Area sports digest 5/5/04

Mack places second in MARS series stop

Joey Mack posted his best career finish on the Mid-America Racing Series with a second-place showing this past weekend in Bolivar, Mo.

Mack, based in Benton, Mo., won his heat prior to the runner-up finish in the feature. He stands eighth in the circuit's season points race.

This weekend, Mack will step away from the MARS circuit briefly for a chance to compete in front of his hometown crowd. Mack will run with the Xtreme Dirt Car Series on Friday night at the Auto Tire and Parts NAPA RacePark in Benton, Mo.

Essner earns MVP in SLIAC softball

Marissa Essner picked up some impressive hardware recently for her performance on the Maryville Universitysoftball team.

Essner was named the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference most valuable player and newcomer of the year last week. She also earned first-team SLIAC honors as a pitcher.

Essner, a 2001 Kelly grad who transferred to Maryville from Shawnee Community College, is 11-8 overall with a 3.05 earned run average. She was 7-0 in conference play.

Offensively, she is second in hitting with a .376 average, led the team in doubles with eight, in RBIs with 43 and set a school record for home runs with 10.

Maryville won the SLIAC title with a 10-2 mark and is 24-15 overall heading into the NCAA Division III regional tournament, set for Friday through Sunday in Pella, Iowa.

Xtreme Dirt Car Series rescheduled for Friday

Rain has hampered the racing season at area tracks, including the Auto Tire and Parts NAPA RacePark.

The track was scheduled to host the Stacker2 Xtreme Dirt Car Series this past Friday but rain canceled the event. The series will try to run this Friday at the track in Benton, Mo. Time trials will begin around 6 p.m. with the racing expected to start around 8.

The track has regular racing scheduled for Saturday. Also, a two-member team lawn-mower race is scheduled for that night.

Stoverinks top horseshoes field

Cori Stoverink and Brandon Stoverink won first place in the Southeast Missouri Horseshoe Association tournament Sunday at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Leopold.

They topped a field of 13 teams. Rob LeGrand and Kory Kluesner finished second; Sally LeGrand and Bob Piper finished third.

-- From staff reports