SMSU Athletics

January 30, 2014 – Hoof Prints Article

Hello Mustang Fans!

It is Hawaiian Night Weekend on the campus of SMSU! This Saturday, the Hawaiian Night crowd will welcome the Golden Eagles of U of M, Crookston to the R/A Facility displaying an electrifying collegiate basketball experience. It will be an exciting weekend of NSIC Basketball as the Mustangs host Bemidji State on Friday night and Crookston on Saturday. We encourage all of the Mustang Faithful to put on their best Hawaiian outfit for Saturday’s Hawaiian Night festivities.

Also on Saturday, the SMSU Women’s and Men’s Basketball programs will host their annual "Alumni Day". The SMSU women's basketball alumni game will start at 10:00 a.m. and will be followed by the SMSU men's basketball alumni game at 11:00 a.m. with both alumni games being played in the PE Gym. Following the games, all alumni are invited to attend a brunch starting at 12:00 p.m., provided by SMSU boosters Kevin and Karla Anundson.

Following the Mustang Men’s Basketball game on Saturday evening the Mustang Booster Club along with the SMSU Alumni Association will host a post-game social at Brau Brothers in Marshall. The event is open to all Mustang Booster Club members and potential members.

Another SMSU tradition continues next Monday as the SMSU Baseball team, along with The Hitching Post in Marshall, will partnered again this year for the 6th annual "Super Supper" to help support the SMSU baseball program.

The Super Supper will take place a day after the NFL Super Bowl on Monday, February 3, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at The Hitching Post on Highway 59 South in Marshall. All food and beverages purchased during this time will be donated to the SMSU baseball program to help the team's operating budget, including the squad's trip to Arizona in March. For more information contact the SMSU baseball office at paul.blanchard@smsu.edu or 507-537-7268.

We are just two weeks away from 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.

Last Friday, a dear friend and colleague, Butch Raymond, announced he would be retiring from 50 years of service to collegiate athletics as of August 1, 2014. Butch spent seven years of his career as the Director of Athletics at SMSU before transitioning to the NSIC Commissioner role which he has held for the last ten years. We at SMSU are very thankful for Butch’s vision, hard work and persistence in helping to continually grow the SMSU Department of Athletics and the NSIC in his leadership roles with both organizations. We congratulate Butch on his retirement and look forward to him visiting Marshall for a cup of coffee at Mike’s Café, an SMSU Basketball game or 18-holes of golf on Friday’s with the crew from the Mustang League.

Next Wednesday, February 5 is National Signing Day for football, soccer, track and field and cross country. SMSU Athletics will be following all the signings by the minute and updating Mustang Fans on our website at “SMSU Signing Day Central”. We will be posting bios and signing updates on the website, twitter and facebook of our student-athletes who sign National Letters of Intent and will be joining our Mustang Family. It is an exciting time to be a Mustang!

For all your information on Hawaiian Night festivities, National Signing Day Central and SMSU Athletics, go to SMSUmustnags.com.

Upcoming SMSU Athletics Events

The SMSU Wrestling team (9-4 overall, 3-1 NSIC) went 1-1 last weekend beating MSUM in Moorhead, MN last Thursday 19-15 having to win their last three decisions to secure the victory. The Mustangs turned around on Sunday and traveled to Fayette, IA, to battle the #8 ranked Peacocks where SMSU fell 27-9 to UIU.

This Saturday, the SMSU Wrestling program will play host to MSU Mankato at 3:30 p.m. in the PE Gym. The last time SMSU was victorious over the Mavericks was during the 1990-91 season. Southwest is currently tied for third place in the NSIC with Augustana who SMSU beat in Sioux Falls, SD, earlier in the season.

The SMSU Men’s Basketball team (13-7, 10-4 NSIC) will take on a pair of NSIC North opponents this weekend battling Bemidji State University (14-4, 11-3 NSIC) on Friday at  8:00 p.m. The Mustangs will close out the weekend against the University of Minnesota Crookston (4-14, 1-13 NSIC) on Saturday (Hawaiian Night) with tip-off slated for 7:00 p.m.

Southwest is coming off an exciting two-game road trip last weekend beating Wayne State College and Augustana College. SMSU begins the weekend third in the NSIC South Division standings and tied for fourth overall.  BSU, which is on a seven-game winning streak, is first in the NSIC North and tied for second overall, while UMC is seventh in the NSIC North and 16th overall.

The Mustang Women’s Basketball team (3-15, 1-13 NSIC) also welcomes to the R/A Facility Bemidji State (8-10, 4-10 NSIC) on Friday with game time scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Saturday, the Mustang Women get Hawaiian Night kicked off versus Minnesota Crookston (7-11, 4-10 NSIC) at 5:00 p.m. The Mustangs are coming off two losses to Wayne State and Augustana College last weekend.

It is Alumni Weekend for both the men’s and women’s basketball programs. We look forward to welcoming back our alumni, former student-athletes and their families to campus this weekend.

The SMSU Women's and Men's Indoor Track and Field competed last Friday and had an impressive showing at the St. Thomas Invite with the men's team capturing four first place finishes.

Jay Schneider led the men's team earning first place finishes in both the 60-meter dash (6.94) and the 200-meter dash (22.54). Alejandro Sanchez also had a solid meet capturing first place in the 800-meter with a time of 1:56.78, while OJ Ojullu earned a second place finish in the 600-meter at 1:23.25. Dallin Finley advanced to the finals of the 60-meter dash and finished sixth with a time of 7.29. Chris Kveseth and Paul Demings both earned top 10 finishes in the 800-meter, with Kveseth earning fifth place (2:01.79) and Demings finishing eighth (2:08.02).

SMSU's men's 4x400 relay team of Schneider, Ojullu, Kveseth and Sanchez won its first race of the season with a time of 3:24.43.

On the women's side, Rylee Armstrong recorded a high jump of 4.98m to finish in fifth place, while Amanda Grengs finished ninth in the 1-mile run with a time of 5:28.04. The Mustangs will head to Mankato, MN this Saturday to compete in the Minnesota State Open against teams from all over the Midwest.

The SMSU Wheelchair Basketball team (8-12) won two games on Sunday to cap a perfect 4-0 weekend at the PE Gym. On Saturday, the Mustangs defeated Sioux Falls (60-25) and the Timberwolves (56-29) to open weekend play. On Sunday, SMSU beat the Timberwolves 46-44 is a nail biter and closed out the weekend with a win over the Sioux Falls Wheelers 52-49. The Mustangs will head on the road this weekend to Wichita, KS, where they will play Edinboro, Alabama and Texas-Arlington on Friday and Saturday.

Saturday, the SMSU Tennis team will open their season with a pair of matches versus St. Thomas and Macalester in Minneapolis, MN. The Mustangs will begin the season with fourteen players competing in a 20-match schedule this spring.

Good luck to all our Mustang Teams this week!

Go Mustangs!

Congratulations to Jared Baartman who provided the correct response to last week’s Mustang Hoofprint’s Trivia Question: Who holds the SMSU record for the men’s 100 meter dash? Wayne Hawkins holds the 100 meter dash record with a time of 10.37.

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

When was the last time both the SMSU Women’s and Men’s Basketball team won on Hawaiian Night?

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