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Sports | Football 1000

SPORTS

Nick Simmons named Big Ten champ

Chris Meagher
March 14, 2005

Nick Simmons won his first Big Ten Championship, and four Spartans qualified for the NCAA Championships on March 5-6 at the Big Ten Championships in Iowa City, Iowa. MSU finished eighth out of the 11 Big Ten schools, and Illinois won its first Big Ten Championship since 1952. At the NCAA Championships starting Thursday, Simmons will be joined by his brother, sophomore Andy Simmons, and juniors Darren McKnight and R.J.

ICE HOCKEY

Thelen ousted from team for not meeting expectations

Eric Fish
March 14, 2005

A.J. Thelen was dismissed from the MSU hockey team for failing to meet student-athlete expectations, head coach Rick Comley announced March 6. Comley said scratching Thelen in the Spartans' victory over Notre Dame on March 4 wasn't his first choice, but that he couldn't address the situation more thoroughly at that point in time. Two days later, Comley announced Thelen had been dismissed.

SPORTS

Tournament Champions

Chris Barsotti
March 14, 2005

Indianapolis - For the first time in school history, the No. 7 MSU women's basketball team found its way to the championship game of the Big Ten Tournament and won it, defeating Minnesota, 55-49. The win marked a school-record 12th victory in a row and 10th overall against ranked opponents. The Spartans found themselves in three different types of games: overtime in the quarterfinal game, a shootout in the semifinal game and a defensive battle in the championship. And the Spartans met every challenge presented to them. MSU (28-3 overall, 14-2 Big Ten) played catch-up down the stretch of the second half of the championship game and were finally able to take the lead with less than two minutes remaining in the game.

ICE HOCKEY

Icers head to Super Six on 5-game streak

Eric Fish
March 14, 2005

The inconsistency with the MSU hockey team has been the inability to pick up series sweeps, with the exception of the sweep over Ferris State, which came in early November. Currently, the Spartans (19-15-4 overall) are riding a five-game winning streak after sweeping Notre Dame on March 4 and 5 to clinch home ice in the first-round CCHA playoffs.

SPORTS

Winter's big 3 sports to fuel excitement in tourney plays

To steal a marketing line from the Detroit Pistons: It's time. It's time for MSU's three biggest winter sports - men's basketball, women's basketball and hockey - to put behind all that has not gone right for the teams in the past and make an impact in its respective postseason tournaments. This will prove to be as big of a week as they come for MSU athletics, as two of the three teams have a long and detailed history of not being able to win when it matters most. When you look at the list of accomplishments for two of the senior classes, it's not pretty. The men's team has an Elite Eight appearance under its belt in the 2002-03 season, but other than that, team accomplishments have been few and far between, with losses in the first round of the NCAA Tournament sandwiched in between. For the hockey team, since Rick Comley took over the reins, the team has won nothing but this year's Great Lakes Invitational with two riveting victories over New Hampshire and Michigan. The biggest successes of the three teams goes to the women's basketball team, which has been steadily climbing to the top since this year's senior class was freshmen. MSU made it to the WNIT semifinals in its first year, lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and lost to then-No.

FOOTBALL

Hundley to remain at UTEP over Spartans

Kristi Jourdan
March 14, 2005

MSU football head coach John L. Smith hired Texas-El Paso defensive coordinator Tim Hundley to fill the assistant coaching position, but Hundley reversed his decision to come to MSU due to family reasons. Hundley was scheduled to arrive in East Lansing on today but now Smith must find another replacement in time for spring football. Hundley's original decision was based on a larger salary, but UTEP head coach Mike Price convinced him to reconsider.

SPORTS

Fans come to Indy in support for Spartans

Megan Homanick
March 14, 2005

Indianapolis - The roars rang through Conseco Fieldhouse from the hundreds of MSU fans, as Big Ten Conference Commissioner Jim Delany announced the first-ever Big Ten Tournament Championship to the MSU women's basketball team. Among those fans yelling and screaming was the Fast Break Club, a sponsored group that came to Indianapolis hoping to see a Big Ten Tournament title run by the No.

