LSC Roundup 8-12

Mustangs have plenty to build on with offensive front
When building a house, a solid foundation is necessary. The same is true for a football team. And it doesn’t hurt if the players that make up that foundation are as big as houses. That’s what Midwestern State offensive line coach Brian Natkin is working with as the Mustangs get ready for the 2009 football season.

“We’ve got four seniors in the starting lineup and they’re able to provide a great deal of leadership,” said Natkin, who played collegiately at UTEP and professionally with the Tennessee Titans. “One of their strengths is their experience. They’ve played a lot of football games, and they’ve played a lot of football games together. It’s crucial having guys that have been there, that have experience. They can pass on to the rest of the team what to expect. There are usually no surprises for them.”

The starting front line is made up of the four seniors and one junior. They average 6-4 and 309 pounds across the front and started 39 games last season, playing in 43 of 50 games.

Assistant AD Bailey leaving UCO
A long Central Oklahoma athletic department career will come to an end soon after Senior Associate Athletic Director Chuck Bailey announced his resignation Tuesday.

Bailey will leave UCO August 24 to become District Athletic Director at Mustang Public Schools after 26 years with the Bronchos, most of that as an assistant football coach.

“I’m excited about accepting this new challenge at Mustang and appreciate the opportunity,” Bailey said. “It’s a great school system with a long history of athletic success and I look forward to it. At the same time, it was a very difficult decision to leave UCO. I’m indebted to the university for my entire professional career in athletics and I can’t thank President Webb enough for what he has done for me. I’ve made a lot of great friends at UCO over the past 20-some years and I’ll always be a Broncho.”

“Chuck Bailey’s name has been synonymous with UCO Athletics for more than two decades,” said UCO Athletic Director Joe Muller. “Chuck has been a great ambassador for UCO Athletics. We appreciate his contributions to the department and wish him well in his new position.”

LSC Fall Sports Preview Series: Eastern New Mexico
Despite not winning an LSC South Division game in two full seasons, optimism and excitement are running high in Portales. Fourth-year head coach Mark Ribaudo and his coaching staff not only fought through the rigors of changing systems on both offense and defense, but played an abundance of freshmen.

Ribaudo is counting on a more polished, experienced group this season, despite the lack of senior leadership.

Click here to see video from LSC Football Media Day

"We only have 12 seniors on our squad this year, and we don't have any senior starters on offense," Ribaudo said. "We don't even have a senior on the offensive depth chart. Offensively, we're going to be a junior-sophomore team. We keep growing but the beautiful thing is we're not learning this offense anymore. That's a big, big difference from a coaching point of view."

SWO Golfer Qualifies for U.S. Amateur
BURLESON, Texas - Brad Leeper, who will be a senior on the Southwestern Oklahoma State University golf team, qualified for the 108th United States Amateur Championship last month. Leeper shot rounds of 74 and 71 to finish with a one-over-par 145 and in second place at a sectional qualifying tournament at Southern Oaks Country Club in Burleson, Texas.

Leeper, a native of Arlington, Texas, is one of 312 golfers from across the United States who earned a berth for the event scheduled for Tulsa's Southern Hills Golf from Aug. 24-28. Leeper's score was bettered by one other golfer, TCU junior Scott Roudebush who shot a 143, one-under par. He is one of only two Lone Star Conference golfers to have qualified for the event. Central Oklahoma's Colby Shrum was the other conference golfer earning a spot through qualification at an Oklahoma City tournament.

"What Brad has done and will do is big, not only for himself but for SWOSU and the golf program," said head coach Mark Lumpkin.

Baseball Team Signs 13
WEATHERFORD, Okla. - The Southwestern Oklahoma State University baseball program has secured written letters of agreement from 13 players who have declared their intention to join the team, announced head coach Scott Selby. The latest SWOSU baseball class is composed of five high school standouts and seven from a previous college. Five are from the state of Oklahoma while the remainder are from California, Arizona, Texas and Tennessee.

The signees include pitchers Jared Bowser, Shane Martin, Tyler Overton, Kyle Sayers, Darren Winsett, , John (Red) Patterson and Chris Rogers. There are also infielders Michael Felton and Kevin Cantrell, outfielders, Reggie York, Nate Coleman and catcher Chris Stevenson. All signees officially enroll at SWOSU in the fall of 2009 with the Bulldogs beginning their season in the spring of 2010.

"We're very excited about this class," Selby said. "They are all very talented and athletic with a lot of potential. I don't think you can ever have too much pitching and (the signing class is) particularly strong in that area," Selby said. "I think offensively we have improved by adding for more speed in the outfield while getting a number of players who can play different positions in the infield."

Bronchos Hold Brief Scrimmage
EDMOND (Aug. 10) -- Central Oklahoma ended its first day of full-pad workouts with a spirited 45-minute scrimmage Monday at Wantland Stadium as the Bronchos continue preparations for the 2009 season."We came out of the scrimmage pretty pleased as a coaching staff as far as where we're at compared to where we were at this time last year," said head coach Tracy Holland.

"We got in a lot of reps and saw some good things. The key thing for us as far as any scrimmage is evaluating it and using it to move your team forward."

ACU hires new track coach
ABILENE, Texas (Aug. 7) – For only the second time in the last 71 years, ACU has hired a track and field coach with no background with the school as director of athletics Jared Mosley on Friday tabbed former Grambling and Virginia Tech head coach Roosevelt Lofton to be the Wildcats' new head track and field coach.

Lofton – a 1984 graduate of Temple – succeeds Don D. Hood, who resigned in June after four seasons as the Wildcats' head coach. Lofton is the 17th head coach in school history, and joins Jon Murray as the only ACU head coaches since 1938 who didn't graduate or compete for the Wildcats. Murray, the head coach in 2000 and from 2002-05, graduated from Harding University.

Prior to Murray becoming the head coach in 2000, the last ACU track and field head coach that didn't graduate from ACU or compete for the Wildcats was A.B. Morris in 1938.

"We are very excited to have Roosevelt and his family join us here at ACU," Mosley said. "Through the search process, Roosevelt's experience and reputation as a technician in working with student-athletes and as a personable recruiter set him apart. His desire to build on the competitive successes here at ACU and to positively impact the lives of the men and women in his program will be a great fit on our current coaching staff."