April 24, 2014 – Hoof Prints Article Hello Mustang Fans!
The spring semester is winding down, and we are two weeks away from finals on the campus of Southwest Minnesota State University. The Women’s Tennis team has concluded their spring season with baseball, softball and women’s and men’s outdoor track & field just two weeks away from NSIC post-season competition. SMSU Women’s Golf team begins their post-season play this weekend at Dakota Ridge Golf Club in Morton, MN competing in the NSIC Spring Championships.
Congratulations to SMSU senior women’s golfer, Rachel Patnoe, who yesterday, was been named the NSIC Willis R. Kelly Scholar-Athlete Award winner as the top female scholar-athlete in the NSIC. The University of Sioux Falls Cross Country/Track & Field student-athlete, William Brockmueller, was awarded the 2014 Dr. William Britton Award for Academic Excellence as the top male scholar-athlete in the NSIC.
The member institutions of the NSIC nominate one male and one female student-athlete for the Britton and Kelly Awards. The nominees must meet the following criteria: a grade point average of 3.5 or better (on a 4.0 scale); evidence of academic excellence beyond the minimum grade point average (scholarship prizes and other academic recognition), evidence of participation in the life of the institution, and evidence of participation in at least two-thirds of the varsity events of the individual's primary sport. The award is voted on by the NSIC Faculty Athletic Representatives.
The 30 student-athletes nominated for the NSIC's two most prestigious awards will also be honored as NSIC Male and Female Honor Student-Athletes of the Year at their respective institutions. Patnoe and Brockmueller will be recognized Wednesday, July 9 at the 2014 NSIC Hall of Fame Banquet at the Best Western Kelly Inn and Convention Center in St. Cloud, MN, each student-athlete will each receive a $2,500 post-graduate scholarship. Rachael is the sixth SMSU female student-athlete to earn the award in the last 29 years.
The SMSU Mustang Booster Club will be hosting a number of events over the summer months, and this weekend will kick-off the schedule of booster club summer events. This Saturday, the SMSU Mustang Booster Club will be hosting an event for the entire family with its first-ever "Mini Sports Camp" on Saturday, April 26, at the Schwan Regional Events Center.
The event, which begins with registration from 8:30 to 9:00 am, is for the entire family with individuals from ages 4 through 6
th grade participating in mini-camp sessions with SMSU student-athletes and coaches. The sports featured in the mini-camps include basketball, football, soccer and volleyball and will be conducted from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
The cost is just $25 and includes a t-shirt, participation in the four mini-camps and lunch. Following the mini-camps, the Mustang Booster Club will provide a free family lunch at the Schwan Regional Events Center starting at 12:00 p.m. The Mustang Booster Club will share a brief message on the family packages and benefits available for the 2014-15 SMSU Athletics season.
The SMSU football program will conclude the day with its annual spring game at 1:00 p.m. with all participants invited to attend. For more information call
Jennifer Graven at 507-537-6233.
The SMSU Department of Athletics and sponsors, Aramark, Hy-Vee and Pepsi, are in the soft launch phase of a new way for fans to interact with Mustang Athletics on their mobile devices.
The new "Mustang app", which is available for download now, will not only allow you to keep updated with Mustang Athletics, but you'll earn rewards for attending SMSU events and receive great offers from Aramark Dining Services, Hy-Vee, and Pepsi.
The app, which is compatible with Apple devices and Android based platforms, can be downloaded by searching "Mustang App" in the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, or any other app stores.
Another way to download is to follow the instructions below:Step 1: Text 'Mustangs' to 80802
Step 2: Click the link in the text message you received
Step 3: Download from Application Store
Step 4: Register for Application
Step 5: Start Earning Rewards
Save the date! The 29
th annual David and Carol Drown SMSU Golf Classic will be held Friday, June 20 at the Marshall Golf Club. The Golf Classic is the next Mustang Booster Club fund raising event, and the Golf Classic Committee will be convening in the next couple of weeks to begin the planning for this great event.
For all your information on the SMSU Booster Club, the Mustang App and SMSU Athletics, go to SMSUmustnags.com.
