Heavy rains last Monday didn't deter first-year Lady Demon track and field coach Mike Heimerman from sending his team into practice outdoors. It wasn't cold and there's no comparison between the quality of an outdoor workout and practice inside of Prather Coliseum.
The question he faced was how mentally tough would his very, very young squad be?
"There was a fair share of whining at first, but once they all bought into the idea, we had a really, really good workout," he said. "That was a big step forward for us and I was real proud of them for bowing their necks and showing some toughness."
Rounding up a notepad on the track and field team heading into the NSU Relays...
... watch the women's 400 hurdles to see the first test of an experiment. Middle-distance runners Shannon Foley and Brittany Culotta have been training in the hurdles and will get their first competitive trials....
... Freshman Redd Williams has distance coach Haley Blount excited about how she might fare in the 3000 meter run. "Redd has had a very good training cycle since January," reported Heimerman....
... Dawn Comeaux is the headliner for the Lady Demons in the javelin, with a very impressive career already entering her senior year. Heimerman is pleased with the progress of two other throwers, returner Heather Neill and newcomer Kim Hudnall, and expects both to throw well Saturday ....
... assistant coach Dean Johnson is very upbeat about the Lady Demon sprint relay teams and believes a couple of newcomers, Amanda Freeman and Jasmin Christopher, are pushing for spots on the 4x100 and 4x400 relays ....
... the relays should be good this year for the Demons but they will be without two of their best on Saturday. Michael Batts and Mike Green will not run on the relays, and NSU will also have to go without Rashad Bolds in the meet, said men's coach Leon Johnson....
Doug Ireland, SID
Friday, March 14, 2008
Coach Davis home sick for SLC opener
Under doctor's orders, first-year Demon baseball coach J.P. Davis will join many NSU fans tracking the live stats for tonight's Southland Conference opener at Brown-Stroud Field against A&M-Corpus Christi.
Davis has a nasty Type B strain of the flu. So assistant coaches Jeff McCannon, Kelly Spann and Bobby Barbier will run the show. Have to guess that Barbier, a star catcher in high school, will be calling the pitches.
Davis has a nasty Type B strain of the flu. So assistant coaches Jeff McCannon, Kelly Spann and Bobby Barbier will run the show. Have to guess that Barbier, a star catcher in high school, will be calling the pitches.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Hello Bo
Nice halftime visit with Terrence "Bo" Rayford, one of the better players in school history in the late 1980s. He is very impressed with the Demons -- who isn't, right now -- and especially the agile Trey Gilder. Bo played several years of pro ball in Europe and the native Georgian is very happy at home in Houston. he plans to come back and watch the Demons if they advance.
Demons up 54-38 with 9:24 to go, with the ball.
Demons up 54-38 with 9:24 to go, with the ball.
Making it happen in Katy
Northwestern staffers past and current are helping stage the SLC Tournament at the Merrell Center in Katy.
We just finished watching yet another offbeat halftime contest staged, in part, by SLC administrative intern Chelsea Orton. Chelsea was a graduate assistant soccer coach at Northwestern each of the two previous years, helping NSU reach the 2005 NCAA Tournament.
It wasn't with the help of costumed mascots, or, as was just the case, with a UTSA student fan wearing body paint, boots, a cowboy hat, orange boxer shorts and a silly grin. Despite appearances, the Roadrunner rep was a pretty hot shot from outside.
Chelsea will sleep well at the end of this event. Hopefully Roadrunner Boy won't crop up in any of her dreams.
Also helping with the event management is current NSU marketing director Ryan Holloway.
Running the official stat program for each game in the tournament is NSU graduate and master's degree owner Erik Cox, who worked in the NSU sports info department as a student and graduate student while he convinced track/cross country star MaryAlyce Walsh to fall for him. They live in Houston with their kids. Erik grimaced at the exit of the Lady Demons from the tournament yesterday.
