October 24, 2014 – Hoof Prints Article Hello Mustang Fans!
Southwest Minnesota State University and Marshall Public Schools will hold an official ribbon cutting ceremony this Saturday at 11:45 am to officially open the Marshall Regional Track & Field Complex. The event is free and open to the public.
The complex will be the home for both SMSU and Marshall Public Schools Track & Field programs, SMSU Rugby, along with other various events for the community. Officials from Marshall Public Schools and SMSU President Dr. Connie J. Gores will speak at the ceremony, while members of the SMSU and Marshall Public Schools track & field teams will be present.
Following the ceremony, the SMSU women's soccer team will be taking on MSU Moorhead on the turf field inside the running track starting at 12:00 pm. There will be a grand opening ceremony for the Marshall Regional Track & Field Complex next spring with the date of the event to be announced.
Also on Saturday, the SMSU Volleyball team has teamed up with the Minnesota Army National Guard for the 4
th annual "Red Out" event to benefit and promote awareness for heart disease among women. The Mustangs will hold the "Red Out" this Friday night, hosting nationally ranked Concordia-St. Paul in the PE Gym starting at 7:00 pm.
All fans in attendance are encouraged to wear red to the match. The first 400 fans through the gates will receive a free "Red Out" t-shirt, courtesy of the Minnesota National Guard.
"Heart disease is the number one killer of women," said
Terry Culhane, SMSU head volleyball coach. "Our volleyball team and staff would like to continue to bring awareness and help educate others about this serious disease. We'd like this annual event to raise money to benefit the efforts in fighting heart disease."
Culhane, who suffered a heart attack in 2010, felt that his experience offered a unique opportunity for his volleyball program to help educate the public about this deadly disease.
For all your information on the Marshall Regional Track and Field Complex and this weekend’s Redout, go to SMSUmustangs.com
This Week in SMSU AthleticsSMSU Women’s Soccer team (7-6-1, 6-4-1 NSIC) suffered two loses on the road last weekend at Upper Iowa and Winona State. The Mustangs will be at home this weekend playing MSU Moorhead (3-10, 2-9 NSIC) on Saturday at the Marshall Regional Track & Field complex with a 12:00 pm start time. SMSU will welcome Northern State (4-10, 3-8) to the Schwan Regional Event Center on Sunday at 1:00 pm to conclude the weekend’s contests.
The Mustang Football team (2-5, 1-2 South Division) is coming off a 20-44 loss to the University of Sioux Falls last week. SMSU will be at home on Saturday as Wayne State (4-3, 2-1 South Division) comes to Marshall for Senior Day at the Schwan Regional Event Center. Kick-off is scheduled for 6:00 pm as the Mustangs look to win their second game in a row at home.
The #5 SMSU Volleyball team (16-5, 11-2 NSIC) went 2-0 last weekend picking up wins at Upper Iowa and Winona State to complete a five-game road trip where the Mustangs went 5-0. Southwest returns to the PE Gym tonight for its annual “Redout” with a 7:00 pm start time versus the defending national champions Concordia St. Paul. Saturday, the Mustangs will battle MSU with the match starting at 3:00 pm in the PE Gym. Also on Saturday the SMSU Volleyball program will recognize their former student-athletes and alumni following the second set of the volleyball match versus MSU as part of Mustang Volleyball’s Alumni Weekend.
The SMSU Women’s and Men’s Cross Country teams are back in action this afternoon at the Bob Waxlax Invite hosted by St. Cloud State University at Wapicada Golf Course in Sauk Rapids, MN. The women's 6,000-meter race begins at 4:30 pm, followed by the men's 8,000-meter race at 5:00 pm. Concordia-St. Paul, Minnesota State, Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State are the teams SMSU will face in the race. Today's meet will be SMSU's final race before the NSIC Championships on November 8 in Wayne, NE.
The SMSU Men’s Basketball team will open the 2014-15 season this Sunday with an exhibition game versus the SMSU Alumni Team starting at 3:00 pm at the R/A Facility. This weekend’s event will be the 5th annual "Andy Wiersma Day" at SMSU.
Tickets for the game are $5 for adults, while kids 13-and-under will be admitted free. SMSU students will be admitted free with valid SMSU ID. Proceeds from the game will go towards the Andy Wiersma "AW" Memorial Scholarship as well as a donation to the Randy and Terry Carlson Family Relief Fund. Randy and Terry are the parents of Trent Carlson, who played basketball at SMSU from 2008-2013. Randy and Terry lost their house this past summer due to a mudslide near Belle Plaine, MN.
The game will also be the "Mini Mustang" kickoff, as all 2014-15 Mini-Mustangs are encouraged to attend the game to get autographs and take photos – with both current and former Mustangs. Information on Mini-Mustangs and registration for this year's session will be available at the game.
The SMSU Alumni team will consist of some of the best players in school history. Players expected to play include
Vinard Birch, DeAnthony Zanders,
Matt Zager, Trent Carlson, Jordan Miller,
Nick Smith, Jeremy VanKlompenburg, Casey Sussenguth, Tyler Huseby and Jordan Buddenhagen.
The Alumni team won the first game played in 2010, but SMSU has won the last three games. This is always an entertaining and highly competitive basketball game with a lot of pride on the line for both teams. A big thank you to all our alumni and family members who come back to support the Mustang Men’s Basketball team as part of Andy Wiersma Day at SMSU.
I would like to wish all of our teams the best of luck this week!
Go Mustangs!
No one was able to provide the correct answer to last week’s Mustang Hoofprints Question: How many wins over nationally ranked opponents has the SMSU Volleyball team collected this season? This year, the Mustangs had wins over Tampa, Northern State and Wayne State who were all nationally ranked in the AVCA top 25 at the time of the match.
Hoofprints Trivia Question (please put this in a box with the title on top)
What year did the SMSU Department of Athletics and the Mustang Booster Club start the Mustang Mail program?
The first person to email me at
MustangHoofPrints@SMSU.edu with the correct answer to this question will receive an SMSU t-shirt.
