Area sports digest 8/5/02

Standridge, Hall lead list of ATPR race winners

Robbie Standridge and Chris Hall were among top winners Saturday at Auto Tire andParts Racepark near Benton, Mo.

In sprints,Standridge, of Springfield,Ill., held off Tommy Worley Jr. of Bismark, Mo., and led all 25 laps. Todd Rowland of Jackson, Mo., was third.

Hall won for the fifth time in seven events in modifieds, this time worth $700 in a special event. Hall held off Danny Sissom of Cape Girardeau and Greg King of Sikeston.

Dietrich Bollinger of Benton also was a repeat winner and topped the pure street class for the fourth time this year. Danny Hampton was second andCline Myers Jr. third.

Jason Guardian and Daniel Hancock of Jonesboro, Ill., won for the first time in the cruiser class.

Gonzales wins first event at SEMO Motor Speedway

David Gonzales of Sikeston, Mo., was among the feature race winners Saturday at SEMO Motor Speedway near Blodgett, Mo.

Gonzales held off a late charge by Kevin Roslen of Sikeston to win his first event in the over-35 class.

Among the other winners Saturday was Colby Burge of Cape Girardeau in the junior sportsman champ class.

HeartlandNationals team falls, takes third in nation

The HeartlandNationals softball team lost 9-2 to Jefferson Parish (La.)Sunday, leaving the team third in the Babe Ruth softball tournament for players ages 14 and under in South Bend, Ind.

Sarah Cook had two hits and took the loss for theHeartlandNationals team, which finished the tournament 4-2 for a 17-3 season record.

Gators third; several qualify for AAU Junior Olympics

The Cape Girardeau Gators swim team finished third overall at theOzark USA Swimming Division I championship meet July 26 to 28 at Fenton,Mo.

Zachary Statler (15 to 18 division) and Jameson Kuper (13 to 14) won individual high-point awards in their age groups for the Gators.

In addition to their finishes there, several team members will compete this week at the AAUJunior Olympics, a national event in Knoxville, Tenn. Those attending from the Gators are Caleb Coots,Sam Gramling, CallieHoffman, Caleb Statler, Angela Welker, DavidWelker, Nicholas Welker, Morgan Fraser, Anne Wolpers, John Wolpers III, Brett Ford and Mary Catherine Ford.

Gators coach Jason Cravens will serve as one of the team's coaches.

Other swimmers who qualified, but will not compete, are Adam Ansberry, Stephen Ansberry, Ashly Ducharme, Brianna LeGrand, Jenny Powell, Ramsey Scott, Susan Beth Scott andJulianna West.

Swimmers qualified for the Knoxvile, Tenn., event through a meet July 6 at Poplar Bluff,Mo.

Southeast graduate to coach Greek national team

Arizona State University softball coach Linda Wells was chosen head coach of the Greek national team Friday in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where the ISF Women's World Championship is being played. She will lead the country's national team to the 2004 Summer Olympics, to be held in Athens.

Wells, a native of Pacific, Mo., and a 1972 graduate of Southeast Missouri State University, has coached at Arizona State University for 13 years. She has 819 career Division I victories -- 468 of those at ASU -- and guided her 2002 team to a third place finish at the Women's College World Series. Her 819 Division I victories place her eighth on the winningest active NCAA Division I coaches list.

-- From staff reports