To say it was one heckuva semester around the MSU sports family would be like saying Wile E. Coyote has a little bit of trouble catching the Road Runner.
We all know about the triumphs of the MSU basketball and hockey teams, as they both went to their respective final fours in the same year for the second time in three years.
However, there were some great moments in some of the smaller sports that were sometimes overshadowed by the feats of the basketball and hockey teams that should not be overlooked.
From women’s track star Sherita Williams in the triple jump, to divers Summer Mitchell and Carly Weiden, to men’s pole vaulting sensation Paul Terek, to gymnasts Brad Golden and Jonathan Plante - these athletes made it an even more memorable few months for Spartan athletics.
And in the wake of the athletics department’s decision to drop a program that finished sixth in the nation this year, Golden and Plante will have to win Big Ten titles in another school’s colors next year. What a shame.
A last-ditch effort was made by the team to the Board of Trustees last week, but it appears as if its fate is sealed.
Please, Board of Trustees and Athletics Director Clarence Underwood, don’t drop a program that is a symbol for all Spartan programs in terms of athletic and academic success.
Title IX can be balanced in other ways.
When you take away a program like men’s gymnastics, you take away the spirit of all the smaller sports and those future Spartans who aspire to represent the green and white in other ways than shooting a basketball or making a tackle.
Take senior 133-pound wrestler Pat McNamara’s performance at the NCAA championships in March, for example.
After finishing fifth and sixth at the past two NCAA meets, the Jordan, Minn., native was hoping to be at the top in Iowa.
But his hope was lost after McNamara suffered a knee injury and was entering Saturday’s matches in hopes of finishing in third place.
In obvious pain during both his matches that morning, the referee had to stop the action while McNamara screamed in agony over the injury. At one point during his fifth-place match, he was reduced to tears.
But despite the pain of not being able to achieve his dream and the injury that went with it, McNamara kept fighting like a true champion to the end.
He never quit and he never made excuses.
McNamara may have finished sixth, but the way he finished out his brilliant career was a sight for all young athletes in all sports to see.
He may not have left Iowa a champion, but he left epitomizing the image of a true Spartan warrior.
