Sports Notes:
By Cody Lillich

Loux, Stilson named Baseball All-Americans Pitchers Barret Loux and John Stilson were named to Louisville Slugger NCAA DI All-American Baseball teams.  Stilson, the Big 12’s Newcomer of the year, was named to the second team for his work in closing for the Aggies. Before the NCAA Tournament, Stilson was 8-1 and had nine saves. In 31 appearances, Stilson allowed only seven earned runs, struck out 106 batters in just over 72 innings of work.
Loux was named to the All-American third-team for posting a 10-2 record entering the NCAA tournament. Loux led the Big 12 with 126 strikeouts and opposing batters have a .196 average against him.

Stilson and Loux became the 48th and 49th Aggie baseball players to earn All-American status, following Brooks Raley in 2009. Six Aggie players have now been named to the All-American list under head coach Rob Childress, who is in his fifth year with the Aggies.

May named Softball All-American, set to play this Summer on National Futures team
Softball catcher Meagan May was placed on the 2010 Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American second team. May, a freshman, shattered the A&M and Big 12 record for home runs in a single season and is currently sitting at seventh on the Aggie career home run list. She also broke the single season school record for total bases and slugging percentage. The All-American honor makes May one of 19 Aggie All-Americans, following Megan Gibson and Amanda Scarborough who were both named All-Americans in ’05-’08.

This summer, May will be joining the 2010 USA Softball Women’s Futures National Team for play on an international scale. The team will play exhibition games against the USA National Team, as well as games against Canada, Japan and the USA in the 2010 World Cup of Softball in July in Oklahoma City. May could also be a part of the USA team selected to play at the Canadian Open Fast Pitch International Championship July 7-11 and other select games in Canada July 13-14.

Batis signs to play professional volleyball in France
Former A&M volleyball player Mary Batis from San Antonio, signed to play professional volleyball with USSPA Albi Volleyball in Albi, France.

Batis started every match while she was at Texas A&M and helped her team to a 20-11 record last year and an appearance in the sweet sixteen for the first time since 2003. She will report to France in August with her first match scheduled for mid-September.

Black, Ammerman medal at USA Volleyball Open National Championships
Kelsey Black, junior outside hitter, earned a bronze medal on the Women’s National A2 Red Team at the USA Volleyball Open National Championships in Phoenix.

Former outside hitter Sarah Ammerman played for an independent team and earned the silver medal in the championships. Ammerman’s team advanced to the championship after beating Black’s A2 Red team 25-21, 25-22, 25-21 in the consolation semi-finals.

by Autumn Kushner

Rowdy and Redass

Leave You Traveling

Manifest Destiny started it all: the idea that each individual in the country had the right and the free will to simply pick up their lives and relocate, traveling thousands of miles to find a better version of life. Through this, every American is born with a sense of identity only matched by Napoleon, Caesar, and Ghangis Kahn. Inspired by them and all that they accomplished, as this summer approaches,  let the ghost of Jack Kerouac inhabit your mind: take off in search of the America and the dream that every young adult trapped in a small town longs for. Even if you do not have much money or time to hit the road, there are many places even in short driving distance from here that can enhance your life in ways you couldn’t even imagine. Below is a list of some of the most enchanting places within a few hours to go with friends, lovers, or even family.

Jefferson, Tx/ Caddo Lake- The perfect place for a weekend getaway for you and your special someone. About 4 hours away lies Caddo Lake, the only natural lake in Texas. It’s a Bayou. The town of Jefferson is a really interesting old timey town, riddled with Civil War stories, and it’s home to the Jefferson Hotel, one of the most haunted buildings in the country. Caddo Lake itself is beautiful and there are cottages everywhere that are rentable for a pretty decent price.

Guadelupe River- About two to three hours away is the Guadelupe. Spending a day floating in the river and drinking beer in the heat of the summer is perfect for a large group of friends. Often times they have concerts at night in the river as well. They even had Blue October go through last summer. If you take the scenic way down 77, you can easily make a detour by the Spoetzl Brewery, home of Shiner beer, for a tour. Check the website for tour times. It would be a good way to get your buzz going before hitting the water.