Upcoming SMSU Athletics Events The SMSU Baseball team (17-20, 8-13 NSIC) lost a pair of games on Tuesday to Concordia St. Paul. SMSU has moved this weekend’s games from Saturday/Sunday to Friday/Saturday in Crookston, MN due to forecasted weather conditions. The Mustangs will play two doubleheaders versus the Golden Eagles as they look to earn one of the eight spots in the NSIC Tournament Championship held in Sioux Falls, SD, at the end of the conference season.
The Mustang Softball team (12-29-1, 9-16-1 NSIC) split a doubleheader with Concordia St. Paul on Tuesday in St. Paul, MN. The Mustangs will be on the road this Saturday taking on MSU Moorhead and Sunday in Aberdeen, SD, battling Northern State with doubleheaders scheduled for both days. SMSU Softball is also looking to earn a trip to the NSIC Tournament Championships with a strong finish to the regular season.
The SMSU Women’s Golf team will compete this weekend in the third and fourth rounds of the NSIC Championship at Dacotah Ridge Golf Club. The first two rounds of the championship were played at The Classic at Madden's in Brainerd, MN, on October 5-6, 2013.
SMSU is currently in fifth place in the 12-team championship with a two-round score of 122-over-par 698. Augustana and Concordia-St. Paul are tied for the team lead with an 80-over 656 and hold a 12-shot lead over Minnesota State. Maggie Leland from Augustana is the individual leader at 14-over 158. The third round begins with tee times starting at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, while Sunday's final round begins at 9:00 a.m. with a shotgun start.
The SMSU Women's and Men's Indoor Track and Field teams competed in the two-day Red Raider Open hosted by Northwestern College on Thursday.
For the women,
Samantha McNeel led SMSU earning a third place finish with a time of 1:08.72 in the 400-meter hurdles and also finished fourth in the long jump with a mark of 5.14m (16-10.50).
Rylee Armstrong, who won the high jump in the heptathlon with a jump of 1.55m, finished third overall in the heptathlon with 3,363 points.
Amanda Grengs finished in sixth place in the 1500-meter with a time of 5:06.58, while Nia Buom recorded an eighth place finish with a time of 1:06.81 in the 400-meter.
On the men's side, SMSU's Kelly Fitzsimmons captured first place in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:41.59. Anthony Dean picked up a second place finish in both the long jump, with a mark of 6.29m (20-07.75) and the triple jump with leap of 13.32m (43-08.50). Alejandro Sanchez had a strong showing in the 400-meter finishing second with a mark of 49.11, while Austin LaFollette also recorded a second place finish 400-meter hurdles with a time of 55.96.
Dallin Finley finished third in both the 100-meter and 200-meter with times of 11.28 and 22.31 respectively. Ben Tonsager also finished third in the shot put with a throw of 15.02m (49-03.50).
SMSU's 4x800 meter relay team (O.J. Ojullu, Chris Kveseth, Sanchez and Fitzsimmons) earned a third place finish with a time of 8:09.2, while the Mustangs' 4x400 meter relay team (LaFollette, Chris Kveseth, O.J. Ojullu and Sanchez) earned a fourth place finish out of 15 teams with a time of 3:21.40. The Mustangs will be competing on Satruday at the Gustavus – Drake Alternative Meet in St. Peter, MN.
Good luck to all of our SMSU Teams competing this weekend!
Go Mustangs!
Congratulation to Neil Kruse who provided the correct answer to the Mustang Hoofprint’s Trivia Question: Can you name the two recipients from SMSU who have received the Noel Olson Volunteer of the Year Award from the NSIC?
Ken Mukomela (2011) and Kevin and Karla Anundson (2013) were nominated by SMSU and received the award for their service and dedication to SMSU Athletics.
Hoofprints Trivia Question (please put this in a box with the title on top)
Who was the last SMSU female student-athlete to be awarded the Willis R. Kelly Scholar-Athlete Award winner as the top female scholar-athlete in the NSIC?
The first person to email me at
MustangHoofPrints@SMSU.edu with the correct answer to this question will receive an SMSU t-shirt.
