The Lansing Lugnuts didn't have much to play for in their final two games of the first half of The Midwest League season, after being eliminated from the playoffs by virtue of losing 2-1 at Fort Wayne on Friday. However, Lansing (37-32) didn't let that get in the way of winning the final two games of the first half, including a 4-3 win Sunday afternoon.
With less than three months until the season opening game against Kent State, the $64 million Spartan Stadium addition continues to take shape. "This isn't only to benefit the people who can afford the (suite and club level seating)," Associate Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Greg Ianni said.
There's no question that baseball is an international sport, but most of the players who are not speaking English are conversing in Spanish instead. More and more, however, there are players coming from other areas, especially the Far East - home to Lugnuts pitchers Chi-Hung Cheng and Po-Hsuan Keng. "The biggest transition for some of the American players, English-speaking players, is that there are players from other cultures, and they have no idea what these guys are all about," manager Ken Joyce said.
MSU senior Mike Palmer ended in 13th place in the pole vault at the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Sacramento, Calif., on Friday. Palmer struggled through the competition.
MSU redshirt junior Mickie Rzepka finished 10th in the pole vault finals at the NCAA Track and Field Outdoor Championships in Sacramento, Calif.
At this year's National Athletic Trainers Association convention, June 12-16 in Indianapolis, MSU athletic trainers Dave Carrier and Dr. John Powell will receive the 2005 Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award. The award will be given to 18 trainers from across the country and is one of the NATA's highest honors. Carrier was just inducted into the Michigan Athletic Trainer's Hall of Fame on May 19 for his outstanding work as MSU Hockey's head trainer.
MSU freshman Ryan Sontag has been named to the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American team by Collegiate Baseball newspaper.
With only seven games left before the end of the first half of the season, the Lansing Lugnuts needed all the wins they could get - and they got one Sunday against the Dayton Dragons, winning 7-2. "Hopefully we can get things put together and try to get more wins than the team we're chasing," Lugnuts' manager Ken Joyce said. The Lugnuts (33-29) started the day one game behind the Fort Wayne Wizards for the final playoff spot in the East Division.
After a grueling series in the Eastern Conference Finals, "The Champs" are still standing, after KO-ing a worthy challenger in Miami. Here are the mock letters, one from the fans of Miami to the fans of Detroit and one from Pistons fans to Heat fans: Dear Pistons fans, We wanted to congratulate you on your team's win Monday night here in the "Red Zone;" it was truly impressive. I guess we were foolish to think that just because we signed Shaquille O'Neal in the offseason that we would own the Eastern Conference title - at least at season's end.
Wrestling has always been part of Nick Simmons' life. The MSU wrestler didn't discover the sport in junior high or high school like many kids.
Redshirt junior Mickie Rzepka will compete in the pole vault for the MSU women's track and field team at this year's NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Sacramento, Calif., on Thursday.
The MSU hockey team announced in late May that they named former Spartans player Rob Woodward as volunteer assistant coach for the upcoming season. "I believe Rob will be a good fit for our program," MSU head coach Rick Comley said in a written statement.
Senior Mike Palmer and junior Mark Langlois will compete in the Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Sacramento, Calif., starting Wednesday. There are 27 athletes entered in the competition, 20 of them qualified based on their regional marks and the other seven will compete based on scores from earlier in the season. Both Palmer and Langlois are in the tournament because of their performances in the regional competition. Palmer had a vault of 17 feet, 3/4 inches, which puts him in 20th place going into the competition, and teammate Langlois enters the field with a mark of 16 feet, 7 1/4 inches, which ranks him in a tie for the 26th spot. MSU has had two previous All-American pole vaulters.
The defending NBA Champion Detroit Pistons will have a chance to defend their title, after beating the Miami Heat, 88-82. Richard Hamilton led the Pistons with 22 points on 11-16 shooting; he added seven assists and three rebounds.
Senior Women's Crew member Erin Robertson was named a 2005 Pocock All-American first-team selection on Friday. Robertson, a native of Middleville, Mich., was selected to the team by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association and is one of 20 members honored by the group.
MSU Hockey recruit and incoming freshman goalie Jeff Lerg will be honored with two awards at the 2005 USA Hockey Annual Congress, held June 8-12. Lerg will receive the Dave Peterson Goalie of the Year and USA Hockey Junior Player of the Year awards. The first award is a goaltender chosen from the pool of goalies who attended the USA Hockey National Goaltenders Camp and the USA Hockey Select 16 and Select 17 festivals.
On Friday, MSU senior runner Nathan Egger and senior pole vaulter Mike Palmer were named to the 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV University Division Men's Track and Field/Cross Country first team.
MSU Men's Golf senior Andrew Ruthkoski, sophomore Matt Harmon and freshman Ryan Brehm were chosen for the PING All-Midwest Region Team on Friday. All three are now eligible for the PING All-America team honors as selected by the American Golf Coaches Association of America. Harmon, Ruthkoski and Brehm played in all 11 events for the Spartans this season, recording the second, fourth and fifth lowest stroke averages in school history, respectively. Harmon led the team with a 72.53 stroke average, which was second only to former Spartan Eric Jorgensen's 72.00 average from 2002.
Spartan men's head basketball coach Tom Izzo announced Wednesday that Jim Boylen has been hired as an assistant coach. Boylen returns to the same university that he coached at in previous years.
Michigan State men's soccer coach Joe Baum announced the addition of four new recruits to the Spartan fall 2005 team. The Spartans are hoping these new additions will help fill the holes of the departed seniors.