Moody Gardens, Galveston, Tx- It looks like the pyramids from the outside. Each pyramid encases a really interesting display. One is an aquarium where you can see amazing animals, including penguins, which you can actually meet this summer. Who doesn’t want to meet a penguin? One is a rainforest where monkeys and birds can be heard cackling through the trees. The last is a museum type setting where you can explore the rich port of Galveston’s history as the first real immigrant port in America, perfect for a family trip.

Cypress Valley Canopy Tours- In the heart of the Texas wine country lays this terrific gem. About 30 minutes outside of Austin you can go zip lining through the tree tops. While the individual prices are a little high, they are willing to negotiate group rates. This is perfect for clubs and teams of all sorts. Stop by the wineries afterward to take the stress away from hanging precariously high above a forest floor.

We live in an amazing state. There are quite a few other things to do, too. Living here, we are able to explore many things that most people in the rest of the country do not have at their disposal. There are many concerts in Austin, clubs in Houston, amusement parks and the Alamo in San Antonio. There are mountains to the west and beaches to the south. And before spending another minute of your free time lazing around on the couch, remember that if you don’t live your life, no one is going to live it for you. These small trips add value to life and doing them with the people you love can bring you closer together than ever.

By Turner Dawson

The Aggies continued their downward spiral to the bottom half of the Big 12 standings this week last week. The Aggies picked up an impressive win against Rice in the middle of the week but then dropped two of three against Oklahoma over the weekend at Olsen Field.

The Aggies have been inconsistent in every aspect of the game as of late. The pitching is outstanding one game, and atrocious the next. Aggie batters will be on a role and getting a lot of hits one game, and then they can’t get more than two hits the next game. If the Aggies hope to have any kind of postseason play they need to get things together immediately.

Clayton Elhert started out this week with his best performance all season. He has really been struggling this year to get back to the form that he has shown he is capable of in the past. But he had one of the best performances of his career against Rice as he went the full nine innings giving up just one run on four hits while walking two and striking out eight. It was a dominant performance and it was badly needed.

The Aggie batters still only managed seven hits but they were able to turn that into seven runs. The leadoff position continues to be a major issue for the Aggies as they continue to run different guys into that role and continue to see little to no production. Tyler Naquin got the nod this time and manage to get an RBI and a run scored but was still only 1 for 5.

So the Aggies looked pretty solid especially with the pitching against Rice and they carried that over into the first game against Oklahoma as well. Barrett Loux returned to his dominant ways as he went seven innings and gave up just one earned run on four hits with one walk and ten strikeouts. The key to Loux is always his control. Lately he has been giving up a lot of walks and has struggled. He only walked one in this one and was dominant. But Michael Wacha was even more impressive as he pitched the final two innings and struck out five of the six batters he faced and gave up no hits.

You pair that with the nine hits and six runs the Aggie batters produced, and it looks like the Aggies are starting to put things together again and look like the team that was in the top 25 just a few weeks ago. Tyler Naquin went two for five in the leadoff spot. And the Aggies looked to be piecing things together.

But then the Aggies went into the second game against Oklahoma and Ross Stripling actually pitched decently well but did give up the three runs in seven innings. Michael Wacha who was dominant the night before gave up two runs in three and two-thirds. And then Shane Minks gave up the game-winning run in the bottom of the thirteenth. The pitching was probably good enough to win a game, but it wasn’t as good as it was the first two games of the week.

Combine that with a few struggles at the plate, and the Aggies couldn’t pull out the win. Tyler Naquin again in the leadoff spot went 0 for 5. Joe Patterson went 0 for 4. Kenny Jackson went 0 for 3. Andrew Collazo went 1 for 6. The Aggies did manufacture 5 runs and it might have been good enough to win a game, but the pitching and hitting had a little bit of a down night at the same time.

Then on Sunday it all came apart. Clayton Ehlert got the start after his complete game gem earlier in the week and came in on Sunday and went just two innings giving up four runs before he was replaced. Then Nick Fleece gave up four runs in two and two-thirds. And then Estevan Uriegas gave up two runs in one and two-thirds. It was a rough night for the pitching.

Brodie Greene and Joe Patterson each went three for five at the plate, but neither had an RBI and the rest of the team managed just four hits. The Aggies lost that one 10-2.

