Colorado State University Athletics
Ram Sports Update ? Feb. 10
2/9/2005 12:00:00 AM | General
It?s been an exciting two weeks for Colorado State Athletics and the Rams are in full swing.
The men?s basketball team is traveling to Salt Lake City this weekend for the rematch against the Utah Utes. For the women?s basketball team, they host the Brigham Young Cougars on Wednesday and hope to bounce back from their 49-75 loss to New Mexico. The men?s track and field team travels to Fayetteville to participate in the Arkansas Tyson Invitational, where the women will meet them there after traveling to Golden to take part in an event at the Colorado School of Mines. The water polo team returned from Michigan where they had a rocky start to their season and have time to prepare for their next match in March.
Men?s Basketball
The men?s basketball team is having a rough season with an overall record of 9-12 and 1-7 in MWC play. The season started off solidly with a 5-3 record, but tough situations have taken their toll on the Rams. The team continues their winning problems on the road in Las Vegas, San Diego and Laramie, not having won a game on the road since South Florida on Dec. 22, 2003.
Senior Matt Nelson leads the Rams with 309 points, with an average of 15.5 per game. The Chicago native has led the team 10 times in scoring, the most recent coming on Feb. 5 against New Mexico with 16 points. Nelson has climbed the ranks for career scoring and is 4th in career scoring at CSU with 1,519 points.
Freshmen Sean Morris and Jason Smith are stepping up to make big plays for the team. Morris tied the school record with nine 3-point field goals and 31 points at UNLV, where he also made his first career start. Morris is tied for the MWC freshman record for most 3-point field goals made in a single season with 22. Smith averages 9.9 points per game, with a season total of 198 points. Smith has scored double figures nine times in 20 games and posted a career-best 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting against BYU.
The Rams will hit the road on Saturday when they play the Utah Utes and then head to Brigham Young. The team then returns home to take on San Diego (Feb.19), UNLV (Feb. 21) and Wyoming (Feb. 26).
Women?s Basketball
The women?s basketball team is having a solid season with a record of 13-7 and 4-3 in MWC play. The season started with a 5-3 record and the team has won 10 of their 12 games at home.
Junior Vanessa Espinoza is averaging 12.3 points and 4.5 assists in the Rams four conference wins but with the three conference losses she averages just 2.0 points and 1.7 assists. On the season Espinoza has 234 points, an average of 3.0 rebounds and 11.7 points per game.
Junior Lindsay Thomas set a career-high with five blocks against Denver on Jan. 4. and she currently has 33 blocks on the season. Thomas also has collected her ninth double-double of the season against UNLV and has now 13 career double-doubles. She is also fourth in the MWC for rebounds per game.
Junior Melissa Dennett is having a strong season and is the first player since women?s basketball legend Becky Hammon to score 20 points in three consecutive games. Dennett landed her seventh career double-double and her fifth this season during the win over San Diego. She is also ranks fifth behind Thomas in the MWC for rebounds per game.
The Rams hit the court on Feb. 10 against the Brigham Young Cougars at Moby. The women then hit the road for three games against UNLV (Feb.17), San Diego (Feb.19) and Wyoming (Feb.24).
Track and Field
The track and field team is off to a spectacular start to their season. For both the men and women?s teams, the last three meets they have attended they have placed first.
For the women, the MWC office honored Loree Smith the week of Feb. 1 by being one of the MWC Athletes of the week. Lohse earned her honor with record breaking throws at the Robert Shine Invitational where she broke her record in the weight throw with a 72-2.5 to win the event and broke the fieldhouse and MWC records.
Senior Katrice Thomas is running hard winning both the 200 and 400 meters at the Air Force Classic. Thomas broke the school record in the 400 meter with a time of 55.30 and broke her last season record of 55.81.
For the men, Magnus Lohse was honored with Loree Smith with the MWC Athlete of the week the week of Feb. 1. Lohse won the men?s shot put with a school record, NCAA automatic qualifying mark and fieldhouse record with a great toss of 65-8.75. He broke the record he set as a freshmen of 63-2 in 2004.
Senior John Woods had two great races, winning the 60 and 200 meters and breaking the school records for both as well. Woods ran a 6.66 in the 60 meter, breaking his last season record of 6.69 and setting the second best time in MWC history.
The men?s track and field team travels to Fayetteville to participate in the Arkansas Tyson Invitational Feb. 11-22. The women will meet up with the men after traveling to Golden to take part in an event at the Colorado School of Mines.
Water Polo
The women?s water polo team had a rough start to their season after traveling to Michigan Invitational. The Rams came back 1-4 and have until March to prepare for their next match up.
The Rams have a young team of talent including eight freshmen, three sophomores and four juniors. Freshman Laura Scruggs led the Rams in their exhibition game against Utah with 8 goals on 14 shots. Junior Marisa Fernandez contributed five goals to the game and junior goalie Holly Stanfill blocked 22 shots in the Rams 17-7 victory over Utah.
The water polo team prepares for their match up against Colorado College on March 5 and the CSU Invitational March 12-13.
Swimming and Diving
The swimming and diving team has had a consistent season but a string of loses the past few weeks. The team slipped to lose to Wyoming with a 124-100 advantage over the Rams. The team did manage to grab four first place finishes in 11 of the events. Taylor Felton who had top times of 10:44.67 in the 1000 freestyle and 5:15.20 in the 500 freestyle led the Rams. On the second day of competition the Rams landed nine second place finishes including the 200 Medley Relay and the 200 Freestyle Relay.
The swimming and diving team concluded their dual season with a 169-129 loss to the University of Denver. Senior Lindsey McCaslin received the only first place finish when she won the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:06.95.
The teams ended their season with a 5-5 record on the year and head to the MWC Championships in Oklahoma City Feb. 23-26.
