SMSU Athletics

September 22, 2011 – Hoof Prints Article

Hello Mustang Fans!

Wow! It is a busy Homecoming Week on the campus of Southwest Minnesota State University. All leading up to an event packed Friday, Saturday and Sunday of University and Department of Athletic activities and programs.

On Friday, you can attend the Alumni Awards Luncheon, Mustang Volleyball taking on UMD and concluding the evening with the University Gala. Congratulations to alum and former student-athlete, Erin (Frye) Lind ‘01 and her family on being the first recipient of the GOLD (Graduate of the Last Decade) Award. The GOLD award is presented to a graduate of Southwest Minnesota State University to recognize recent (past 10 years) graduates with exceptional achievement and significant contribution to the recipient's profession or community/society or university.

Saturday features a whole host of events beginning with the 2nd annual Mustang Stampede starting on 9:00am at the Regional Event Center, in conjunction with SMSU Homecoming. The Mustang Stampede is for everyone! Women, men, students and families are all welcome. Strollers are welcome for walkers and kids 12-and-under are free!

The event features a 5K walk/run raising money for women’s athletic and veteran’s scholarships at SMSU. Here is a schedule of Saturday’s Homecoming and Mustang Stampede events:

8 - 9 a.m. Registration and Final Check-In
9 a.m. 5K Begins (shirts & refreshments are available after the 5K)
11 a.m. Homecoming Parade
12 p.m. Mustang Soccer vs. University of Mary
2 p.m. Homecoming Tailgate: pony rides, inflatables, clowns, food, beverage garden & live music
3 p.m. Mustang Volleyball vs. Bemidji State
Mustang Football Alumni Reunion
Speech Communications/Radio-TV/Public Relations Alumni Reunion
6 p.m. Mustang Football vs. Augustana College
9:30 p.m. The Johnny Holm Band

I have listed a sampling of the Homecoming Events happening this weekend at SMSU. For all your information on SMSU Homecoming and Mustang Athletic events, go to SMSU.edu or SMSUmustangs.com.

On Sunday, the SMSU Athletics Department will conclude the Homecoming festivities with their annual Celebration of Excellence awards banquet. The Celebration of Excellence begins at 11:00am with a social. The awards program will begin at 11:30am honoring SMSU student-athletes for their academic and athletic achievements during the 2010-11 academic year.

The SMSU Soccer team (2-3-0, 1-1-0 NSIC ) hosts a pair of NSIC matches this weekend at the Regional Event Center. On Saturday, SMSU will face the University of Mary ( 4-2-0, 2-0-0 NSIC) before taking on Northern State University (4-3-0, 1-1-0 NSIC ) on Sunday. Saturday’s game will begin at 12:00 pm, while Sunday’s game will kick at 1:00 pm. The Mustangs earned their first NSIC win of the season on a Kelly Fitzgerald goal, her 2nd of the season, to break the scoreless game against SCSU and give the Mustangs their first NSIC win since 2009.

The Mustang Football team (1-2, 1-1 NSIC) returns to Marshall for SMSU’s Homecoming Weekend to battle Augustana College (0-3, 0-2 NSIC) in an NSIC match-up on Saturday at Mattke Field at the Regional Event Center with the kick-off set for 6:00 pm. The Mustangs will be looking to rebound from last weekend’s 41-10 road loss to undefeated Bemidji State, while Augustana, which began the season ranked in the top 10 nationally, is in search for its first victory of the season. The Vikings are 0-3 losing last weekend on the road to the University of Mary 10-0 in Bismarck, ND.

The #7 SMSU Volleyball team beat St. Cloud State University 25-16, 25-9, 25-11 on Tuesday night in St. Cloud to improves to 9-2 overall, including 3-0 in NSIC play. The Mustangs were lead by Mary Groth who connected on a match-leading 17 kills, while recording a season-high .577 attack percentage helping SMSU to a clean sweep of the Huskies.

The Mustang Volleyball team will continue NSIC play on Friday hosting No. 5 Minnesota Duluth at 7:00 pm at the PE Gym. The Mustangs will then welcome Bemidji State on Saturday at 3:00 pm.

The SMSU Women’s Golf team will host the 14th annual Mustang Invitational this Saturday and Sunday at the 5,936-yard, par 72 Marshall Golf Club. The 36-hole invite begins at noon on Saturday with 18 holes and will conclude with the final round beginning on Sunday with a shotgun start at 9:00 am.

A total of 95 golfers are expected to compete from 15 teams including Southwest Minnesota State; Augustana; Bemidji State; Black Hills State; Concordia (Moorhead); Gustavus; Minnesota State; Minnesota, Crookston; MSU Moorhead; Minot State; St. Cloud State; Sioux Falls; Wayne State; Winona State and Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

SMSU has won the team title twice (2000 & 2005) during the 13-year history of the invitational. This will be the sixth competition for SMSU this fall. The Mustangs last competed on Sept. 18-19, taking home fourth place at the 12-team Concordia University Invite in Lake Elmo, MN.

It is a great weekend to bring the family out to the campus of SMSU to experience the Mustang Stampede and Homecoming programs and activities for children and adults of all ages. I look forward to seeing you this weekend wearing the Brown and Gold of the SMSU Mustangs!

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: What has been the average attendance for Mustang Football games since moving into Mattke Field at the Regional Event Center? The Mustangs have attracted a little over 3,600 fans for SMSU Football games in the evening at the REC and just over 2,600 to games beginning in the early afternoon.

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

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?

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