The Aggies have now dropped to 7-10-1 in conference play this season and have dropped all the way down to 8th place in the conference of only ten baseball teams. This next week the Aggies hit the road for a three-game series with Nebraska in Lincoln. The Aggies desperately need to find some consistency both from their pitching and their hitting and pick up some much-needed wins this week. And this would be a good week to do it as Nebraska has both struggled this year and is a team the Aggies should beat.

Men’s Tennis team prepares for post-season

By Chelsea Reber | MAROON WEEKLY

As finals start to creep up on students, the Texas A&M men’s tennis team has a few finals of its own. The 10th ranked Aggies finished their regular season last Friday with a match against TCU. The Aggies swept the Horned Frogs 7-0 ending their regular season with a record of 21-5 and 5-1 in Big 12 Conference play.

The men have now won 14 of their last 15 matches of the season going into the Big 12 Championship followed by the NCAA Championship. Coach Steven Denton has high expectations for his team and keeping them aggressive in their game is a priority.

“We have seen some things that our guys are working on as individuals and as teams. Being more aggressive is generally on of those things that we are going to spend a lot of time on,” Denton said.

With only one senior on the team this year, the Aggies are a young team with a lot of growing potential.

“Our younger players have really bought into our system and it is very exciting. I think A&M tennis is certainly on the upswing,” Denton said.

Although young, the Aggies are not inexperienced. Junior All-American, Austin Krajicek, is currently ranked sixth in the nation and completely dominating his competition. He is 17-4 on the season in singles play and 5-1 in conference. He is 13-4 against nationally ranked competitors on the season.

Krajicek had to make some adjustments in his game from the fall season. It mostly relates to Coach Denton’s take on aggressiveness and the importance of it in his players’ games.

“I had a little trouble last fall, I had some tough draws and bad breaks. But this semester I’ve committed a lot more to working on my serve and trying to put pressure on the other guy when I get the chance. I think that changes the way the match goes and I don’t let a lot of guys get into a rhythm,” Krajicek said.

The Aggies are also led by a sophomore from France, Alexis Klegou. Klegou redshirted last season because he came to Texas A&M in the spring. Even though just watching for a semester was hard for him, Klegou took a lot out of his redshirt season.

When the Aggies played at Baylor last year, Klegou drove up to Waco to watch the match. A controversial call started quite the banter between Klegou and a Baylor fan, which all took place in French.

“I’ve been keeping that in my mind and could not wait to play Baylor the next year,” Klegou said.

It was definitely enough motivation for Klegou and his teammates when they hosted Baylor this year and upset the ninth-ranked Bears in a 6-1 victory on April 7.

“It was definitely my favorite moment this year and I think most of my teammates would agree,” Klegou said.

The men post a 17-1 record on the year at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center, and if you have ever been to a home tennis match, you know why. At a school, where football and basketball are the two sports on everyone’s minds, men’s tennis holds its own.

Texas A&M led the nation in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association attendance race in the month of March with 3,015 fans coming out to support. A&M boasts the second-best total attendance record (4,984) this season behind top-ranked Virginia (7,944) and the top total attendance among all Big 12 Conference schools.

“It is awesome for us,” Kraijcek said. “It’s not like 80,000 people at a football game but it is definitely a close atmosphere and you get 400 people in here and it’s great! When the 12th Man comes out, it makes it fun for us players. Other teams that come here aren’t used to that and they really struggle with it sometimes.”

Even Coach Denton realizes how big of a thing the 12th Man really is and how important the support of this school and the community means to his players.

“It means everything,” he said. “I mean obviously tennis is one of the smaller sports on the grand scheme of things. The state of Texas has also been a football, baseball, basketball state and for the fans here locally and the tennis aficionados in the community, for all of them to be excited about this team helps the guys feel better and feel special. It makes them want to work that much harder.”

The Aggies will head to Austin on Thursday, April 29 to start the Big 12 Championship Tournament, where a little revenge of their loss to Texas will be on their minds. More importantly, their support for each other will be tremendous.

“It is a great pleasure to have teammates and play with other guys who are supporting you. It is a beautiful thing about college tennis,” Klegou said.

