Dec. 8, 2000

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Columbia, Mo. -- Third baseman Kurt Propst set three school records as the University of Missouri baseball team completed strength and conditioning testing Thursday. Propst, a junior, benched 380 pounds and had a squat lift of 580 pounds. Propst also had a 360-pound performance in the hang clean to set a record. He increased his bench press by 40 pounds and raised his performance in the squat by 80 pounds from the December, 1999, testing period.

Propst (Jr., Jefferson City, Mo.) is one of 20 student-athletes who had performances of 400-or-more pounds in the squat.

Pitcher Andy Powers (Redshirt freshman, St. Joseph, Mo.) had a team-best 90-pound increase in the squat, pushing his best to 430 pounds. Mark Alexander (Redshirt freshman, Independence, Mo.) leads the pitchers with a 500-pound squat.

Jayce Tingler (So., Smithville, Mo.) posted the best time in the 60 dash with a time of 6.62 seconds. He was one of 17 Tigers to post a time under seven seconds. A total of 16 Tigers cut at least one-tenth of a second from their previous testing performance.

"I'm more proud with the team being able to take direction and focus on getting better than I am with the numbers," said Pat Ivey, the baseball strength and conditioning director. "We try to instill competitiveness in everything we do. We also want a good work ethic in everything. If not, we start over.

"From working with football, I expect big jumps and got them to expect big jumps," continued Ivey. "We get them to lift heavy every time because it makes a big difference in the end and it was shown by these performances. It's a weight room and you're here to lift weights."

The Tigers open the 2001 season against San Jose State Feb. 9 in San Luis Obispo, Calif.