The fish are waiting for anglers to hit the waters this weekend! The following is the weekend fishing report from the Missouri Department of Conservation for the Southeast region:

LAKES

Clearwater Lake: 85 degrees, high, dingy; largemouth bass fair on topwater and plastic baits; all other species slow. (Report made on 7/13/2011)
Council Bluff: 85 degrees, normal, clear; channel catfish fair on liver and worms after dark; all other species slow. (Report made on 7/13/2011)
Cypress Lake: 88 degrees, high, dingy; channel catfish good in 2'-3' depths using crickets, worms, and stinkbait; crappie slow in 3' depths using minnows and jigs; bluegill and redear sunfish fair in 1'-3' depths using crickets, small jigs, and small pieces of worms; largemouth bass slow in 2'-3' depths on spinnerbaits and jigs; all other species slow. (Report made on 7/13/2011)
Duck Creek: 86 degrees, high, clear; bluegill good on crickets; largemouth bass fair on topwater lures. (Report made on 7/14/2011)
Lake Girardeau: 83 degrees, normal, clear; channel catfish fair on worms; all other species slow. (Report made on 7/13/2011)
Perry County Lake: 88 degrees, normal, clear; channel catfish good on liver; all other species slow. (Report made on 7/13/2011)
Robert DeLaney Lake: 91 degrees, normal, channel catfish good on worms, liver, live bluegill, and stinkbaits on bottom or around standing timber; all other species slow. (Report made on 7/13/2011)
Wappapello: normal, bluegill good on crickets and worms; crappie fair on minnows and jigs in the lake and good in the spillway; black bass good on plastic worms and crankbaits; channel catfish fair on trotlines and jug lines at night using live bait and nightcrawlers. Anglers should note the 9" minimum length regulation for crappie on Wappapello Lake. All areas around the lake are now open since the lake water level has dropped. Call the Wappapello Lake Recreation Hotline for updates at 573-222-8139. (Report made on 7/14/2011)

RIVERS

Black River (near Annapolis): 78 degrees, normal, clear; all species slow. (Report made on 7/13/2011)
Castor River (above Zalma): low, clear; black bass good on minnows; all other species fair. (Report made on 7/13/2011)
Lower Black River (Clearwater Dam): high, dingy; black bass fair on topwater lures and soft plastics; channel catfish fair on live bait; crappie fair on minnows along the weed lines; all other species slow. (Report made on 7/13/2011)
Mississippi (below Charleston): falling, muddy; channel catfish fair on worms; all other species slow. (Report made on 7/13/2011)
Mississippi River (Cape Girardeau): high, muddy; channel catfish fair on worms; all other species slow. (Report made on 7/13/2011)
St. Francis (above Wappapello): normal, clear; all species slow. (Report made on 7/13/2011)
St. Francis (below Wappapello): 79 degrees, normal, dingy; flathead catfish good on small goldfish and bluegill; channel catfish good on liver, worms and stinkbaits; bluegill fair on waxworms; black bass fair on artificial bait; all other species slow. (Report made on 7/14/2011)
Anglers are invited to send photos of their fishing trips to the ShowMe Times. Just email amiller@showmetimes.com. Be sure to include the name of the fisherman, the date of the catch, where it was caught, weight – and if you care to share what type of bait you were using!

After months of preparation and hard work, a group of students at Premier Martial Arts earned their Tae Kwan Do black belts in competition. The judging panel for the 3 1/2 hour competition were (front row, from left) Kim Watson, Master Ray Carrillo, Heather Holcomb, and Ashley Turman. Students participating were (back row, from left) Colton Gibson, recommended blackbelt; Emily Ladd, second degree black belt; Jon Tucker, recommended black belt; John Stephens, recommended black belt; Jonathan Foels, second degree black belt; Greyson Stephens, recommended black belt; and Hunter Lawrence, second degree black belt. (Reader submitted photo by Kay Stevenson)

From the Maryville University Sports Information Department

Caleb Miller and the Maryville Saints are making a huge step next season - moving into NCAA Division II Athletics!

ST. LOUIS - The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has granted Maryville University permission to become an active member in NCAA Division II competition, which concludes a three-year process of reclassifying its 17 intercollegiate teams from Division III to Division II.



NCAA Division II Membership Services confirmed to Maryville on July 8, 2011 that the Division II Management Council accepted the recommendation by the Membership Committee to admit Maryville to active Division II membership. 
Maryville began the reclassification process in 2008-09 and successfully completed the provisional year in 2010-11 and was subsequently invited to enter active membership.



"Athletics represents a strong element in providing a wonderful student experience at Maryville," said President Mark Lombardi, PhD. "We have worked hard in recent years to upgrade our athletics programs by reclassifying to Division II, joining the country's finest Division II conference and adding wrestling to our roster of varsity sports. When you combine all those factors with our recent hiring of Marcus Manning to serve as our director of athletics, there is no doubt a great future lies ahead for our university and its athletics programs."



