As I was preparing this update over the weekend, I was also following our baseball and softball teams in their respective tournaments at Rice and the University of Houston. I commend both of our coaches for continuing to play against some of the top teams in the country in their respective sports. While Ty Harrington (0-3) and Ricci Woodard (2-3) would both tell you they are disappointed from the weekend results, I know they both will get their teams better from the experience, as they prepare to start Southland Conference play. Our women’s basketball program has a very important week. Our team returns home for Senior Night against Nicholls State on Friday. We currently stand sixth in the Southland Conference but are a game and a half out of fourth, which would give us an opportunity to host a first-round tournament game. Please make every effort to follow our ladies this week as we prepare for next week’s Southland Conference Tournament. Our men’s basketball program will conclude their season this week as well. I know as a Bobcat fan you share in all of our disappointment that we will not qualify for the 2006 SLC Tournament. In case you did not know, that snaps the longest consecutive streak of appearances in the tournament by any SLC institution. A glance at the roster shows a strong nucleus of youth. I hope the seasoning they received throughout the 2005-06 year will translate into a solid foundation for the future. Our indoor track season concluded last week at the Southland Conference indoor championships, with our women placing third, while the men finished ninth. Among our individual performances, our women’s 4 x 400 relay set a school record and shattered the SLC meet record. We have student-athletes traveling this weekend to both LSU and Iowa State for last chance opportunities before the NCAA Indoor Championships at the University of Arkansas on March 10th. Follow all the action right here on the site as some our student-athletes attempt to join senior Jacque Iwuchukwu. Iwuchukwu won the triple jump at the Albuquerque Invitational with a winning mark of 12.85 meters (42-02.00). The jump was the best mark by a Southland Conference athlete this season and is the fifth-best mark ever by an SLC athlete. She also provisionally qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships with her mark. Also underway are our women’s tennis and men’s and women’s golf seasons. Our tennis program is about to start a stretch of six of eight matches on the road, but you can catch them at home on March 7th (3 p.m.) against SLC rival Texas-San Antonio and again on March 14th (10 a.m.) vs. Columbia. Our men’s team does not have a home tournament, but our women will host their second annual Bobcat Classic at Plum Creek Golf Club in Kyle on April 3-4. Be sure to come out! Starting on Monday of this week, our spring football season is now in full swing. Obviously, we are very excited about the prospect of getting back on the field after our magical 2005 season. I know Coach Bailiff is very encouraged about off-season conditioning to this point, and we will have another great spring practice to get us ready for 2006. Stay tuned to the web site for practice schedule updates on the football page and be sure to mark your calendar for April 1 for annual spring game. Kickoff is 12:30 p.m. at Bobcat Stadium.
We will update you again next week! |
