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Athletics

Meramec offers intercollegiate competition in soccer, basketball, baseball and wrestling for men, and softball, soccer, volleyball and basketball for women. Men and women are also encouraged to participate on the cheerleading squad. Meramec is committed to providing quality opportunities in athletics that enhance the student's educational experience.

Meramec teams have won national championships in men's and women's soccer as well as baseball. In total, there have been 62 top 10 finishes at nationals. A total of 224 student-athletes have earned All-America honors and 40 have earned Academic All-America recognition.

St. Louis Community College athletic teams compete as members of the National Junior College Athletic Association and the Midwest Community College Athletic Conference. The Athletics department offers scholarship opportunities for men and women to participate in eight different intercollegiate sports. Students interested in eligibility requirements should contact the respective head coach or the athletics director.

News and Notes

Last Updated: July 2, 2009

Enjoy the Holiday Weedend.

The St. Louis Cardinals play the Florida Marlins on September 16. Following the game your Magic squad plays STLCC-Forest Park. Tickets are just $25 and can be purchased at the athletic office or student life office.

Free athletic physicals will be given July 29 and September 2 from 5-6:30 p.m. at the Orthopedic Sports Medicine Center at the corner of Big Bend Rd and North Kirkwood Rd. No one may try out, practice or compete without having an athletic physical and being cleared by the Meramec athletic trainer.

Download Physical Form To Take To Physician

Tryouts:
     Baseball - 8/24 pitchers and catchers only, 8/25 & 26 position players, time 2:30 p.m.

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Archives of previous news releases

 

Meramec Magic Athletic News                                                                    July, 2009

Soccer Signees To Boost Men’s Squad In Bid For Crown

A large contingent of talented signees hope to be the difference to boost the STLCC-Meramec men’s soccer team in their quest for their first Region XVI championship since 2000. Also, several key returning players will form the foundation for the ‘09 Magic.

Back in goal will be Chris Eason (Lindbergh), who played well as a freshman. Backing him up as a defender will be sophomore Justin Billmeyer (Columbia, IL) Other returning players include last year’s lead scorer in Almin Sabotic (Mehlville) who tallied a team high 13 goals. He’ll be eyeing the team record of 29 goals over two years held jointly by Senad Hot (2000-’01) and Mike Beck (1971-’72). Returning up top with Sabotic is Steve McMahon (Lafayette) who showed scoring punch as a freshman. Austin Killian (Lindbergh) also will return as a speedy midfielder.

Plenty of help has been signed in several key areas. Scoring punch will be heavily looked to from Clint Carder, a forward from DeSoto High. Carder scored an astonishing 35 goals and added 20 assists for DeSoto last fall - his 90 points made him the scoring leader for all St. Louis area high school teams. Between Carder and Sabotic, the Magic hope to solve its scoring woes of the past few seasons.

Lindbergh High, long a recruiting pipeline for the Magic, will see several graduates don the green and white Magic uniform this fall. Jimmy Benoist enters as a back/defender. Another Flyer back in the Meramec fold is                 Corey Spitznagel. They’ll re-join former Flyer teammates Killian and Eason. Also signing from Lindbergh is goalie Mihailo Pantelic. He pitched seven solo shutouts for the Flyers while compiling a 1.40 goals against average over a span of nearly 1,500 minutes in the nets.

Another longtime successful pipeline, St. Mary’s High, sends a pair of kickers in David Humphrey and Joe Reidel. Benoist is a back while Reidel is a midfielder. And, from Marquette High back Brandon Floodman enters. Emerging program Kirkwood High sends Jake Macker, a midfielder, to the Magic.

Marc Bowron, a tall and talented midfielder, transfers in after a year at Belhaven University in Mississippi. Bowron is a native of Aberdeen, Scotland and brings his country’s hard-nosed style of play.

Volleyball Squad Gears Up For Fast August Start

Many new faces will highlight the STLCC-Meramec volleyball team when they take to the floor in late August for the start of their new season. Second year head coach Jenell Franken is looking to the season with strong optimism.

“I am very excited for this season! I have a great group of girls who already put forth more effort than I've ever seen from any of the teams that I have previously coached,” said Franken. “These girls have excellent personalities and work ethics! I am thrilled to be able to plan practices that I know are going to be challenging but I also know that the girls are going to attack and succeed! These girls are very driven and positive! We are going to have a successful and fun year and we are all very excited to get the season started!”