And the tournament director used to work at Northwestern. SLC associate commissioner Bruce Ludlow was assistant SID in 1993-94, handling publicity for, among other things, the Joskeen Garner-led Lady Demon basketball team and Jim Wells' last Demon baseball team. Bruce, who pitched in the NAIA World Series while at Southern Arkansas, truly defined the term "expert analyst" during the Demon Sports Network radio broadcasts from the NCAA Regionals in Stillwater that year.
In the stands tonight will be the current Lady Demon basketball team. They checked out of the hotel this afternoon and will return home overnight, but they haven't had many chances to see the Demons play, and this one matters most -- at least, hopefully, until tomorrow night's semifinals.
Also on hand is volleyball head coach Brittany Uffelman, who is in town this week recruiting. There's a huge volleyball tournament in Houston each year at this time.
Coach B was, until yesterday, quite the good luck charm for the Lady Demons. Each time coach Jennifer Graf invited her friend to speak to the team pregame, the Lady Demons won and played well -- until yesterday. We'll see if the Coach B Factor can at least retain its regular-season magic next year.
Doug Ireland, SID
We just finished watching yet another offbeat halftime contest staged, in part, by SLC administrative intern Chelsea Orton. Chelsea was a graduate assistant soccer coach at Northwestern each of the two previous years, helping NSU reach the 2005 NCAA Tournament.
It wasn't with the help of costumed mascots, or, as was just the case, with a UTSA student fan wearing body paint, boots, a cowboy hat, orange boxer shorts and a silly grin. Despite appearances, the Roadrunner rep was a pretty hot shot from outside.
Chelsea will sleep well at the end of this event. Hopefully Roadrunner Boy won't crop up in any of her dreams.
Also helping with the event management is current NSU marketing director Ryan Holloway.
Running the official stat program for each game in the tournament is NSU graduate and master's degree owner Erik Cox, who worked in the NSU sports info department as a student and graduate student while he convinced track/cross country star MaryAlyce Walsh to fall for him. They live in Houston with their kids. Erik grimaced at the exit of the Lady Demons from the tournament yesterday.
And the tournament director used to work at Northwestern. SLC associate commissioner Bruce Ludlow was assistant SID in 1993-94, handling publicity for, among other things, the Joskeen Garner-led Lady Demon basketball team and Jim Wells' last Demon baseball team. Bruce, who pitched in the NAIA World Series while at Southern Arkansas, truly defined the term "expert analyst" during the Demon Sports Network radio broadcasts from the NCAA Regionals in Stillwater that year.
In the stands tonight will be the current Lady Demon basketball team. They checked out of the hotel this afternoon and will return home overnight, but they haven't had many chances to see the Demons play, and this one matters most -- at least, hopefully, until tomorrow night's semifinals.
Also on hand is volleyball head coach Brittany Uffelman, who is in town this week recruiting. There's a huge volleyball tournament in Houston each year at this time.
Coach B was, until yesterday, quite the good luck charm for the Lady Demons. Each time coach Jennifer Graf invited her friend to speak to the team pregame, the Lady Demons won and played well -- until yesterday. We'll see if the Coach B Factor can at least retain its regular-season magic next year.
Doug Ireland, SID
Rooting for rivals
Nearly all of the NSU fans here in Houston for the SLC Tournament are in the stands cheering for McNeese right now.
Of course, they're really cheering for McNeese coach Dave Simmons, who was assistanc coach for the first seven years of Mike McConathy's ongoing tenure as the Demons' head coach.
Cowboys tied with Sam Houston 25-all at half, but McNeese had an 18-8 lead at one point.
Of course, they're really cheering for McNeese coach Dave Simmons, who was assistanc coach for the first seven years of Mike McConathy's ongoing tenure as the Demons' head coach.
Cowboys tied with Sam Houston 25-all at half, but McNeese had an 18-8 lead at one point.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Surprising postscript
OK, let's get it out of the way - a rough afternoon for the Lady Demons, and an inappropriate way for Tena Matthews, and fellow senior Ashli Barnum, to end their collegiate basketball careers.
