For the second year in a row, men’s and women’s mucking teams at the University of Missouri-Rolla have won championships in the Intercollegiate Mining Competition. The UMR mucking teams, competing against teams from around the world, took first place April 2 in Reno, Nev.

The annual competition features events that are based on mining techniques used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Students compete in timed events like gold panning, surveying, hand-mucking, hand-steeling, track-standing, Swede sawing and jackleg drilling.

National champions on the 2005 UMR women’s team are: Rio Amick, a sophomore in mining engineering from Jefferson City, Mo.; Toni Donovan, a sophomore in mining engineering from Homewood, Ill.; Shannon Lusk, a graduate student in mining engineering from Jackson, Mo.; Shelli McGrath, a sophomore in English from Bonne Terre, Mo.; Brittany Parker, a sophomore in mining engineering from Johnston, Iowa; and Patricia Ann Robertson, a senior in mining engineering from Rolla.

National champions on the men’s side include: Chris Barks, a junior in mining engineering from Gordonville, Mo.; Mike Hund, a senior in civil engineering from Wichita, Kan.; Adam Kresler, a junior in mining engineering from Winter Park, Colo.; Bryan Lewis, a senior in history from Rolla; and Ashley Mertens, a senior in mining engineering from Holt’s Summit, Mo.

A second men’s team from UMR finished fifth overall in the competition. Members of that team are: Adam Lucas, a junior in mining engineering from Shelbyville, Mo.; Braden Lusk, a graduate student in mining engineering from Huchinson, Kan.; Klaus Nunemacher, a sophomore in mining engineering from Palmyra, Mo.; Dan Richards, a junior in mining engineering from Greenwood, Ind.; and Nathan Woods, a sophomore in mining engineering from Nixa, Mo.

In the alumni division of the competition, a team of UMR graduates, The Doe Run Co., finished third.