If it ain't broke, don't fix it

Sports has its unbreakable records, right?

Gretzky has a passel of them (51 goals in 39 games, 51-game point-scoring streak, three consecutive 200-point seasons, 2,857 career points....you get the idea).  Joe DiMaggio had his 56-game hitting streak. Cy Young won 511 career games. Ty Cobb hit .367 over the course of his 24-year major league career. Cal Ripken, Jr. played in 2,632 straight games. Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths. Wilt Chamberlain averaged 50.4 points per game in 1962 as a member of the Philadelphia Warriors. The Boston Celtics won eight straight NBA titles from 1959-66.  Eric Heiden won every men's speedskating event at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.

It gets the mind to wandering, as it is wont to do when one does what one does. In my case, the question becomes what are our unbreakable records?  Are there any? Given that our sports date back the 1920's, one would think so.

So, after some reflection, let's peel back the onion to see what comes up.  For your review, here's a list. Certainly not an end-all, be-all compendum as certainly there are others. Feel free to discuss amongst yourselves.

There are many others, so just a smattering listed above. A question we had upon compiling this was which one is the most unlikely to be broken.  Ted Nelson's record in the 800m has held up more than 50 years. Brad Henry pinned his opponent in four seconds. Jason Hoppe set a NCAA record when he did not allow a run (earned or otherwise) in 55 straight innings and Butch Meyeraan was perfect when he made 20 of 20 free throws in a game vs. UW-River Falls in 1961.  In order to get past Lori Meyer's career wins mark, a coach would have to average 35.1 victories a season for 30 years.  Well, Lori's still coaching. And winning. Good luck with that.

It's great to be a Maverick!

Is it Over?

Is it over?

It's hard to believe that the 2014 NCAA Division II Football season has finally come to a close. The Mavericks fell to CSU-Pueblo in the national championship game at beautiful Sporting Park in Kansas City Saturday, 13-0, in finishing the year with a 14-1 mark.

One loss for Minnesota State and it came in the national championship game. In getting to the last game of 2014, this team took everyone on an unprecedented ride.

We've had football at this institution since 1922. This was the 89th year of varsity football for us and no team had ever won 14 games in a season before.

Who does that? Who wins 14 football games in a season?

Including three NCAA playoff games, we hosted nine games at Blakeslee in 2014. Nine. In the last three seasons the Mavericks have gone 14-1 (2014), 11-1 (2013) and 13-1 (2012).  No team in NCAA Division II has won as many games during that time. Eight NCAA play-off games in three years. Minnesota State has not lost a conference game since 2011 and will head into 2015 riding a 33-game league unbeaten streak.

Those that follow the Mavericks, and we saw a ton of them in Kansas City at the national championship game and social media tells us that many who weren't there were watching on ESPN2, witnessed something special.

There's a lot of pride amongst our alums, the parents of our players, the students and staff at Minnesota State and the folks in Mankato with what happened and there's a tremendous amount of optimism moving forward.

This year's team loses 21 seniors who unquestionably have served as the backbone to the success the program has enjoyed during this run. So as we bid adieu to Nathan Hancock, Eric Clark, Erik Ruhland, Keyvan Rudd, Dorian Buford, Andy Pfeiffer, Anthony Lewis, Jeff Burns, Darius Clare, Kris Fleigle, Shonquille Dorsey, Josh Meeker, Gary Hiatt, Barry Ballinger, Max Hoffmeister, Kaleb Wendricks, Chris Reed, Jeffrey Raymond, Bryan Keys, Austin Rieder and Darin Howell, we also offer up our gratitude.  You'll walk together as champions for the rest of your lives.

Here's hoping everyone has a safe and enjoyable Holiday Season.

It's great to be a Maverick.

Two-Sporters - Modern Era

Minnesota State's Chris Reed plays two sports for the Mavericks

Are you aware of what Minnesota State's Chris Reed has done lately?

Let us enlighten you. The past three weekends, the senior from Omaha, Neb., has worked on building his legacy as the greatest thrower in the school's lengthy track & field history.

This past Saturday Reed broke his own NCAA Division II indoor record in the shot put at the MSU Multi and Open, throwing it 65' 10.25" on his third attempt.  The distance surpassed his old record of 65' 5.5" which he set at the Jack Johnson Classic just a week earlier. He was named an unprecedented USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week for the third consecutive time.

Reed, who was named USTFCCA Central Region Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year last spring, tossed the shot a school record 65’-7” in winning the 2013 national NCAA Division II outdoor title in becoming the fifth Maverick to win a national championship in an outdoor event. He also finished seventh and established a school record in the hammer and was seventh in the discus in earning All-America honors at the event.  This came after he finished second nationally in the shot and fourth in the weight throw at the 2013 NCAA DII Indoor national championships.

He owns school records in both indoor disciplines (weight throw and shot) and two out of three of the outdoor events (shot and hammer throw).  Mike Yonkey established the school discus record of 182 ' 4" in 1988. Yonkey, by the way, was a member of the Maverick football team.

