The MSU volleyball team has completed its 2003 recruiting class, inking five players to help begin the road to an LSC title and a winning season. The team lost three seniors from last season, outside hitter Brandi Robberson and middle blockers Destinee Richie and Erin Adkins. Coach Pam Peetz is extremely excited about this recruiting class and said they are just as talented, if not more so, than last year’s. “All five of them are competitors , and they bring a different kind of competitive spirit,” Peetz said. Ashley Godwin, a 5-10 outside hitter from Rockwall High School, is an extremely intense player who possesses good defensive and ball-handling skills and can terminate at the net. “She hits pretty hard, but she also has shots. She can tip it over the block, hit it off the block or roll shot it to the middle of the court. She’s a pretty smart player,” Peetz said. Peetz expects she will look to Godwin as an option depending on the condition of senior Joni Martin’s shoulder. “We think she can challenge for court time right away which is important. We don’t know how healthy Joni’s shoulder is going to be the entire season. It’s going to be important that we have someone come in and help fill that spot if he need help,” Peetz said. Lacey Lanier, a 5-10 middle blocker from Crandall High School, was brought in to fill the empty slots left by the departed seniors. Peetz said Lanier is very athletic, a natural blocker and very explosive. “She has a lot of potential that she hasn’t tapped yet because she hasn’t had a lot of training. She’s very quick which is important for middles in our offense.” LaToya Terry, a 5-10 middle blocker from Pearland, is also a key acquisition for Peetz’s offense. Terry ranked in the top ten in blocks for District 5A at the end of last season. “She reminds me a lot of Destinee in her ability and athleticism. Her and Lacey will be fun to watch because of how quick they are,” Peetz said. Colleen Westfall, a 5-10 right side hitter from Wimberley, brings a winning tradition Peetz was looking for. “She’s a kid who works extremely hard, she knows what success is all about and the kind of effort it takes to be successful,” Peetz said. Jackie Brumbalow, a 5-2 defensive specialist from Wichita Falls High School, is a walk-on for this year’s squad and the first local player to sign with the volleyball program. “She’s extremely quick, she knows how to work hard and she’s a good student,” Peetz said. “She’s had success both on and off the court, and that’s one of the reasons we liked her.” Peetz made sure to recruit players who would mesh well with and complement the current team. “When recruiting, we made sure personalities would blend. Whenever we have a recruit on campus, we always get feedback from the players. These are the five our players spoke very highly of,” Peetz said. The returning players shouldn’t get too comfortable, Peetz added, because the newcomers are coming here to play, not sit the bench. “Each one of our returnees will have someone at their heels chomping at the bit for playing time. It’s going to push our returnees to work harder,” she said.

Jason Palmer | The Wichitan

Softball coach Brady Tigert hits groundballs to the infield during tryouts for the team on April 12. Tigert has had the task of building a competitive squad for MSU next year.

