Image courtesy of gothunderwolves.com

Another week is now in the books for Colorado State University-Pueblo Athletics and all-in-all, the week was a resounding success.

Pack sports accumulated five wins and three losses across the five team sports programs over the past week, not including the 3rd place finishes for the men’s and women’s cross country teams in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships.

It was the Pack’s second best weekly record so far this fall, the highlights of which, came from a record-setting day by senior quarterback Rex Dausin for CSU-Pueblo football, an undefeated week for women’s soccer that set a program-record winning streak, and a pair of strong finishes for the Pack’s cross-country teams.

All of the week’s games took place over a three-day span, with the first game of the week coming Friday evening and the last coming Sunday night.

So let’s see what went down over the three-day weekend for another exciting week in Pack sports.

The ThunderWolves’ women’s soccer team tied a program record with their seventh straight victory on Friday, Oct. 21, with a 2-0 win over Colorado Mesa at the Art & Lorraine Gonzalez Soccer Stadium in Pueblo.

Both goals came during a five-minute stretch of the first half, as a Danelle Dodelinger goal in the 24th minute, followed by a Laikyn Koss goal in the 28th, would be all the Pack needed to hold onto the win.

The tying of the program record with their seventh straight win was an impressive feat for the ladies and would certainly be a tough mark to top—until they did, just two nights later.

Sunday, the Pack took on Westminster College in a closely contested game, once again taking place on their home turf.

The back and forth match had a breakthrough for the Pack late in the game, as sophomore Briana Garcia scored her very first goal of the season in the 70th minute of the match to give the Pack the edge they needed to get the win, and the program record.

The record breaks the previous mark of seven wins set back in 2007 and brings the Pack’s record to 11-3 on the year, with an outstanding 8-2 record against conference foes. The ladies will look to add another victory to the record streak next Friday against the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, followed by a Sunday matchup against Western State to wrap up their regular season.

Record six touchdowns by Dausin leads pack to blowout victory against Fort Lewis
W, 49-14 at Black Hills State, Oct. 22

The Pack’s women’s soccer team wasn’t the only one to set a program record over the weekend, as senior quarterback Rex Dausin set a program-best of his own in the ThunderWolves’ 49-14 domination of Black Hills State on Saturday.

Dausin went 14-for-19 for 169 yards through the air to go with his six touchdowns, besting the previous program record of five, set by two players, Chris Bonner in 2013, and coincidentally, Rex’s older brother Ross in 2012.

The Pack totaled 181 yards passing and 275 rushing in the contest for a combined 49 points, a score more than enough for the victory considering the commanding play of the CSU-Pueblo defense.

The Pack created two turnovers in the game and held Black Hills State to just 166 yards passing and a dismal 38 yards on the ground.

The Pack now finds themselves in the midst of a three-game winning streak, with a 5-3 record and 5-2 record in the RMAC.

The team’s next showing comes Saturday against Western State University on the road in Gunnison, to take on the 6-2 Mountaineers.

Cross-country men and women’s teams both finish 3rd at RMAC Championships
M: 3/15 W: 3/15

In the annual RMAC Championship held in Spearfish, S.D., the Pack’s men’s and women’s cross country teams both managed a third-place finish in a field of 15 teams.

The women’s team was led by junior Miriam Roberts, who finished fifth overall with a time of 22:45.75 and earned All-RMAC First Team honors. Senior Jordan Mathes also was a first team member and ran a 23:00.46 to finish eighth.

For the men’s team, the Pack’s top finisher was sophomore Marcelo Laguera who finished seventh in the meet with an individual time of 25:41.85. Junior Derrick Williams finished 13th with a time of 25:55.89, as he and Laguera were both named All-RMAC First Team members.

The cross-country teams will now gear up to tackle the course at the NCAA Division II South Central Region Championships, set for Nov. 5 at Washington Park in Denver, Colo.

Men’s Soccer gets win against South Dakota Mines, then gets blown out by Regis
W, 3-2 at South Dakota Mines, Oct. 21
L, 8-0 at No. 11 Regis, Oct. 23

It was a tale of two games for the ThunderWolves’ men’s soccer team, as the team put forth a three-goal performance on Friday in a win against South Dakota Mines on the road, but was then blown away on Sunday in a loss to the No. 11 ranked Regis University Rangers.

