Four “mucking” teams from the University of Missouri-Rolla will compete in the Intercollegiate Mining Competition March 24 in Tucson, Ariz.         

The debris left over from a mining blast is known as a muck pile, and that’s where the term mucking comes from, according to one of UMR’s team captains, Adam Kresler, a senior in mining engineering from Winter Park, Colo.         

Mucking events 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.         

Approximately 30 teams from around the world participate annually in the Intercollegiate Mining Competition. UMR won world titles in men’s and women’s mucking in 2004 and 2005. Men’s and women’s teams from UMR finished second in 2006.         

The host university for the 2006 championships, the Western Australia School of Mines, won the overall men’s and women’s titles last year. The competition rotates to one of four locations each year: Kalgoorlie, Australia; Tucson; Rolla; Butte, Mont.; and Reno, Nev.         

Members of the 2007 UMR Gold Team include Matt Angle, a senior in mining engineering from Rolla; Alex Hofstetter, a senior in mining engineering from Labadie, Mo.; Adam Kresler, a senior in mining engineering from Winter Park, Colo.; Klaus Nunemacher, a senior in mining engineering from Palmyra, Mo.; Brendon Weidner, a senior in mining engineering from Foristell, Mo.; and Nathan Woods, a senior in mining engineering from Nixa, Mo.         

Members of the 2007 UMR Silver Team include: Matthew Coy, a freshman in mining engineering from Lewistown, Mo.; Scott Miettinen, a junior in mining engineering from Smithville, Mo.; Chris Searing, a sophomore in mining engineering from Liberty, Mo.; Frank Virant, a junior in mining engineering from Rolla; and Alex Warren, a sophomore in mining engineering from St. Joseph, Mo.         

Members of the 2007 UMR Green Team include: Rio Amick, a senior in mining engineering and geophysics from Jefferson City, Mo.; Antoinette Donovan, a senior in mining engineering from Homewood, Ill.; Jennifer Fizer, a junior in mining engineering from Slater, Mo.; Carolyn Grondin, a senior in business administration from Ware, Mo.; and Brittany Parker, a junior in mining engineering from Johnston, Iowa.         

Members of the 2007 UMR Black Team include: Emily Carter, a senior in mining engineering from St. Peters, Mo.; Maggie Hettinger, a sophomore in mining engineering from St. Louis; Allie Letcher, a sophomore in mining engineering from Kansas City, Kan.; Melody Rea, a junior in aerospace engineering from Overland Park, Kan.; and Tanya Stephan, a senior in mining engineering from St. Joseph, Mo.         

A team of UMR alumni will also compete in Tucson.