Women's Golf ready for season

The Missouri Western's women's golf team maybe young but they are ready to make an impact in the Spring season.

The Griffons were up and down in their Fall season. The highs being finishing fourth at the William Jewell tournament and finishing fifth at the NWMSU Fall Invitational. The lows being finishing eighteenth at the Drury Invitational and thirteenth at the SW Minnesota State University Invite. Head coach Cathy Habermehl believes the Griffons are close to being a successful team.

The team is young and small in numbers. The team is made up of only four players. The team consists of two freshman, a junior and a senior. The two freshman are Lexi Webb and Jessica Rawdon. The lone junior is Central graduate Deidra Twombly. The only senior is Kimberly Evans.

The Griffons will have their home tournament on March 17 and 18. The MWSU Invitational will be at Fairview Golf Club in St. Joseph, MO. The Griffons will play in six tournaments this Spring. 

Griffon Basketball struggles on the road

The men’s and women’s basketball team couldn’t find the right formula to win on their recent road trips as they both went 0-2.

The men fell in their first game 67-54 against Pittsburg State. The Griffons were as close as 41-40 with 12:42 left in the contest, but the Griffons couldn’t overtake the Gorillas.

The women didn’t fair much better against the Gorillas as they lost their game 73-65. The Griffons jumped out to a early 20-9 lead, but the couldn’t keep the momentum rolling for the whole game. The Griffons were led in scoring by senior Chemia Woods who had a career high, 21 points in the game. Jill Johnson and Yanique Javois were also in double figures as they each added 12 points.

The men struggled again offensively as they lost 65-52 against Fort Hays State, setting a new season low for points. The Griffons were led in scoring in the game by senior Jay McFarland as he had 15 points in the game. No other Griffons were in double figures, but Kyle Kirschner had a season high nine points.

The women came close to ending their losing streak, but couldn’t quite get it done as they fell to Fort Hays State by the score of 81-79. The game featured 11 ties and 16 lead changes. A put back by Meshia Mason with one second left broke the tie and ultimately won the game for the Tigers. The Griffons losing streak has now reached 11 games.

Both teams are now in danger of missing the conference tournament. The women’s team currently stands at 9-13 (4-10) and is currently in a three way tie for the last confer­ence tournament spot. The men’s team currently stands at 9-14 (3-11) and are currently three games out of a conference tournament spot.

Griffons finalize recruiting class

Missouri Western’s football team has announced its incoming recruiting class for next season’s team and as usual it has a local flavor to it.

They signed 24 high school players, 22 from the state of Missouri and four from St. Joseph. The Griffons signed three athletes from Central High School. From Central, they signed Michael Hill a running back, who had 746 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns his senior year.

They also signed Ben Pister, also from Central who played linebacker and was two-time all state during his high school career. The last player they signed from Central was Jeremy Weston who played both wide receiver and defensive back during high school.

The only two out-of-state recruits the Griffons signed were Matt Fairchild from Kansas and Ben Jackson from California. Fairchild who is from Andale, Kan., plays linebacker and is the all-time leading tackler in Andale High School history. Jackson who is from Chino Hills, Calif., plays defensive back and had 80 tackles in his two-year varsity career.

The athletes the Griffons added will look to help the team in the future. Though many will take a red shirt for next season, some might see immediate playing time. The Griffons loaded up with local talent. They are trying to get the top talent from St. Joseph every year. Though with all recruiting classes only time will tell if this class was a success.

Injuries have plagued Griffons Basketball

The women's basketball team has been getting all the breaks this season, in all the wrong ways.

The women’s basketball team have lost two key players to injuries. The first player they lost was junior, Amanda Thomas. She was supposed to be a key contributor to the team this season.

They just recently lost Lauren Nolke. She is a freshman who has been playing well for the Griffons. She is currently out of action with a sprained ankle. She was starting to hit her stride and was really helping the team.

The biggest blow came at the beginning of the season when the Griffons found out Ashleigh Curry was ineligible for this season. She is currently taking a red shirt and will be available next season for the Griffons. Curry was a star on last seasons conference championship team.

This season has not went the way the Griffons had hoped that it would. Maybe the bar was set to high after last season’s great success. After winning the conference championship the Griffons had bigger and more lofty goals this season. Then again I wonder how different the season would have went with the whole team intact. The injuries have hurt the teams chances of having a successful season. Sometimes everything doesn’t go as planned for a team and that is the way things have gone for Western.

Athletic Director pick vital for Missouri Western

For Missouri Western the choice of a new is vital for the future of the university. The new athletic director will need to keep the university moving forward. They will also need to keep student athletes graduation rates up. They will be replacing Mark Linder who did well at both.

Linder while he was here, helped develop the Max Experience, which helped produce the new basketball court and new turf on the football field. Linder was a high quality person that helped the athletic department greatly. 

That's why picking the right candidate is vital for the university. The Griffons are on the verge of doing well in multiple sports. The closest one is football and with the right facilities they will be able to prosper.

Missouri Western is down to 27 candidates for the position. A person that has experience would probably be the best solution for the problem. The decision is vital for the university, the right decision could catapult the university to greatness.