Friday’s game saw the Pack develop a 3-0 lead in the first 73 minutes, coming on goals by Jose Batista, Cesar Zamudio and Aaron Strunk, respectively, only to concede two quick goals to the Hardrockers in a five-minute span to put South Dakota Mines right back in the match.

The Hardrocker’s two goals came on the Pack’s backup freshman goalkeeper Chandler Syrett, who came into the game in relief of starter Erich Frey and made one save and allowed the two goals. Five minutes later, Frey came back onto the pitch and closed the game out to ensure the Pack win.

In their next game on Sunday against No. 11 ranked Regis, the Pack was simply outmatched, being blown out by an 8-0 margin.

The Pack allowed six different players to score in the loss, bringing their record to 7-9, with a 5-7 record in the RMAC. Their last two games will come next Friday and Sunday, taking on Colorado School of Mines followed by Colorado Christian, both on the road.

Women’s volleyball rebounds from loss against Regis with win against Chadron State
L, 3-1 vs. Regis, Oct. 21
W, 3-2 vs. Chadron State, Oct. 22

CSU-Pueblo volleyball had two games in two days on Friday and Saturday, taking on the Regis Rangers and the Chadron State Eagles on consecutive days at Massari Arena in Pueblo.

In their game against Regis on Friday, the Pack dropped a hard-fought four-set matchup against the No. 4 ranked team in the RMAC.

In their Saturday game, the Pack overcame a two-set deficit against the Eagles to fight their way back into the match and emerge victorious with a 3-2 win, putting an end to their three-game losing streak and gaining a much needed in-conference win.

It was a pivotal win for CSU-Pueblo, as the victory now places them in a tie for the sixth and final spot in the RMAC Tournament with only six games left to play.

The ThunderWolves will now head back on the road this week with matchups against Adams State University and Fort Lewis College on Friday and Saturday.

Swimming & diving team wins four events in loss to Division I Aggies
L, 187-99 at New Mexico State, Oct. 22

In a head-to-head matchup against the Division I New Mexico State Aggies, the CSU-Pueblo swimming and diving team dropped a 187-99 loss despite winning four of the events individual events.

Freshman Phoebe Pontious won her second individual event in as many weeks with a victory in the 100m butterfly, to go along with a first-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay alongside teammates Angie Randall, Taylor Wertz, and April McDonough.

Sophomore Arianna Rohde took home her first win of the young season in the 200 individual medley, while sophomore Stefany Busch nabbed the first win of the year for the diving team with her top finish in the one-meter diving competition.

The four wins would not be nearly enough for the Pack, however, as New Mexico State almost doubled the Pack’s total number of points.

The ThunderWolves will look to get on track and bring home their first win of the season when they visit Colorado School of Mines Nov. 4 on the road.

Edited by: Theresa Wolf

Pack Volleyball vs. UCCS ~ photo courtesy of Nelson Kahler

Last week was homecoming week here at CSU-Pueblo, and appropriately, Pack sports brought home excitement for students and fans during the seven-day stretch.

Record-wise, the Pack went just 3-4 on the week across the programs, but with university records broken, clashes between the Pack and nationally ranked opponents and a big win in the homecoming football game—all of which happened at home in front of the home fans—it was a good week to be a fan of Pack sports.

So let’s take a look at how it all shook out over the last week here in Pueblo.

Women’s Golf: Pack finishes fall season on a high note
W: 5/13 at RMAC South at Cattails Golf Course in Alamosa, Oct. 10-11

The Pack women’s golf team ensured a strong finish to their fall season on Oct. 10-11, taking home their best overall team finish of the season with a fourth-place showing out of 13 teams in the RMAC South Tournament at Cattails Golf Course in Alamosa.

The ThunderWolves were led by Jacquelyn Porman who shot a 153 over the two-day tournament to finish with a +9 to earn a 4th place finish out of 68 student-athletes in the tournament.

Porman jumped 19 spots in the rankings from the first day to the second, shooting a tournament-best single round with a +1(73) on the second day.

The Pack showed out big time in their last tournament of the fall season and should have plenty to be excited for when they start again in the spring in 2017.