SPORTS

WEB-ONLY: Wrestling team heads to Iowa for Big Ten Championships

Chris Meagher
March 4, 2005

The No. 20 MSU wrestling team will head to Iowa this weekend, facing some stiff competition in the 2005 Big Ten Championships, hosted by Iowa. The Spartans will have their work cut out for them, with eight Big Ten schools ranked in front of the Spartans. MSU (7-6-1 overall, 4-3-1 Big Ten) faces another setback as it will be without 184-pound redshirt freshman Joe Williams, due to a nagging knee injury. "He's probably going to have surgery in another week or so," MSU head coach Tom Minkel said.

SPORTS

Q&A player of the week: R. J. Boudro

Chris Meagher
March 3, 2005

The junior was named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week after pummeling Oklahoma's Brad Martens 18-5 on Friday to improve his 2004-05 record to 16-5. The State News: How do you feel you've been wrestling recently? Boudro: Real good.

ICE HOCKEY

Friday dubbed Senior Night

Eric Fish
March 3, 2005

Senior captain Jim Slater joked that if not for his teammates, he wouldn't have any friends. Slater, along with six others who have dedicated significant time and effort to MSU hockey, will formally say goodbye Friday at Senior Night. Slater, Kevin Estrada, Ash Goldie, Mike Lalonde, Matt Migliaccio, Adam Nightingale and Rod Tocco will take the traditional lap around Munn Ice Arena before the Spartans play host to Notre Dame at 7:05 p.m. The seniors will be honored for their dedication to MSU hockey and also will take time to briefly reflect on their hockey careers and the friendships they made along the way. "These guys in my class are my best friends here now, and I hope for the most part we at least stay in touch," Lalonde said. Lalonde and Estrada even have plans of starting their own hunting and fishing business sometime down the road in Canada. "We've talked about getting together a fishing-hunting type, lodge-type system where we take people out and guide them around the province in (British Columbia), maybe even in Alberta to go hunting and fishing," Lalonde said. The seniors all agree the past four years have gone by quickly. "I knew I was coming to one of the better programs in the country for hockey as well as educational purposes," Goldie said of his expectations for the MSU hockey system. "It's a great experience.

BASKETBALL

Spartans' opponent fighting for NIT spot

Brian Charlton
March 2, 2005

MSU head coach Tom Izzo picked Northwestern as his sleeper team this year in the Big Ten. Although the Wildcats (14-13 overall, 6-8 Big Ten) have struggled with injuries and chemistry, they still are fighting for an NIT spot. "We've been hit by injuries and a lot of other things," Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody said.

SPORTS

McCallie named Coach of the Year

Chris Barsotti
March 2, 2005

MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie shared the honor of Big Ten Coach of the Year after she led her team to a record of 25-3, an MSU record for wins. She was named Coach of the Year by the media and Ohio State head coach Jim Foster was named Coach of the Year by the coaches. "The Coach of the Year award is really a program of the year award," McCallie said.

BASKETBALL

Izzo pleased with Bograkos

Matt Bishop
March 1, 2005

Tim Bograkos always has been a favorite of MSU head coach Tom Izzo. But lately, the senior guard has been garnering even more praise from his coach for his hard work and determination. "He's probably the hardest working, toughest player that we've got the last three or four years," Izzo said.

SPORTS

Women's track team finishes in 6th place

Esther Gim
March 1, 2005

The MSU women's track and field team came in sixth place at the Big Ten Indoor Championships in Ann Arbor. Michigan finished first, and Illinois and Minnesota were second and third place, respectively. Sophomore Cynetheia Rooks had an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 54.25 in the 400-meter dash, an event she also won.

BASKETBALL

Indiana's nonconference play pays off

Brian Charlton
February 28, 2005

Bloomington, Ind. - MSU head coach Tom Izzo wouldn't suggest to anyone in the world to play the type of schedule his team did last year. After playing Kansas, Duke, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Syracuse and UCLA in the nonconference conference, the Spartans lost all six games heading into the Big Ten. But although the schedule stripped his team of a lot of confidence, Izzo suggested that the experience of tough, close games would help MSU. That's one reason that Izzo knew Sunday's game against Indiana, an NCAA Tournament bubble team, would be a nail-biter. "Indiana is a good enough team.

SPORTS

Win over Badgers will mean a lot more

The Izzone student section's ritual when the opposing team's players are being introduced before a game is to hold up newspapers and yell, "Who cares?" But before Thursday's game against Wisconsin, the chant was somewhat subdued. Everyone in the building cared about this game.