SMSU Athletics

October 2, 2014 – Hoof Prints Article
 
Hello Mustang Fans!
 
Last Saturday, the SMSU Department of Athletics hosted the 8th Annual Ag Bowl presented by Ralco, Inc. We had a great turnout to the Ag Bowl festivities in the R/A Facility parking lot and what we believed to be the largest attended SMSU Football game for Ag Bowl with over 3,800 people filling the stadium. To host an event like Ag Bowl takes many individuals and departments at SMSU.
 
We would like to thank athletic development, game management, and communications departments as well as our athletic teams and coaches who all helped in a number of roles last Saturday. We would also like to thank our maintenance and grounds staff, electricians, public safety and the scheduling and event services staff for their support in making Ag Bowl a huge success. We can never say thank you enough to all our sponsors of the Ag Bowl.
 
Ag Bowl Sponsors:
 
Ralco, Inc. – Title Sponsor
Titan Machinery
Channel Seed – Pat and Sharon Hennen
Syngenta – Brian Kruse
CHS
Minnesota Corn Growers Association
Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council
Action Sports of Marshall
ADM
Lockwood Motors
HyVee of Marshall
 
It is the support these sponsors that has laid the foundation for the success of Ag Bowl and the celebration of agriculture in southwestern Minnesota.
 
 If you would like to be a sponsor of the Ag Bowl or Ag Bowl Scholarship Challenge (February 20, 2015), please contact Tim Steinbach in the SMSU Athletic Development Office at 507-537-7204.
 
The excitement at SMSU and Marshall continues next week! Homecoming 2014, Rise of the Mustangs, at SMSU starts on Monday, October 6 with events each day leading up to Saturday’s schedule of events beginning in the morning and running through the evening. There should be a buzz around town next weekend with many opportunities for you and your family to participate in the SMSU Homecoming festivities. For all your SMSU Homecoming information and schedule of events go to SMSU.edu.
 
As part of the Homecoming festivities, the SMSU Athletics Department will host the 9th annual "Celebration of Excellence" on Sunday, October 12, beginning at 11:00 am in the upper level of the SMSU Conference Center.
 
The event will honor student-athletes and teams from the 2013-14 academic year. Student-athletes that earned All-NSIC accolades, Academic All-NSIC honors, national qualifiers, all-region honorees, seniors and team MVPs will be honored.

Rachel Patnoe, a 2014 graduate and former golfer, will be this year's senior student-athlete speaker. Patnoe was honored as the NSIC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year last spring. The event is free and open to the public and will include snacks and beverages.  The social begins at 11:00 am, followed by the ceremony starting at 11:30 am. To reserve a spot for the event please call 507-537-7271.
 
For all your information on the Celebration of Excellence and SMSU Athletics, go to SMSUmustangs.com
 
This Week in SMSU Athletics
SMSU Women’s Soccer team (4-4, 3-2 NSIC) went 1-1 last weekend in the first of two long road trips for the Mustangs on back to back weekends. Last Saturday, the Mustangs fell to Minot State 1-2 in Minot, ND, before earning a 2-0 victory of the University of Mary in a very physical match in Bismarck, ND.
 
SMSU will head north again this weekend stopping in St. Cloud on Satruday to play St. Cloud State (2-3, 3-5 NSIC) with a 1:00 pm start time. Sunday, the Mustangs will head to Duluth, MN to battle the UMD Bulldogs (3-2, 3-5 NSIC) at James S. Malosky Stadium at 1:00 pm. This is a very important road trip for SMSU facing two very good NSIC opponents.
 
The Mustang Football team (1-3) lost to Northern State on Saturday 43-46 as part of Ag Bowl presented by Ralco, Inc. The Mustangs will take on a very tough opponent this weekend in MSU Mankato (4-0) who is on top of the South Division and overall standing of the NSIC. Southwest will return to the Schwan Regional Event Center next week for Homecoming as we will welcome Upper Iowa University to Marshall for a 6:00 pm kick-off.
 
The #9 SMSU Volleyball team (9-5, 4-2 NSIC) went 2-0 last weekend with decisive victories of the University of Minnesota, Crookston and Bemidji State. Southwest will continue their homestand this Friday welcoming Minot State to the PE Gym with the contest starting at 7:00 pm. On Saturday, the University of Mary will compete against the Mustangs with the match beginning at 3:00 pm.  
 
The SMSU Women’s Golf team is coming off an impressive finish in the Jewel Triangular held at the The Jewel Golf Club in Lake City, MN. SMSU, Minnesota State and Winona State all competed in the tournament hosted by Southwest.
 
Minnesota State won the event with a 28-over 316, while Winona State was third at 36-over 324. The Mustangs shot a score of 33 over par finishing in second place with a total score of 321. SMSU was led by Dana Wagner's 4-over 76, finishing in a tie for second place, while Ashley Bixby placed sixth overall with a 6-over 78. Lauren Kerr tied for eighth carding an 11-over 83.
 
The SMSU Women’s Golf team will conclude its 2014 fall season this weekend at the 12-team NSIC/ US Bank Fall Championships at The Classic at Madden's in Brainerd, MN. The first two rounds of the 72-hole conference championship will take place this weekend and will conclude with the final two rounds on April 25-26, 2014, at Dacotah Ridge Golf Club in Morton, MN.

First round play is scheduled to begin this Saturday at 8:30 am, with SMSU's first tee time at 10:10 am. The second round is set to begin on Sunday at 9:00 am with a shotgun start. The NSIC championship field includes Augustana, Bemidji State, Concordia, Minnesota Crookston, Minnesota State, MSU Moorhead, Minot State, St. Cloud State, University of Sioux Falls, Southwest Minnesota State, Upper Iowa and Winona State. 

SMSU head coach Ross Webskowski announced his five-person line-up would consist of freshman Ashley Bixby, freshman Lauren Kerr, junior Becky Koepp, sophomore Dana Wagner and freshman Alax Floyd. Bixby leads the team this season with an 80.9 stroke average in eight rounds, followed by Wagner (81.9), Kerr (83.5), Koepp (83.5) and Floyd (84.0). Good luck to our women’s golf team as they look to conclude their fall season!
 
The SMSU Women’s and Men’s Cross Country teams are in action this Saturday at the South Dakota State Classic held at Edgebrook Golf Course in Brookings, SD. The 5,000-meter women's race begins at 10:45 am, followed by the men's 8,000-meter race at 11:15 am. The Mustang Cross Country teams are both coming off a strong performances at the Border Battle held in La Crosse, WI three weeks ago.
 
I would like to wish all of our teams the best of luck this week!
 
Go Mustangs!
 
Many tried, but no one was able to provide the correct answer to last week’s Mustang Hoofprints Question: In what year did the SMSU Women’s Golf team win the Mustang Invite? SMSU last won the Mustang Invite shooting a 324 (+36) back in 2005 when the tournament was shortened to a one-day event due to poor weather conditions.
 
Hoofprints Trivia Question (please put this in a box with the title on top)
 
The SMSU Volleyball team is undefeated verse two teams in the NSIC. Can you name the two NSIC schools?
 
The first person to email me at MustangHoofPrints@SMSU.edu with the correct answer to this question will receive an SMSU t-shirt.