SMSU Athletics

March 12, 2015 – Hoof Prints Article
 
Hello Mustang Fans!
 
We would like to wish SMSU Wrestlers Jacob Begin and Cole Wilson the best of luck this week as they compete in the DII NCAA National Tournament held in St. Louis, MO, this Friday and Saturday.
 
The brackets for the 2015 NCAA Division II wrestling championships were set earlier this week. At 174 pounds, senior Jacob Begin (26-4) from Anoka, MN, will open the championship taking on Luke Cramer (18-9) from Ashland University (Ohio), while Cole Wilson (28-5), from Fairbault, MN, at 285 pounds will battle Chris Giddens (23-4) from North Carolina-Pembroke.

We would like to wish Will Hanson and Alejandro Sanchez of the SMSU Men’s Indoor Track team, the best of luck as they compete at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships also set for this Friday and Saturday. The championships will have co-hosts as the University of Alabama-Huntsville and the Birmingham CrossPlex will both host events for the championships.
 
Hanson, a native of Aurelia, Iowa, won the 60 meter hurdles last Friday at the NSIC/US Bank Championships with a personal best time of 7.97, which ranks tied for the ninth fastest in Division II this season. He will be seeded 9th out of 16 runners at the championships.
 
Sanchez, a native of Plano, Texas, won the 800 meters at the NSIC/US Bank Championships with a conference record-setting time of 1:52.93. Sanchez's converted track time (track size) of 1:51.34, ranks 15th in Division II this season. He will be seeded 13th out of 16 runners at the championships. 
 
The 60 meter hurdle prelims will take place on March 13 at 3:15 pm, while the 800 meters prelims are set to begin at 5:50 pm. The finals of the 60 meter hurdles will be on March 14 at 3:25 pm, with the finals of the 800 meters at 5:10 pm.
 
Good luck to our coaches and student-athletes this weekend as they compete at the NCAA National Championships!
 
For the latest information on SMSU Athletics go to SMSUmustangs.com.


This Week in SMSU Athletics
 
The SMSU Wheelchair Basketball team (9-33) concluded their season last weekend at the National Wheelchair Basketball Tournament today hosted in Columbia, MO on the campus of the University of Missouri at Brewer Fieldhouse. The Mustangs suffered a loss in the first round of the tournament to the #2 seed, University of Texas – Arlington last Thursday.  The Mustang then fell to Edinboro (PA) in the second round of the tournament 33-58. Southwest ended their season with a 72-61 win over the Missouri Predators in the consultation round.
 
Congratulations to SMSU senior, David Nelson, who received the Frank Brasile Sportsmanship award for the 2014-15 season announced by the NWBA last weekend. The award's namesake, Frank Brasile, is a former commissioner in the Intercollegiate Division of the NWBA. He has been active in the sport for decades. The award is voted upon by the head coaches in the NWBA college division.

Nelson, a native of Bellevue, NE, is the third SMSU player to receive the award in recent years. Kyle Timmerman earned the award in both 2010 and 2011, while Derek Klinkner received the honor in 2014.
The SMSU Women’s Tennis team (2-9, 0-7 NSIC) earned their second victory of the season and the first of the spring trip this Tuesday with an 8-1 decision over Glendale Community College.
 
At No. 1 doubles, Gabby Tellijohn and Katie Kienitz earned an 8-4 win, while at No. 2 doubles Ashley Hoehne and Crystal Overbaugh cruised to an 8-0 victory. SMSU's No. 3 doubles team of Madyson Brinkman and Nicole McQueen—the first time the duo has played together this season—picked up an 8-3 win.
 
At No. 1 singles, Tellijohn earned her first victory of the season with a hard-fought 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 decision, while Overbaugh recorded a 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 2 singles. Hoehne earned her team-leading fifth victory of the season at No. 5 singles with a 6-0, 6-0 decision, while Nicole McQeen also won via 6-0, 6-0 at No. 6 singles. Kienitz also earned a victory at No. 3 picking up a 6-0, 6-2 sweep.
 
SMSU lost to Mesa Community College in their opening match 4-5 on Monday. Southwest played Wisconsin Lutheran yesterday and will close out their spring trip playing Arizona Christian University on Thursday at 2:30 and Paradise Valley Community College at 5:30 pm on Friday.

The SMSU Softball team (8-4) is off to a 5-1 start on their spring trip to Clermont, FL. The Mustangs have earned victories over Bentley (MA) 3-1, Saint Thomas Aguinas 11-4, Queens (NY) 7-5, Lees-McRae (NC) 11-5 and East Stroudsburg (PA) 4-3. Southwest suffered its only loss to St. Joseph’s 3-5 on Monday.

Yesterday, the Mustangs played Ohio Dominican at 2:00 pm and St. Thomas (MN) at 6;00 pm. Today, SMSU will play Northwood (MI) at 2:00 pm and California (PA) at 4:00 pm. The Mustangs will conclude play on Friday with two contests, the first game SMSU will take on Central Missouri at 12:00 pm followed by Marian (IN) at 2.00 pm. The Mustangs are scheduled to open up at home on March 18 versus Dakota Wesleyan (SD) with the doubleheader starting at 2:00 pm.
The SMSU Baseball team had a slow start to their spring trip to Arizona going 1-5 in their first six contests. The Mustangs began the trip playing three games against Malone College (OH) going 1-2 the first two day s of the trip losing 3-13 and 1-5 before winning 19-17 in a slug fest.

Southwest than played two NSIC opponents on Sunday losing to St. Cloud State 5-12 and Northern State 2-15. On Monday, the Mustangs lost to Minot State 3-10. SMSU played Bemidji State and Minot State yesterday at 4:30 pm and 8:00 pm. Today, Southwest will battle Concordia St. Paul in a single contest at 8:30 pm. On Thursday, SMSU takes on Augustana at 2:30 pm and Concordia St. Paul at 9:30 pm. The spring trip schedule will conclude with a single game versus Bemidji State on Saturday at 11:00 am. The Mustangs are scheduled to open up at home on March 28-29 with Minot State coming to Alumni Field for two doubleheaders. 

The SMSU Women’s Golf team has been in Arizona since last Saturday playing practice rounds and preparing for their two tournaments scheduled at the tail end of their trip. The Mustangs will open their 2015 spring season in Buckeye, AZ, as they host the SMSU Spring Invite at Sundance Golf Club beginning today and concluding Friday afternoon. The Mustangs will also compete in the Fort Hays State Spring Thaw on March 16-17 played at the Dobson Ranch Golf Course in Mesa, AZ.

I would like to wish all our teams the best of luck as they conclude their spring trip schedules and safe travels back to Marshall, MN!
 
Go Mustangs!
 
Congratulations to Mark Hacker for providing the correct answer to last week’s Mustang Hoofprint’s Trivia Question: Name the three SMSU Baseball student-athletes that earned NSIC Player of the Year honors? Kory Kickul, Matt Tiggas and Colby Pack have all been named NSIC Players of the Year for the Mustangs.

Hoofprints Trivia Question (please put this in a box with the title on top)
 
Who was the last SMSU Women’s Tennis student-athlete to earn NSIC Player of the Year honors?
 
The first person to email me at MustangHoofPrints@SMSU.edu with the correct answer to this question will receive an SMSU t-shirt.