SMSU Athletics

January 23, 2014 – Hoof Prints Article

Hello Mustang Fans!

Congratulations to nine of our student-athletes who have earned the NSIC Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction Award. NSIC Commissioner, Butch Raymond, announced yesterday a total of 96 student-athletes from the NSIC's 16 institutions and two affiliated members will receive the award in its fifth year.

Vanesa Corona, Josh Hanson, Ethan Hildebrandt, Bree Holleman, Micah Larson, Rachel Patnoe, Rebekah Rolling, Nick Smith and Britt Wickett all earned this prestigious honor given by the conference office. The honor, named for the late NCAA President Dr. Myles Brand, is bestowed to senior NSIC student-athletes who have a cumulative grade point average of 3.75 or higher, are exhausting their eligibility and are on track to graduate.

Each student-athlete will be recognized by the NSIC with a certificate of achievement and a wristwatch. We are very proud of our student-athlete’s academic accomplishments and the individuals recognized above all exemplify what it means to be a Mustang student-athlete.

The countdown continues to the 2014 Gold Rush Raffle sponsored by the Mustang Booster Club on Friday, February 14 in the SMSU Conference Center Ballroom. The event starts with a social at 6:00 p.m. and the reverse raffle to follow at 7:00 p.m. We have a limited number of the six hundred Gold Rush Raffle Tickets still available. This year, tickets are $75and includes a chance to win the grand prize of $5,000. The price of a ticket also includes free beverages and appetizers during the social hour from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

The reverse raffle will then begin at 7:00 p.m., and that’s when we begin drawing out, one by one, each of the 600 tickets until we get down to the final five tickets in the barrel. We will announce each individual who has purchased a ticket as their ticket number is drawn. Each raffle ticket that has been sold will be displayed on the board and will be recognized by name to the attendees. The first and 100th number drawn each win $100, while the 300th number drawn wins $500. Other great prizes will also be given away for every 20th number drawn throughout the night.

The raffle gets exciting when five lucky individuals are left. These individuals, who are in attendance or have selected to split on their ticket, can walk away with $1,000 each or hold out for the grand prize of $5,000!

There are other activities going on throughout the evening for everyone’s entertainment as well as a great silent and live auction along with a chance to win the mystery prize. This year’s Gold Rush Raffle Committee has some new activities planned for the evening with a Valentine’s Day theme.

Your presence is requested but not required at the event. Individuals do not need to present to win prizes, including the grand prize. The Gold Rush Raffle has become the mid-winter social event in Marshall. The SMSU Department of Athletics and the Mustang Booster Club look forward to hosting another memorable night for all of our attendees.

For all your information on SMSU Athletics and the Gold Rush Raffle, go to SMSUmustnags.com.

Upcoming SMSU Athletics Events

The SMSU Wrestling team (8-3 overall, 2-0 NSIC) defeated its second nationally ranked opponent of the year beating #6 Fort Hays State 22-20 last Saturday at the Midwest Duals hosted by Nebraska-Kearney. SMSU defeated Newman University 37-6, but fell to #4 Nebraska-Kearney 31-6 in their second dual of the day. The Mustangs closed Saturday's action with a 30-15 win over Bethany (Kan.).

Congratulation to Justin Reinsma who won his 100th match of his career in SMSU's 31-6 loss to UNK. Reinsma went 4-0 on the day and has now won six straight. The Mustangs have won seven of the last eight as they head into today’s NSIC dual with MSU Moorhead in Moorhead, MN beginning at 7:00 p.m. Southwest currently is on top of the NSIC with a 2-0 record heading into two very important duals this week. SMSU will travel to Upper Iowa University on Sunday to battle the #8 ranked Peacocks to close out the weekend.

The SMSU Men’s Basketball team (11-7, 8-4 NSIC) will head on the road this weekend for a pair of NSIC South Division games. On Friday, the Mustangs will take on Wayne State College (8-8, 5-7 NSIC) with game time set at 8:00 p.m. at Rice Auditorium. On Saturday, SMSU will be in Sioux Falls, S.D., versus Augustana College (11-7, 8-4 NSIC) with the game with the Vikings scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at the Elmen Center.

SMSU and Augustana begin the weekend tied for third place in the NSIC South Division standings and in a five-way tie for fourth in the overall standings. The Mustangs will look to extend a five-game winning streak over WSC and will also look to snap a five-game losing streak at Augustana. SMSU's last win at Augustana occurred on Dec. 11, 2004.

The Mustang Women’s Basketball team (3-13, 1-11 NSIC) are also on the road battling the #11ranked Wayne State (17-2, 10-2 NSIC) on Friday at 6:00 p.m. On Saturday, the Mustangs travel to Augustana (10-6, 6-6 NSIC) with game time scheduled  to begin at 4:00 p.m.

The Mustangs went 1-1 last weekend beating Winona State on Friday before losing to Upper Iowa to conclude the weekend. With the win against WSU, SMSU snapped a 12-game losing streak. Both SMSU Women’s and Men’s Basketball teams will be playing six of its next eight games on the road.

The SMSU Women's and Men's Indoor Track and Field competed last Saturday at the Dordt Indoor Open Invitational. Strong performances by SMSU include: Rylee Armstrong as the true freshman finished third in both the women's high jump and long jump. Armstrong posted a high jump of 1.60 meters and a long jump of 5.19 meters.

Paige Yi ran the 1000 meter run in a time of 3:18.11 to finish eighth. The event was won by Northwestern's (Iowa) Dawn Gildersleeve with a time of 3:09.87. Amanda Grengs rounded out the top 10 finishes for the SMSU women as she finished eighth in the one mile run with a time of 5:38.77.

On the men's side, Jay Schneider posted a 55 meter dash time of 6.42 to finish second just behind Dakota State's Seth Boomsma's time of 6.32. O.J. Ojulla posted a time of 1:58:38 to finish third in the 800 meter run. The Mustang men's 4x400 relay ran a time of 3:26.53 to finish only behind Briar Cliff's time of 3:25.20. SMSU will be in action tomorrow at the St. Thomas Invite in St. Paul, MN.

The SMSU Wheelchair Basketball team (4-12) went 1-3 at the University of Illinois Tournament last weekend. SMSU's win came over Illinois in the first game of the tournament by a score of 48-37. The Mustangs dropped close contests to the University of Arizona and a rematch with Illinois before losing to Wisconsin-Whitewater 74-34.

Southwest saw much improvement in Illinois and hopes to continue their momentum into this weekend. On Saturday, SMSU will play the Sioux Fall Wheelers at 4:00 p.m. and the Timberwolves at 8:00 p.m. On Sunday, the Mustangs will battle the Timberwolves at 8:00 a.m. and Sioux Falls at 12:00 p.m. with all games this weekend being in the R/A Facility.

The SMSU Tennis team is a little over a week away from opening their season on February 1 with a pair of matches versus St. Thomas and Macalester in Minneapolis.

Good luck to all our Mustang Teams this week!

Go Mustangs!

Congratulations to Rick Haberman who provided the correct response to last week’s Mustang Hoofprint’s Trivia Question: What was the first year SMSU competed as an NCAA Division II Member? SMSU was eligible for NCAA Division II competition in the fall of 1995. 

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

Who holds the SMSU record for the men’s 100 meter dash?

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