January 29, 2014 – Hoof Prints Article Hello Mustang Fans!
It is Hawaiian Night Weekend! The Mustangs will welcome the University of Minnesota Duluth to the R/A Facility on Saturday evening for a tradition that attracts fans from all over Minnesota and the surrounding five states. It is an electrifying environment created by the spirit and support of our students and the many fans who attend the evening’s festivities. All fans are encouraged to dress their best Hawaiian outfit to cheer on the Mustangs Saturday evening, and forget about the cold, winter season. The SMSU Women’s Basketball team will play at 5:00 pm and the men are scheduled to tip-off at 7:00 pm.
Also on Saturday, the SMSU Department of Athletics will be hosting the 12
th Induction into the Hall of Honor sponsored by US Bank. The Hall of Honor ceremony will be held at the SMSU Upper Level Conference Center, will begin at 12:00 pm with a half-hour social, followed by lunch and the induction ceremonies beginning at 12:30 p.m.
This year's induction class includes football and baseball player Joe Dittrich (1977-81); men's basketball player Jacob Fahl (1999-2003); baseball player Chad Hess (1994-97); golfer Laura (Lundbohm) Hulsebus (2000-04); football player Nate Rudolph (1996-99); football and baseball player Gary Schleper (1982-87); community member and supporter of SMSU athletics Brian Brandt; and the 2000-01 women's basketball team. It is always an exciting time when we recognize the contributions and talents of our former student-athletes, alumni, coaches, teams and community members. Tickets for the lunch and ceremony are $15 per person. To reserve a ticket for the banquet please call the SMSU athletics office at 507-537-7271 or e-mail Melissa.bromen@smsu.edu.
A big thank you to US Bank of Marshall for their support of the SMSU Hall of Honor ceremony and the Athletics Hall of Honor display located in the lobby of the R/A Facility showcasing the 78 individual inductees and 11 teams. US Bank of Marshall is a great supporter of SMSU Athletics and the SMSU Hall of Honor.
We are down to our last forty Gold Rush Raffle Tickets. The Gold Rush Raffle is only one week away, so if you have not purchased your ticket yet, now is the time. The event will be held next Friday, February 6 in the SMSU Conference Center beginning at 6:00 pm with a social, drinks and appetizers. To kick-off our program, we will hear from a student-athlete speaker at 7:00 pm and the reverse raffle will start shortly after the speakers conclude. It is a wonderful event that raises money for SMSU Athletic Scholarships through the Mustang Booster Club. If you have any questions about the event or would like to inquire about purchasing a Gold Rush Raffle Ticket, please call Jennifer Graven at 507-537-6233.
The Mustang Booster Club in partnership with the SMSU Alumni Association will host a social at the Ramada Inn following the women’s and men’s basketball games this Saturday. The social will be open to all Mustang Booster Club members, friends and alums of SMSU and our SMSU Hall of Honor inductees and their family and friends. We look forward to seeing everyone after a great day on the campus of SMSU!
The SMSU Baseball program will be hosting the 7th annual "Super Supper" to help support the SMSU baseball program. Mustang Baseball has partnered with The Hitching Post of Marshall in this great fund raising event. The Super Supper will take place a day after the NFL Super Bowl on Monday, February. 3, from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm at The Hitching Post on Highway 59 South in Marshall.
All food and beverages will be donated to the SMSU baseball program to help the team's operating budget, including the squad's trip to Arizona in March. Bring the family out to The Hitching Post this Monday to support the SMSU Baseball team. For more information contact the SMSU baseball office at paul.blanchard@smsu.edu or 507-537-7268.
For the latest information on the SMSU Hall of Honor and Mustang Athletics go to SMSUmustangs.com.
This Week in SMSU Athletics The SMSU Men’s Basketball team (9-11, 5-9 NSIC) will return home this weekend after suffering two losses on the road last weekend at the hands of Minnesota State and Concordia St. Paul. This Friday, the Mustangs will host St. Cloud State University (11-9, 7-7 NSIC) in the R/A Facility with an 8:00 pm start time. On Saturday, the University of Minnesota Duluth (10-10, 7-7 NSIC) comes to town to experience the Hawaiian Night tradition. SMSU is currently in 6
th place in the NSIC South with eight games left in the regular season.
