LSC Roundup 8-11

Mustangs sloppy on fourth day of workouts
The heat started getting to the Midwestern State Mustangs during Monday’s fourth day of preseason practice and that helped account for the team’s worst day of workouts so far.

“It got sloppy early, then we came back strong,” MSU head coach Bill Maskill said. “But then we got tired and sloppy at the end. It was a little hotter today and not as much wind.

“We had some interceptions, some fumbles and some dropped balls. That comes from a lack of focus. And that’s what happens when you’re not in good condition. The mind gets tired, too.”

East Central now a more attractive place to play
When Travis Reust gives a tour of East Central University’s shiny new Pat O’Neal Strength and Conditioning Center, the love shows.

Reust, an ECU alum who has worked on the staffs at several Division I universities, is entering his third year as the strength and conditining coordinator at his alma mater, and with the completion of the O’Neal Center this summer, his job suddenly became a lot more fun. And that’s saying something for a guy who enjoys his work as much as anybody you’ll ever meet.

“Nobody in our conference is going to beat us on facilities now,” Reust said Thursday, just a few minutes after leading the 2009 Tiger football team in stretching exercises prior to its first preseason practice. “This is as nice as a lot of Division I schools.”

LSC Fall Sports Preview Series: Central Oklahoma
(This is the first of a 15-part series, analyzing the fall sports of each school in the Lone Star Conference. Today will feature the University of Central Oklahoma.)

Football
When Tracy Holland took over as head coach last season, it didn't look like he would make an initial boost to a program that was 12-19 in the previous three years.

But after an 0-4 start that included three straight conference losses, Holland and the Bronchos not only managed to turn things around, but UCO won seven straight games to claim its first LSC North title since 2004, while Holland was named North Division Coach of the Year.

Just like that, expectations have been raised to the highest level again in Edmond. And Holland and his staff wouldn't want it any other way.

Adams Shines on International Stage
Angelo State's Aisha Adams had little expectations that her arrival in San Angelo last fall would lead her over sees and to the Thorpe Cup, an international multi-event competition between the United States and Germany.

The Covington, Tenn., native earned her right to compete internationally earlier this summer with an eighth place finish in the heptathlon at the U.S. Nationals in Eugene, Ore. Adams and 10 other representatives from the United States competed Aug. 8-9 at the annual event, this year held in Marburg, Germany.

Adams was the second-highest scoring American in the heptathlon with 5,616 points, 20 points shy of her personal best set in Oregon in June. That mark is the third-highest point in the event in school history behind her mark at the U.S. Nationals (5,636) and school-record holder Amber Miller (5,670, 2003).