015. Evan Petrich came forward last week and talked about the hazing which allegedly included being locked in a basement wearing nothing but a diaper, being forced to chug a glass of water with a live goldfish and being surrounded by teammates with vomit and urine on the floor. They were also hit with dodgeballs while naked, forced to watch porno movies and some of the others were forced to drink alcohol. After a school investigation, several of the swimmers were fined $300 suspended from three meets and given community service.

In a news conference Monday, Athletics Director Mark Fisher says the school in Springfield has toughened its policies in response to the hazing.

“Anytime we have an issue with hazing, it’s disappointing,” Fisher said. “We want to make sure we uphold our students’ dignity, and we protect them.  We have to make sure that as leaders on this campus, we do everything that we can to ensure that it doesn’t happen, not only of our students, our student-athletes, and then also our coaches and those involved within in the program.”

The school investigated the claims after Petrich complained last year but the allegations didn’t become public until last week. There was also another incident of a hazing case in 2009 and at the time, the team was punished by having a Hawaiian trip taken away from them. Brian Reynolds is the head coach for the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams at the Drury. This is his 34th year. He has led the school’s programs to a combined 33 national championships.

Petrich first exposed the school publicly with a post that appeared on his Facebook page.  That post is below:

It was September 2015, all I wanted to do was prove that I could be a part of a team. My dream as child a growing up was to lead the Drury swim team to victory. I never thought it would be the team itself that would prevent me from reaching this goal. Towards the end of September my freshman year the male freshmen were informed that we would have to go through an initiation week. It all started off simple and nothing major that would have any lasting effects on any of us. Though as the week wore on the events we had to do became weirder and more damaging all leading up to a final night that Saturday. They said it was optional but when I skipped events throughout the week I was chastised by upperclassmen. I did not want to do this. I was warned though that if I didn’t fully participate in these activities I would never fully be accepted by the team. I would never learn the provocative and profanity filled team motto. I do not know if I can ever forget the events and activities that I was forced to participate in. Having dodgeballs thrown at my exposed bottom, or being terrified in a cold, dark basement corner surrounded by my drunk classmates who had covered the floor with throw up and urine while punching holes in the wall and ceiling. All I had to protect me was the diaper and shoes that the upper classmen were gracious enough to allow us to keep on. This event is in past. The violent chest rub, the swallowing of a live goldfish while we wore hoods is all in the past. There is nothing that I can do about that horrific event that ended my swimming career.
Roughly six months later and countless doctor visits and medical tests and procedures I was finally diagnosed with Conversion Disorder as the reason for the chest pain that ended my swimming career. I was asked to increase my anti-depressant and get in touch with a psychologist. Talking with the psychologist I was then also diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. I never thought that my own team, my hopes, and dreams would betray me and perform these actions that would cause me to experience these mental disorders.

I decided then to come forward about my experience to the school. At first I talked to the head coach who then just told the captains and then when he did finally meet with me all he did was tell me that it was essentially my fault for letting it bother me. (I didn’t realize I had a choice in the matter of whether or not I ended up with PTSD of Conversion disorder). He also failed his duty as a mandatory reporter. I knew he wouldn’t do anything so the following day I began talking to the dean of students. I went into this thinking that Drury would actually do something substantial to end the issue right then and there. Especially when their investigation only proved my story completely beyond any doubt. Yet when I found out that the punishment would be the bare minimum that the school would be required to do I was heartbroken. I would spend the rest of my semester scheduling meetings with the people who had the final say in the decision only to discover that they would try to twist my words and again just re-victimize me. It turns out that while I was trying to appeal the decision within the school that the statute of limitations for hazing under Missouri Law would expire. The interesting thing is that the punishment this time had less of an impact than the hazing case in 2009 when the precious Hawaii trip was taken away and in that case the school found out by accident there was no injured party that was forced to leave his greatest hopes and dreams behind and would more than likely never swim for a collegiate team ever again. While their punishment barely lasted a couple of months and they are currently enjoying the sun in Hawaii that I have been told is great this time of year.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: News, Sports Tagged With: Drury University, Sports, swimming

Drury assistant tennis coach charged with rape

May 18, 2016 By Bill Pollock

Marko Boskovic (photo/Green County Jail)

Marko Boskovic (photo/Green County Jail)

Marko Boskovic, an assistant tennis coach at Drury University and foreign national from the country of Serbia, has been charged with a Class C Felony of rape in the second degree by the Greene County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Patterson.

Boskovic is accused of raping a pre-medical student who attends the university, located in Springfield.  Both were attending a party on campus on the night of May 6th into the morning of May 7th.