The SMSU Women’s Basketball team (2-16, 2-12 NSIC) went 0-2 on the road last weekend versus MSU and Concordia St. Paul. The Mustangs will play host to St. Cloud State (11-7, 7-7 NSIC) on Friday with tip-off scheduled for 6:00 pm in the R/A Facility. On Saturday, the Hawaiian Night festivities will begin with the SMSU Women’s Basketball team battling Minnesota Duluth (9-9, 7-7 NSIC) with a 5:00 pm start time. Southwest is currently in 8
th place in the NSIC South with eight games left in the regular season.
The SMSU Wrestling team (5-6, 0-2 NSIC) was on the road last night competing in Aberdeen, SD, against Northern State University (0-8, 0-4 NSIC). The Mustangs have a busy week as they will host #6 Upper Iowa in the PE Gym this Friday with the match beginning at 7:00 pm. Southwest is coming off a 6-38 loss to nationally ranked Augustana College on Saturday.
The SMSU Wheelchair Basketball team (3-27) went 0-4 this past weekend playing host to the University of Wisconsin Whitewater and the University of Missouri playing each team twice on the weekend. The Mustangs will take this week off before hosting the Sioux Falls Wheelers, Iowa, Madonna Magic and the Rolling Timberwolves in a round-robin tournament on February 7-8 in the PE Gym. Southwest will play at 8:00 am, 11:00 am and 2:00 pm on Saturday, February 7 and at 8:00 am on Sunday, February 8.
The SMSU Women’s and Men’s Indoor Track & Field finished last week off with their second strong performance of the week at the Minnesota State Open on Saturday.
Alejandro Sanchez won the 800-meter with an NCAA provisonal time of 1:55, ranking as the fastest in the NSIC this season and seventh in Division II for the men’s track and field team.
Dallin Finley had a solid day placing eighth in the 200-meter with a time of 22.75.
Austin LaFollette earned an eighth place finish in the 600-meter at 1:27.65, while
Blake Wooten finished ninth (2:44.86) and
Evan Bonneson placed 10th (2:45.61) in the 1,000-meter run. SMSU's 4x400 relay team of LaFollette,
Zach Jones,
Chris Kveseth and Sanchez placed third with a time of 3:25.50.
In the field events,
Ben Tonsager recorded a fourth place finish with a throw of 14.98m in the shot put, while Will Rose was ninth with a toss of 13.59m.
Alex Weis earned a fifth place finish in the weight throw with a mark of 15.93m.
Albert Rogalski placed sixth in the long jump at 6.42m, while
Lucas Woods was seventh at 6.39m, followed by
Zach Jones in ninth place with a jump of 6.32m.
On the women's side, Kim Shabino shined with a third place finish in the 200-meter with a time of 26.30 and also advanced to the semifinals of the 60-meter, finishing in ninth place with a time of 8.08. Amanda Grengs finished ninth in the 1,000-meter with a time of 3:15
SMSU's 4x400 relay team of Samantha McNeel, Eisha Oden, Macy Violett and Nya Buom earned a sixth place finish with a time of 4:13.71. In the field events, Naomi Dalton finished 11th in the shot put with a throw of 12.31m.
Both the women’s and men’s track and field teams are off to a great start in 2015. The Mustangs are back in action this weekend at the Jack Johnson Invite at the University of Minnesota on Friday and Saturday and at the Wayne State Open on January 31.
The SMSU Women’s Tennis team will open the 2015 season this Sunday with a non-conference match versus St. Thomas starting at 3:00 pm at the St. Thomas-Anderson Complex in St. Paul, MN.
The Mustangs will open their 11-match NSIC season on Friday, February 6, versus Minnesota State in St. Peter, MN. The Mustangs went 3-16 overall, including 1-10 in the NSIC last spring.
Adam Henning and
George Seldat will be co-head coaches for the 2015 season. Coach Seldat is returning to the sideline after serving as head coach at SMSU from 1995-2010.
SMSU has eight players on the 2015 roster with three returning letterwinners. Junior
Crystal Overbaugh and senior
Katie Kienitz both return this spring after playing No. 1 and No. 2 singles respectively a season ago.
I would like to wish all our teams the best of luck this weekend!
Go Mustangs!
Congratulations to Josh Scholten, who provided the correct answer to last week’s Mustang Hoofprint’s Trivia Question: What Mustang Wrestler holds the school record for career dual matches won? Randy Vogt (1968-73) recorded 20 dual match victories for the Mustang Wrestling program.
Hoofprints Trivia Question (please put this in a box with the title on top)
How many Mustang Women’s Basketball players have been inducted into the SMSU Hall of Honor?
The first person to email me at
MustangHoofPrints@SMSU.edu with the correct answer to this question will receive an SMSU t-shirt.
