Beach Named to CoSIDA Academic All-District Team
LARAMIE – Wyoming’s Laura Beach has been named to the 2015 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSida) Academic All-District team that was announced today. Beach was voted to the second team of District 7 in the NCAA Division I.
Beach, who has started in all 24 of the team’s matches this season, holds a 3.94 grade-point average studying kinesiology and health promotion. The junior middle blocker has tallied 219 kills this season, as well as 109 blocks. She currently ranks sixth in the Mountain West in hitting percentage with .348 (219-56-469) and 90th nationally.
The Academic All-District teams are divided into eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada. This is the fifth year of the expanded Academic All-America program as CoSIDA moved from recognizing a University Division (Division I) and a College Division (all non-Division I) and has doubled the number of scholar-athletes honored.
The expanded teams include NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III participants, while the College Division Academic All-America® Team combines NAIA, Canadian and two-year schools.
First-team Academic All-District honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Team ballot, where first, second and third team All-America honorees will be selected later this month.
Wyoming Tennis Completes Fall Season on Sunday
DALLAS, Texas – The Wyoming Cowgirl tennis team closed out the 2015 fall season on Sunday at the Blue and Red Challenge in Dallas. The three-day event saw teams from Sam Houston State, Texas A&M, Tulsa, Wichita State and Wyoming visit the SMU Tennis Complex.
“This was a good weekend for Cowgirl tennis,” UW head coach Dean Clower said. “The players did what we asked and then some. If we continue on this path we will be right in the thick of things come March. A huge thanks to all the Cowgirl fans who made the trip down to Dallas and supported the team.”
It was a tough outing for the Cowgirls on Sunday with only one doubles team coming out with a victory. Magdalena Stencel and Nastya Tokareva earned a 6-2 victory over Anna Mamalat and Tutuja Bhosale. In other doubles action, Elisa Koonik and Tessa van Der Ploeg lost to Stefania Hristov and Ines Deheza and Miranda Talbert and Dorottya Jonas fell to Eva Paalma and Domenica Gonzalez.
Singles play also proved to be difficult for Wyoming as well with the opponent taking all seven matches. Stencel fell to Bhosale, 6-2, 7-6, followed by Tokareva with a 6-4, 6-0 loss against Gonzalez.
Deheza needed three sets, 7-5, 1-6, 12-10, against Jonas followed by Paalma defeating Talbert, 6-0, 6-1. Koonig was beat by Mamalt, 6-1, 6-2 and van Der Ploeg fell short 6-1, 6-1 against Hristov. Sanne Hoekstra closed out the day with a 6-2, 6-0 loss to Abby Stevens.
Wyoming returns to action at the Hurricane Invite on January 8 in Tulsa, Okla.
Cowgirls Top CSU on Senior Day
LARAMIE – The Wyoming Cowgirl swimming and diving team dominated its senior day against Colorado State on Friday evening. The Cowgirls won 14 of the 16 events during the dual meet including the first seven en route to a 196-104 victory.
“This is a great senior class,” UW head coach Tom Johnson said. “They have done really well and guided us through today. I was really proud of the amount of work they put in this week. Like always, we find some small things to work on, but now that the blocks are setup we will be able to sharpen up a bit. It was a great swim today.”
To begin the meet, a team of Emily Stevens, Emily Ridout, Molly Coonce and Samantha Burke kicked off the night with a win in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:44.91. Up next, senior Nicole Hlavacek took first place in the 1000 free with a time of 10:33.70.
Keara Chang followed with a time of 1:55.27 in the 200 free to take her first of two victories on the day. Chang also swam the best time in the 500 free with a mark of 5:10.11. Emily Stevens touched the pads first in the 100 backstroke with a time of 56.99, while the Cowgirls added significant points to their lead in the 100 breaststroke.
Maria Harutjunjan won with a time of 1:05.24, while Emma Dow (1:05.61) and Susanna Schumann (1:06.36) came in second and third, respectively.
Kelly Sheldon continued the momentum with a first-place finish in the 200 butterfly (2:08.80). UW went 1-2 in the 50 freestyle. Emily Ridout posted a 23.35, which is the ninth fastest time in Cowgirl history. Danielle Badger came in second posting a 24.50.
Isobel Ryan won her only event in the 100 freestyle. She came away with a final mark of 53.11, while Abby Sullivan followed with another victory in the 200 backstroke (2:04.93). Emma Dow took home the 200 breaststroke title (5:10.11), as Coonce once again moved her name into the top-10 for the 100 butterfly. Coonce recorded a 56.05 in the 100 fly, the tenth-best time in Cowgirl history.
Wyoming closed out the meet with Emily Sticky taking the 200 IM with a time of 2:08.93, while a tandem of Burke, Sarae Dydo, Ryan and Ridout claimed first in the 200 free relay.
In diving, Kari Campbell finished second in both the 1 and 3-meter events. She posted a score of 277.35 on the 1-meter and a 273.53 for the 3-meter. Keely Bishop placed third in both events as well. Ryan took second in the 100 backstroke, while Kara Guenther came away with a second-place finish in the 500 free.
And That’s a Wrap on the 107th Border War
LARAMIE – University of Wyoming Postgame Notes Following a 26-7 Home Loss to Colorado State on Nov. 7, 2015, at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie.
Team Notes
• Saturday’s contest was the 107th edition of the “Border War”. The two teams first met in 1899 with the game being played in three different centruies.
• Saturday’s contest marked the 70th consecutive season the two teams have played each other. The record over the past 70 seasons now stands at 39-31 in favor of Wyoming.
