|
Proud Moments
"Proud Moments" was written by mass communications student
Jennifer Hobbs. Her brother Jonathan Hobbs, a Mesa State alumnus,
contributed the accompanying photographs.
There were several "Proud Moments" in Mesa State Athletics
this past year. From individual to team titles, the Mavericks shined.
Team spirit was also at an all time high with The Herd cheering
on the Mavericks.
|
|
Soccer
"Significant" could describe the goals scored by
Karen Eller, Shelly Bunker, and Bridget Pertuit during a penalty-kick
shootout to defeat Adams State College in the semi-final game
of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) tournament
and advance to the championship game.
"Greatness" is senior goalkeeper Lindsay Blose.
Perhaps the best player in MSC soccer history, the two-time
All-American selection (in 2002 and 2003) holds three school
records, including, shutouts in a single season (8.6 in 2003),
career saves (388), and career shutouts (20.6). She also ranks
second all-time in career goals against average (0.99), saves
in a single season (128 in 2002), and shutouts in a single
season (6 in 2002).
"Excellence and Leadership" describes Ashley Nordine,
Alisha Phillips, Valerie Chavez, Erin Wilson, and Michelle
Favero who will now take over as the seniors of the team.
Favero and Phillips were both named to the All-RMAC team for
the second time in their careers. Favero was also named a
NSCAA/Adidas First Team Mid West All-American, Phillips was
named to the second team.
"Student-athlete" is Melissa Hillier. The senior
midfielder has been named to the President's List every semester
at MSC for a perfect 4.0 GPA. The four-year starter and letter
winner was named to the All-RMAC three times, the Verizon
Academic All-District VII college division women's soccer
first team in 2002, and was a second team Mid West Region
All-American in 2003.
"The Future" rests with Emilee Venter who came
in her freshman season to rank second on the team in scoring
with four goals. She led the team in assists with three. Venter
was named RMAC Offensive Player of the Week after scoring
the game-winning goal against Fort Lewis.
|
|
|
Women's Basketball
This Mesa State College women's basketball team represents
everything that is right about Maverick athletics. Eight of
the women posted at least a 3.0 GPA last semester, many of
them will make all-RMAC at some level, and for the past 15
years, every senior who has played at MSC has graduated.
All of the players who step on the court this season will
go professional in something other than basketball. Whether
it is Danielle Porreco, Natalie Rogers, and Tara Wells becoming
a nurse, or Lori Eddy and Stephanie Kemp becoming a coach,
or Amber Kirchmer and Rosa Masler working in communications,
every one of them will, as Megan Langstaff said, be "someone
amazing."
As long as they are Mavericks, they have the chance, for
one, brief shining moment, to form their own memory. Here's
hoping they celebrate and enjoy that, and that fans who simply
support their school, their team and love the game, will also.
|
|
|
Men's Basketball
Ask Dwayne Horn what he enjoys most about playing basketball
and he will say, without hesitation, "Making somebody
else be better."
The humility Horn shows is reflective of the way this team
is - they play for the pass. No player on the men's basketball
team will ever admit how good of season they had.
Long after the final buzzer sounds in the 2003-2004 season,
MSC fans should celebrate this season's version of Maverick
men's basketball. In this space called Brownson Arena, they
have made jump shots, played their hearts out, and time after
time, risen to the challenge.
It is a team that has all the makings of excellence, and
a team that exudes character. It is not about show; it is
about winning, and doing it with class, courage and determination.
And those are the reasons to appreciate them, and to celebrate
them.
|
|
|
Softball
Every now and then, there comes, in all sports, a special
collection of players and coaches who reach a unique bond.
In that time and space, they redefine team, and all of its
glorious togetherness.
Over the past five seasons, the Maverick softball team has
been crowned RMAC Champions and gone to the Regional Tournament
three times. In 2000, they were crowned RMAC and South Central
Regional Champions, earning them a berth to the elite eight
in the national playoffs.
No matter what happens during the 2004 season, 2003 will
be a time when everything came together. For in the end, when
the bats are silent and the balls are lying idle, all softball
has ever been about is the game, and those who play it.
A kids' game, played with a stick and a ball, where victory
is determined by inches, and champions are made by teams who
play for the fun, and the love, of it all.
|
|
Football Titles
18 All-RMAC selections, 9 first-team.
9 Named to Don Hansen's Football Gazette All-West Region
Team.
9 National Football Foundation & College Hall of
Fame (including 4 first-team) to the All-Colorado team, Ramunno
Coach of the Year.
2 Named to Don Hansen's Football Gazette All-America
Team and to the Daktronics Division II All-West Region Team.
1 Ramunno garnered Coach of the Year from the Rocky
Mountain Athletic Conference
and Regional Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches
Association.
|
Football
It was once said, "Remember this feeling, and what it
is like to play here, and pass it on. Pass it on to those
who will follow." That is what the Mesa State College
football team will now try to do - pass that message and feeling
along to those who follow. In 2003, they showed what greatness
could be.
When MSC began the season, everyone wondered how good they
could be. The Mavericks quieted critics and turned heads as
they rattled off 10 straight victories and became the second
team in four seasons to go undefeated in conference play.
The Mavericks were ranked as high as high as 10th in the nation
and first in the West Regional polls, guaranteeing the right
to host the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs -
the first at MSC.
Mesa State would draw the University of Central Oklahoma
- the only team to defeat them during the regular season.
In the end, MSC lost 15-20. Coach Joe Ramunno said after the
final game: "You have to win like champions and lose
like champions as well."
Champions they are. In time, the team will look back with
pride and realize all they accomplished. Every player and
fan, will remember this season for a long time, even when
it is only a group of scores in a future media guide.
The players will leave with the friendships they have formed
and memories of the time they spent as a Maverick. The fans
will leave with how the players took the pain of a loss and
converted it into a burning desire never to lose again - not
at anything. They will remember this team's heart and the
excitement they brought us as they played the game they love.
Their season will never be about a single game or a single
play. Instead, it will be about the special group of guys
who came together at a point in time in hopes of passing the
message along.
|
|