By Chelsea Reber | MAROON WEEKLY

The Texas A&M volleyball team concluded its spring exhibition season with a match against the National Championship Texas A&M Men’s Club Team on Monday at the volleyball practice gym in Reed Arena.

Jennifer Banse and Jola Kelner, who were both seniors from the 2009 team, coached the men to the 2010 AE NCSS National Volleyball Championship title in Dallas earlier this month.

Even though men normally play on a net seven and half inches higher than women, the match was played on a women’s regulation net, all other rules staying the same.

“The guys were hitting off a women’s net and told to compete to win,” women’s head coach Laurie Corbelli said.

The men came out strong winning the first set 25-15. Their large block on the shorter net made it difficult for the women’s team to find holes and hit around them. They also played quicker than the women in the first game, making it difficult on the women’s defense.

“The match was supposed to be fun and low-key, but I think our girls were too low-key in the beginning,” Corbelli said. “They didn’t come out with as much intensity as I would have liked to see.”

The women improved in each game, however still falling to the men 25-20, 25-23 and 25-16 in the last three sets.

“I thought we started off with not quite enough energy that I thought we needed to have. But overall I think the positives are that we know what we need to work on and we have our work cut out for us,” Corbelli said about the match.

The Aggie women’s team will welcome back six letter-winners in 2010, including two starters from last year’s Sweet 16 team, however they are still very young. The Aggies graduated six seniors, including four starters, and had no juniors on last year’s team.

The team also graduated both of their setters, so they have brought in a 17-year-old high school senior Allie Sawatzky from Canada who graduated early to come to Texas A&M this spring.

“She has already come such a long way, being a 17 year-old high school senior who is 6,000 miles from home. She has really just done a beautiful job and I think the players are really getting more and more used the style and pace of her setting,” said Corbelli.

The Aggies also lost their two starting outside hitters, Mary Batis and Sarah Ammerman. However, one of these spots is being eagerly filled by two-year letter-winner, Kelsey Black.

The 5’11’’ outside hitter from Amarillo, Texas has a big vertical and a lot of fire when she steps onto the court. She is a vocal leader and will need to be a great physical leader when it comes time to play next fall.

“The good thing about being behind Mary and Sarah was that we learned what to do and what not to do,” Black said. “It is a huge advantage that [the outside hitters] have been around so long and been around them that when we step in there it is natural and we know what is expected of us.”

Even with what seems like a brand new team, the expectations stay high for the Aggies in the 2010 season.

“John [Corbelli] and Laurie expect the best out of us and we think the best out of us is to go back and do it again,” Black said.

Although the men’s team looked great on Monday and has a national title in their hands, it has not always been an easy road for Aggie men’s team.

In a state where volleyball does not come close to touching the popularity of football or baseball, the men have struggled with national competition in the past.

However, this year, things turned a complete 180 degrees when the men went undefeated at the national tournament bringing home A&M’s first men’s volleyball national title in school history.

“In the past we have had some problems with team chemistry and bonding,” outside hitter Jason Fellman said. “We played, but we never played as a team. This year we finally found the rhythm that we needed to start playing more as a team and less as six individuals on the same side of the net.”

Jon Olson and Brett Wolfe made the First All-Tournament Team, Keith Anderson was named All-Tournament Libero and Fellman was named Tournament MVP.

“It was a perfect way to end my career at A&M and it is a great honor,” Fellman said.

The Aggies beat the University of Florida in the championship match in three games to join both Texas A&M women’s club volleyball teams as national champions as Texas A&M swept the tournament.

“The new guys really stepped up and played a big role in the team’s success. That was the difference between this year and last year,” Fellman said.

The spring match putting the women’s NCAA team against the men’s club team may become a regular match on the women’s spring schedule in the future. Coach Corbelli said her team got a lot out of the match and had a chance to see competition that may look familiar in the fall.

Offense outscores defense in annual spring game

Families visiting for Parents’ Weekend got to witness the Aggie offense edging the defense in the annual Maroon and White Game, 102-94.

Cyrus Gray led the Aggie rushing game with 65 yards in ten carries and two touchdowns.