Pack men’s golf concludes fall season with a two-way tie for 8th place
M: 8/10 at RMAC West at Tierro Rado Golf Course in Grand Junction, Oct. 10-11

Led by a 14th overall finish by senior Jake Ice, Pack men’s golf concluded their season on Oct. 10-11, tying with Fort Lewis College for 8th place in the RMAC West Tournament held at Tierra Rado Golf Course in Grand Junction.

Ice shot an overall +1 (211) in the tournament, with his 14th overall finish giving him a fourth top-20 finish in five tournament appearances this year.

Junior Neil Tillman was also a big factor in the tournament, as he has been throughout the year, finishing 18th overall for his fourth top-20 finish of the season as well.

Ice, Tillman and the rest of the team will take the winter months off before gearing up for more golf come early spring when the Pack will tee-off once more during the spring season.

McDonough dominates but Pack swimming and diving falls short against Western State
L, 134-74 vs. Western State, Oct. 14

In their first meet of the season, the ThunderWolves’ swimming and diving team came up short in a matchup against Western State in their home-pool in Pueblo.

Co-captain April McDonough had a huge day for the Pack, winning both of her individual events with a two-second margin in the 1,000 freestyle, (11:06.68), as well as a nearly five-second margin in the 500 free.

Freshman Phoebe Pontious captured her first victory for the ThunderWolves, winning the 50 freestyle with a blazing time of 25.26 in just her first collegiate swimming meet. Incredibly, Pontious’ time was the second fastest in school history, behind senior Carissa Gardella’s school record set in February of last year.

Despite some bright spots in the meet, the Mountaineers were too much to handle for the Pack, winning 10 of the meet’s 13 events for a combined score of 134-74.

The Pack will now hit the road for their next event on Oct. 22, taking on New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.

Women’s Volleyball drops two in a row— Katie Burnett sets university record
L, 3-1 vs. UCCS, Oct. 14
L, 3-0 vs. No. 25 Metro State, Oct. 15

It was a tough week for the ThunderWolves’ women’s volleyball team, as the team dropped both of its contests and only won one set combined in the two matches against University of Colorado-Colorado Springs on Oct. 14, and No. 25 nationally ranked Metro State University Denver on Oct. 15.

The two-game stretch did have some highlights for the Pack, the biggest of which was senior Katie Burnett putting on a 24-dig performance against UCCS to become the university’s all-time career dig leader.

The two-game in-conference skid at Massari Arena brings CSU-Pueblo’s RMAC record to 5-5 on the year, putting them in a tie for 8th place in the RMAC standings with eight games remaining in conference play.

The Pack’s next game will come on Friday, as the second leg of its four-game home stand features appearances against Regis on Oct. 21, and Chadron State on Oct. 22.

Men’s soccer sees two high scoring games for 1-1 record on the week
L, 4-0 vs. No. 24 Colorado Mesa, Oct. 14
W, 3-1 vs. Westminster (UT) Oct. 16

The Pack’s men’s soccer team took on the No. 24 ranked Colorado Mesa on Oct. 14, losing a one-sided contest 4-0 at the Art & Lorraine Gonzales Soccer Stadium in Pueblo.

The Pack had the odds stacked against them in performing the upset from the get-go in the contest, and had their chances in the match reasonably vanish in the 8th minute when a red card put the team down a man when they already trail 2-0 in the game.

For their next contest, however, the Pack turned the one-sided tables in their favor in a match against Westminster on Senior Day, routing the Griffins 3-1.

The ThunderWolves’ record current stands at 6-8 overall, with a 4-6 record in the RMAC, as their next games come against South Dakota Mines and Regis with just four games left to play in the regular season.

Pack football takes home a win in homecoming showdown
W, 33-12 vs. Fort Lewis, Oct. 15

The ThunderWolves football team finally got its overall record into positive territory over the weekend, manhandling the Fort Lewis Skyhawks 33-13 in the CSU-Pueblo homecoming game at the Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl.

The team did what they do best over the course of the contest, playing hard-nosed defense and taking care of the football on offense by limiting turnovers.

The Pack’s defense caused three turnovers on the day and held the Skyhawks to just 328 total offensive yards on the day.

A drawback of the game was a first quarter exit of junior running back Bernard McDondle, who would not return to the game and whose extent of the injury has yet to be seen.