• Saturday’s contest was the 48th season that the teams have played for the Bronze Boot traveling trophy. Wyoming and Colorado State are now tied at 24-24 battling for the Bronze Boot.
• Wyoming is now 44-58-5 all-time against Colorado State and is 23-25-4 in Laramie.
•The Cowboys avoided a shutout, scoring on a four-yard TD run by Brian Hill with 2:25 left in the game. Wyoming hasn’t been shutout since Oct. 9, 2010 versus TCU.
Offensive Notes
• Sophomore running back Brian Hill rushed for 65 yards to be held below 100 yards for only the fourth time this season.
• Hill did move into second on the Wyoming single-season rushing yards list with 1,327. He is now 128 yards away from being the Cowboys single-season rushing leader.
• Saturday’s contest saw true freshman Tayton Montgomery make his first career start at wide receiver.
• True freshman James Price recorded a career-high three catches for a career-high 31 yards.
• True freshman Kellen Overstreet rushed for a career-high 31 yards on two carries. His runs were 15 and 16 yards. Both rushes were the longest of his career.
• Senior Justin Berger hauled in one pass for 22 yards. It was the longest reception of his career.
• Redshirt Freshman Nick Smith was 10-of-21 for a career-high 109 yards.
Defensive Notes
• Redshirt freshman free safety Marcus Epps tied a career-high with 13 total tackles, including 11 solo stops. It was his third time reaching double-figure tackles this season and second straight.
• Junior linebacker Lucas Wacha posted 12 total tackles, just one shy of his career high. He has reached doublefigure tackles seven times in his career and three times in 2015.
• Freshman free safety Andrew Wingard had 11 total tackles for his sixth game with double-figure tackles this season. He leads the Pokes with 97 tackles on the season.
• Wingard made his first career interception in the first half against the Rams.
• Senior defensive end Eddie Yarbrough recorded 1.5 tackles for loss and is now tied with John Fletcher (2005-09) for Wyoming’s lead in career tackles for loss with 36.0 for his career. He leads Wyoming with 7.5 tackles for loss this season.
• Yarbrough added a sack and now has 18.5 for his career, just half a sack away from Wyoming’s career top 10.
• Saturday’s contest saw redshirt freshman Conner Cain make his first career start at defensive tackle. He finished the day with a career-high four tackles and also added a career-high 1.5 tackles for loss.
• Wyoming now has four interceptions on the season topping last season’s interception total of three.
• Wyoming allowed only three points in the second half. It was a season low for the Cowboys in a half this season.
Special Teams’ Notes
• Senior Ethan Wood punted the ball six times for 250 yards averaging 41.7 yards per punt.
• Freshman kicker Tristan Bailey was 1-for-1 on extra points and is now 23-for-26 on the season.
University of Wyoming Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Craig Bohl
“I think Colorado State did a great job creating turnovers. They did a great job neutralizing our rushing game, and we had a hard time protecting Nick (Smith). “I was pleased with the second half. We did generate a touchdown, but it was too little too late. With a game like this, we needed to start well. “We told our guys we win as a team and lose as a team. We need to keep on encouraging one another. We will learn from this and move forward. “I do think that Colorado State was more physical than we were today.”
Nick Smith, RFr., QB
“It was just tough to get anything going today. Offensively, we had mistake after mistake with penalties or missed assignments. “For our offense to jive well, it’s all about balancing the attack. It was key with them taking Brian (Hill) away and stopping the run. “We want to represent the state as best as we can, and we want to make the Wyoming citizens proud. We are just upset and disappointed. “When you turn over the ball that many times, you are putting yourself in the hole.”
Eddie Yarbrough, Sr., DE
“It’s all about your mentality. It’s not about what happens in life. It’s about what you do in life. “The way I was raised, it’s not over until it’s over. If it was all sunshine and rainbows, everyone would like to play football. You just have to persevere and keep moving forward. “It’s all about finishing. Not how you start, but how you finish. Then you can take that momentum into the next year.”
Andrew Wingard, Fr., FS
“We’ve faced our share of diversity this season. It’s going to be almost impossible not to come back with fire next week. You have got to come out and still fight. “I thought everyone on the team continued to fight today. We lost some guys during the game, but the players who came in did a good job of stepping up. “This is tough for everyone, fans and guys on the team.”
Colorado State University Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Mike Bobo
“I thought it was a great game for our football team to come back after last week’s second-half performance. After we challenged them on Monday, I thought the guys responded, I thought they worked hard, they came out with an edge in the first half, and played like it, played like a team that was hungry.”
“I thought we executed very well in the first half. Second half — we got a little conservative, I told you guys on Monday that we were going to punt it 10 times, and I meant it. I’m still kicking myself for throwing that ball right before the half. I felt that if we didn’t turn the ball over we could control the line of scrimmage and win the ball game. I thought we did that for the most part.”
“Penalties are definitely a concern I’ve got to go back and look at them. “The defense was outstanding, they did a great job of setting the edges and gang tackling Mr. (Brian) Hill, who is a really good running back. They played hard all night.”
“We’ve got to learn from it, like I just told the guys, we’re not a perfect football team. There are a lot of warts on this football team. But the thing is, we can still get better.”
“We’ve still got a lot to play for, especially this week coming up, a group of seniors that have been through a lot — three different coaches. They need to prepare like they want to go out on the right note in their last game at Hughes Stadium. I expect them to come back and lead this week, and do a great job of being ready to play.”
