One final goodbye to USD

EDITOR’S NOTE: Yeah, Jeremy already wrote his “goodbye” column in last week’s print issue of The Volante, but he still has more to say. Prepare for some reminiscing, memories and sappy prose.

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The thought of graduating has really hit me in the past week.

Maybe it was the stress of finals week, or finalizing every last detail for graduation, but for some reason, leaving USD has been hard to comprehend lately.

Call me crazy, but I’ll miss this place.

After five years and ten semesters, I’m officially leaving USD.

OK, enough with the sap. Let’s get to the good stuff: Coyote athletics.

I came to Vermillion in September 2003 with literally no background knowledge on the Coyotes, other than what I’d read in newspapers and watched on TV sports coverage. But right away I was thrown into the mix and quickly became familiar with the Coyote nation.

And from that day forward, it’s been one helluva ride.

In that span, I’ve watched Josh Mueller’s on-court antics. If you never got the chance to see Josh play, you really missed an experience. The dude was never quiet and never quit moving. He was always on the go. Always chattin’ with the refs. Always talkin’ with opponents.

In that span, I’ve watched the rebirth of USD football. I can still vividly remember watching the last USD/SDSU football game, not realizing the true magnitude of the game. It was the end of the rivalry. And as we learned later, the end of the road for Coyote coach John Austin. His exit opened the door for Ed Meierkort. And we all know what’s happened since….

In that span, I’ve watched the transition in Coyote women’s basketball. From the days of Mandy Koupal to the days of Meghan Woster to the days of Daly/Hoffman/Hoffman/Robinette/Yoerger. It all culminated with one weekend in Kearney, Neb. and one national championship game.

And in that span, I’ve watched the move to Division I.

And with that, it’s time for me to move on. Time to graduate and hit the road (30 miles down Highway 50 to Yankton).

Time for the Matt Dahlseid/Justin Rust era.

Ready, set, graduate.

— Jeremy Hoeck

Coyotes look to close out the outdoor season

Just like the indoor season, it looks like the Coyote men and women are flexing their muscles in the outdoor season. You know the men would like to go out on top after a second place finish at the indoor meet. The women will look to win both the indoor and outdoor titles in the final North Central Conference season.

Freshman Emma Erickson, fresh off a national championship in the 800-meter run in the indoor season, has the top time in the 800 in the outdoor season as well.

Sophomore Ramsey Kavan continues to be as solid as they get, and senior Steph Gebhart closed out her last Howard Wood relays last weekend with a couple of wins. Gebhart has dominated Howard Wood and has competed in the event for 11 years and has come away with 15 titles. Talk about South Dakota success right there…..

Freshman Amber Hegge is starting to find her bearings after being named NCC Field Athlete of the Week. Hegge earned the honor by winning the long jump and triple jump Sunday at the USD Open/Qualifier. Hegge met a provisional mark in the triple jump. Hegge dominated both events back in high school in Nebraska.

Plus you have all of the relay teams that have had success for the USD women, Shaneka Parkes, Jasmine Mosley, and all of the other members, the women’s team is on a roll.

The men’s team is looking for redemption and senior Terry Liggins will play his part in it. Liggins improved his best time by .14 seconds in nationals to win his first national title in the 60-meter hurdles in the indoor season. Now Liggins has been dominating the outdoor season in the 110 meter hurdles.

Ben Walters will earn USD some points in the throwing events and earned NCC Men’s Field Athlete of the Week after winning both the shot put and discus at the USD Open/Qualifier.

Plus you add in seasoned veterans Tyler Wetering and Scott Hargens in the long distance runs, and a deep men’s team (seriously it is hard to mention all the key members of the men’s and women’s team), the USD team will look to take both NCC titles.

If they win both titles in the final year, then they will win 3 out 4 this year, and the men placed second in the indoor season. Quite impressive for a team moving Division-I and will qualify a year earlier.

The NCC Championships take place this weekend in Sioux Falls at Howard Wood Field. If you can make it out there, and I know there are a lot of graduation parties going on, then check it out if you can. Should be a memorable meet.

———–Justin Rust

USD hires Brazil native as new soccer coach

After two months without a coach, the USD women’s soccer program now has one.

Brazilian native and former Sam Houston State (Texas) coach Marcia Oliveira has been named the new Coyote soccer coach, according to an announcement today.

That’s right, USD needed a soccer coach and went to the country that produced the greatest player (Pele) in the sport’s history.

