May 7, 2015 – Hoof Prints Article Hello Mustang Fans!
It is finals week at SMSU, and on Saturday, we will host our Commencement Ceremony beginning at 10:00 am in the R/A Facility. It is always exciting to see our students walk across the stage and receive their diploma. The sense of accomplishment, pride and passion will be felt throughout our campus and the City of Marshall this weekend. Congratulations to all our students who will be graduating from SMSU this spring!
Please mark your calendars for the 2015 David and Carol Drown SMSU Golf Classic will be held on June 12 this spring at the Marshall Golf Club. Sponsorship and registration information can be found on the SMSU Athletics website.
For all the latest information about SMSU Athletics go to SMSUmustangs.com.
The SMSU Softball team (27-29, 14-16 NSIC) concluded a successful season last Friday in a 5-2 loss versus Minnesota State in the NSIC / US Bank Tournament at Sherman Park. The Mustang’s 27 wins and NSIC/US Bank Tournament appearance were firsts since 2011. Southwest went 2-2 in the tournament beating UMD and Northern State and losing to Augustana and Minnesota State.
I would like to thank our four seniors: Erica Downing, Katelyn Kalkman, Kailey Hanson and Alysee Luttmann for their hard work and dedication to the SMSU Softball program. Congratulations to second year Head Coach, Jamie Dunn, the coaching staff and all our student-athletes on a great season!
The SMSU Baseball team (21-29, 14-20 NSIC) went 0-4 this past weekend against Wayne State College to bring their season to a close. This week, Head Coach Paul Blanchard announced its team award winners for the 2015 season. Austin Stubbs was the team’s Most Valuable Player, Mitch Wurm, Most Valuable Pitcher, Tanner Neale, Best Defensive Player, and Derek Branson earned the Derrick Keller Award. The Derrick Keller Award is given to a baseball student-athlete that best demonstrates the qualities of courage, determination and perseverance.
This week the NSIC announced that SMSU senior first baseman
Austin Stubbs was named first team All-NSIC. He is the first SMSU first baseman to earn All-NSIC first team honors since Andrew Kinney in 2009.
Stubbs, a native of Sioux City, Iowa, started and played 48 games leading SMSU with a .367 batting average, while also leading the team in home runs (15), doubles (18), triples (2), slugging percentage (.746), on-base percentage (.45) and runs scored (51). His 132 total bases and 18 doubles both rank second in the program single-season record book, while his 15 home runs rank as the fifth highest total in program history. He recorded 18 multi-hit games and 11 multi RBI games and also amassed an 11-hitting streak and a 22-game reached base streak during the season. He had at least one hit in 39 of 48 games.
Stubbs finished second in the NSIC (conference games only) in home runs per game (0.33), third in home runs (11), fourth in slugging percentage (.758), sixth in total bases (91), seventh in doubles (13) and 13
th in both RBIs (35) and runs scored (36). Congratulations to all our baseball student-athletes who were recognized by their teammates and coaches as well as the NSIC for their hardwork, performance and character this season.
I would also like to thank our senior baseball student-athletes: Ryan Engels, Tanner Neale, Jarred Carlson, Joe Axelson, Austin Stubbs, Patrick Rients, Jason Minett, Brandan Alfson, Mitch Wurm and Jimmy Callahan for their hard work and dedication to the SMSU Baseball program.
The SMSU Women’s and Men’s Outdoor Track & Field teams had another great weekend of performances at the Dakota Relays at Howard Field last Friday and Saturday.
Alejandro Sanchez led the SMSU men's team capturing first place in the 800 meters with a time of 1:50.90, which is the top time in the NSIC this season, and is an NCAA provisional mark ranking 21
st in the country.
SMSU's 4x100 relay team finished second with a season-best time of 41.83.
Kim Shabino earned third place in 200 meters with a personal best time of 25.47, while
Savannah Ramirez placed fifth in the steeplechase at 12:09.03 to pace the SMSU women's squad.
Eisha Oden recorded a sixth place spot in the 400 meters with a time of 57.71.
SMSU's 4x100 relay also ran a season-best 48.52 to place third. On Saturday,
Albert Rogalski and
Zach Jones both advanced to the finals of the long lump with Rogalski finishing seventh with a mark of 6.15m, while Jones placed eighth at 6.11m. Jones also finished sixth in the triple jump with a distance of 13.42m
Austin LaFollette earned a fifth place finish in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 55.31. The men's 4x400 relay team finished fourth with a time of 3:20.92.
Naomi Dalton had a solid day in the discus with a toss of 36.14m to finish in 11th place. The women's 4x400 relay team placed fifth with a time of 4:03.27.
Will Hanson competed at the Hamline University last weekend and crossed the finish line in first place in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 14.65. He also placed eighth in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.34.
Congratulations to Alejandro Sanchez for being named the NSIC Male Track Athlete of the Week for his performance last Friday at the Dakota Relays. Sanchez is the third SMSU track athlete to receive the honor this year with Will Hanson earning the recognition on April 7 and 14.
The Mustangs will return to action this weekend at the NSIC Championships in Sioux Falls, S.D, at the Lillibridge Track and Field Complex with the event being hosted by the University of Sioux Falls.
I would like to wish all our teams the best of luck this week!
Go Mustangs!
Congratulations to Mike and Hannah Prahl, who provided the correct answer to the last Mustang Hoofprint’s Trivia Question: In what year did the SMSU Softball team last make the NSIC Tournament? The Mustangs last made the NSIC Tournament in 2011.
Hoofprints Trivia Question (please put this in a box with the title on top)
What four SMSU student-athletes hold the outdoor track record in the 4 X 200 Meter Relay?
The first person to email me at
MustangHoofPrints@SMSU.edu with the correct answer to this question will receive an SMSU t-shirt.
