Area sports digest 9/5/02

Cape racer wins

in super pro class

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Dave McDonald turned in a 6.28-second run on a 6.24 dial (103 mph) for his first win of the season in super pros Saturday at Sikeston Drag Strip.

Point leader Ron Simmons of Cape Girardeau was second (6.27 seconds) at 108 mph.

Darrell Jones of Bertrand, Mo., added to his advantage in the pro class, winning on an 8.67-second run (77 mph) and 8.65 dial. Runnerup Troy Zimmerman of Carbondale, Ill., ran a 7.02 on a 7.04 dial (91 mph).

John Carden won for the first time in the ET class with a 7.86 dial and 7.87-second run (86 mph). Tre Hammontree of East Prairie was second.

Otahkian runners get off to fast start

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Southeast Missouri State men's and women's cross country teams sprinted into the 2002 season Saturday at the Saluki Fast Start Open in Carbondale, Ill.

Southeast dominated on the women's side as six Otahkians finished in the top 10. Although Katie Meehan of SIU took first with a time of 14:42.98, junior Jen Burke came in second for Southeast with a time of 15:16.12.

Following Burke was sophomore Kris Wolfe (4th place, 15:27.34), senior Anna Verseman (5th, 15:37.32), freshman Lindsay Zeiler (6th, 15:45.06), freshman Brooke Woodruff (8th, 16:06.42) and freshman Ashley Brinegar (9th, 16:14.51) to round out the top 10 for the Otahks.

SIU took home the win on the men's side as well, claiming the first two individual spots. However, the Indians finished the day on a positive note with four runners in the top 10 including junior Chad Sierman who took home third with a time of 20:10.50. Sophomore Brian Whitehead (5th, 20:58.84), senior Jared Tanz (7th, 21:19.50) and sophomore Gabe Austin (10th, 21:30.09) were also among Southeast's top finishers.-- From staff reports