Oliveira replaces former USD coach Becky Heiberger, who resigned two months ago. Oliveira spent six seasons at Sam Houston State, where she not only led a Division I team but had to build the program from the ground up. In 2003, the Bearkats began competition and closed that season ranked No. 6 nationally out of 13 first-year Division I programs.

This past season she guided SHSU to a school-record six wins.

The Coyotes were 7-10-3 last season and 4-7-1 in the North Central Conference. In 2008, USD begins its transition to the Division I level.

And as such, the university needed to make a splash with its coaching search. It looks like they did.

— Jeremy Hoeck

Softball: What the UNO wins mean

If you were at the softball games this past week, you saw a different team then what anyone has seen in the last couple of years. Somehow, someway, USD was able to sweep the 11th ranked team in the nation in Nebraska-Omaha. Then on Thursday, the Coyotes were able to take one out of two against Augustana.

This isn’t normal for the Coyote softball team. After the volleyball team went on their run this year, it made the softball program the lowest of the low for all of the programs. This year wasn’t off to a great start for interim head coach’s Amy Klyse. If she wanted to prove she is the person for the job now was the time.

The team then showed some life at the right time. They beat UNO 2-1 and 5-3 for their first sweep ever against the Mavericks. Then the team came back from five runs down to take the first game against Augie. Granted Augie held off a late USD comeback to win the second game.

The three wins this week gave the Coyotes a 6-6 record in conference play. I couldn’t find the last time the Coyotes were .500 in the conference. The stats only go back to 1999 by the way. The wins also locked up a third place finish for the Coyotes. THIRD PLACE! If you have seen this team over the past couple of years, that comes as a surprise.

This sets the Coyotes up for a good seed in the NCC tournament. The wins over UNO also puts the NCC on notice that the Coyotes might be putting it together and have found the confidence to win the tight games against good to great teams.

The pitching for the Coyotes is very solid. Sophomore Brittany Donohue has been downright nasty and shut down UNO on Tuesday, and freshman Courtney Heim is developing into a solid pitcher. Mel Johnson and Tagney Jones have also thrown quality innings. What team in the conference can match the depth the Coyotes have? Basically, none.

The problem for the Coyotes has been their offense, but they have started to right the ship a bit. Before the four games this week, the Coyotes had a .215 average AS A TEAM. Minnesota Twins fans call that Nick Punto-ish. But in four games this week, the team is now batting .225. Yeah, it doesn’t looks stylish, but they raised the team average ten points in a week. I will take the improvement and the team will as well.

Tagney Jones and Krystal Kirwan have been the constants of the Coyote lineup for the last couple of years, and this year is no different. After a slow start, Abby Poulter is hitting well as well. Other players who have stepped up are Shara Thompson, Mel Johnson, Donohue, and Jasey Goedeken. They will all have to continue to hit to have a shot at the NCC championship.

With the Coyotes new found confidence, it will be interesting to see what they can do in the upcoming NCC tournament. This run is coming at the perfect time, not only for the team, but for coach Klyse to show she is the right person for the job. Stay tuned, an interesting weekend ahead for this team in the future.

——–Justin Rust

Athlete(s) of the Year Chatter

It’s that time of the year.

Time to select The Volante Male and Female Athlete of the Year.

Although voting ends tomorrow, you have time to vote for the male (here) and female (here) winners.

Let me tell you, narrowing the final list down to five nominees was as hard as it’s been in my four years at USD. With each year and each list (male vs female), there are always 1-2 obvious choices. But this year, you have worthy selections on both sides.

For the male, you have a national champion (Terry Liggins), the nation’s leading rusher (Amos Allen) and the USD leader in career receptions (Brooks Little). Plus, you’ve got Dylan Grimsley and Scott Hargens — both worthy choices.

For the female, the list is STACKED. In it, you’ve got two national champions (Emma Erickson and Jill Smolczyk), a player from a national runner-up (Jeana Hoffman), one of the best distance runners in the country (Ramsey Kavan), and a worthy volleyball selection (Amber Kobus).

The two winners will be profiled in next week’s issue of The Volante.

Get online, make your pick and see who wins.

— Jeremy Hoeck

Backup QB position

Who will be the back up behind Noah Sheppard and why is it important? Well, it is important because if the starter goes down with an injury, you want to know you have a backup you can trust until the starter is healthy. That statement is true at any level.

Redshirt freshman Tyler Robinson and Dante Warren are locked in the battle, with Jake Breske assuming the fourth string role. Both QB’s have yet to distinguish themselves from each other. Robinson had the chance after Warren threw the pick, but then Robinson threw a pick on his own. Neither QB has been overly impressive, but it is also just the spring game. Robinson was the second string QB last year and Warren was named the USD Scout Team player of the year. One advantage Warren clearly has over Robinson is his ability to use his legs. A few times tonight, Warren has escaped the rush and ran for the first down. Robinson has the experience over Warren in that category. I will give the edge to Robinson, but I would be comfortable with either one, which makes the depth chart look a little better.

