One in the Bank

MSU's Joey Keillor won a NCAA
DII steeplechase championship in
1995.

So we're a week into it now with competition officially started for our football, volleyball, soccer and women's golf teams.

And, as pointed out by Scott Nelsen, we're off to a pretty decent start with our programs racking up an impressive 6-1-1 mark.  This includes a 4-0 start by the volleyball crew at a tournament hosted by Alaska-Fairbanks.  Peter McGahey's women's soccer program is 1-0-1 after claiming a 4-1 win over Augustana and earning a 1-1 tie with #1-rated Grand Valley State.  Following those performances, the volleyball team moved up to #12 in the national polls, while the Maverick soccer team made its debut at #21.

Our men's and women's cross country team are set to embark on their 2011 seasons beginning tomorrow (Friday, Sept. 9) with the Oz Memorial at the University of Minnesota's Les Bolstad Golf Course.  This year's team photos and mugs, by the way, have been uploaded at the Maverick men's cross country and women's cross country team roster pages.

The men's golf team will be the last of our fall teams to get going with the first competition for that crew slated for Sept. 11-12 at the Fall Preview taking place at Troy Burne in Hudson, Wis.

And so it continues. Our first home football game is slated for Saturday with Northern State making the trek from Aberdeen, S.D., for a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tilt.  The MSU grounds crew had done a tremendous job of preparing iconic Blakeslee Stadium for the home opener. Take a look.

We should also mention that former Minnesota State All-American and national champion Joey Keillor stopped by the office a couple of days ago. Joe, who won a NCAA Division II steeplechase championship in 1995, is being inducted into our Hall of Fame at the end of this month.  He still runs competitively and according to Mark Schuck, is turning in times for the mile in the 4:20 range.  Needless to say, he looks like he could win another national steeple championship if it was held today.  Here's a Q & A on Joe from a couple of years ago - it's provides some great insight on one of MSU's all-time great distance runners - Running Minnesota - Joey Keillor.

Be sure to check out msumavericks.com for all the information on all of our sports.  You can also find additional information on our facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/maverickathletics) and Twitter account (msumavericks).

It's great to be a Maverick!