According to the Springfield Police Department’s probable cause statement, Boskovic and his accuser left the party, where both had been drinking.  Boskovic accompanied his accuser back to her apartment, when she said she couldn’t find her keys.  Boskovic offered his apartment as a place where she could spend the night and she agreed.

Boskovic gave his accuser a shirt and shorts to change into, and then climbed into bed with her naked from the waist down. The accuser, known as R.K. in the report, told Boskovic to wear a condom, which he compiled.  The accuser then sat up in bed and attempted to push Boskovic away as he grabbed her neck and pushed her on the bed and proceeded to have sex without her consent.

Bond was set at $50,000 and the court considers Boskovic a flight risk.

According to DruryPanthers.com, Boskovic started in January as Assistant Coach for the Panthers tennis team. Boskovic graduated from Ouachita Baptist University. Marko finished his college career with a 58-20 record, playing No.1 for his team all four years and 74-15 record in doubles.

Boskovic completed coursework in Business Administration and Management at Ouachita Baptist University and was working on his Masters in MBA at Drury.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: crime, Drury University, news, Sports, tennis

Drury women’s basketball advances to regional semifinals with win over Quincy

March 12, 2016 By Bill Pollock

Drury coach Molly Miller (photo/NCAA.com)

Drury coach Molly Miller (photo/NCAA.com)

Annie Armstrong scored 18 points to lead four Lady Panthers in double-figures and fourth-seed Drury held off a Quincy late charge for a 79-71 victory in the NCAA-II Midwest Regional opening round Friday night at Kates Gymnasium.

The victory – the first of the post-season variety for second-year DU coach Molly Miller – pushed Drury (25-4) into a semifinals matchup with top seed and host Ashland (31-1) at 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday.

“It’s survive and advance, and we survived,” Drury coach Molly Miller said. “I’m proud of the way our girls were resilient and showed toughness. Quincy is a good team, and a lot of credit goes to them for the way they represented the GLVC all year with such class. But I’m really proud of our girls for just hanging with it.”

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: Basketball, Drury University, Sports

Truman State and Drury win their D-II regional baseball openers in St. Charles. Bulldogs and Panthers face each other Friday

May 15, 2015 By Bill Pollock

Truman State pitcher

Truman State pitcher Cody Gardner  (photo/TrumanBulldogs.com)

Senior Cody Gardner tossed his 14th career complete game and his second shutout as the Truman Baseball team blanked William Jewell 6-0 in the opening game of the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional on Thursday night. The Bulldogs will face the Drury Panthers on Friday at 7 p.m.  Drury earned a 9-4 win over #2 Grand Valley (Mich.) State in the tournament opener that pitted champions from the postseason tournaments of the Great Lakes Valley Conference and the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference.

Gardner allowed six hits, struck out four and walked nobody while throwing 115 pitches to earn his team-leading and school record breaking ninth win of the season and 15th for his career for Truman State.

The fifth-seeded Panthers used seven strong innings from senior pitcher Trevor Richards and a small-ball offense to beat second-seed Grand Valley State 9-4.  In winning its fifth straight post-season game against a higher-seeded team – the then-seventh seed Panthers defeated seeds 1, 2, 3 and 5 last weekend to win the Great Lakes Valley Conference championship.  Coach Scott Nasby’s squad improved to 32-22-1 with its 15th win in its last 17 games.

 

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: Baseball, Drury University, Sports, Truman State

Four Missouri schools selected for the D-II baseball national tournament. Drury, Missouri Southern, William Jewell and Truman State begin quest this week

May 11, 2015 By Bill Pollock

Drury University baseball team

Drury University baseball team

The NCAA Division II Baseball Committee has selected the 48 teams that will participate in the 2015 NCAA Division II Baseball Championship.

The championship provides for eight regional sites hosting six teams. All regionals are double-elimination tournaments and will be played May 14-17. Regional champions will advance to the double-elimination championship finals May 23-30 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina. The finals will be hosted by Mount Olive and the town of Cary, North Carolina.

Seventh-seed Drury scrapped its way to a 3-2 lead, and senior Tyler Arthur – for the second straight day – then broke it open with a pivotal homer as the Panthers knocked off top seed Quincy 7-2 Sunday afternoon for their second straight Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship and automatic NCAA-II tourney bid.

Coach Scott Nasby’s Panthers (31-22-1), who’ve won 14 of their last 16 games, will now enter the Midwest Regional in St. Charles, Mo. (Lindenwood University) as the No. 5 seed in the six-team regional, and will take on No. 2 seed Grand Valley State on Thursday in the double-elimination event. The regional runs through Sunday, with the winner moving on to the NCAA-II World Series in Cary, NC May 22-30.

It will mark Drury’s third straight appearance in the NCAA tourney and second straight via automatic bid, after the Panthers continued their amazing late-season surge by knocking off a strong Quincy team in the finals for a second straight year.