Five Aggie QBs saw action in the game scoring a total of five touchdowns. QB Jerrod Johnson went five-of-9 and 54 yards, backup QB Ryan Tannehill went 10-16, 73 yards and one touchdown.

Three freshmen QBs got their first chance to perform for the crowd. Jameill Showers from Killeen was spot-on in his passing, completing all seven attempts for 43 yards and two touchdowns. Arlington’s Matt Joeckel went 8-13 and 39 yards. QB Patrick O’Quinn from College Station’s A&M Consolidated went 2 for 6 and 21 yards and in the last seconds completed a pass to Keon Furtch to win the game for the Offense.

Terrence McCoy led the receiving end catching seven passes for 90 yards. Along with Furtch’s game-winning catch, touchdown passes were caught by Kenric McNeil and Uzoma Nwachukwu.

The Aggie football team starts their season September 4 at home against the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks.

Aggie Equestrian Western Riders claim National Championship

The Texas A&M Equestrian western team nabbed their second-straight and eighth-overall national championship in Waco.

The riders took the title with a 6-2 win over Kansas State. Senior Maggie Gratny ended her Aggie career in style taking the equestrian program’s first-ever individual title in reining. Gratny finished her collegiate career with 46 wins and 15 MVP honors.

Senior Caroline Gunn took home an individual title in horsemanship beating teammate Carey Nowacek by just two-and-a-half points. Gunn finishes her collegiate career 62-7-3 and nabbing six national titles (three western team titles and three individual titles).

Weekend of home runs help Softball storm past Cyclones

A weekend that saw four Aggie home runs helped the team nab its first road sweep in conference play, beating Iowa State 4-2 on Saturday and run-ruling the Cyclones 9-1 on Sunday.

Saturday saw hits leaving the yard from freshman Meagan May and senior Alex Reynolds. Sunday’s two long balls came courtesy of freshman Sydney Shannon and junior Kelsey Spittler.

Saturday’s bomb by Meagan May was her 18th of the season putting her tied for first for A&M’s single-season home run record.

Freshman pitcher Melissa Dumezich got both weekend wins in the circle for the Aggies. In a total of nine and two-thirds innings as pitcher, Dumezich allowed only one run across and had a total of five strikeouts in the two games.

The softball team will return home to the Aggie Softball Complex for their last weekend home series when they host Missouri. Senior Day will be during the game Sunday at 2pm honoring outfielder Bailey Schroeder, and infielders Macie Morrow and Alex Reynolds.

Golf slams competition in only home invitational

The nationally-ranked Texas A&M golf team hosted its Aggie Invitational at the Traditions Club in Bryan and dominated the competition and nabbing a 21-shot victory. Texas A&M finished the tournament 38-below par while the top ranked team entering the weekend, Oklahoma State, finished 17-under par.

Aggies landed five of the top six individual spots in the tournament that included ranked teams Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas Tech and TCU.

College Station’s very own Jordan Russell picked up his first career tournament win finishing 10-under par. Russell nabbed the victory just one shot from teammate Geoff Shaw.

The Aggies travel to the Big 12 Championship hosted at the Whispering Pines Golf Course next weekend in Trinity, Texas.

By Cody Lillich

You may be glancing at this story thinking why are we even mentioning golf? Well the act last weekend by the PGA’s Brian Davis goes well beyond golf and could apply to any sport.

We often see commercials about courtesy and honesty featuring athletes admitting they committed a foul/penalty, despite the infraction not being called by officials, but have we ever seen it done on the court or on the field? I know I’ve never seen it, and if something usually happens, the excuse is typically ‘well it’s okay if the referee/umpire didn’t call it.’ That argument may be true, but a move in the golfing world could serve as a huge lesson to fans, athletes and coaches everywhere.

Last weekend, Davis, who has never won a PGA tournament, was on a playoff hole after being tied with Jim Furyk at the Verizon Heritage Tournament in South Carolina. Davis’ shot went a bit off, hit some rocks, and landed in some sand near some reeds.

Davis’ shot after that is where he will be known as the face of honesty in a sport that needs a better image after all the Tiger saga.

On his backswing of the shot, Davis’ club barely nicked a reed, which is a violation of the PGA rules. Knowing he had done so, he called the PGA tournament director over to report it and to have it reviewed.