The following is a capsule look at both new and returning players:

Nicole Hopp-incoming sophomore, transfer from State Fair Community College. At SFCC she made 2nd team all region. High School-Francis Howell North. She averaged 1.138 blocks per game, 1.618 kills per game and had 12 aces for the season at SFCC. In high school she was All-Region 2nd Team and had the most blocks.

Alyssa Blinzler-incoming sophomore, transfer from State Fair Community College. High School-Pierce City. At SFCC Alyssa averaged 2.159 digs per game and had 6 aces for the season. Alyssa's junior year she was awarded All District team, Academic All-State. Her senior year 2nd team All-Region, 1st team All-Conference, 1st team All-District, Academic All-State. And, at State Fair she was awarded the scholar athlete award.

Heather Gamblin-incoming freshman, Bismark High School. Defensive specialist. 29 aces for the season, averaged 2.48 digs per game and 234 serve receptions. Heather's junior year of high school she got 2nd team All-Conference and her senior year 1st team All-Conference, All-Region, and All-District.

Angela Waterson-incoming freshman, Parkway South High School. Outside Hitter. Averaged 2.42 kills per game. Angela's senior year she was awarded Honorable Mention All-Conference.

Heather Niemeyer-incoming freshman, Seckman High School. Rightside Hitter. 15 blocks for the season, 53 serve receive, and 42 digs, along with 53 kills for the season.

Kristi Miller-incoming freshman, Smith Cotton High School, Sedalia, MO. Defensive Specialist/Setter. Kristi's junior year she was awarded All-District and 2nd team All-Region. Her senior year she was 2nd team All-Conference and 2nd team All-District.

Chelsey Hainen-incoming freshman, Tipton High School. Outside Hitter. Chelsey was awarded 1st team All-District both her junior and senior years of high school

Nicole Cross-incoming freshman, Luthern South High School. Defensive Specialist. Her senior year she was awarded 1st team All-League, 1st team All-District and MVP.

RETURNING PLAYERS:

Meghan O'Sullivan-Outside Hitter. Meghan was awarded 2nd team All-Conference and 2nd team All-Region. She averaged 2.477 kills per game along with 3.63 digs per game. She also chipped in 24 blocks and 5 aces for the season.

Alicia Eubanks-Setter/Defensive Specialist. Last year Alicia was a defensive specialist for the team but this year she will be setting. Alicia averaged 3.092 digs per game last year.

Anna Jorgenson-Middle/Right Side Hitter. Anna had 59 kills and 43 blocks last year.

Caroline Kargus-Outside/Middle Hitter. Caroline joined the team mid-season last year and she will be a valuable addition to the team for the upcoming season.

Coaches Support Susan G. Komen Race For The Cure

Showing their support in the battle against breast cancer, STLCC-Meramec coaches Shelly Ethridge (women’s basketball) and Kim McCall (softball) participated in the massive event in downtown St. Louis June 13.

It was the eleventh year for the 5K race, and drew an enormous crowd of 66,000 participants and onlookers. The day raised $3.25 million for breast cancer screenings, treatment, education, and research in the St. Louis area.

Free Physicals Offered July 29, Sept. 2; Mandatory For All Athletes

Free athletic physicals will be given July 29 and September 2 from 5-6:30 p.m. at the Orthopedic Sports Medicine Center at the corner of Big Bend Rd and North Kirkwood Rd. No one may try out, practice or compete without having an athletic physical and being cleared by the Meramec athletic trainer.

Please download the Physical form from the Web site, print it out and take it with you to the physical for the doctor to fill out. You may also conatct the athletic office either in person or by phone, 314-984-7791,  to get a copy of the form.

 
Meramec Magic Athletic News                                                                    June, 2009

Baseball Team Wraps Up Season With 3rd Place Finish At Regionals

Although seeded fifth among the eight teams in the Region XVI Tournament, the STLCC-Meramec squad battled their way to a third place finish before finally getting the door shut on their season in a 10-0 loss to Jefferson College May 10.

The Magic lost a heartbreaker, 6-5, to Mineral Area to open tournament play May 6. Meramec hosted the prestigious tourney for the first time this decade. However, the Magic were perfectly suited to the loser’s bracket, winning three straight games there before the loss to Jefferson.

A win over the Vikings would have catapulted Meramec from the loser’s bracket into the championship game. But, the Magic enjoyed the spoiler role, knocking out second-seeded Crowder College 7-4. Ultimately, the top-seeded Maple Woods squad won the tournament, defeating Jefferson.