The equipment has been ordered, the scheduling is underway and most of the players have been signed. While the transformation is not complete, MSU softball coach Brady Tigert is well on his way to compile a team that will take the field next spring. First and foremost on his to-do list was to sign top-notch players able to compete in the Lone Star Conference. Over the past few weeks, Tigert has ventured throughout Texas, leaving MSU anywhere from one to five days a week. He has signed seven players and also has commitments from two others. These players are a mixture from high school and junior college, with three coming from the Mississippi University for Women, which dropped their athletic program. Tryouts, which were held April 12, went well, according to Tigert, but the former Texas A&M – Kingsville coach said he wants to wait until he is finished recruiting to evaluate those players. He also said there would be another tryout at the start of school in August. While Tigert is looking to fill the remaining five or six slots, he will have many opportunities to do so in May. “May is a good month to get kids in who are transferring,” Tigert said. “In May, kids start making moves, and you can pick between a lot of players.” He will also get many more opportunities to see the state’s best softball players over the next few weeks. The state high school tournament is in Austin, and regional junior college tournaments occur in Corsicana and Abilene. Recruiting is vital to any coach looking to replenish their team. But Tigert’s job was more difficult because he was starting from scratch. “The recruiting is the hardest part because usually a coach is looking for four or five kids,” Tigert said. “I have to put 15 kids together. Some are already picked and signed by other schools. It’s tough to stay patient and not just throw a team together.” While there is no telling how well the girls will come together as a team, Tigert said the final product should be a good one. “I think we will surprise some people,” Tigert said. “We have good pitching and will play good defense. Judging by the nine we have and the other talent I’m looking at, we will compete.” But it will take more than just talent for MSU to succeed. “Learning our strengths and weaknesses, finding out who we can depend on and learning a new system – how that all comes together will depend on our success,” Tigert said. On top of all the multiple responsibilities Tigert had as the coach of a upstart program, he also had to deal with the birth of his son Brenden, who was born the day after Tigert accepted the MSU job. “At one point, my son was six weeks old, and I only had gotten to be with him four days.” The transition from one school to another is difficult for anybody, but it was especially time-consuming for Tigert. He also had to move his family from Kingsville, which he did six weeks after he signed on to coach at MSU. “I had all these things that I had to get done – sell my house, check out of my old school, talk to my team,” he said. “Then I left as soon as I could to check into MSU. “It was hard not knowing how and when my family would move up here. It puts a lot of stress on not only me but my wife and baby.” But now that most of the strenuous activities have been complete, Tigert can sit back and watch his team take shape. A typical day in his office includes searching the Internet and contacting people through e-mail and phone calls to see if players are available. Because Tigert cannot be everywhere at once, he has to trust other coaches on a recruit’s talents. “When you’ve been in this business long enough, you know which coaches you can trust,” Tigert said. Even though the softball season is almost 10 months away, Tigert still has a lot of work cut out for him. But if he can accomplish as much in those next 10 months as he did in his first four, then expect a quality squad when MSU takes the field in February.

Jason Palmer | The Wichitan

Ryan Gillen stretches for a backhand during his singles match against Trent Broach of Abilene Christian. Both Gillen and the Indians lost in the LSC semifinals last Thursday.

Even with disappointing showings at the LSC tournament on April 18-19, the men’s and women’s tennis teams locked down berths in the Central Region tournament. The men’s team (14-10) finished in fourth place in conference, while the women’s team (17-8) lost in the first round. “We just didn’t play well that tournament,” MSU tennis coach Larry Wiggins said. Both teams entered the LSC tournament, held at the MSU tennis courts, as the No. 3 seed. The men faced East Central, who they had beaten 7-2 on April 3, in the first round. The doubles combinations of Gene Ligeon /John Luxton, Rohan Williams/Ryan Gillen and Victor Vidal/Jared King all were victorious, jumpstarting the Indians to a 3-0 lead. Gillen, Vidal and Williams then went out and dominated the singles matches in straight sets, as MSU easily disposed of the Tigers 6-0. The women’s first round match against Cameron, seeded sixth in the tournament, did not go as smooth. The doubles combinations of Tiffany Burgess/Kama Scott and Brooke Gray/Emilee Black provided the Lady Indians with a 2-1 advantage. Gray, a Wichita Falls native, even added to MSU’s lead with a 6-0, 6-0 romp over Cameron’s Esther Delgado. “Brooke Gray, Emilee Black and Tiffany Burgess are all good kids,” Wiggins said of his three senior women’s players. “They have been a good class.” But that was the only singles win the Lady Indians received, as Shelby Stegner, Scott, Lacey Wuthrich and Black all lost. Stegner battled back after losing the first set 6-3 and won the second one 6-2. But Carolina Vera-Vera, Cameron’s No.2 seed, quickly made work of Stegner in the third set with a 6-1 beating. “The women had a horrible lost against Cameron,” Wiggins said. “We just didn’t play well at all.” Whatever momentum the men’s tennis team had built that morning soon vanished, as Abilene Christian ended MSU’s run in the semifinals 5-2. Vidal and the doubles combo of Gillen/Williams won matches against the Wildcats, who held on to win by closing out tight singles matches. To top things off, the men then lost to Central Oklahoma in the third place match 5-2. Only the doubles combinations of Ligeon/Luxton and Gillen/Williams were victorious against UCO, who the Indians had defeated earlier in the year. “We were kind of flat after losing to Abilene Christian, and we just didn’t recover,” Wiggins said. Both Indians’ teams now advance to regionals this weekend for the sixth consecutive year. The men enter as the No. 3 seed, meeting Cameron on Friday in Abilene. MSU beat the Aggies 5-3 on March 8. “We have the best draw we possibly could have gotten,” Wiggins said. “The alternate was traveling to Springfield, Ill., to face Drury, the No. 1 team in the nation.” If they beat Cameron, the Indians will meet either Rockhurst or Abilene Christian. Although MSU has not defeated ACU, they did knock off Rockhurst once this year. But while the men’s draw was favorable, the Lady Indians were not so lucky. The women, also seeded No. 3, will face Saint Edward’s on Friday in Abilene. The Lady Indians knocked off No.17 SEU 5-4 on March 22. But if they can squeeze past their first test, they will have to match up against No. 7 ACU. The Wildcats smothered MSU 9-0 and 6-0 on two separate occasions this year. The winners of the 16 regional tournaments will advance to the Sweet 16. The tournament will be held near Orlando, Fla., on the weekend of May 9-10. The tennis team also took home some individual awards as the Lone Star Conference released the All-tournament honors. Ligeon, from Paramaribo, Suriname, was named LSC Freshman of the Year. He, along with doubles partner Luxton, were selected to the All-LSC doubles team. Gray was selected to the All-LSC singles team for the Lady Indians.