The PGA looked at the video and saw the rule stating a player cannot move a “loose impediment.” The two-shot penalty was enforced, basically taking the victory away from Davis.

If you think this honesty is just something over two shots, you’re very wrong. Furyk took away nearly $1.03 million from the victory, while Davis earned $615,000.

But Davis did not just earn the money from the victory but maybe he will turn some heads and give a real life example to athletes, coaches and fans to admit when you’ve done wrong. Davis’ self-report might have cost him his first victory and $400,000, but the class he showed and the respect he gained from the sporting world will be paying off for a long time to come.

By Turner Dawson | MAROON WEEKLY

The Texas A&M baseball team had a rough week as they dropped all four games. The Aggies started the week with a 6-1 loss at TCU before dropping all three games in their weekend series with archrival Texas.

The Aggies were playing some tough competition this week but this was a big opportunity to for them to show what kind of a team they are and that they belong in the discussion as one of the top teams in the country. What happened instead was they solidified their status as a middle of the road team.

It appeared that the Aggie batters felt that actually hitting the ball was more of suggestion than a necessity. The Aggies did manage to get 8 hits against TCU but they still only got one run out of it. In game one against Texas the Aggies again got eight hits with three runs this time and lost in 11 innings. In game two, the Aggies got all of one hit and were shut out. And in game three the Aggies had 4 hits and again scored no runs.

Getting five hits and no runs over a two game stretch isn’t just embarrassing, it’s unacceptable. Texas has a very talented pitching staff, so they deserve some credit too. But scoring three runs total in a three game series when those games mean so much to this team is unbelievable.

The pitching was marginally better than the hitting. The Aggies have struggled all season to find someone that could get something going in the middle of the week and continue to struggle. The Aggies used six different pitchers in their loss to TCU, none of which pitched more than two innings, including starter Nick Fleece.

Barrett Loux has been about the only guy in the starting rotation this season that has been able to get it done. Loux has been downright dominant at times, but even getting consistency from the other guys has been a struggle. Freshman Michael Wacha has had a great season but even he gave up six runs in game two against Texas.

The Aggies are now sitting at sixth place in the Big 12. Before this week it was looking as if the Aggies might even be able to challenge for the Big 12 Championship but those hopes have all but disappeared after the series against Texas.

The Aggies will prepare to play another fairly daunting schedule as they will play host to Oklahoma on the weekend for a three-game series.

It will be crucial for the Aggies to improve in virtually every area. They must find some sort of answer at the leadoff position. The week before last it looked as though Coach Childress had found the answer in true freshman Brandon Wood but then he went 0-17 for the week and has since lost that role.

Last week, Childress tried Brodie Greene there, and then tried Andrew Collazo, and then Matt Juengel. Among those three, the Aggies managed two hits from the leadoff position in four games. If the Aggies can’t get guys on base, they will continue having issues getting runs.

But it doesn’t end with the leadoff batter, whoever that might be. Andrew Collazo has been an everyday player all season long but has been batting just .252. He has to find a way to get on base more often and use his speed.

Another thing the Aggies must improve on is their defense. It has been an issue all season long and even ended up losing a game for the Aggies this weekend. In game one against the Longhorns, Caleb Shofner misplayed a groundball that should have gotten the Aggies out of the inning and resulted in the win for the Longhorns. The Aggies had nine errors in the four games this week alone. It has been a rough year and a particularly rough week in that area.

On the pitching side of things, Loux has been great and John Stilson has been dominant out of the bullpen. But somebody else needs to step up and be counted on to consistently get batters out. Clayton Ehlert, Shane Minks, Nick Fleece and Ross Stripling are all names that Aggie fans have expected more from this season. Hopefully these guys can step up and deliver like they have shown they are capable of in the past.

If the Aggies can get some better pitching and get a little more action from their bats, the Aggies could have a very good week. The Aggie are going to need to perform very well and get quite a bit of help if they have any hopes for trying to improve their standings.

Men’s & Women’s Tennis continues to roll in Big 12

The Aggie women’s tennis team won against Oklahoma State 6-1 last weekend in Stillwater, Okla.