Despite a slow start to the season, the Pack finds itself right in the middle of the intensely competitive RMAC, their 4-2 record putting them in a four-way tie for second place, behind a three-way tie for first place with three different RMAC teams sitting at 5-2.

The Pack now hits the road for the next two weeks, taking on Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota.

Women’s Soccer gets a win against New Mexico Highlands
W, 2-1 vs. New Mexico Highlands

The Pack’s women’s soccer team made the most of its one match in the week, getting a 2-1 victory over New Mexico Highlands at the Art & Lorraine Gonzales Soccer Stadium.

After conceding an early goal in just the games 6th minute, the Pack rallied from behind with two goals from Laikyn Koss (20:04) and Sandra Grimaldo (76:55) to put the Pack ahead for the win.

The victory brings the Pack’s record to an impressive 9-3 overall, with their 6-2 record in the RMAC giving them the conference’s second best record behind Colorado Mines.

Their next game comes Friday against Colorado Mesa at home in Pueblo, and will give the ladies a chance to tie a mark set by the 2007 ThunderWolves with a seven-game win streak should they prevail.

Edited by: Theresa Wolf

CSU-Pueblo’s Jessica Westoff holding off a defender in the second half ~ photo courtesy of Nelson Kahler

A common tidbit of sports knowledge is that it’s always tougher to get a win on the road than it is on your home field.

Road games can be tough. It’s a hostile environment; it’s usually a lengthy commute, and there’s a palpable disadvantage of being in unfamiliar surroundings when lining up against an opponent.

Because of all these factors, teams are much more likely to win at home than they are on the road. But unfortunately for the opponents of CSU-Pueblo Athletics this week, nobody told the Pack.

The Thunderwolves had their best combined week of the year so far throughout the athletics programs, as Pack sports went 6-1 over the span of Monday, Oct. 3, to Sunday, Oct. 9.

Most impressively about the teams’ impressive showings are that more than two-thirds of those wins came on the road.

So let’s break down the highlights starting with the two most dominant programs of the week, men and women’s soccer.

Women’s soccer goes undefeated on the week

W, 2-1, vs. Regis University, Oct. 7
W, 1-0, vs. MSU Denver, Oct. 9

It was a fantastic week to be a Pack soccer fan, as both the women and men’s teams went undefeated on the week.

For the ladies, the week started off on Friday, Oct. 7, with a home matchup against Regis, where the ThunderWolves (8-3, 5-2 RMAC) edged out a 2-1 victory at the Art & Lorraine Gonzales Soccer Stadium.

The Pack was led by seniors Laikyn Koss and Mairel Hundley, who both scored goals in the first half to give the Pack a 2-0 lead.

With the help of a Pack defense that only allowed two shots on goal throughout the game, the Rangers had no response.

Following up on their win the ladies took on MSU Denver on Oct. 9, once again at home, and earned the Pack a 1-0 victory to give the team its first five-game win streak since 2007.

Rianna Lockhart’s first half goal was her second of the season and was the deciding factor of the game, aided by a three-save shutout by freshman goalkeeper Rylie Martin.

The Pack will look to extend their winning streak to six in a row on Sunday, Oct. 16, against the New Mexico Highlands Cowgirls with a 2:30 p.m. kickoff time.

Men’s soccer earns two hard-fought wins on the road

W, 1-0 in OT, at Fort Lewis, Oct. 7
W,1-0, at Adams State, Oct. 9

The Pack women’s soccer team was not the only program to dominate the pitch this week, as the CSU-Pueblo men’s team (4-7, 2-5 RMAC) also did not suffer a loss during the last two games on their four-game road trip.

The ThunderWolves started off with a 1-0 win at Fort Lewis in Durango, in which a walk-off overtime goal by freshman Miles Sanchez clinched the victory for the Pack just one minute into OT.

The Pack had put up six shots on goal throughout the contest to no avail, setting the stage for Sanchez to be the hero with his team-leading fifth goal of the season.

After their OT win, the Pack traveled to Adams State in Alamosa, and squeezed out another 1-0 win with a late-game goal by junior Lucas Rodriguez in the 79th minute.

The 2-0 week for the Pack should be a welcome momentum change for the team, which had lost seven of its last eight games and will look to continue its current momentum on Friday, Oct. 14 against Colorado Mesa at home in Pueblo.