Jason Palmer | The Wichitan

MSU quarterback Rahsaan Bell takes off out of the pocket during the Maroon-Gold spring game on April 12. Bell, who is contending for the backup spot next year behind Phillip Boggs, was the star of the show, running for 43 yards and passing for 112.

The Indians culminated their spring football practices with the annual Maroon-Gold scrimmage Saturday, April 12. The Maroon team (defense) defeated the Gold (offense) 54-39 with nearly 500 fans showing up in the morning to see what head coach Bill Maskill hoped to see from weeks of practice. “Like a kid in the candy store, we always want more,” Maskill said. “The offense and defense had some success and we wanted to see who could compete under game-type situations.” The Gold had 373 yards of offense on 75 plays with the big play provided by running back Jerrold Fuqua as he went 65 yards for a touchdown. Fuqua would finish with 68 of the offense’s 166 rushing yards for the day. Rahsaan Bell, filling in for regular quarterback Phillip Boggs, rushed for 43 yards and completed 11 of 14 passes for 112 yards. Chris Risby had 25 yards, Tremaine Forrest had 18 and Detrick Cade had 17. The offense threw for 207 yards as the quarterbacks combined to complete 24 of 31 passes.. Jake Pickering was the leading receiver with six catches for 58 yards. Chris Chatman had three catches for 54 yards, including one good for 40 yards. Andre Kelsick caught two for 19, Zac Lamp caught two for 18, Keith Flanagan caught two for 11 and D.D. Dotson caught two for 10. “The offense had success moving the ball,” Maskill said. “Not necessarily with points, and the turnovers hurt us.” The Maroon team came up with five turnovers for the scrimmage with former Raider Blake Morrison providing and interception return for 37 yards and the touchdown. Morrison and Jerome Jefferson were the leading tacklers with six, followed by Tones with five and a sack. Michael Burt had four tackles and Jesse Lewis, Brian Lawrence, Shanga Evans and Anwar Bell with three each. Lance Brotherton also came up with a sack and Lewis and Jake Smith combined on a sack. “I think we’re getting to a point where we have the confidence and belief in ourselves and we’re ready to go on to the next phase,” Maskill said. The Indians play their first game Thursday, Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. against Arkansas Tech. With the exception of the Angelo State game, in which a time has not been determined, all home games have been scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

