SMSU Athletics

December 22, 2011 – Hoof Prints Article

Happy Holidays Mustang Fans!

It is a quiet time around the SMSU Department of Athletics as our students are home for winter break and the winter sports are in a quiet period with no workouts, practices or competitions from December 20 through December 26. The quiet period for winter sports is an NCAA Division II rule that was put in place a year ago as part of the Life in Balance initiative. After a very busy fall, this is a nice time for our staff to get some time off before gearing up for the last half of the athletic schedule including athletic competitions and events.

The SMSU Baseball program will host its 2011 winter clinics next week, December 27-29 in the PE Gym on the campus of SMSU. The pitching/catching session will take place on December 27-28 from 9:00 am to 11:30 am.  The hitting session will take place on December 27-28 from 12:00 pm to 2:30 pm.  The pitching/catching and hitting sessions are for ages 13-18.

The final session will be on December 29 for age 12-and-under and will run from 9:00 am to 11:30 am.

It will be directed by SMSU head coach, Paul Blanchard, assistant coaches and current players teaching mechanics of all facets of the game. For further information please check out the brochure or contact Bret Severtson at 605-864-1343.

This week the Mustang Softball team also announced their camp schedule this week. The SMSU Softball program  will be hosting a Winter Skills Clinic on January 22 and 29, 2012, at the PE Gym in Marshall.

The camp, under the direction of first-year head coach Missy Bruggeman and the SMSU softball team, is open for individuals in grades 2-12. The Youth Clinic is for individuals in grades 2-6 and is from 1 to 2 p.m. both days.  The Offensive/Defensive Clinic is for grades 7-12 and will take place from 2:15 to 4:15 p.m., while the Pitching/Catching Clinic is also for grades 7-12 and is from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.

The cost is $30 for the two Youth Clinics, $30 for the two Pitching/Catching Clinics and $40 for the two Offensive/Defensive Clinics.  Individuals can sign-up for both the pitching/catching and offensive/defensive clinics.

For all your news and information on SMSU Athletics, go to SMSUmustangs.com.

Upcoming Schedule of Events for Mustang Athletics:

The SMSU Men’s Basketball team will begin NSIC competition again on the road January 2-3.  SMSU (5-5, 4-2 NSIC) will face the University of Minnesota, Crookston (4-5, 0-5 NSIC) on Monday, January 2, starting at 8:00 pm, before taking on Minnesota State University Moorhead (9-0, 5-0 NSIC) on Tuesday, January 3, with tip-off slated for 8:00 pm.  The Mustangs are coming off a 73-67 victory over Upper Iowa last Saturday over Upper Iowa University.

The SMSU Women’s Basketball team  will return to NSIC action in two weeks on January 2-3. The Mustangs (3-7, 2-4 NSIC) will head to the University Minnesota, Crookston (6-3, 3-2 NSIC) on Monday, January 2, at 6:00 pm, before taking on Minnesota State University Moorhead (4-5, 1-4 NSIC) on Tuesday, January 3 also with a start time of 6:00 pm. Mustang Women’s Basketball is coming off a 75-59 victory over Upper Iowa University last Saturday in the R/A Facility.

The SMSU Wrestling and Wheelchair Basketball teams will also be back in action after the holiday season. Mustang Wrestling will host Dakota Wesleyan (SD) on January 11 at 4:00pm in the PE Gym, while Wheelchair Basketball will head to Champaign, IL on January 21 to play four games in two days at the University of Illinois.
Good luck to all of our teams this week and Believe in Brown!

We had many attempt to answer last week’s question, by no one was able to provide the correct answer to last week’s Mustang Hoofprints Question: How many corporate sponsors support the Southwest Minnesota State University Department of Athletics in 2011-12? SMSU Athletics is very fortunate to have the support of 59 corporate sponsors at a variety of levels ranging from $1,500 to over $100,000 of annual support.

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

What is the average athletic scholarship given to a Mustang Student-athlete at SMSU?

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