Tuesday, May 22, 2018

NCAA Spring Championship Week

Breaking News
Newman Steps Down as UT Permian Basin Men’s Basketball Coach - UTPB Website
Men's basketball coach Andy Newman has announced his resignation after five seasons at the helm at UT Permian Basin to accept the head coach position at California State University– San Bernardino.

"This is the hardest decision I've had to make in my professional career," said Newman. The people at UTPB are really special. I've had an incredible time working with Dr. Woodley and Scott Farmer. They're two of the best in the business. There are so many great memories, between the run we made this year in the NCAA Tournament and making the Sweet 16, last year winning the Lone Star Conference. But my favorite memory I'll take away is our banquet from this past year. Seeing all the faces of the people that have come behind the program, our players, my family, and watching the support of this community grow to the level it has. There are no words to express how much I'm going to miss all of the people here."


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The 2017-2018 academic year is quickly coming to an end.  Several LSC schools are looking for national titles this week.

Softball
Angelo State is heading to Salem, Virginia for the second straight year.  Last year, the Rambelles finished as the runner-up, falling to Minnesota State 5-1.  It is the sixth trip to the NCAA Division II Championships overall for Angelo State, with the 2004 squad winning the national title.

Angelo State (52-7) is seeded #4 and will face #5 seed West Chester (45-13) on Thursday.  First pitch is estimated at 12:30.  The winner will face the winner of  top ranked North Georgia vs. Southern Indiana.

Listen Live

NCAA Bracket
Story from Angelo State Website
Another Story from Angelo State Website
Story from Lone Star Conference Website
Story from San Angelo Standard-Times - Amy McDaniel


Baseball
Texas A&M-Kingsville (41-15) will be making it's first ever appearance in the D2 College World Series.  The Javelinas won three elimination games, topping Colorado Mesa 12-5 in Sunday's South Central Region Championship Game.

Bracket play will begin Saturday, May 26 in Cary, North Carolina.  The time and opponent will be announced once the South Region Tournament has been completed.  They are a bit behind due to several weather delays.

NCAA Bracket (not yet live)
Story from Texas A&M-Kingsville Website
Story from Lone Star Conference Website





Track & Field
Perhaps the most exciting championship competition for the LSC as a whole is the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.  On the men's side, three LSC teams can be found in the top 6 in the most recent USTFCCCA rankings - #2 Texas A&M-Kingsville, #4 Texas A&M-Commerce and #6 Angelo State.  West Texas A&M (#13) and Eastern New Mexico (#20) are ranked as well.  The women are well represented with West Texas A&M ranked #2, Angelo State #6 and Texas A&M-Commerce at #15.

2017 Results
Live Scoring
Watch Live at www.NCAA.com
Qualifiers List
Story from TAMK
Story from Angelo State
Story from WTAM
Story from TAMC

Projections
Note: Our projections differ from the USTFCCCA rankings slightly.  Our projections take the season best performance of each participant and score them in same way they would be at the meet. (10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 for 1st through 8th).  The USTFCCCA rankings assign points for performances outside of the top 8 positions.

Women
1. Lincoln - 67 points
2. West Texas A&M - 41 points
3. Pittsburg State - 39 points
4. Adams State - 34 points
5. Azusa Pacific - 31 points
6. Angelo State - 30 points

Lincoln will likely pick up the majority of their points in sprints and team relays.  If they perform as expected, they should handily win the title.

Men
1. Texas A&M-Kingsville - 53 points
2. Pittsburg State - 51 points
3. Adams State - 48 points
4. (tie) Tiffin - 47 points
4. (tie) Texas A&M-Commerce - 47 points
6. Angelo State - 40 points

The Javelinas have the top marks in three events - Javier Lopez in the 110H, and Richard Cervantes in both the Shot Put and Discus.  Charles Greaves is second in the Long Jump and fourth in the Triple Jump and Vitaly Zhgun is fifth in the Javelin.  There is little margin for error, so they might have to steal points in events where they are currently outside the top 8, but close - 100, 800, 4x400 and decathlon. 

Pittsburg State is projected to score in nine events, more than any other school.  Like the Javelinas, they are strong in throws (24 points), but also have the top time in the 100 and 3rd best in the 200.  They should also score in the high jump, decathlon and 100H. 

Adams State is a long distance specialist - all of their projected points come from the 1500, 5000, 10000 and Steeplechase. 

Tiffin will battle with them for the top spot in the 5K and 10K.  Whoever comes out on top of those battles will have a shot at the overall title.

Texas A&M-Commerce is slated to score in just 5 events - Florian Obst in the decathlon and the 4x400 relay team have the top marks this season, Devonte Steele (2nd) in the triple jump, Rashard Clark (2nd) and D'Lance Sharp (3rd) in the 400M, and Malcolm Woods (4th) in the 100M.  They could steal some points in the 200M, 4x100, pole vault and long jump.

Angelo State will make some noise.  Nils Fischer has dominated this year in the javelin and has a nearly 6 meter margin over the second best mark this year.  Tyler Russel is tied for the best high jump this year.  In the decathlon, Harry Maslen (2nd) and Dragan Pecis (7th) will help the Rams totals.  Other expected scorers are Trivett Jones (4h) in the pole vault, Mason Myrick (5th) in the discus and Ben Thiel (8th) in the 400H.  The men's 4x400 is ninth, and could easily join the scoring club.

This could come to the final events of the meet - the 4x400, 5000, or 200.

We will update here as the meet progresses.

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