Moving to Division II is an important step in Maryville's strategic plan called Tradition and Transformation: Maryville's Strategic Plan for 2014 that was unveiled by President Lombardi in January 2008. The strategic plan calls for expanding of prospective student recruitment throughout the Midwest while raising the university's profile and expanding the vibrancy and diversity of its campus life experience.



Maryville was admitted into the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC), one of the premier DII conferences in the nation, and began competing in this conference in the fall 2009. Four athletes have been named All-Conference in the two years the institution has been a GLVC member.



Maryville has been a member of NCAA Division III since 1978, and 2008-2009 was its final year of affiliation with the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Over its 30 year history, the Saints have made 15 appearances in NCAA post-season tournaments. Most recently, the women's basketball 2008-09 team set the NCAA Division III record for most consecutive conference wins with 92, a streak that ended with a victory.  

Dexter High School sophomore, Cody Neldon, has joined an elite fraternity of college-bound athletes from around the country. Neldon was chosen to represent the USA and Dexter, MO as a member of Coast to Coast Baseball in Puerto Rico this summer, July 13th-18th.

During the seven day program, Neldon will compete against top amateur teams from greater San Juan while receiving instruction from Coast to Coast staff who have all played or coached the game at the collegiate or professional level.

Each summer and fall Coast to Coast sees approximately 2000 players at a series of nationwide tryouts. Additionally, the organization evaluates hundreds of applications from players unable to attend a tryout event.

From this pool approximately 250 roster spots - comprising 15-18 teams - are filled with players seeking to play at one of the game's highest levels.

Based in Marietta (OH), the 8-year old program has taken over 1600 players from 46 different states to compete in Germany, France , Belgium , the Netherlands, Australia and Puerto Rico.

The organization's alumni now compete at every level of college baseball and event professionally. Neldon showcased his skills for the Coast to Coast coaches at a tryout last fall held in Cordova, TN. At tryouts, players are evaluated in four areas: hitting, fielding, arm strength and speed.

In addition to his love for baseball, Neldon is a member of the Dexter High School Baseball, Basketball & Football teams and enjoys hunting & fishing. He is the son of Traci & Denny Christian of Dexter and Jamie & Jessica Neldon of Holcomb.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

Sawyer Smith didn’t have the best spring.

An elbow injury sidelined him for several months during his freshman baseball season at Palm Beach Atlantic University (West Palm Beach, FL). Then he found out his coach, MLB Hall-of-Famer Gary Carter, had aggressive, inoperable brain cancer.


“I’ve come back 100 percent from my injury,” Smith said. “I had a partial tear in my right posterior UCL (ulnar collateral ligament - the one typically associated with pitchers and "Tommy John" surgery). I had to set out for five months. I’ve been throwing since the beginning of May, and it feels great now. No affect on my game at all.”

“The Kid’s (Carter’s nickname since his rookie year with the Montreal Expos) doing alright,” Smith added. “He’s been going through treatments and stuff right now, but he’s supposed to be back coaching us next season.”

Despite the adversity, the Sailfish, an NCAA Division-II team, were able to have a successful season, finishing 27-22.


“We played in the NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) Regional at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fl.,” Smith said, “where the Cardinals do spring training. We were ranked nationally in the top 30 throughout the year in the NCAA.”


Things are looking up for the DHS alum this summer. He is currently participating in an invitation-only, wooden bat collegiate league.

“My life’s been baseball all summer. Weather permitting, we’re at the field every day at 2 or 3o’clock for practice and then we play every night at 7. We play almost every day - 50 games in two months - and we usually only have one day off on the weekends,” Smith said. “It’s a really competitive league - there’s only four teams because they’ve changed it from the Kit League to the Ohio Valley League. I play for the Tradewater Pirates in Dawson Springs, Ky., and we’re battling for the league lead right now.”


“Playoffs are the last week of July - if we win we’ll keep playing through early August,” Smith added. “They contacted my assistant coach back in the fall and I signed to play with [the Pirates] in the fall for this year, along with three of my other teammates from PBAU.”

Smith noted his team’s great success in the league since it’s inception.

“The team started in 1999 and they’ve won the league almost every year since it started, and we’re fighting for it again this year,” Smith said. “They’ve had a few kids get drafted. Our coaches are Dan Novak and JT Thomas and our general manager is Dwight Seymour. All former collegiate players.”

Smith also noted another unique opportunity afforded to him by this league - he gets to play on a field that was played on by one of the all-time greats of baseball: The Great Bambino.


“The Pirates play in Riverside Stadium, where the Pittsburgh Pirates used to play spring training games in the early 1900’s,” Smith said. “Babe Ruth, Honus Waggoner, Casey Stingel, and Ty Cobb all played here. It’s funny - there’s a picture of Ruth fishing in the river outside the stadium hanging up in the locker room.”