Pack football delivers a statement win at Adams State

W, 56-12, at Adams State

After beginning the season 2-3, much of the RMAC was left questioning whether the Pack’s football team was still a powerhouse in the conference.

In response, the ThunderWolves delivered a resounding statement by way of a 56-12 victory on the road against Adams State in a game highlighted by a dominant showing by junior running back Bernard McDondle.

McDondle saw a career high 276 yards on the ground, as well as four touchdowns, to give the Pack a glimpse of what it hoped to see following the graduation of his all-conference and all-franchise older brother, Cameron, last year.

The Pack dominated on both sides of the ball, totaling 645 yards on offense and scoring 56 points, while allowing just 393 yards and 12 points from the Grizzlies.

The win puts the Pack’s record at 3-3, with a 3-2 mark in the conference, as they head back to the Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl to face the Fort Lewis Skyhawks in CSU-Pueblo’s annual homecoming game on Oct. 15.

Women’s volleyball wins one, loses one, in final two games of road trip

L, 3-0, at Colorado Mesa
W, 3-2, at Western State

The ThunderWolves volleyball team went 1-1 this week, beginning with a 3-0 set loss in a game against Colorado Mesa on the road in Grand Junction.

The Pack could just not seem to find any rhythm offensively, as the team finished the day with a dismal .073 hitting percentage throughout the three sets.

The Pack turned it around in a big way on Oct. 8, however, with a 3-2 victory over Western State in Gunnison, bringing the team’s record to 7-10 on the year with a 5-3 in-conference record.

The Pack’s offense got a lot more going on the offensive side of the net in this game, as the ladies brought their hitting percentage up to .219. Defensively, the Pack doubled Western State’s total number of digs with 14 compared to the Mountaineers seven.

With their four-game road trip now finished, the Pack returns home to Massari Arena, where they’ll host the Metro State University of Denver team on Friday and University of Colorado-Colorado Springs on Saturday.

Women’s Golf at West Texas Lady Buff Invite

Finish 12 out of 18 teams

Dealing with windy conditions on the course down in Amarillo, Texas, the Pack women’s golf team shot a combined 356 to earn the team a 12th place finish out of 18 teams in the annual West Texas A&M Lady Buff Invite.

The Pack was led by Courteny Ewing and Jolene Kam, who tied for 30th place with a combined score of 19-over-par.

The Pack ladies will seek a stronger finish when they wrap up their regular season at the RMAC South tournament on Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 10-11,” at the Cattails Golf Course in Alamosa.

Football by Jason Prescott, Women’s Soccer by Nelson Kahler

Women's Soccer vs Regis

Alison Darr kicking off from the goal.

Women's Soccer vs Regis

The celebrations after Laikyn Koss kicks an incredible goal from deep!

Women's Soccer vs Regis

Megan Garcia preparing to push the ball up field.

Women's Soccer vs Regis

Sandra Grimaldo lining up a precise kick in attempt to set up her team mate.

Women's Soccer vs Regis

Megan Garcia explosively pushing the ball up from her goal.

Women's Soccer vs Regis

Sandra Grimaldo preparing to kick to her defender.

Women's Soccer vs Regis

Alison Darr throwing the ball to one of her team mates.

Austin Micci carries the ball in for a touchdown.

Running back Bernard McDondle on his to the endzone for one of his four touchdowns on the day.

Wide receiver Daniel Wise blew past everybody including the referee on his way to a 40 yard touchdown catch.

Photo by Jason Prescott

Bernard McDondle is congratulated by Rex Dausin after scoring a touchdown.

Photo by Jason Prescott

Safety, Joe Jones breaks up a pass in the endzone.

Photo by Jason Prescott

Tevin Donnell gave an early touchdown to Adams State.

Photo by Jason Prescott

Wide receiver Cole Forsgren makes a catch for a touchdown.

Photo by Jason Prescott

The team takes the field.

Edited by: Theresa Wolf

Mackenzie Paquette holding off a UCCS defender
~ photo courtesy of Josh Smith

During the Pack’s fifth week of athletics in the 2016-17 seasons, ThunderWolves sports fans experienced something this week that they haven’t experienced at this level all semester: intense drama.

