A venture into uncharted territory for the Lady Miner softball team started on a cold Easter weekend afternoon and finally put the program on the national map.

After two consecutive stellar seasons at wide receiver, UMR senior Ashton Gronewold has earned numerous pre-season honors for the 2007 football season.

Miner track and field standout Tyrone Smith finished 14th in the long jump competition during the 2007 Pan American Games held in July in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.

Thomas McCormick, an outfielder for the Miner baseball team, was named as the recipient of the Mike Schmidt most valuable player award for the 2007 season as a member of the Quincy Gems of the Central Illinois Collegiate League.

Joe Ahearn, former assistant coach at Colgate University, has been named as the new UMR men’s soccer coach. He takes over for Vince Darnell, who resigned to pursue other career opportunities.

For the second consecutive year, senior swimmer Bill Gaul, ChE’07, was named Player of the Year on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America team. It is the third time in the last four seasons that a UMR swimmer has earned this top academic award.