While at home over Easter Break, I decided to make my annual trek to the Dallas Cup, an international soccer tournament stationed in my hometown. I had heard that the Under-17 U.S. National soccer team was playing, so I decided to venture to a game to see what all the buzz was about concerning a 13-year-old soccer player. You see, this kid, Freddy Adu, was playing four years up in age along with some of America’s best youth. Skeptical of the hype, I wanted to see what this kid was made of. And so did the other 10,000 futbol fans packed into Wildcat-Ram Stadium. What I was hoping to see was the future of American soccer. What I saw was mesmerizing, breathtaking and thrilling, all wrapped up in one. Let me tell you the basics of Freddy first. He was born in Ghana and moved to the United States when he was nine. Two years ago, he turned down a six-figure salary offered by Italian power Inter Milan. If someone had offered me 100,000 baseball cards when I was 11, I would have jumped at it in a heartbeat. Over the last four years he has played with the best youth in America, but because he wasn’t a U.S. citizen until late February, he hasn’t put on a red, white and blue jersey too much. I knew the semifinal between the U.S. and Newcastle FC would be a good one, considering the nostalgic English club held a two-year age advantage on the Americans. And to be honest, I thought this kid may be a little overhyped. I didn’t understand how Adu, as a puny 13-year-old, could be as dominant. It didn’t take Adu very long to get his game going, as he quickly went to work on some poor English bloke. Just five minutes into the match, he schooled a defender not once, not twice but FOUR times in the corner. As he made each magical move, the crowds’ enthusiasm vibrated louder and louder. After giving the guy a personal lesson in Embarrassing Humility 101, he sent a pinpoint cross that a teammate just missed scoring on. It wasn’t just that this kid (or man, judging by the way he was playing) was phenomenal in every aspect – shooting, passing and most dominantly, dribbling – it was that this kid was six years younger than the competition. Later in the first half, Adu found some space and put together a few tantalizing moves reminiscent of a guy named Ronaldo, breaking the ankles of a Newcastle defender. All the poor guy could do was hack at Adu’s ankles, resulting in one of the many fouls on him for the night. The only goal of the contest was scored 10 minutes before halftime when who else but Adu outjumped a guy and strongly headed home the game-winner. With the U.S. team down a man in the second half, Adu’s main responsibility was to kill time. Twice he juggled the ball with defender’s swarming him. But my most favorite move was when he toyed with five different guys in the penalty box before unleashing a powerful shot that grazed past the post. I’ve been to baseball games featuring the powerful pitching of Nolan Ryan and hitting of Alex Rodriguez. I’ve seen the Cowboys when they were in the playoffs and numerous other sporting events and Hall of Fame players in person. And I can honestly say I have never been more impressed and awestruck by anybody like I was with this kid. Every time he touched the ball, the raucous crowd sat on the edge of their seats, patiently holding their breath. It was like we were watching the early portions of greatness, something we could tell our kids about when we get older. Lebron James might own the headlines and the pocketbook of a NBA owner soon, but I can assure you that Freddy is the best amateur athlete in the “Land of the Free.” In 33 games with the U-17’s, Adu has scored an amazing 22 goals. He will lead the United States to Finland, where the U-17 World Championship will be decided in August. A lot can happen in four years, including a severe injury, but soccer experts are predicting this guy will be suiting up with the big boys in the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Adu will be an ancient 17 then. Do you know the only other 17-year-old to play in a World Cup? A guy by the name of Pele. I think he ended up doing something with his life, didn’t he? As a sports-crazed nation, I think fans sometimes put too much pressure on one’s shoulders. Rookie quarterbacks and point guards often find this out the hard way. But I can assure you that this kid is legit. So watch out world. Start grooming your best defenders now. And believe the hype, Americans. If the U.S. is to ever conquer the world’s biggest event, then it will be with the help of Adu.

MSU’s Team Arrow cycling team dominated the UTA Criterium race March 30 in Fort Worth. The 1.7-mile circuit at The Resource Connection earned the team several top individual spots, while the team gathered 464 points to obtain first place. The team from Texas A&M took first place with 243 points. In the overall standings, MSU leads the pack with 2,120 points. A&M trails behind with 1,668 points for second place, and UT-Austin comes in at third place with 1,135 points. Bjoem Ossenbrink took first place in the Men’s ‘A’ category and Josh Holder came in second place in Fort Worth. Shawn Depew took fourth place, Stephan Rothe came in at seventh, Brian Wyrick placed ninth and Jeff Via rode in at 17th. Stephanie Hannos, Janna Jackson and Ivana Miucic took first, second and third, respectively, in the Women’s ‘A’ division. Zelijko Kovacevic rode into first place in the Men’s ‘B’ category. Clay Worthington placed a close third with Greg Saxon (fourth) and David Martin (fifth) right behind him. Ramona Wible took second place and Leah Little placed sixth in the Women’s ‘B’ category. In the Men’s ‘C’ division, Stephen Triche placed second, David Powell took 13th while Timothy Pope and Richard Whatcoh grabbed 14th and 15th places respectively. The Conference Road Championships, “El Diablo III,” will be held April 19-20 and hosted by the MSU cycling team.

