Marion County College Report

Salem's Shetley Signs
to Run for Delta State

Posted on February 9, 2010 by Daniel L. Chamness

Front Row L-R Mother Susan Shetley, Alyssa Shetley, Father Brent Shetley Back Row L-R Grandparents Bill and Jean Alberson, Salem High School Cross Country Coach Geff Purcell, Grandparents Marilyn Shetley Shook and Tony Shook.

When she exits Salem Community High School for the final time this spring, Alyssa Shetley will leave with 11 varsity letters in three different sports and a high school diploma.

While her prep career is drawing to a close, her athletic career is far from over. However, her collegiate career will concentrate on the sport of cross country only.

Shetley recently inked an NCAA National Letter of Intent to compete in the sport of cross country for Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi.

"We are really excited about her," Delta State XC coach Doug Pinkerton said. "Alyssa will be a big part of our team even as a freshman. I also think she will get much better during her career with us. She is one of four outstanding freshmen that I have signed for the upcoming year."

The fact that Shetley selected cross country should not come as a big surprise. Her older sister Jenifer Shetley is a United States College Athletic Association All-American. The elder Shetley runs for Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College.

During her high school career, Alyssa earned four letters in cross country, three in basketball and four in track. Alyssa finished her cross-country career by taking 15th in the Centralia Class 2A Regional, running the 3-mile course in 22-minutes, 7.1-seconds. She was also 11th in the Apollo Conference with a 3-mile time of 18:57. She missed all-conference status by one place. Shetley was twice selected to the Southern Illinois Coaches Association All-South squad.

"Alyssa was the glue that bonded our girls together," Salem XC coach Geff Purcell said. "During her four years at Salem, she was our most consistent runner. We could always count on her to place well in meets and train hard in practice. It is with sincere pride that we wish Alyssa the best at Delta State. They are getting someone with talent, grace under pressure and true team leadership ability."

Shetley selected Delta State over Christian Brothers University, Bethel University and Stephens College. Thus far, she is undecided on an area of study, but she notes Delta State has several majors that interest her. The Statesmen compete in the Gulf South Conference and are losing three seniors to graduation. The Statesmen finished 12th in the GSC during the 2009 season.

"I picked Delta State because of the campus and the women on the team," Shetley said. "I loved the campus and felt like I would fit in well with the team. My high school career has been great, but I missed some of my goals in cross country. My high school athletic career overall has been great, but I am looking forward to competing in one sport."

Women's Basketball

Salem grad Ellen Young has scored in double figures twice in the past two games to help Southern Indiana get back on the winning track. USI defeated University of Missouri-St. Louis (75-66) and Rockhurst University (81-71). In the win over Rockhurst, Young finished with 19 points, six rebounds and four steals. Young finished with five field goals (one trey) and eight free throws. Against UMSL, she finished with 16 points, six rebounds, four steals and two assists. Young hit 5-of-11 field goals and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. She had one trey against UMSL. Southern Indiana is 17-6 overall and 8-4 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. ...

Centralia grad Danielle Miller, a Dominican University sophomore, scored nine points in DU’s 53-47 loss to Milwaukee School of Engineering. Miller also had eight rebounds in her 31 minutes of play. In a 61-42 loss to Lakeland College, Miller grabbed 12 rebounds and tallied three rebounds. Dominican is 7-13 overall and 3-11 in the Northern Athletics Conference. ...

Kaskaskia College's Amanda Oulrey (Salem), Courtney Herron (Centralia) and Caroline Smith (Salem) all played in KC's 83-69 loss to Lincoln Trail College. Oulrey had seven points in the contest, while Herron had six points and six rebounds. Smith finished with three points and two rebounds. Kaskaskia is 9-13. ...

Men's Basketball

Former Centralia Orphans star Joey Parker, now a Lindenwood senior, finished with 14 points in Lindenwood's 69-62 loss to Evangel. Parker nailed 5-of-10 from the floor and 2-of-3 from the charity stripe, adding seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. He also hit double figures as Lindenwood defeated Benedictine 62-49. Parker had 10 points, three assists and two rebounds.. Lindenwood is 16-8 overall and 8-6 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. ...

McKendree’s Andy Wolff scored 11 points to help the Bearcats defeat Hannibal-LaGrange College 71-60. The Centralia resident and Metro East Lutheran grad hit 4-of-8 from the field and 2-of-3 from the free throw line, adding four assists, two rebounds and two steals. Wolff struck once from beyond the arc.

McKendree has now won 10 straight, losing last to St. Ambrose on Dec. 12. The Bearcats are now 19-5 and 8-0 in the American Midwest Conference. They are ranked seventh in the latest National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics poll. ...

Greenville College defeated Fontbonne 75-69 in men's basketball action this past week. Former Salem Wildcats standout John Fischer, a Greenville senior, finished with seven points, four steals and two rebounds in 11 minutes of play. Greenville is 8-10 overall and 4-5 in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. ...

Salem graduate Dakota Tucker scored five points in each of Blackburn College's games over the past seven days. In the 71-52 loss to Westminster College, Tucker also had three rebounds in his 22 minutes of play. The former Wildcat turned Beaver tallied two rebounds in the 72-52 loss to Webster. Blackburn is 3-14 overall and 1-9 in the SLIAC. ...

Former Centralia basketball player Matt Shaw, an Illiabum Clube regular, scored six points as Illiabum Clube defeated FC Porto Ferpinta 69-61. The former Southern Illinois-Carbondale forward also had seven rebounds and three steals. It was the 12th round for the Illiabum Clube, who is 5-7. ...

Swimming

Centralia grad Lindsay Dinkelman will enter the Missouri Valley Conference Swimming Championships on the leaderboard in two individual events. The Illinois State senior, who won the conference title in the 100-yard breaststroke one year ago, will enter the finals with the MVC’s second-best time of 1:05.96. SIUC swimmer Kristen Geppert has the fastest time of 1:05.54. Dinkelman is also the fourth-fastest swimmer in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:26.02). Dinkelman is also a member of the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 200-yard medley relay, both of which have the second-fastest times of the year with respective times of 1:37.9 and 1:48.16. ...