Texas A&M won two of the three doubles matches and then won five of the six singles matches (three were won in straight-sets and two were come-from-behind victories in three sets).

Women’s head coach Bobby Kleinecke is now chasing a 400-win milestone and can have the chance to meet that mark with matches against Iowa State on Friday at 6p.m. and against Nebraska on Saturday at 4p.m.

On the men’s side, the Aggies squeaked by Texas Tech in Lubbock, 4-3 on Sunday.

A&M had to catch back up in the game after Tech took the doubles point winning two of the three matches.

But the singles play by the Aggies would put the team on top with wins by All-American Austin Krajicek, Jeff Dadamo, Alexey Gregorov and Marcus Lunt.

The Aggies have now recorded 20 wins, making it the first team to do so in head coach Steve Denton’s career at Texas A&M.

Spring Football Game set for Saturday

Aggie football coach Mike Sherman and his football team will be taking to the field for the annual Maroon and White Game, April 17.

Before the game an autograph session with the players and coaches will take place in the Gilliam Indoor Track Facility from 10a.m.-11a.m. At 11:30a.m., like on normal Aggie game days, the Aggie Fan Zone opens.

The team will also be inviting two students to act as guest coaches during the game. At halftime, fans will again be asked to choose their pick for which player will represent the 12th Man in the season opener.

Athletic Director Bill Byrne will also deliver the State of the Department Address in the Gilliam Indoor Track Facility at 11a.m Saturday.

Soccer finishes spring schedule with a duo of wins

The Aggie soccer team concluded its spring exhibition schedule with two wins over the University of Houston and Southern Methodist University.

A&M picked up a 4-0 win over the Houston Cougars in a 70-minute match, and beat the SMU Mustangs 4-1 in a full-length 90-minute exhibition match.

The Aggies finished up the off-season schedule with a record in 10-1-1. The team outscored their opponents 50-10 in their twelve games.

Aggie basketball player drafted by WNBA’s Seattle Storm

Texas A&M’s Tanisha Smith was selected by the Seattle Storm in the 2010 WNBA Draft.

Smith was the 22nd overall pick in the draft, matching the number on her jersey during her time at A&M. She will join a Storm team that features former Connecticut All-Americans Sue Bird and Swin Cash.

The Storm also picked up Iowa State’s Alison Lacey in the first round and Hungarian Tijana Krivacevic.

Smith is the second-highest and sixth all-time Aggie to be picked up in the WNBA. The Aggie women’s basketball program has had a player picked up in the WNBA the past three years.

More National titles roll in for A&M Sport Club Teams

Two more Texas A&M Sport Club teams brought back national championships to Aggieland last weekend.

The Aggie Men’s Polo team took home the 2010 United States Polo Association Intercollegiate National Championship with a win over the University of Virginia.

The Aggie gymnastics team had another good showing in the NAIGC National Meet, held this year in San Marcos.

The men’s team came in second place, while the women took home the national championship for the fourth time.

Football hosts Pigskin Palooza for students

By Cody Lillich | MAROON WEEKLY

Texas A&M Students will get the chance to be up close with their the football team Thursday as a part of the team’s first-ever Pigskin Palooza at Kyle Field.

Students can watch team practice beginning at 4p.m. and also enjoy other fun activities, food and chances to enter prize drawings. During the practice, students are encouraged to line up along the track surrounding the field.

Coach Mike Sherman said after practice the team will hold drawings for various prizes such as bench passes for home games, a white throwback helmet, and a personalized 12th Man jersey.

Also after the practice, players will break off into groups and allow current A&M students to practice their skills in what the team is calling the College Football Experience.

“This is similar to the Youth Experience we had earlier in the spring with the youngsters in the community,” Sherman said. “The students can do various drills with our position groups, maybe catch passes from Jerrod Johnson, throw TD passes to E.Z. (Uzoma Nwachukwu) or Jeff Fuller or do some drills with Von Miller coming off of the edge as a blitzing linebacker.”

Gates will open at 3:30p.m. on Thursday, with the first 250 to show their Student ID getting a free food coupon. Food and drinks will be discounted on sale for all other attendees to the event.

]]> http://maroonweekly.com/2010/04/football-hosts-pigskin-palooza-for-students/feed/ 0