It was a hot day on Wednesday as the DHS Tennis team took to the courts to prepare for their upcoming season.

Head Coach Leanne Dooley and the rest of her squad battled the heat as they practiced their serves, forehands, and backhands on the last day of summer vacation.

Sophomore Paige Patterson is pictured returning a serve during the day's drills.

(SMT Photo by Andrew Cato)

From Rick Kindhart, Assistant Director of Athletics - Missouri State University

MSU Announces MVC Championship Banner and Ring Presentation Night at JQH

SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State University Director of Athletics Kyle Moats has announced that the Missouri State men’s basketball team will officially raise its 2010-11 Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship banner during ceremonies at JQH Arena on Saturday, Nov. 19.

The Bears will host Emporia State that night in their first regular-season home game of the new year.  The match-up with Emporia State also completes the non-conference schedule for head coach Paul Lusk’s inaugural campaign with the Bears.  Game times for all home contests will be announced at a later date.

The 2010-11 players will also receive their MVC championship rings during that pregame ceremony, which will mark the start of the club’s fourth season at JQH Arena.

The MVC is expected to announce its conference schedule for the upcoming season during the next couple of weeks.

Information regarding 2011-12 season tickets for the Bears and Lady Bears is available by calling (417) 836-7678.

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For information on everything Missouri State Athletics, visit www.missouristatebears.com.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The DHS volleyball team has been hard at work during the summer in preparation for their upcoming season.

“We’ve played in numerous camps this summer,” head coach Lauren Hutchcraft said. “We played in a camp in Poplar Bluff in June, and we scrimmaged almost every other week at Poplar Bluff - Mike Berry opened up his gym and we played two games a night there.”


“We also played some good competition at both the Perryville and Jackson shootouts. We lost to Advance in the finals of the Perryville shootout, but that was a game I feel we really should have won. We won lots of games this summer, so I have high hopes for the season.”

Hutchcraft, a 2003 graduate of DHS, is entering her second year as head volleyball coach, and is returning several key contributors from last year’s squad. The Lady ‘Cats only lost one starter last year - Elisha Flannigan - and seniors McKenzie Mitchell, Lauren Ward, and Lindsey Hindman all saw extensive time on the courts last season. Teammate Erika Mouser, who was injured during her junior season, is itching to get back on the court.


“Erika Mouser was injured all last year, but she’s played some strong games this summer - she should be a key member of the team this year,” Hutchcraft noted.

“We have a strong group of seniors coming back,” Hutchcraft added. “Brittany Harris, a junior, and Hannah Noe, a sophomore, both played varsity all last year.”

Another sophomore, Erika Cobb, should also see extensive playing time this season.

Along with the returning veteran leadership, the squad will welcome a group of freshman that didn’t lose a single match during middle school ball. One of the freshman will even see some playing time at the varsity level.


“Jessica Lindsey, a freshman, should also see some time at the varsity level,” Hutchcraft said of the freshman. “She’s played phenomenal ball this summer as a middle hitter; I expect great things out of her.”


“[Jessica] never really had the chance to shine because of the level of competition she faced in middle school,” Hutchcraft added, but believe me, by the time she graduates, people will know her name.

Despite a less-than-desirable outcome at the end of last season, the Lady ‘Cats look poised to excel this season. A solid mix of returning veteran leadership, as well as outstandingly talented ‘new blood’ to the program could be just what the team needs to return to the top of the local volleyball scene.


“Perryville was state-ranked last season - we lost to them during districts in three sets,” Hutchcraft recalled. “We came up against them and the Jackson shootout and were able to beat them, and that was a great moment for the girls this summer.”


“I think they’re going to be a team to watch this year,” Hutchcraft added.

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Photos Above:

Top Photo: Junior Brittany Harris goes in for a hard spike during Friday (August 12) morning’s practice session.

Bottom photo: Jessica Lindsey, an incoming freshman, brushes up on her serving technique during practice. Lindsey looks to be the lone freshman on an upperclassmen-heavy squad in the upcoming season.

From Jim Low - The Missouri Department of Conservation

Weather has favored reproduction, but finding a good hunting spot will take legwork.

JEFFERSON CITY—Visit dove fields before opening day, and buy plenty of ammunition. That’s the advice from Missouri’s top dove expert. Resource Scientist John Schulz says Missouri doves have raised a bumper crop of young this year.

Missouri’s dove hunting season runs from Sept. 1 through Nov. 9. Mourning, collared and white-winged doves all are legal. The limit is 15 doves of all three species in the aggregate daily and 30 in possession.

Missouri residents ages 16 through 64 must buy a Small Game Hunting Permit to pursue doves. All dove hunters 16 and older must have a Missouri Migratory Bird Hunting Permit for dove hunting.

Mourning doves are amazingly prolific, raising up to six clutches of eggs between March and September. However, doves build flimsy, shallow nests, and rainy, windy weather reduces nest success. Schulz says this year’s hot, dry summer has been good for dove nesting. The evidence comes from the Missouri Department of Conservation’s dove-banding program.

“Of the 500 or so doves banded so far this year, almost 400 of them have been hatched this year,” said Schulz. “You only see proportions like that in years with excellent dove reproduction.”

