Sports

The memories of Hickman’s 2002 and 2003 sectional soccer losses linger.

Junior Megan McCabe described them as horrible and disappointing.

The Cougars defeated Rio Grande 3-2 in nine innings and Point Noma Lazarene 1-0 in 11 innings on Monday at the NAIA Tournament in Decatur, Ala., to move a win away from the final four.

It is always good to enter the postseason on a hot streak.

The Missouri baseball team defeated Oklahoma State 7-3 on Sunday at Taylor Stadium, sweeping the Cowboys, who entered the three-game series with the third-best record in the Big 12 Conference.

Barry Bonds versus Roger Clemens.

The matchup represents one of the most intriguing faceoffs in baseball history; arguably the game’s greatest slugger against one of its toughest pitchers.

An opportunity like this comes around once every 32 years.

The Missouri basketball teams will compete in the new Paige Sports Arena next season, and season ticket buyers have a chance to choose their seats for the first time since the Tigers began play at Hearnes Center in 1972.

Before Saturday, Kyle Johnson did not have an extra base hit for the Missouri baseball team.

That changed in the eighth inning.

Christian Cantwell is on top of the world.

Cantwell, a former Missouri athlete from Eldon, won the shot put competition at the Home Depot Invitational on Saturday with a 73-foot, 4-inch throw, the world’s leading mark this year, in Carson, Calif.

The Rock Bridge boys’ tennis team advanced to the Class 2 state semifinals after victories against Kickapoo and Glendale on Saturday in Springfield to earn a sectional title.

The Bruins (14-1) play Chaminade (11-6) at 9 a.m. Thursday for a berth in the state championship match. Rock Bridge reached the semis last season but lost to Rockhurst.

Sure there was a trophy involved, but it wasn’t what Hickman midfielder Mike Moesel wanted most.

Moesel, a senior, had his hopes set on a return trip to the state lacrosse playoffs, and a season-ending 13-7 win against Rock Bridge in the Golden Cross match at Rock Bridge on Friday left him unsatisfied.

The Mid-Missouri Mavericks lost to the Springfield/Ozark Ducks 8-5 on Saturday in Springfield, Mo., in a Frontier League game.

The Ducks took a 7-2 lead after scoring three runs in the second inning, three in the third and one in the fourth.

COLUMBIA COLLEGE SOFTBALL: The Cougars won two games Saturday to stay alive in the NAIA National Tournament in Decatur, Ala.

The Cougars defeated Union University (Tenn.) 3-0 and College of St. Mary (Neb.) 1-0.

Bill Clark, the Mid-Missouri Mavericks director of player procurement, set one goal when he started assembling this summer’s team.

“What I’d like to have here is a staff of pitchers and position players that can play at the Single A level,” Clark said.

Charles Allen had a gift. Too small to play football and too short to play basketball, he could sprint like the wind.

He would take that gift and sprint his way through Douglass School and then Hickman High, where he transferred in 1959.

Having a top-ranked goalie is a good thing. Having two top-ranked goalies is almost unheard of.

After school, Jeremy Richardson does not hang out with his friends, go home or stay after to study.

He hops in his car, turns on some music and drives.

When John Hamilton looks at Hickman’s five state qualifiers in the swimming pool, he sees beyond the faded swim caps, pink goggles and innocent smiles.

What he notices has been apparent since the first day of practice, and he is confident little will change entering today’s preliminaries of the Swimming and Diving Championships at St. Peter’s Rec-Plex.

SEDALIA — The opportunities were adding up and so was the tension.

Hickman had numerous chances to score Wednesday in the Class 4 District 10 championship game in Sedalia. The Kewpies hit almost every inch of the goal except for the back of the net.

In 1956, William “The Rocket” Richardson was considered the best back in a University of Missouri freshman class that included Mel West and Norris Stevens.

A graduate of Frederick Douglass High School, “The Rocket,” averaged 17.5 yards per carry his senior year. In one game, a 42-6 win against Helias, “The Rocket” had 126 yards rushing, 141 yards receiving and 32 yards passing.

Ty Singleton entered this season, his second as the Missouri softball coach, needing to come up with an encore.

After earning Big 12 Coach of the Year honors in 2003 and leading the Tigers to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in four years, it seemed as if Singleton would have a hard time following such an act, but he did not disappoint.

Helias teammates Kelly Fick and Josh Wilson proved to be too much for Rock Bridge.

Fick, a freshman left-hander, pitched a three-hitter and Wilson, a third baseman, hit a home run over the right-field wall in each of the first two innings as Helias beat Rock Bridge 7-1 on Wednesday at Hickman Field in the Class 4 District 10 semifinals.