Compiled by Zach Duncan, Jason Palmer and Jennifer Tavlian. Photos by Jason Palmer

1. Men’s soccer team advances to Elite 8 in fantastic season
The men’s soccer team gave its fans and university a season to remember this year. Through the first 18 games of the season, the Indians could not be beaten (14-0-4). They advanced to the national tournament for the time as a Div. II school. Led by All-American midfielder Josh Hill and a relentless defense, the Indians were ranked in the Top 10 for much of the year. A thrilling 4-3 victory over rival West Texas A&M, in which Anthony Ramirez scored the game-winner with 11 seconds left, gave MSU the momentum it needed to close out the season. They avenged an earlier tie to No.3-ranked Incarnate Word by knocking them off, 3-2, in San Antonio. Their final and only loss of the season occurred in their last game, a 3-0 quarterfinal loss to eventual National Champion Sonoma State.

2. Goodwin, weightlifting team dominate in Nationals
The Wichita Falls weightlifting team has spent the past three-and-a-half years winning every meet. The team was named the Overall Team National Champions for the third time in four years in February. At that same meet, Trey Goodwin (85 kg), Justin Schlager (94 kg) and Brett Crossland (105 kg) all took first place in their individual weight class, becoming the first trio from the same university to do so. Goodwin qualified for a spot on Team USA for the upcoming Junior World Championships and was also named an All-American. Goodwin and Schlager each won silver medals at the Pan-American Games at the end of October. Goodwin will also represent the United States in the World Championships in May, securing a spot with a first place win at Junior Nationals. The team also won the overall team trophy at the Junior National competition, becoming the only team to ever win the Collegiate Nationals and Junior Nationals in the same year.

3. New faces combine with old to lead Lady Indians to Regionals
The Lady Indians started the season with just three returning players and four freshman and wound up in the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Tournament. Kelly Woodward, Kristin Ramsey and Adrian Fincher returned with freshmen Kelly Cleavinger, Haley Hobson, Sonya Calhoun and Jalie Reedy and transfer players Octavia Holmes, Jel-ani Armstrong, Emily Edmonds and Meosha Walker to go 21-9 on the season. Hobson was named the Lone Star Conference’s Freshman of the Year, becoming the second from Canyon to receive the award. Lindy Lombard won the honor in 1999. Armstrong picked up the LSC South all-conference, first-team honor. She led the team with 14.8 points and eight rebounds per game. Walker, who finished the season averaging 12.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.5 steals per game, was named to the second team.

4. Records fall left and right during football season
Junior quarterback Phillip Boggs and junior running back Jerrold Fuqua made an impact on the Indians’ 7-4 season, the fans and the record books. On top of completing 134 of 232 passing attempts, Boggs finished the season with just five interceptions and passed for 1,763 yards. He averaged 160.3 passing yards per game and had just over a 140 pass efficiency rating. He also set the record for most passing touchdowns in a season, finishing with 16. He broke six other passing records in the 2002 season, including becoming the career leader in passing attempts (463), passing yards (3,213), touchdown passes (22), completions (219), most touchdown passes in a single game (five), and single game passing yards (429). Jerrold Fuqua finished the final game of the season with 155 yards, giving him 1,076 rushing yards. He became just the fifth back at MSU to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season.

