SMSU Athletics

December 19, 2013 – Hoof Prints Article
 
Hello Mustang Fans!

Yesterday was the last day of the fall semester finals at Southwest Minnesota State University. Mustang Athletics will host events today and Saturday to close out the fall semester. SMSU Men’s Basketball will play on Thursday evening and both the Women’s and Men’s Basketball teams will play USF Saturday afternoon. The athletic staff will get a much needed break over the holidays following a very busy fall. 

There will be an ESPNU E:60 feature on Mustang Men’s Basketball Head Coach, Brad Bigler, airing on the following dates in December; 24th (3:00 p.m), 27th (5:00 p.m.), 29th (11:00 p.m.), and the 31st (6:30 a.m. &11:00 p.m.). ESPN 2 will also air a shorter version of the feature but the dates and times have not been confirmed. We will announce these dates and times once they have been confirmed by ESPN 2 on the SMSU Athletics website.

The Gold Rush Raffle Committee had their second meeting in preparation for the 11th Annual Gold Rush Raffle hosted by the Mustang Booster Club which will be held on Friday, February 14 in the Conference Center Ballroom. The committee has been brainstorming with the goal of making some subtle enhancements to increase the social and fund raising opportunities of this year’s event.

Last year, the Gold Rush Raffle raised just over $53,000. This year, the committee has set a goal of raising over $75,000 at the event. All proceeds from the Gold Rush Raffle go to aid the Mustang Booster Club’s effort to support SMSU Athletic Scholarships. Last year, the Mustang Booster Club contributed $100,000 to athletic scholarships.

One change the committee has made is this year’s Gold Rush Raffle Ticket prices will increase from $50 to $75. The $50 ticket price has been in place for 10 years, and the committee felt it was time to increase the price of the raffle tickets based on inflationary increases of expenses and the value Mustang Supporters find in the event and raffle. Mark Friday, February 14 on your calendar, as the mid-winter social event of the season is just around the corner. Tickets will be available for purchase starting January 1, 2014.

Check the SMSU Athletics website, SMSUmustangs.com, for all the latest information on Mustang Athletics and Gold Rush Raffle Tickets information.

This Week in SMSU Athletics

The SMSU Men’s Basketball team (5-5, 3-2 NSIC) split on last weekend’s NSIC road trip beating Upper Iowa on Friday  and losing to Winona State on Saturday. The Mustangs will play a non-conference game today welcoming the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (7-1, 3-0 WIAC) to the R/A Facility with a 7:00 p.m start time.

On Saturday, SMSU will host the University of Sioux Falls (5-4, 2-3 NSIC) in the final NSIC contest before the winter break. The game is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m in the R/A Facility. During halftime of the Mustang Men’s Basketball game this Saturday, Mr. and Mrs. Claus will make an appearance in the R/A Facility. This is a great opportunity for your family to come out and support the Mustangs and have your children talk with and take a picture with Santa Clause. Santa will have treats to hand out for children of all ages.

The SMSU Women’s Basketball team (2-7, NSIC 0-5) is coming off a pair of road losses to Upper Iowa and Winona State last weekend. The Mustangs will welcome USF (5-4, 1-4 NSIC) to the R/A Facility this Saturday with tip-off scheduled for 2:00 p.m. This will be the last contest for SMSU heading into the winter break.

Both the SMSU Women’s and Men’s Basketball teams will be back in action on January 3-4 hosting Northern State and MSU Moorhead in a pair of NSIC contests.

I would like to wish our SMSU Women’s and Men’s Basketball teams the best of luck this week!

The SMSU Wrestling team (3-2) beat St. John’s in a non-conference dual last Friday 22-13 in Collegeville, MN. On Saturday, a number of SMSU Wrestlers competed in the Holiday Inn/Husky Open hosted by St. Cloud State University. Three Mustang Wrestlers place in the tournament. Justin Reinsma and Andrew Rodas had fourth place finishes while Micah Larson placed sixth for the Mustangs. SMSU’s next competition will be a home NSIC dual match versus Minot State on January 11 in the PE Gym at 4:00 p.m.

The SMSU Wheelchair Basketball team went 3-1 last weekend in Lincoln, NE. The Mustangs suffered their only loss of the Lincoln Tournament in game one losing 34-50 to the Madonna Magic. SMSU then reeled off three wins against Sioux Falls 53-47, Timberwolves 52-38 and Iowa 45-24. Southwest will be idle until January 17-18 when they travel to Urbana-Champaign, IL to compete in the University of Illinois Tournament.

I would also like to wish everyone safe travels during the holiday season and have a Merry Christmas!

Go Mustangs!

Congratulations to Larry Hildebrandt, who provided the correct answer to last week’s Mustang Hoofprint’s Trivia Question: What SMSU Women’s Basketball player was an All American two different years during her career?
Lillie Brown earned All-American status as a Mustang Women’s Basketball player in 1994-95 and 1995-96.

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

Learfield Sports sponsors the Director’s Cup award each year in DI, DII, and DIII in support of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics The Director’s Cup is a program that honors institutions for maintaining a broad-based program and achieving success in both women’s and men’s sports. Following the fall sports season, where does SMSU rank out of the 311members competing at the NCAA DII level?

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