Sports
A few from MU wrestling vs OSU
Here’s a few shots from a wrestling meet from a few weeks back. Missouri took a hard fought loss that was shown best during Devon Mellon’s match against Alan Gelogaev. Mellon took a shot to the nose early in the first round which caused a steady flow of blood. But Mellon kept at it even though he needed near constant attention to keep the blood in check.
Missouri athletic trainer Shane Bishop, right, tends to heavyweight Devin Mellon during a time out. Mellon suffered a bloody nose early in his match with Oklahoma State's Alan Gelogaev that caused frequent time outs to redress and clean up the bleeding.
Oklahoma State's Chris Perry holds his position as Missouri's Dorian Henderson attempts to escape. Henderson lost 7-2.
Independence Bowl
November and December easily saw the most travel I’ve ever done in a short period of time. Part of that came from driving down to Shreveport, La. to shoot the Missouri Tigers in the Independence Bowl for the Columbia Daily Tribune. I woke up at 5 a.m. and drove down from my parents’ house in Arkansas the day of the game. Something like a seven hour drive or so. The day after I drove back to Columbia. If I remember right I clocked about 940 miles in two days. Anyway…Photos!
Missouri linebacker Zaviar Gooden, right, snares the ball as it rolls off the back of North Carolina receiver Dwight Jones (83) for an interception during the Tigers’ 41-24 victory in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La.
MU quarterback James Franklin (1) — who accounted for 142 of the Tigers’ 337 rushing yards in Monday’s 41-24 victory over North Carolina — works his way past Charles Brown during the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La.
Be sure to check out the rest of the photos at ColumbiaTribune.com.
Football Portraits
A couple of weeks ago I was tasked with covering Missouri’s football media and fan day. This included some portraits of a few players for featured articles in the Tribune’s college and high school football preview insert, First and Ten. It’d been a while since I’d done a portrait, and the room I was assigned to use at the stadium was the visiting locker room, which didn’t really have air so to speak. So not only was I nervous, I was sweaty. But then again, everyone in that room was sweaty.
A few days before Parker, the photo editor, and I went down to the Trib’s studio and worked out some setups for the portraits. There is a basic look that we’ve gone with for the First and Ten and we wanted to stick to that while still visually alluding to the stories the photos would go with.
For quarterback James Franklin the premise was pretty simple. Franklin was raised in a relatively sheltered home and ended up becoming a pretty modest, well mannered, and nice guy because of it. So the light set up was pretty simple. Two speedlights set off to the side about even with his head. The rest was letting Franklin be the guy he was and getting that All-American smile out of him. Which wasn’t hard. The conversation when I gave him directions went like this:
Me: “Let’s see that smile you give all the ladies.” Franklin: “Nah, just the one.”
The second portrait of the day involved three of Missouri’s linebackers, which the sports department had nicknamed the God Squad. The gist of the story was these three guys have strong Christian beliefs that they believe help them to succeed not only off the field, but on it as well. This quote from the story pretty much sums it up:
“The fusion between faith and football is not unique in college or pro locker rooms, but there’s a particularly strong thread tying together the 2011 Missouri defense, a collection of mild-mannered, devout Christians who would like nothing more than to rip off your head.”
The concept for this shot wasn’t too much of a stretch. I wanted to do something with god light and Parker suggested grouping them for a single portrait. We were also trying to streamline things as much as possible since we weren’t sure who I would get access to first, so we didn’t want to make the portraits radically different. The result, in my opinion, kind of combines god light with a little bit of Bohemian Rhapsody.
There are a few things I would have done different, but overall I was pleased with the outcome.
Check out the stories on columbiatribune.com:
Strict upbringing shapes Missouri’s new quarterback
MU defense weaved together with strong thread of faith, ferocity
Golf can be a funny sport
On Sunday I covered the Kiwanis Columbia Golf Championship. Earlier in the summer, I just missed out on getting the chance to shoot one of Columbia’s resident celebrities, Lucas Black. Black, whose name you might recognize from films like Friday Night Lights or The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, stepped out of the last golf tournament to be with his wife, who had gone into labor with their first child while Black was on the course.
Nothing kept Black from finishing the tournament this time around. He entered into the final round in third place, but fell back and ended up finishing fifth. Coolest thing though, if you didn’t know who he was, you would have never been able to tell he was any different from any other golfer out there. And I think he likes it that way.
Actor Lucas Black attempts to encourage his ball to alter course after a tee shot during the Kiwanis Columbia Golf Championship on Sunday, August 14.
Anyway, I know from my own golf outing experience that golfers can do some pretty funny things when the ball doesn’t do what they want it to. This kind of reminded me of a Broadway performance.
