SMSU Athletics

September 29, 2011 – Hoof Prints Article

Hello Mustang Fans!

What a great Homecoming Weekend on the campus of SMSU! It was a memorable weekend that included a very successful and well attended University Gala,  two reunions for all Football and Speech Communications/Radio & TV/Public Relations alums, a great parade, an amazing environment prior to the Mustang Football game for fans of all ages to enjoy, jam packed athletic events,  and much more. The Mustang tradition and spirit was felt through the entire campus and community of Marshall all week long.

Thank you to all the SMSU staff members who contributed to the success of events and programs surrounding the 2011 Homecoming festivities. Many of us SMSU long-time staff members were talking about the weekend, and we cannot remember a more well attended Homecoming event with overwhelming representation from the Marshall community and the entire service region of southwestern Minnesota. Thank you to all the Mustang supporters who came out to experience this year’s Homecoming environment and cheer on the Mustangs!

The next big celebration for the SMSU Department of Athletics will be the SMSU Volleyball Reunion beginning the evening of Friday, October 14 and continuing through the evening of Saturday, October 15. For all the Volleyball Reunion information and the latest news in Mustang Athletics, go to SMSUmustangs.com, the official website for SMSU Athletics.

Last Sunday, Southwest Minnesota State student-athletes from the 2010-11 academic year were honored at the SMSU Athletic Department sixth annual Celebration of Excellence program held on Sunday afternoon on the campus of SMSU.

The SMSU volleyball and women's golf teams, both of which qualified for the NCAA tournament last season, were recognized, as were all-conference, academic all-conference, seniors, team MVPs and Mustang Medalists.

Soccer player Jenna Perske from Sartell, MN, was named the 2010-11 female scholar-athlete of the year, while men's basketball player Taylor Huseby from Pelican Rapids, MN, was named male scholar-athlete of the year.

Wrestler C.D. Johnson from LeRoy, MI, received 2010-11 male athlete of the year honors, while volleyball player Devin Deidrich from Braham, MN, was named female athlete of the year for the second straight season.

Johnson finished with 25 victories last winter and qualified for the 2011 NCAA championships at 184 lbs. A two-time NCAA national qualifier, Johnson finished his career with 78 victories, ranking tied for 12th in program history.

Deidrich was named the NSIC player of the year in 2010 and was named first-team All-America. She led SMSU with 503 kills and 104 total blocks. Former SMSU football player Paul Muecke served as this year's keynote speaker. Congratulations to all our SMSU student-athletes for all their hard work in the classroom and within their sports!

This Week in Mustang Athletics:

The SMSU Soccer team (4-4-0, 3-1-0 NSIC) is ranked No. 10 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Central Region rankings. The Mustangs one of five NSIC schools to earn a spot in this week’s edition of the NSCAA Central Region rankings. Minnesota State (No. 4), Winona State (No. 5), Augustana (SD) (No. 7), and the University of Mary (No. 8) each earned a spot in this week’s poll with Fort Lewis (CO) (8-0-1) earning the No. 1 ranking.

SMSU suffered a 0-2 loss to the University of Sioux Falls on Wednesday and will look to rebound against Minnesota State at 1:00 pm on Sunday at the Regional Event Center as they continue NSIC action.

The Mustang Football team (1-3, 1-2 NSIC, 0-1 NSIC South) will travel to Wayne, NE, to face Wayne State College (3-1, 3-0 NSIC, 1-0 NSIC South) in a NSIC match-up on Saturday at Bob Cunningham Field with the kickoff set for 4:00 pm.

Wayne State, which has won three straight games, including defeating defending national champion and No. 1 ranked Minnesota Duluth two weeks ago, received 13 votes in this week’s AFCA Top 25 poll.  The Wildcats are coming off a 37-10 road win against Northern State last week with redshirt freshman quarterback Nate Most making his first career start. The Mustangs have dropped its last two games and will be searching for its first victory over Wayne State since Oct. 16, 2004, a streak of six straight games.


The #6 SMSU Volleyball team  lost on Tuesday to #1 Concordia University, St. Paul falling 18-25, 18-25, 14-25 in a non-conference match on Tuesday night. SMSU (10-4, 4-1 NSIC) will return to NSIC action on Friday traveling to Moorhead, MN to take on MSU Moorhead at 7:00 pm before taking on Minnesota, Crookston at 5:00 pm on Saturday in Crookston, MN.


The SMSU Women’s Golf team will continue play this Sunday and Monday, Oct. 2-3, at the NSIC/RMAC Crossover at Tiburon Golf Club in Omaha, NE. The Mustangs will start the 36-hole tournament on Sunday at 11:23 am and will begin the final round at 9:30 on Monday morning with a shotgun start.

A total of 18 teams, nine from the NSIC and eight from the RMAC, along with independent Nebraska-Omaha, are expected to compete. SMSU is coming off a sixth place finish last weekend at the 15-team Mustang Invite in Marshall. Sophomore Marissa Campeau leads SMSU this season with an 81.5 stroke average in 10 rounds.

Good luck to all of our teams this week and Believe in Brown!

This week, no one was able to provide the correct answer to last week’s Mustang Hoofprints Question: In 2009-10, who were the student-athletes named SMSU Female and Male Athletes of the Year announced each year at the Celebration of Excellence awards ceremony? Devin Deidrich (volleyball) and Andrew Kinney (baseball) were last year’s recipients of the SMSU Female and Male Athletes of the Year awards.

Hoofprints Trivia Question (please put this in a box with the title on top)

At what institution did Director of Athletic Development, Tim Steinbach, coach softball?

The first person to email me at MustangHoofPrints@SMSU.edu with the correct answer to this question will receive an SMSU t-shirt.