SMSU Athletics

February 13, 2014 – Hoof Prints Article

Hello Mustang Fans!

Tomorrow is the 11th annual Mustang Gold Rush Raffle sponsored by the Mustang Booster Club held 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 plenty of 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. We still have a few Gold Rush Raffle Tickets available, and please remember you do not need to be present to win the grand prize. I look forward to see you on Friday for an evening of great fun!

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

Upcoming SMSU Athletics Events

The SMSU Wrestling team (11-5 overall, 5-2 NSIC) is idle this week preparing to conclude the 2013-14 regular season next Saturday, February. 22 as they welcome the University of Mary in the PE Gym.

The SMSU Men’s Basketball team (15-9, 12-6 NSIC) heads on the road this weekend to battle the University of Mary (6-17, 4-14 NSIC) this Friday in the last NSIC road trip of the regular season  with tip-off scheduled for 8:00 p.m. at the McDowell Activity Center in Bismarck.

On Saturday, the Mustangs will travel to Minot State University (8-14, 4-14 NSIC) with tip-off slated for 6:00 p.m. at the MSU Dome in Minot, ND. Southwest begins the weekend in third place in the NSIC South Division standings and tied for fourth overall. Last weekend, SMSU went 1-1 losing to Minnesota State and beating Concordia-St. Paul.

The Mustang Women’s Basketball team (4-18, 2-16 NSIC) will play the last two games of this four-game NSIC road trip this weekend.  On Friday, SMSU will battle the University of Mary (13-8 overall, 11-7) at 6:00 p.m. before heading to Minot State (15-7, 11-6) on Saturday with game time set for 4:00 p.m. SMSU is coming off a tough NSIC road trip last weekend losing to MSU and Concordia St. Paul.

The SMSU Women's and Men's Indoor Track and Field will resume action this Saturday at the Minnesota State Open in Mankato. Field events begin at 11:00 a.m. with the weight throw, long jump and pole vault, while the high jump, shot put, triple jump and running events will start at 12:00 p.m. SMSU's Rylee Armstrong will compete on Sunday in the Pentathlon at the NSIC Indoor Multi in Mankato starting at 2:00 p.m.

The SMSU Wheelchair Basketball team (11-14) team continues its homestand this Saturday and Sunday with four games in the PE Gym. The Mustangs will face the Sioux Falls Wheelers on Saturday starting at 4:00 p.m., before taking on the Timberwolves at 7:00 p.m. The Timberwolves and Wheelers will face each other at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.

On Sunday, SMSU will take on the Timberwolves at 9:00 a.m. before closing the weekend versus Sioux Falls at 12:00 p.m. Sioux Falls and the Timberwolves will play at 10:30 a.m. This weekend's games are the final in the regular season for SMSU, which will compete at the NWBT Championships on March 6-8 in Arlington, Texas.

The SMSU Tennis team (1-4, 0-3 NSIC) lost two NSIC matches last weekend versus St. Cloud State and Bemidji State at the Fitness Evolution in Sartell on Saturday. The Mustangs will take a week off before heading to the Sioux Empire Fitness Center in Sioux Falls, SD, to battle Augustana and Minnesota Crookston on February 21-22.

The SMSU Baseball team will open its 2014 season this weekend with a three-game series versus Dakota Wesleyan University (S.D.) at Al Ortolani Field on the campus of Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, KS. The two teams will play a doubleheader - two seven-inning games - on Saturday, starting at 12:00 p.m. and will conclude the series with a single nine-inning game on Sunday, with the first pitch scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. Paul Blanchard, enters his 18th season as Head Coach of the Mustang Baseball team finishing last season with a 17-23-1 record.

The Mustang Softball team also opens up their 2014 season traveling this weekend in Golden, CO, playing four games versus the Colorado School of Mines. SMSU will play a doubleheader on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and Sunday at 12:00 p.m. Head Coach, Jaimie Dunn, begins her first season at the helm of SMSU Softball taking over a team that finished 19-21 last season.

Good luck to all of our SMSU Teams competing  this weekend!

Go Mustangs!

No one was able to provide the correct response to last week’s Mustang Hoofprint’s Trivia Question: When was the last time the SMSU Wrestling team was nationally ranked? In 1997-98, the Mustang Wrestling team finished the season ranked 17th in the country.

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

At last year’s Gold Rush Raffle, who won the grand prize of $5,000?

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