Even the blowing snow could not stop Maryville University golfer Nick Profancik from winning.

The Centralia grad has had many big moments this spring, but the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Finals are yet to come.

Most recently, the Maryville junior won the Wartburg College Spring Invitational.

As the snow blew side to side, Profancik shot a 139 including a final round 67 to win by a whopping nine strokes.

"At the conference final, I want to shoot level par," said Profancik, who is very familiar with the SLIAC championship course Governor's Run in Carlyle. "If I can leave there with a 216 or better, I will be very happy. The outing at Waverly was definitely my best outing of the year. That weather was horrible. Right now, I am playing to the standard I set for myself."

As a team, Maryville shot a 609 to finish second, three back of Gustavus Adolphus. Profancik has now earned the SLIAC's Golfer of the Week honor all four times it was awarded.

"The goal is to win the league title and advance to the national tournament," Profancik said of his immediate plans. "If we play smart it can be done."...

Women's Basketball

Ellen Young will be playing for another team next year, but she leaves Southern Illinois-Carbondale with 358 points and 106 rebounds for respective averages of 11.9 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.

The Salem grad played in all 30 games and started nine, averaging 28.5 minutes per game. In addition to her points and rebounds, she also had 46 assists and 26 steals. She drained 127-of-319 field goals and 51-of-74 free throws this year. Amazingly, Young finished with a better shooting percentage from beyond the 3-point arc than she did from inside the arc, hitting 53-of-130 from long range for a 40.8 percentage.

As everyone has been reading in the current media articles, Young was one of several SIUC players that asked for and was granted their release. Young did not want to comment at the situation at SIUC, but has stated she will let collegereportonline.com know where she is playing next year. ...

Samantha Maines, a Centralia grad and Maryville junior, scored 184 points and pulled down 82 rebounds this year, averaging 7.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. She also had 34 steals, 24 assists and eight blocked shots. She hit 68-of-199 field goals throws, striking struck 21 times from beyond the arc. She earned six starts and played in 26 games.

Maryville advanced to the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament and finished 24-4 overall and 16-0 in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. They not only won the SLIAC overall title, but the tournament title as well. ...

Kim Kreke, a 6-foot-3 center for the United States Air Force Academy, was a steady starter for the Lady Falcons this past season. The former Salem Wildcats star started all but one game and averaged 27.7 minutes. Kreke finished with 156 points and 132 rebounds for respective averages of 5.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. Kreke also had 31 blocked shots, 23 assists and 20 steals.

The Air Force Academy finished 10-19 overall and 4-12 in the Mountain West Conference. ...

Salem grad Shana Stein, an Illinois-Springfield sophomore guard, finished her season with 122 points, 72 rebounds, 35 assists and 12 steals. Stein nailed 48-of-133 from the floor and 20 free throws. Stein earned eight starts and played in 30 games, averaging 16.3 minutes per game. UIS finished 12-19 overall and 6-8 in the American Midwest Conference. ...

Men's Track

Eastern Illinois University freshman and Salem graduate Justin Helpingstine finished ninth in the 1,500-meter run at the EIU hosted Big Blue Classic. Helpingstine finished the race in 4-minutes, 2.23-seconds at the unscored meet. ...

Baseball

Tyler Mattmiller earned his first win and his first save this season within a seven-day span. The Centralia grad and McKendree University senior worked one perfect inning in McKendree's 16-12 win over Harris-Stowe State to earn the win. He earned his first save by striking out three batters over 1 2/3 dominating innings in a 8-6 win over Missouri Baptist. Mattmiller is now 1-2 on the season. …

Mattmiller is not the only athlete helping McKendree win games. Former Centralia player Craig Session, who serves as McKendree's catcher like his brothers Bill Session and D.J. Session before him, smacked a three-run homer to help McKendree defeat HSSU 6-4. ...

Fort Myers Miracle player Brian Dinkelman posted a pair of multiple hit games this past week. In a 3-2 win over Dunedin Blue Jays, the Centralia and McKendree grad was 2-for-4 with one run scored, one RBI and a solo home run. Dinkelman also had two hits and drove home one in Fort Myers' 5-4 loss to Dunedin. One of his hits was a double. Fort Myers, one of the Class A affiliates of the Minnesota Twins, is 8-6 in the Florida State League-West Division. ...

Maryville University hurler Scott Murfin, a Salem grad, improved to 3-1 with a win over Greenville College. Murfin worked 6 2/3 innings, allowing four hits and three walks against four strikeouts. Maryville is 9-9 overall and 5-2 in the SLIAC. ...

Kyle Walker, a former Centralia Orphans star and current Coker College baseball player, was 2-for-5 in a 13-190 win over Barton College 13-10. Walker scored twice and drove home one. Coker is 17-28 overall and 6-18 in the Conference Carolinas. ...

NAMES, NAMES, NAMES

If you are reading this and you are aware of a spring athlete that graduated from a Marion County High School (Centralia, Salem, Odin, Sandoval or Patoka) or is a resident of Marion County and playing college sports they are eligible to be included in this only online column.

When e-mailing me (Dan62293@cs.com), I will need the name of the athlete, the former high school, the college/university they are attending and of course, the sport they are playing. When e-mailing, please put "Marion County College Report" in the subject line of the e-mail.