Farden's status with Southeast gymnastics soon will be changed

It hasn't yet been officially announced, but sources have told me that Tom Farden will be named Southeast Missouri State University's head women's gymnastics coach, probably within the next few days.

Farden directed the Otahkians on an interim level this year after Patty Stotzheim resigned. He led them to their first winning record since 1998, as they narrowly missed their first NCAA Division I regional berth since 1997.

The extremely personable Farden is one of the most enthusiastic and energetic coaches I have ever met, and his athletes really seem to feed off his personality.

Southeast made a wise choice by keeping Farden on board.

Add another NCAA Division I-AA All-American to the list of Southeast's 2003 football honorees.

It was recently discovered that junior offensive guard Dan Bieg made the Don Hansen's Football Gazette third team. Bieg, a three-year starter, was a first-team all-Ohio Valley Conference selection.

Bieg joins center Eugene Amano, tight end Ray Goodson and cornerback Dimitri Patterson as All-Americans following the Indians' season that saw them fall one victory short of their first OVC championship.

Amano, recently drafted in the seventh round by the Tennessee Titans, made Hansen's and the American Football Coaches Association first team. Goodson made the College Sports Report.com second team, and it was also recently learned that Hansen placed Goodson on his third team as well. Patterson was a Sports Network second-teamer.

Bieg and Goodson will both return this fall as seniors.

It's not really surprising that Southeast's baseball team is having a mediocre season so far, what with the Indians having to replace virtually their entire roster from last year and then having their top two returning pitchers miss virtually the entire campaign with injuries.

Southeast, which was 18-23 entering Saturday's doubleheader at Morehead State, has already suffered its most losses since the 1999 squad went 27-27 for just the second non-winning record during 10th-year coach Mark Hogan's tenure with the Indians.

The Indians will have to make a strong push to avoid just their second losing season under Hogan, whose previous worst campaign was 24-33 in 1997.

A pair of right-handed pitchers who starred at area high schools are putting together impressive college baseball seasons.

Advance's Garrett Broshuis, a University of Missouri junior who has been a three-year member of the Tigers' starting rotation, is having by far his best success with a 7-0 record and a 2.83 earned-run average entering the weekend. In 70 innings, he has allowed just 57 hits while striking out 68 and walking 17.

Broshuis opened plenty of eyes last weekend when he shut out Texas for 8 1/3 innings as the Tigers upset the nation's top-ranked team 8-0. Broshuis allowed four hits, struck out a career high nine and was named the Big 12's co-pitcher of the week.

Cape Central's Jason Chavez, a Southern Illinois University junior in his first season with the Salukis, also shined last weekend, firing a seven-inning, two-hit shutout as SIU beat Illinois State 1-0.

Entering the weekend, Chavez had a 3-3 record and a sparking 2.36 ERA to rank first among SIU's primary pitchers. In 45 2/3 innings, the junior college transfer -- he spent the past two years at Mineral Area College in Park Hills, Mo. -- has allowed 46 hits while striking out 22 and walking 28.

Area favorite Kerry Robinson, the former Southeast baseball star who spent the past three seasons with his hometown St. Louis Cardinals before being traded to the San Diego Padres late in spring training, had an embarrassing moment Thursday.

Robinson grounded into a 5-4-3 triple play during San Diego's victory over the Atlanta Braves. Triple plays are unusual under any circumstances but extremely rare on ground balls -- particularly when a player as fast as Robinson is running.

That blunder aside, however, Robinson -- despite playing sparingly as a reserve outfielder -- has so far been a solid addition to the surprising Padres, who entered play Saturday 18-12 and just one game behind the first-place Dodgers in the NL West.

Appearing in 24 of the Padres' 30 games prior to Saturday, Robinson had eight hits in 26 at-bats for a .308 average, with five runs scored, one double and one stolen base.

If what I'm hearing is true, then certain people in Jackson should be ashamed and embarrassed for running off a good young coach and good young man in Mike Kiehne.

Kiehne, a former star player for the Indians, officially "resigned" as the school's boys basketball coach last week. But he was reportedly forced out after four seasons despite leading the Indians to a 22-5 record this year for their highest win total since 1993.

Former Austin Peay standout Trenton Hassell, who tormented Southeast during his days as the OVC's premier basketball player, has found quite a niche in his first season with the Minnesota Timberwolves after previously playing for the Chicago Bulls.

Hassell is a starter who has made a name for himself as the Timberwolves' defensive stopper. And the former high-scoring college guard has also had some solid offensive performances this year, although that is not his role in Minnesota.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.