The 3-2 record in the tournament bumped Meramec over the .500 mark for the year, finishing with a 31-30 record. For seventh year head coach Tony Dattoli, it was his fifth winning season. He also marked his two hundredth Magic victory in April. Dattoli is 217-180-2 and holds the distinction of most ties (2) as a head coach over his predecessors.

The Magic definitely had strong offense behind them in ‘09, highlighted by a trio of hitters over the .400 mark: freshman catcher/outfielder Taylor Holman (Fort Zumwalt West) hit a sizzling .480; sophomore Mike Gumm (St. Charles) hit .477; and freshman shortstop Jerry Roam (Francis Howell North) hit .421. Gumm also won the RBI crown with 43 runs batted in, while first baseman Brett Nelson (Owensville, MO) was second with 34.

It was also Gumm and Nelson one-two in home runs with Gumm smacking seven while Nelson belted six. Holman led in on-base percentage at .549.

Pitching wins leaders were lefty Jason Nicholas (Warrenton) with four (4-3) and David Williams (Maplewood) also with four (4-4). The duo were also one-two in ERA on the staff with Williams at 3.69 and Nicholas at 4.66. Its little wonder the duo was also neck-and-neck in strikeouts with Williams recording 74 K’s to Nicholas’ 61. Sophomore hurler          Kevin Mahler (Mehlville) recorded a respectable 4.93 ERA.

Meramec Baseball Record Intact As Howard College Falls

When Howard College (Texas) fell to Temple Junior College 8-2 on May 13, every member of the 1970 Meramec baseball team was breathing a collective sigh of relief - their record still stood! The 1970 squad holds the national distinction of being the only baseball team in Junior College Division I history of entering the national tournament undefeated.

Coach Ric Lessmann’s 1970 Warriors were 27-0 heading to Grand Junction, Colorado before going 2-2 for a fourth place national trophy.

Howard College was 57-0 on the season before suffering the loss to Temple. They went on to sweep the remainder of their season games, including the post season, and won a national championship with a 63-1 mark.

Freese On Mend While Cardinals Ponder Third Base Dilemma

The St. Louis Cardinals are pondering their immediate future at third base with Troy Glaus’ recovery from January shoulder surgery not looking optimistic for a 2009 return.

Meanwhile, STLCC-Meramec alum David Freese (Lafayette) is on the mend himself, having undergone ankle surgery recently while rostered with the AAA Memphis Redbirds. Freese opened the season on the major league roster of the St. Louis Cardinals before being sent down to Memphis as a hot-hitting Joe Thurston emerged as a third base fill-in.

However, Thurston has hit a horrendous slump at the plate, his batting average having slipped to .237 as of May 30, forcing the Cardinals front office to examine their options.

Freese played for Meramec and coach Tony Dattoli in 2003 and ‘04, earning first team All-American honors and Region XVI Player Of The Year in ‘04.
 
Softball’s Linzi Bereitschaft Earns All-American Kudos

First baseman Linzi Bereitschaft (Lindbergh) slugged her way to a second team All-American award with a .437 average. She also made a run at the all-time Meramec season RBI’s record, knocking in 70 runs. The record is 83 held by Rachel Adams (Seckman) in 2005.

Bereitschaft, a sophomore, also scored 46 runs, making her offensive play a major component of the 29-29 record, the team’s best mark in four years.

She is the team’s first All-American (not including Academic All-Americans) since 2004.

SIX STLCC-Meramec Athletes Named NJCAA Academic All-Americans

In the largest single group of honorees ever in the same year, six STLCC-Meramec student-athletes have been named NJCAA Academic All-Americans, distinguishing themselves for their hard work both in the classroom and in athletics.

Nikki Torno (Oakville), a sophomore middle hitter on the volleyball team, captured the award for the second year, a rare feat. The baseball team saw three members of its pitching staff win the honor: sophomore Kevin Mahler (Mehlville), freshman Mitch Kohnen (Duchesne), and sophomore Dallas Tew (Scott City, MO).

Sophomore midfielder Matt Mantia (Webster Groves) earned the award as a soccer player, while Molly Zehner (Oakville), a prominent part of the women’s basketball squad, was also named to the elite honor.

To earn the Academic All-American distinction a student-athlete must have completed three semesters of college course work with 45 or more credit hours while attaining a 3.6 cumulative GPA or higher.