They held court in the postgame interview room, waxing philosophical about the season, which had its downs (early) and ups (many lately, none today).
Barnum had an interesting statement when the talented Alexandria Town Talk sportswriter Jeff Matthews asked her about the season.
She said she wouldn't change anything.
She explained that she was extremely proud of her young teammates for how they matured and stuck together through the frustrating early portion of the SLC season. She said that the experience far outvalued the wins and losses, that she was a better person at the end of the season than she was at the outset, and she thought the same was true of everyone with the Lady Demon team.
Oh, there were tears from Tena and Ashli in the postgame locker room, and Barnum grinned through some sniffles as she visited with director of athletics Greg Burke following the interview.
But although the end to the season was less than pleasant, the aftermath of the game was, at least in this instance, rather inspiring.
Both seniors predicted a bright future for the Lady Demons, who will mix the returning letterwinners with a very impressive recruiting class signed in November. There still may be a player or two added to the 2009 newcomers when the spring signing period gets underway next month.
Doug Ireland, SID
They held court in the postgame interview room, waxing philosophical about the season, which had its downs (early) and ups (many lately, none today).
Barnum had an interesting statement when the talented Alexandria Town Talk sportswriter Jeff Matthews asked her about the season.
She said she wouldn't change anything.
She explained that she was extremely proud of her young teammates for how they matured and stuck together through the frustrating early portion of the SLC season. She said that the experience far outvalued the wins and losses, that she was a better person at the end of the season than she was at the outset, and she thought the same was true of everyone with the Lady Demon team.
Oh, there were tears from Tena and Ashli in the postgame locker room, and Barnum grinned through some sniffles as she visited with director of athletics Greg Burke following the interview.
But although the end to the season was less than pleasant, the aftermath of the game was, at least in this instance, rather inspiring.
Both seniors predicted a bright future for the Lady Demons, who will mix the returning letterwinners with a very impressive recruiting class signed in November. There still may be a player or two added to the 2009 newcomers when the spring signing period gets underway next month.
Doug Ireland, SID
The right frame of mind
Just past noon Wednesday, arriving at the Marriott Courtyard (NSU's headquarter hotel) for the SLC Tournament, and the maid's cart is blocking the door to my room. Before I could move it to get into the room, in darts Lady Demon senior star Tena Matthews, snagging a couple of towels for her room as deftly as she picks the pocket of opposing ballhandlers.
"I need more towels," she says to me, smiling. "We're staying a while."
Nobody will set the tone more than she will.
The Demon basketball team is about 90 minutes behind me. They practiced for about 75 minutes and rolled off campus about 9 a.m., stopping for lunch in Lufkin. If I know Coach Mike, the team ate at the same Quizno's sandwich shop we enjoyed on the way to Huntsville earlier this season when the Demons beat Sam Houston State.
The Merrell Center is about a 10 minute ride from the hotel, off the Pin Oaks exit on what is called locally the Katy Freeway, but shows up on the map as Interstate 10.
A reception is tonight from 6-8 at the Crown Plaza hotel along I-10 for NSU friends and alumni. Come if you're in the neighborhood.
Doug Ireland, SID
"I need more towels," she says to me, smiling. "We're staying a while."
Nobody will set the tone more than she will.
The Demon basketball team is about 90 minutes behind me. They practiced for about 75 minutes and rolled off campus about 9 a.m., stopping for lunch in Lufkin. If I know Coach Mike, the team ate at the same Quizno's sandwich shop we enjoyed on the way to Huntsville earlier this season when the Demons beat Sam Houston State.
The Merrell Center is about a 10 minute ride from the hotel, off the Pin Oaks exit on what is called locally the Katy Freeway, but shows up on the map as Interstate 10.
A reception is tonight from 6-8 at the Crown Plaza hotel along I-10 for NSU friends and alumni. Come if you're in the neighborhood.
Doug Ireland, SID
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