SMSU Athletics

September 12, 2013 – Hoof Prints Article
 
Hello Mustang Fans!

Thank you to all the fans and community members who came out to the Ag Bowl celebration prior to the Mustang Football game last Saturday. It was an impressive sight to see our stadium filled with the brown and gold of SMSU.

Former SMSU Student Body President, Kyle Berndt, found me during halftime and shared his excitement to be back on-campus for Ag Bowl. As we were looking up into the crowd in the Schwan Regional Event Center, he commented on the increased support and tradition that has grown around SMSU athletic events. The campus community and community members of Marshall and southwestern Minnesota came out in full force to take part in Ag Bowl. It was fun to hear what a positive collegiate experience Kyle had at SMSU.

A big thank you to Tim Steinbach, Director of Athletic Development, for all his efforts in organizing the many facets of Ag Bowl. Thank you to all the SMSU Athletics staff members and student-athletes who worked and administered at Saturday’s event. The SMSU electricians, maintenance staff, grounds crew and public safety officers work hard to help us in all aspects of the event, thank you for your efforts at Ag Bowl. Ag Bowl was a huge success and it takes the hard work of many to put on an event of this magnitude.

This Saturday the fun continues! The Mustang Booster Club will host the 8th Annual Mustang Shootout, presented by Marshall Radio Marshall, will be held at Shooters Sporting Clays east of Marshall. All proceeds from the event go towards the SMSU athletic scholarship fund.

The schedule of events for 2013 is listed below:

Schedule of Events
8:00 a.m. Registration and Breakfast
8:30 a.m. Warm-up Activities
9:30 a.m. Sporting Clay Competition (100 birds)
12:00 p.m Lunch
1 p.m.  Champion of Champions Shoot
1:15 p.m. Awards / Prizes

Ways to Participate
Individual Entry • $75
$40 for SMSU Students & Youth (18 & under)
• 100 birds
• Lunch
• Hat and Special Edition Pin
• Registered for Grand Prize - Grill donated by Runnings

For more information on how to register for the Mustang Shootout, please call the SMSU Department of Athletics at (507) 537-7271 or go to SMSUMustangs.com and click on the Mustang Shootout banner.

This Week in SMSU Athletics

The SMSU Soccer team (2-0) was on the road yesterday at the University of Sioux Falls to kick-off the 2013 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference season at 6:00 p.m. The Mustangs will open up at home on Friday as Lindenwood (Mo.) visits Marshall with the contest start time set for 3 p.m. SMSU went on the road last weekend picking up a pair of wins beating Fort Hayes State and University of Nebraska Kearney, a couple of in region wins against MIAA opponents.

The SMSU Football team (0-1 NSIC, 0-0 NSIC South) will play its first NSIC road game of the 2013 season this Saturday. The Mustangs will battle MSU Moorhead (0-1 NSIC, 0-0 NSIC North) with kickoff set for 1 p.m. at Alex Nemzek Stadium in Moorhead, MN. SMSU lost its home opener falling 49-35 to St. Cloud State. SMSU has been successful against MSUM in their previous four meetings with three wins in Moorhead and one at home.

The SMSU Volleyball team went 2-2 last weekend in the Grand Valley State Classic. The two losses to unranked teams dropped the Mustangs to No. 14 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II Top 25 Poll. Coach Culhane and the Mustangs have now been ranked in the AVCA Top 25 for 94 consecutive weeks, dating back to Sept. 5, 2006.

SMSU Volleyball will head back on the road this weekend as they travel to Denver, CO, for the Premier Challenge. The Mustangs will play four matches starting the tournament competing against Adams State at 1 p.m and West Florida at 8 p.m., both contests on Friday.

The Mustang Women’s Golf team opened up the season last weekend with a fifth place finish at the Cobber Open played at the Wildflower Golf Course in Detroit Lakes, MN. On Sunday, SMSU also competed in a shortened Concordia Invite Tournament due to heavy rains. The Mustangs finished the one round tournament placing ninth. Southwest will return to action this Sunday and Monday at the Concordia-St. Paul Invite at Tartan Park in Lake Elmo, MN.

The SMSU Women's and Men's Cross Country teams competed in the Augustana Twilight last weekend held in Sioux Falls, SD. The meet included 19 teams, with the women running a 3-mile race, while the men ran four miles.

On the men's side, SMSU finished ninth overall with 225 points, while the University of Nebraska earned the title with 31 points. The Mustangs had a pair of runners finish in the top 30 in the 231-person race with Alejandro Sanchez leading the way in 29th place with a time of 20:00. Teammate, Trent Smith finished right behind Sanchez in 30th place with a time of 20:01.

On the women's side, SMSU recorded 14th place with 406 points. Augustana won the meet with 34 points, beating Nebraska by 15 points.  Leading the SMSU women's team was freshman Amanda Grengs with a time of 18:10 to finish in 40th place out of 196 runners. Fellow freshman Paige Yi finishing in 46th place with a time of 18:13. The Mustangs will be idle this weekend and are scheduled to compete again in two weeks at the St. Olaf Invite on September 21.

I would like to wish all of our teams the best of luck this season!

Go Mustangs!

Congratulations to Dr. Randy Johnson for providing the correct answer to last week’s Mustang Hoofprint’s Trivia Question:  What former SMSU student-athlete was inducted into the NSIC Hall of Fame this summer for his accomplishments in Track & Field and Football? Wayne Hawkins became the 22nd representative from SMSU Athletics to be inducted into the NSIC Hall of Fame this summer for his talents on the football field and in track & field.

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

What SMSU Goalkeeper holds the career record for saves on the Mustang Women’s Soccer team?

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