William Jewell baseball

William Jewell baseball

For the first time since joing the NCAA, the William Jewell College Baseball team earned a spot into the 48-team NCAA Division II National Championship Baseball Tournament. The third-seeded Cardinals will play on Thursday against fellow Great Lakes Valley Conference opponent Truman State who is seeded fourth in the regional tourney. Times for the tournament will be announced later today.

The Cardinals will head to the Regional with an overall record of 37-17 and the Bulldogs finished the season at 31-20. The two teams split the four games they played during the regular season back on March 28 and 29 in Liberty.

For the first time in program history, the Truman Baseball team earned a spot into the 48-team NCAA Division II National Championship Baseball Tournament. The fourth-seeded Bulldogs will play on Thursday against the third-seeded William Jewell (Mo.) at a time to be determined.

Truman State baseball

Truman State baseball

The Bulldogs (31-20) and the Cardinals (37-17) split the four games they played during the regular season in Liberty. William Jewell won 4-3 and 5-4 while Truman won 6-5 and 6-4. The two teams did not play each other at the GLVC Postseason Tournament.

Missouri Southern advanced after the tournament after heavy rain in Kansas City, cancelled the final game in the 2015 MIAA Baseball Tournament. With both Missouri Southern and Emporia State having only one loss and Missouri Southern being the highest-remaining seed, the Lions were named tournament champs and named the MIAA’s automatic qualifier to the 2015 NCAA Baseball Tournament.

Click here for more on Missouri Southern.

Story and photos courtesy drurypanthers.com, trumanbulldogs.com, and jewellcardinals.com

 

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: Baseball, Drury University, Sports, Truman State

Drury University women begin their run for an NCAA D-II title by facing a tough uphill battle in tonight’s Elite Eight matchup

March 25, 2014 By Bill Pollock

Regional champions, Drury University will face Bentley in the Elite Eight, tonight. (photo/Drury Panthers.com)

Regional champions, Drury University will face Bentley in the Elite Eight, tonight. (photo/Drury Panthers.com)

After the Drury University women’s basketball team won the NCAA-II Midwest Regional on their home court in Springfield, the Drury Lady Panthers will now face the nation’s top-ranked team in the Elite Eight, which starts tonight in Erie, PA. Coach Steve Huber’s Lady Panthers (27-3) will face No. 1 Bentley (32-0).

In other quarterfinal matchups, Limestone (27-5) will play West Texas A&M (30-2) at 11 a.m. (CT), Nova Southeastern (28-4) will square off against Concordia-St. Paul (28-8) at 1:30 p.m., and Cal Poly-Pomona (25-6) will face Edinboro (27-5) at 5 p.m.

Semifinals will be played on Wednesday, March 26, with the NCAA-II championship game will tip off at 6 p.m. on Friday, March 28.

Bentley, from Waltham, Mass. (a Boston suburb), is in the Elite Eight for the third time in the last four years after defeating LIU Post 83-62 in the East Regional title game on Monday night. The Falcons are coached by Barbara Stevens, who has won 914 games in her 28-year career, the winningest coach in D-II history and a three-time national coach of the year selection.

The Lady Panthers, ranked sixth in the latest WBCA/USA TODAY Top 25 Poll, are making their third trip to the NCAA-II Elite Eight, with the others coming in 2004 (national runner-up) and 2007 (lost in the quarterfinals). Drury defeated sixth-seed Wayne State 99-63 in the Midwest Regional title game on Monday night at the O’Reilly Family Event Center.

 

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: Basketball, Drury University, Sports

Drury University and Central Missouri advance in NCAA Tournament. Truman St and UMSL out

March 15, 2014 By Bill Pollock

Annie Armstrong puts up a shot against Truman State. (photo/Drury Athletics)

Annie Armstrong puts up a shot against Truman State. (photo/Drury Athletics)

Drury University guard Annie Armstrong scored a career-high 22 points, including the driving bucket to send it to overtime, as the top seeded Panthers escaped with a 74-68 victory over No. 8 seed Truman State in overtime of the NCAA-II MIdwest Regional women’s basketball tournament Friday night at the O’Reilly Family Event Center.

Amber Dvorak added 21 points and 12 rebounds as the Lady Panthers (25-3) advanced to Sunday’s 2:30 p.m. semifinal against fifth-seed Quincy (23-6).

Amy Briggs put Truman State up 65-53 with a three-pointer with 1:15 to go, but both teams turned it over twice in the final minute before Armstrong’s running jumper with 10 seconds left tied at 65, and Briggs missed a potential game-winner before time expired.

The Lady Panthers never trailed in overtime.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: Basketball, Central Missouri, Drury University, Missouri-St. Louis, Sports, Truman State

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