Southeast gains commitment from St. Louis guard

Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team is focused on the coming season, but the Indians apparently will soon land a new player for the 2004-2005 campaign.

Paul Paradoski, a senior point guard at Vianney High School in St. Louis, recently gave Southeast an oral commitment. The early signing period for college basketball begins in November, and Parodoski said he plans to make it official then.

The 5-foot-10 Paradoski averaged 17.8 points and 4.8 assists per game as a junior last season, helping Vianney post an 18-10 record. He was being recruited by several Missouri Valley Conference schools.

"I'm happy to get my decision out of the way, and I'm happy about coming to SEMO," Paradoski said. "I've had a lot of people say the program is really on the way up, and I'm looking forward to being a part of it."

Under NCAA regulations, Southeast coach Gary Garner is prohibited from commenting on Paradoski until he signs a letter of intent.

Tomco taken off list of Payton Award frontrunners

Southeast quarterback Jack Tomco has been dropped from the Payton Award watch list after the first update by The Sports Network. The Payton Award goes annually to the top player in NCAA Division I-AA football.

Tomco was placed on the preseason Payton watch list after he threw for more than 3,100 yards and 29 touchdowns last year. He has shared time with Jeromy McDowell for most of this season's first five games but appears to be firmly entrenched as the starter again.

The Payton watch list is updated monthly with players who are considered the top 16 candidates, and Tomco can be placed on the list again later in the season.

In other Southeast football news, tailback David Taufoou and McDowell have been ruled out of Saturday's homecoming game with Eastern Illinois because of injuries.

Volleyball cancer drive begins with event today

Southeast's volleyball team begins its October home schedule tonight with a 7 p.m. match against Tennessee State at Houck Field House.

While the Otahkians (2-13, 1-2 Ohio Valley Conference) will try to improve on their 27-0 all-time record against the Tigers (4-9, 0-2), they'll also try to do their part to fight breast cancer.

Tonight's match begins the Otahkians' fourth annual Dig for Life, which helps raise money to educate area women about breast cancer prevention and to help families already affected by the disease. Southeast and St. Francis Medical Center have teamed up for this year's event.

Dig for Life is held each October to coincide with National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Southeast team members secure pledges for each dig. Digs are tallied in October's five home matches and money collected is allocated to nearby medical facilities.

"It's something that's very important, and we're glad we can do our part," Southeast coach Cindy Gannon said.

Dig for Life has special meaning for Gannon. In 2000 she lost her mother to breast cancer, and the veteran coach decided to put the Dig for Life wheels in motion.

"It's special to me," Gannon said. "When you watch someone go through this, and you know how many women go through this ... we're trying to create awareness and help out."

Gannon said Dig for Life has raised about $10,000 the past three years combined and is on pace to raise over $5,000 this year.

In addition to the Tennessee State match, other home contests this month are Sunday vs. Memphis, Oct. 21 vs. Murray State, Oct. 24 vs. Tennessee-Martin and Oct. 30 vs. Eastern Illinois.

For more about Dig for Life and how to participate, call 331-5995.

Non-conference soccer slate continues today

Southeast's women's soccer team plays its second straight non-conference road game tonight, facing Louisville at 6 p.m.

The Otahkians (5-2-3) had a six-game unbeaten streak snapped Sunday with a 5-0 loss at nationally ranked Mississippi. Louisville is 4-3-2.

Following tonight's contest, the Otahkians resume OVC play at Morehead State at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Southeast won its OVC opener last week, trouncing Austin Peay 5-0. The Otahkians have captured the past two OVC regular-season titles.

Cross country teams travel to Chicago meet

Southeast's men's and women's cross country squads, coming off first-place performances at last weekend's Arkansas State Invitational, will be back in action Saturday at the Lakefront Invitational in Chicago.

The women had five runners in the top six at Arkansas State, led by Kaci Pilcher's winning performance. Kris Woolf was second, Colleen Burke third, Jen Caywood fourth and Kim Kreiger sixth.

The men had five runners in the top eight. Chad Sierman was second, Brian Whitehead third, Gabe Lutes fifth, Brad DeMattei sixth and Kirk Nesbit eighth.

Also, Southeast coach Eric Heins recently announced that 2002 OVC cross country champion Lindsay Zeiler will be redshirted. She has been slow to recover from a leg injury.

mmishow@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 132