Area athletes in college

Baseball

• Central graduate Sean Bard is leading Mississippi Valley State in nearly every major statistical hitting category through 34 games. Bard, a junior college transfer from Mineral Area College, leads in hitting (.422), RBIs (39), home runs (6), runs scored (33), doubles (16), on-base percentage (.547) and slugging percentage (.733). Mississippi Valley State, a NCAA Division I program in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, is 14-20 overall but 9-4 in the conference.

Basketball

• Scott City graduate Mark Dannenmueller, a sophomore at Rend Lake College, was named to the Region 24 all-region team in National Junior College Division II basketball. Dannenmueller led the team in scoring at 16.4 points a game. The 6-foot-5 guard led the teams in 3-pointers made (61), shot 45.2 percent from 3-point range, led the team in free throws made (105), attempted (124), percentage (84.7), led in rebounds (6.6) and averaged two assists a game.

Football

• The Clarion-Ledger newspaper in Jackson, Miss., reported in a story March 29 that Central graduate Mitch Craft is no longer with the Southern Mississippi football team. Craft, a quarterback at Central who converted to linebacker at Southern Mississippi, had two tackles in five games played last season. The sophomore had to sit out the first two games after being suspended for an off-the-field transgression. As a redshirt freshman, Craft saw action in four games.

Volleyball

• Leopold graduate Holly Jansen was one of seven nominees for the female athlete of the year at Murray State. Jansen earned second-team all-Ohio Valley Conference honors during her senior season after leading Murray State in kills with 393.

-- Jeremy Joffray