Well, that is the end of the spring game, the offense won 34-28. The offense scored late on a great fade route by freshman Dustin Nowotny. Sheppard threaded the ball in to Nowotny with an impressive throw. Sheppard put the ball in exactly the right spot as two backs were right next by Nowotny. Nowotny also made an outstanding catch and held onto the ball and was able to stay in bounds. I think Nowotny could be a star next year.

Well, that wraps it up for the spring game. Have a great weekend.

——–Justin Rust

Is Gold digger appropriate Dome music?

The song “Gold digger” by Kanye West was just playing, and with families at the Dome, is it appropriate? Along with most of the rap played? Personally, I don’t mind and I enjoy the song, but the thought crossed my mind.

All of the coaches are wearing a beige colored button down shirt or windbreaker. I don’t know who started the trend for the coaches, but it’s very bland. If you look at them too long, you might just fall asleep.

Mychal Bogan intercepted a deep pass from red-shirt freshman Dante Warren. Bogan has stood-out during spring camp and has earned the starting corner job over senior T.J. Simmons. Simmons should be the incumbent, but Bogan has played so well, he has earned it. It played the deep ball tight with receiver Dominic Artis. The ball was under thrown, but Bogan made the adjustment to it. He has played well most of the night.

The score is now 24-17 offense. Make that 24-23 after a Justin Harper interception.

———Justin Rust

The creation of South Saskatchewan

The newspaper guys were just talking about North Dakota and made some comments about them. I am sure this one is going to come back to bite me someday, but someone said if Canada did take over North Dakota, what would they be called? Well, they came up with South Saskatchewan would be the new name. You heard it here first folks. Granted North Dakota is south of Manitoba…..

Anyways, it seems like the tight ends will see more receptions in Gordon Shaw’s offense. Brandon White has two receptions in the spring game and Mitch Mohr has two as well. Mohr had two receptions all of last year, and White only had one. The tight ends combined for nine receptions all of last year with one touchdown. Shaw was able to get his tight ends involved in the offense at Minnesota. Their first priority is blocking, but they were always reliable in the passing game.

When I talked to Shaw today, he said if he was at Minnesota still, he would’ve recruited London Landry and Mohr to play for the Golden Gophers. That is high praise from a guy who knows that position well. It will be interesting to see how that successful the tight ends will be in the upcoming year.

By the way, I interviewed Shaw on 91.1, the local radio station. It was on Sports Weekly, a weekly show I do on Fridays from 12-2 with Drew Quandt. Many of the Volante reporters have contributed as well. Yes, I know, shameless plug, but hey, advertising isn’t cheap nowadays.

————–Justin Rust

Halftime at the Dome

Yes, the spring game has a halftime.

Quick thought from the first “half” of action.

The battle for the number one running back is between sophomore Matt Lee and redshirt freshman Chris Ganious. Both have looked impressive in practice, and both have had their moments in the spring game. Lee looks like he has the edge though with his touchdown run. But in the Coyotes system, they need to have two running backs. Last year it was Allen and Lee. Last year, Lee looked good as the backup and ready to take on the starting role. Ganious ripped up the scout team last year and should be a solid contributor for the rest of his Coyote career.

Halftime just ended and the offense is still up 21-9.

——–Justin Rust

Scoring for the Spring Game

I should have led off with this, but oh well. The scoring system is different in the spring game than in a regular game. Here is the run-down:

Defensive Stop-2 points

Turnover- 6 points

First Down- 1 point

Field Goal- 3 points

Touchdown- 6 points

That is the scoring summary. The second string offense just scored a touchdown, as Matt Lee broke an 11 yard run. Lee ran right where the center and right guard are suppose to be, but they cleared the hole so well, I think a full-sized truck could’ve gone through it. Impressive job by the new offensive line. Lee hasn’t had the most room to run tonight, but has found a few holes. Lee has the speed Meierkort likes, and the size of Amos Allen and Stephan Logan. I am going to say Lee gets 1,000 yards this upcoming season, but really, in this offense, it is very hard not to get 1,000 yards if you are the starting tailback.

This one is for Chuck Baldwin, our adviser at the Volante, as his son Josh Baldwin just ran for a yard on first down. Hope you appreciate that one Chuck!

The offense leads 19-8 as the third-string offense is on the field now.