5. Youthful offense takes women’s soccer team to LSC semis
MSU finished the season 10-7-2 and 5-2-1 in conference play. They lost a 1-0 match in the semifinals of the LSC tournament to nationally ranked Central Oklahoma, despite out shooting them 16-10. MSU took the match to double overtime before giving up the winning goal. The Lady Indians finished the year with four of the 1st team all-conference starting Sawyer, Dodson, Chrissy Troia and Dayna Sanders. Only eventual conference champion Central Oklahoma had as many on the first team. Troia scored 10 goals during the season with her shooting percentage at .270. Sanders was again a dominant force in the midfield, often dribbling around bewildered defenders on her way to the goal. Freshman goalie Eli O’Dwyer earned an honorable mention for the squad and could be the starting goalie for the next three years if she remains healthy.

6. Team Arrow takes another cycling championship
Team Arrow earned its sixth overall South Central Collegiate Cycling Conference title this year. The team won the South Central Collegiate Cycling Road Championships and finished with 5400 team points for the season, which was more than 1,600 points ahead of the University of Texas at Austin. Jeff Via won the top spot in the Men’s “A” division and Stephanie Hannos took the top spot in the Women’s “A” division. Dominic Van Neilen won the overall Men’s “B” conference The team is not finished yet either. Team Arrow has qualified to compete at nationals against more than 80 teams in May in Berkeley, Calif.

7. Men’s basketball team provides sensational ending to season
With a 7-17 record and three games remaining, the men’s basketball season could pretty much be described as a failure. But that was until the Indians, who had not won back-to-back games all season, laced three quality performances together to squeeze into the LSC tournament. They smothered Texas A&M - Commerce on Senior Night, then took to the road to collect wins against Angelo State and Abilene Christian. Unfortunately for MSU, they drew No .3 Northeastern State, who dominated MSU 92-48 earlier in the season, in the first round of the LSC. But the Indians did not back down, and they gave the Redmen all they could handle and more. Josh Drumgole gave MSU the lead with two seconds left, only before a NSU three-pointer a the buzzer won the game. NSU went on to win the National Championship, but no one will forget the riveting ending to the men’s basketball season.

8. Softball coming to MSU
MSU is bringing back a version of the great American pasttime to add to the sports programs. Softball will swing into action in the fall semester and begin Lone Star Conference play in the spring. MSU named Brady Tigert coach of the new team and he has spent this spring semester wooing transfers and high school stars to come to Midwestern to field a team. Tigert previously coached at Texas A&M-Kingsville with great success and has a family history in coaching softball. He took his 2002 squad to the LSC championship and deep into the NCAA South Central Regional tournament. Even though his first season with MSU is still six months away, Tigert has been hot on the recruiting trail this Spring. He has looking in the Wichita Falls area for talent as well as programs throughout the state with top level players.

9. Tennis continues proud tradition
Both men’s and women’s tennis teams continued their winning traditions this past season. The women’s team, anchored by seniors Brooke Gray and Emilee Black, advanced to the NCAA regionals despite a disappointing showing in the LSC Tournament. Brooke Gray, ranked No. 48 in the nation and a four year No. 1 player, was victorious in her last singles and doubles match for MSU. Black finished the year with a record of 17-5 in singles matches and 19-4 in doubles. Black and Gray paired together for much of the season in doubles matches. The men’s team fared better during the LSC tournament and managed to squeeze into the NCAA regionals yet again. Many of the familiar faces from last year’s squad played again for Coach Wiggins, but a lot of excitement was generated by the new freshmen on the squad.

10. Changes bring new faces
With another year of MSU sports comes another year of coaching changes. Football coach Bill Maskill, who was hired last spring, along with offensive line coach Chris Fancher and offensive coordinator Keeth Matheny were instrumental in MSU’s 7-4 season. And with the addition of a softball program at MSU also came the hiring of Brady Tigert, who previously coached Texas A&M - Kingsville, to lead the Lady Indians. The final coaching change occurred after the men’s basketball season had ended. Greg Giddings, who was the head coach the past three years, resigned with one year left on his contract to pursue his doctorate. After a week of searching, Athletics Director Jeff Ray was named the head coach. Ray had coached the Indians from 1995-2000, guiding them to a 118-60 record.

Return to Main
Best viewed in Internet Explorer_4+  or Netscape_4+ at 1024 x 768