Dry weather is a two-edged sword for dove hunters, however. Without adequate rainfall, food crops planted for doves at conservation areas don’t thrive. Wet weather early in the summer hampered efforts to plant sunflowers, wheat and millet on managed dove fields at conservation areas. Then the weather turned hot and dry over much of the state, preventing proper growth of dove food crops.

Some areas had the opposite problem this year, with excessive water or outright flooding. Ten Mile Pond CA is the most notable example. Normally this area in Mississippi County provides excellent dove action. However, flooding made it impossible to plant any dove fields there this year.

The good news is that with approximately 150 fields on 90 conservation areas, some are bound to have food crops to attract doves. And since dry or wet weather has reduced the availability of natural foods, doves will be more concentrated than ever on dove fields that did well. That means lots of shooting for hunters who find the right spots.

Hunters can find managed dove fields here, or by calling any Conservation Department office. Since the condition of crops varies dramatically, scouting before opening day is important for success.

“Nothing beats an on-site inspection,” said Schulz. “Hunters who put in the time necessary to find a field with good crop development get the best hunting.”

Schulz said scouting is best done in the days immediately before Sept. 1. This is because final field preparation, including disking crops to make them accessible to doves, often is done just before the season opener.

“If you go on Aug. 23, you might only see standing crops and no birds,” said Schulz. “A few days later, strips will be disked through the field, and birds will be finding the new food source.”

If you can’t get to your preferred area before Sept. 1, Schulz suggests calling the area manager and asking about conditions. Contact information for area managers is available through the Conservation Atlas database at mdc.mo.gov/atlas.

If you prefer not to join dozens of other hunters on managed dove fields, other options exist. Doves like open ground, weed seeds, perching sites and water. Any spot that combines two or more of these elements can be an excellent hunting spot. A pond with a wide margin of bare soil or mud – easy to find in this droughty year – is one possibility. Add some dead trees for perching, and you have a dove magnet.

The Conservation Department bands 2,000 to 3,000 birds annually as part of a nationwide effort to create a dove-management database. Approximately 12 percent of those doves are recovered and reported, mostly by hunters. Schulz said the most important thing dove hunters can do to improve their sport is to check every bird they shoot for a leg band and report any they find at www.reportband.gov, or by calling 800-327-BAND (2263).

“Data from band recoveries drive a wide array of analytical processes that directly affect how we establish mourning dove hunting regulations each year,” said Schulz. “By reporting band numbers, hunters are helping manage our dove resource for future generations.”

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Statistics from conservation areas where the Conservation Department records the number of doves killed and the number of shots fired show that hunters fire an average of five shots per dove. If you kill a limit of 15 doves with fewer than three boxes of shotgun shells, pat yourself on the back for being an above-average wingshot. Then pick up all the empty hulls on the ground around you. Leaving them in the field is littering, and could earn you a ticket.

Dove hunters must use nontoxic shot when hunting doves or other game on 21 conservation areas with sizeable wetlands and waterfowl populations. Those areas and other details of dove hunting regulations are found in the 2011 Migratory Bird Hunting Digest, available wherever hunting permits are sold or at mdc.mo.gov/8927

From Mark Reed - The Missouri Department of Conservation

The MO Department of Conservation along with volunteer instructors will present a hunter education class on August 19 and August 20 at the Dexter Elks Lodge.  Course hours are 6:00 P.M. until 9:00 P.M. on August 19 and 8am until 5pm on August 20. Participants must attend both sessions and successfully complete a test on Saturday.

Online registration is required at www.mdc.mo.gov.  There are seats available in this class and we are still accepting registrations.  If you have difficulty completing online registration, please contact the Cape Girardeau Regional Office at 573-290-5730.

Participants must be at least eleven years of age.  Please bring proof of age and any hunting or fishing permits you have purchased in the past so we can complete class paperwork.

 On Saturday, frequent breaks will be given and the Elks will have snacks, sodas, and coffee available.  Lunch will also be available from the Elks for a nominal fee.  

In order to purchase any Missouri firearms hunting permit, folks born since January 1, 1967, must complete a hunter education course and present proof of the course to a permit vendor.

 If you are unable to complete the course in time but still would like to try hunting, you may purchase an Apprentice Hunter Authorization, then purchase the appropriate hunting permit for the season you wish to participate in.  The Apprentice Hunter Authorization allows a person to hunt without hunter education, but they must be in the immediate presence of a properly licensed adult who has completed hunter education or who is exempt.

Squirrel season is open and they have begun cutting hickory nuts.  We have had a few cool mornings lately and some hunters have been successfully pursuing bushytails.  As any squirrel hunter knows, once they start working on hickory nuts, locating squirrels in dense foilage can be a fun challenge.

 Dove season opens September 1 and is the annual kick-off to the fall hunting seasons.

 Teal, as well as archery deer and turkey, follow soon after, and hunters will have plenty to keep them busy.  Wildlife population estimates look good again this year and as long as the weather cooperates, we should see a successful fall hunting season.  

For more information on hunter education visit the Missouri Department of Conservation’s website, or contact me at mark.reed@mdc.mo.gov or at 573-421-3240.