The latest local news, weather and high school sports from the Heartland

Missouri Athletic Director Mike Alden's contract has been extended by two years.

The contract now extends through June 30, 2019. The extension is designed to provide support to Alden as he continues to oversee the successful athletic programs, student-athlete academic performance and sound financial management of the department.

Under Alden's guidance, Mizzou Athletic programs have consistently competed at a higher level.

The football program has competed in seven consecutive bowl games, a school record.

Additionally, their 48 wins in the last five seasons ranks ninth in the NCAA among BCS automatic qualifying leagues.

The men's basketball program is finished last season with 30 wins and received a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The softball program has competed in the Women's College World Series in three of the last four years, and in the last six years, six Tiger programs have won 11 conference championships (regular season and post-season combined).

Highlights of Alden's leadership as athletic director include:

•Turning an athletic program ranked near the bottom of its league counterparts into a program that has led the way in on-field success, facility development and fundraising.
•Leading Mizzou to receive, and accept, an invitation as the 14th member of the prestigious SEC.
•Developing a $200 million facility improvement plan that was made possible through a $30 million gift by the Kansas City Sports Trust – the second largest single gift in MU history.
•Directing a successful student-athlete program where Mizzou's student-athletes are leaders in graduation and Academic Progress Rates. The Tigers ranked as the nation's leader among BCS public institutions in Academic Progress Rates in 2008 and have consistently ranked in the top 25 nationally, alongside Harvard, Yale and Stanford. Mizzou also led its conference in APR in six of the last seven years.
Alden was named the Director of the Year in 2008 by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, and is currently the third-longest tenured athletics director in Mizzou history behind only Don Faurot and Chester Brewer.

Key terms of Alden's contract include:

•The new two-year extension of the current contract. The contract now runs until June 30, 2019.
•The new two-year extension does not increase Alden's base salary, performance incentives, or any other form of income. Under the current contract, Alden's base salary is $301,917, and he may earn up to a total of $777,976 through a combination of base salary and performance incentive income.
•Any future raises in base salary are limited to the same percentage raises, if any, for MU.
Prior to coming to MU, Alden was director of athletics at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas.

For more information go to www.mutigers.com