October 16, 2014 – Hoof Prints Article Hello Mustang Fans!
It was an amazing game-day environment on the campus of SMSU for Homecoming 2014 last Saturday. There was an excitement and energy throughout the City of Marshall as we welcomed back our alumni, Friends of the Mustangs, former student-athletes and family members of our current students and student-athletes.
Thank you to all the faithful Mustang supporters who were in attendance at the SMSU Soccer and Football games played on Saturday and Sunday and all the pre-game festivities hosted in Marshall and on campus.
Last Sunday, the SMSU Department of Athletics hosted the 9
th Annual Celebration of Excellence ceremony honoring our teams, coaches and student-athletes for their accomplishments athletically and academically. The SMSU volleyball and soccer teams, which both qualified for the NCAA tournament last season, along with the SMSU football team, which played in the 2013 Mineral Water Bowl were recognized for advancing to the post-season. Student-athletes were acknowledged for being selected all-conference, academic all-conference, 2013-14 student-athlete seniors, team MVPs and Mustang Medalists.
SMSU Athletics also recognizes the top female and male athletes and scholar-athletes of the year at the event. The 2013-14 Female Scholar-athlete of the Year was senior, Rachael Patnoe (Milbank, SD), from the women’s golf team and the Male Scholar-athlete of the Year was senior, Nick Smith (Johnston, IA), a member of the men’s basketball program.
The 2013-14 Female Athlete of the Year was senior Mustang Volleyball student-athlete, Rachael Westby (Marshall, MN). The Male Athlete of the Year was junior SMSU Football student-athlete, Tyler Tonderum (Armstrong, IA). We had the largest number of attendees at the Celebration of Excellence this year to honor the academic and athletic accomplishments of our teams, coaches and student-athletes, and it was great to see. Thank you to all who attended the Celebration of Excellence last Sunday.
On Monday, our SMSU Wrestling and Wheelchair Basketball teams officially began practices. The Women’s and Men’s Basketball teams started practices yesterday as all our winter sports have started their preparation for the upcoming season.
For all your information on SMSU Athletics, go to SMSUmustangs.com
This Week in SMSU AthleticsSMSU Women’s Soccer team (7-4-1, 6-2-1 NSIC) went 1-0-1 at home this past weekend playing to a 1-1 OT tie on Saturday versus Bemidji State before beating the University of Minnesota, Crookston 2-0 on Sunday. The Mustangs will hit the road this upcoming weekend battling Upper Iowa (7-4, 7-2 NSIC) this Saturday at 2:30 pm. SMSU will then take the trip north to Winona, MN, to meet up with Winona State (11-1, 8-1 NSIC) with a 1:00 pm start time.
The Mustang Football team (2-4) is coming off a big 28-25 Homecoming victory over previously undefeated Upper Iowa University. The road for the Mustangs does not get any easier as they will head to Sioux Falls, SD, to take on the USF Cougars (6-0) with kick-off scheduled for 12:00 pm. SMSU looks to avenge a 48-55 Homecoming loss to USF last season.
The #6 SMSU Volleyball team (14-5, 9-2 NSIC) went 3-0 this past week beating MSU Moorhead and Northern State last weekend while earning an impressive road victory over #12 Wayne State College on Tuesday . Mustang Volleyball will also be making the trip to Upper Iowa and Winona State this weekend.
Southwest will compete in Fayette, IA, on Friday as they match-up with UIU Peacocks (10-9, 5-6 NSIC) at 7:00 pm. On Saturday, the Mustangs will travel to Winona State University (13-4, 8-3 NSIC) with the match beginning at 4:00 pm to cap off a five game NSIC road trip.
The SMSU Women’s and Men’s Cross Country teams had strong performances last Saturday at the Briar Cliff Invite held at Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve. The Mustang women's team finished fourth (115) out of 12 teams, while the SMSU men's team earned a fifth place (139) finish out of 10 teams. Creighton University won the women's title with 29 points, while Morningside (Iowa) captured the men's title with 34 points.
Savannah Ramirez finished the 5k race in 16th place with a time of 18:51 to lead the Mustangs. Julia Orlow earned a 22nd place finish with a mark of 19:09, while Paige Yi crossed the finish line in 19:28 to earn 27th place.
The SMSU men were led by
Alejandro Sanchez, who earned an eighth place finish in the 8k race with a time of 25:54.
Evan Bonneson finished with a time of 26:49 to place 33rd, while
Blake Wooten crossed the line in 39th place with a time of 26:55. The SMSU Women’s and Men’s Cross Country teams will be back in action in two weeks competing at the St. Cloud State Invite on October 25.
I would like to wish all of our teams the best of luck this week!
Go Mustangs!
Congratulations to Max and Mary Lord, who provided the correct answer to last week’s Mustang Hoofprints Question: Who was the 2012-13 Female Scholar-athlete of the Year recognized at last year’s Celebration of Excellence? Senior, Amy Dreessen, was the 2012-13 SMSU Female Scholar-athlete of the Year and a member of the Mustang Softball team.
Hoofprints Trivia Question (please put this in a box with the title on top)
How many nationally ranked opponents has the SMSU Volleyball team collected this season?
The first person to email me at
MustangHoofPrints@SMSU.edu with the correct answer to this question will receive an SMSU t-shirt.