Did we mention that Reed, not unlike Yonkey, also starts on the offensive line for the Maverick football team?  Yes, the one that went 12-1 this past fall and hosted a NCAA second round game at Blakeslee Stadium.

Reed's a rarity nowadays as there aren't many student-athletes that can do two sports.  And especially as well as Reed does.  He does have company right now, though, in that fellow footballers Keyvan Rudd and Nathan Hancock are also tracksters. But it is indeed something that doesn't happen a lot nowadays.

Off the top of our heads, below is partial list in the last few decades of Minnesota State student-athletes who were able to accomplish this challenging feat. Please note - obviously we realize this list is incomplete.  Also the list contains names of Mavericks who played two sports at the same time and does not include those that joined a team following the end of their careers in another sport.

Chris Reed (football, track & field, 2011-present)
Keyvan Rudd (football, track & field, 2010 - present)
Nathan Hancock (football, track & field, 2011 - present) 
Sidni Trotter (soccer, women's basketball, 2013 - present) 
Jenna Peterson (women's hockey, softball, 2008-2012) 
Kelvin Rodgers (football, track & field, 2006-09)
Ben King (football, baseball, 2003-07) 
Michael Lawrence (track & field, football, 2001-05) 
Donnell Bowyer (football, baseball, 2001-03) 
Jared Ziemke (football, men's basketball, 1999-2003)
Ryan Dutton (football, baseball, 1997-2001) 
Tywan Mitchell (football, men's basketball, 1995-98) 
Reggie Patterson (football, track & field, 1995-97) 
Lester Mitchell (men's basketball, track & field, 1989-93) 
Monte Dufault (men's basketball, baseball, 1988-93) 
Nancy Kelly (volleyball, softball, 1985-89) 
Luonna Van Meverven (volleyball, track & field, 1984-88) 
Mike Yonkey (football, track & field, 1987-89) 
Joel Nielsen (football, baseball, 1984-85) 
Mike Carroll (men's hockey, baseball, 1975-80) 
Gene Glynn (men's basketball, baseball, 1975-79)

It's great to be a Maverick.










 

Still Competing, Still Pursuing

-->

Minnesota State junior Chris Reed capped off the 2012-13 year
with a 13th-place finish in the shot put at the USU Track & Field
Championships.

by Nick Burns, interim Asst. Director, Minnesota State Athletic Communications

 

The 2012-13 Minnesota State athletic season will go down as one of the most successful and memorable seasons in the history of MSU athletics. Several teams made trips to the NCAA Tournament, including several athletes made their mark in individual competition.

One such individual was junior Chris Reed (Omaha, Neb.) of the Minnesota State men’s track and field team. Reed would go on to claim four All-American awards this past season, en route to a national championship in the shot put event in the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Recently, Reed competed in the 2013 USA Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, where he finished in 13th place in the shot put event with a heave of 62’ 0.25” against the best completion in the country.

“It was such a high level of competition,” Reed said. “All of the best throwers from the United States were there so it was a great feeling to compete against them.”

More than 800 athletes competed at the 2013 USA Track and Field Championships, with the hope of being selected to compete at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow, Russia.

“Right after I won the national championship I was selected to compete at the USA Track and Field Championships,” Reed said. “It was just a great feeling to compete against and talk with guys that I have only been able to watch on TV.

“Being able to shake Adam Nelson’s hand and talk with him after he received his Olympic gold medal was really cool,” Reed said. “Overall, it was a fun experience and it also showed me that I’ve got more in me and this competition brought it out of me.”

His performance at the USA Track and Field Championships is another feather in the cap of Reed, who has had one of the most successful seasons a Maverick has ever had.

Reed began his year with an All-American honor at the 2013 NCAA Indoor Championships, where he finished second in the shot put. Reed, who was named the NSIC Indoor Field Athlete of the Year, kept his momentum going into the outdoor schedule where he earned the USTFCCCA Central Region Field Athlete of the Year award.

During the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Reed would find himself competing in three events including the hammer throw, the discus and the shot put.

Competing in the hammer throw event, Reed set an MSU record with a throw of 194’-8” for a seventh-place finish, en route to becoming the first Maverick to secure an All-American award in the event.

He earned his second All-American honor with a seventh-place finish in the discus with a toss of 175’-5” on the second day of competition, but Reed saved his best performance for last.

On the final day of the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Reed capped off his season with a national championship in the shot put event, shattering the MSU school record with a mark of 65’-7”. He became just the fifth Maverick to win a national championship and the first since Jim Dilling won the high jump event back in 2007. He is the only Maverick to win a national championship in the shot put.

Reed is the first Maverick to claim three All-American honors in the same championship since Moo Muhammad accomplished that feat back in 1989.

Definitely not a bad season, but rather, a season that will be remembered just like MSU’s whole 2012-13 season.