Soap Box Derby
Much of my Sunday was spent covering the annual soap box derby in Columbia. The people running it were awesome and really helpful with educating me on different aspects of the races. The parents and kids were really great too. I had a lot of fun just talking with everyone and making pictures. Check out the full slide show at ColumbiaTribune.com
Levi Slate races down Broadway on his way to a first place finish in the Super Stock class during the 2011 Mid-Missouri Soap Box Derby on Sunday. Slate will travel to Akron, Ohio to compete in the All-American Soap Box Derby which includes racers from all over the globe.
Francis Hagan Match Play Championship
Had a busy Sunday with the Tribune covering the annual soap box derby and a golf championship. Here’s two grabs from golf featuring Nick Wilson, the winner, and Drew Wier, the runner-up.
Nick Wilson hits his tee shot on the ninth hole of the Francis Hagan Match Play Championship final. Wilson beat former Hickman teammate Drew Wier 5 and 4 to win the event.
Drew Wier pitches out of the sand on the 10th hole on Sunday during the final of the Francis Hagan Match Play Championship at Lake of the Woods Golf Course.
Softball Super Regional
Sorry for all the softball posts, but this is my last one for a while. Sunday, Missouri defeated Washington 6-3 to advance to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, Okla. (which I will not get the chance to go to). These are my favorite frames from the game. You can see more at ColumbiaTribune.com (Hint: Use the “Start Slide Show” button to avoid hitting the 10 click paywall, unless you’re awesome and already have a subscription.)
Catherine Lee and Rhea Taylor, left, embrace while the rest of their teammates celebrate their 6-3 win over Washington in the NCAA Super Regional on Sunday. Missouri will make their third straight appearance in the Women's College World Series.
Missouri's Rhea Taylor, left, and Catherine Lee mimic playing horns in the dugout between innings while Aretha Franklin's "Respect" plays over the loudspeakers.
Missouri's Nicole Hudson beats the tag at home from Washington's Shawna Wright to score in the first inning.
Softball
From left to right, Missouri's Lisa Simmons, Catherine Lee, and Megan Christopher carry Shana White, Rhea Taylor, and Abby Vock on their backs following Missouri's 8-0 shutout of DePaul on Sunday during the NCAA Regionals in Columbia, Mo.
I covered the last games of the 2011 NCAA Columbia Regional softball tournament on Sunday. Missouri needed to win two games against DePaul in order to advance to the Super Regional. DePaul had beaten Missouri in an early round the day before in 11 innings to put Missouri one loss from elimination.
But the Tigers came back on Sunday behind their ace pitcher Chelsea Thomas, who held the DePaul offense to just three runs in the first game and completely silenced them in a shutout in the second. Rhea Taylor took up the lead for Missouri’s offense by hitting a home run in both games and finishing out with a total of six RBIs.
Missouri will host Washington this weekend for the Super Regional.
See a full gallery of images on ColumbiaTribune.com.
No Looking Back: Ricky Kreklow
While on the road to Troy Buchanan High School in Troy, Mo., Rock Bridge senior Ricky Kreklow settles in for the hour and a half long bus ride by finding a song on his iPhone. “Nobody around Columbia wants to play a school our size.” Rock Bridge’s schedule involves numerous road games against Kansas City and St. Louis opponents. Being on the road has become something of a metaphor for Kreklow in his final year at Rock Bridge. Both recovery from numerous injuries sustained in his junior year and having verbally committed to play at the University of Missouri next year have Kreklow looking at what lies ahead.
During a physical therapy session, Physical Therapist Cynthia Komes works over Kreklow’s leg joints. Towards the end of the 2008-2009 season Kreklow suffered from a number of injuries included a stress fracture in his right ankle and a ruptured disk in his back, which led to surgery in August. Not to be put down by the injuries, Kreklow made a steady recovery and was able to start his final season at Rock Bridge without trouble. “You almost don’t need me anymore, Ricky,” Komes commented during the therapy session.
Kreklow listens as Rock Bridge head coach Jim Scanlon instructs the team on things the need to remember when they play defense in an upcoming game.
Before setting off for a road game in Troy, Mo Kreklow spends some time playing video games with childhood friends and teammates Trey Millard (left), and Justin Miller (right) at Kreklow’s home in Columbia, Mo.
Kreklow prepares for a game against McCleur North on Dec. 11, 2009 in the Troy Buchanan High School locker room during the Troy People’s Bank Tournament. “I always get nervous I’m going to forget something,” Kreklow said. “I have to check and make sure I have everything three or four times.”
Kreklow attempts to drive to the basket early in the second half of the Troy People’s Bank Tournament championship game against McCleur North. Rock Bridge would lose 67-78. Following the game Rock Bridge head coach Jim Scanlon said, “Ricky looked like the only one out there that wanted it all.”
While Kreklow’s teammates wait in silence for head coach Scanlon to enter the locker room following the team’s loss to McCleur North, Kreklow examines a bleeding rash on his hip from diving after a loose ball. “Its not like you can play the game over,” Kreklow said. “You just have to move on to the next game.”