This week we saw heartbreak. We saw controversy. We saw triumph, and we saw dominance. We saw an underdog overcoming astronomical odds to get a win and lastly, we saw a heart-wrenching loss on the very last play of a game.

The last seven days in Pack athletics had all the types of drama that make sports so exhilarating and win or lose, Pack sports fans got quite the show from their programs over the course of the week.

Record-wise, the Pack went 3-4 overall in the sports of men and women’s soccer, football and volleyball, not including the men’s golf tournament or the men and women’s cross country meet.

So let’s take at a week filled with drama for the fans and athletes of Pack Sports.

Pack Football comes up just short in controversial loss to Colorado Mesa

L, 19-20, Oct. 1

Pack football lost a 20-19 heartbreaker in controversial fashion to Colorado Mesa University on Saturday, on the road against the Mavericks in Grand Junction.

The game ended in extreme controversy as two disputable ball-spots by the referees in the waning moments of the game resulted in a non-touchdown and ultimately a loss for the Pack.

The situation unfolded after freshman defensive back Tanner Draper blocked a CMU punt with the Pack down one, with less than a minute left in the game.

The Pack drove down to the CMU one-yard-line and tried two-straight quarterback sneaks with junior QB Rex Dausin, both of which looked to be touchdowns from the Pack sideline but were not called as such on the field.

The second of the two attempts was a gutsy call by ThunderWolves head coach John Wristen as the clock expired, as he elected to put the game in the hands of his quarterback rather than spike the ball and leave the balance of the game hanging on the leg of freshman kicker Nathan Taylor.

Had the sneak been called a touchdown, the Pack would have been riding high on a three game win-streak, but now, CSU-Pueblo will seek to improve upon their 2-3 start to the season with a much-needed RMAC win against the Adams State University Grizzlies on the road in Alamosa next week.

Women’s soccer goes 2-0, including huge upset victory against No. 3 ranked Colorado School of Mines

W, 1-0 in OT, at Colorado Christian, Sept. 30
W, 2-0 at No. 3 Colorado School of Mines, Oct. 2

CSU-Pueblo women’s soccer got two big wins against Colorado Christian and Colorado Mines, respectively, bringing their record to 6-3 on the year with a 3-2 record in the RMAC.

Following up on an overtime victory against CCU in which senior Kacie Licata scored a goal in the 95th minute to edge the Pack over the Cougars, CSU-Pueblo took on No. 3 ranked Mines in a home game at the Art & Lorraine Gonzales soccer stadium.

The Pack scored a goal in each half, coming by way of junior defender Jessica Westhoff in the first, and senior forward Sandra Grimaldo in the second, to spark the Pack to a 2-0 victory.

The Orediggers came into the contest undefeated with a 9-0 record, including four conference wins. The Pack, however, brought that streak to an end to bring their home record to 4-1 after the team’s fifth shutout of the season.

The ThunderWolves will look to continue their momentum as they remain at home for their next five matches, beginning with Regis University, on Oct. 7.

Cross Country: Men take second, women take first at Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival

M: 2/45, W: 1/40, at Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival, Oct. 1

Although many of the Pack’s sports teams have had their seasons marred by inconsistency, the model of performing their best, day in and day out, has been the men and women’s cross country teams.

That stood true once again for the Pack this week as they placed first and second out of Division II competitors for the women and men, respectively, at the Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival in Fayetteville, Ark.

The women’s team took first place out of 40 teams in the Division II section at the invite, putting up a time of 1:29:30 in the women’s 5k, to best their next closest competitor, Southwest Baptist, by 10 points with a score of 80.

Bailey Hughes led the ladies with the third best time in the division at 17:31.6, with teammate Miriam Roberts finishing on her heels in fourth place at 17:32.

Jordan Mathes also had a top-10 finish for the Pack, taking home 9th place with a time of 17:41.9 to give the Pack three of the events top-10 Division II finishers.

On the men’s side, the Pack finished 2nd out of 45 Division II teams, behind No. 1 ranked Colorado School of Mines, with a team time of 2:02:58 in the men’s 8K race.

Despite not winning the event, the Pack put forth one of their strongest showings of the season, not only placing 2nd for D-II but 3rd overall, losing out to only the Orediggers and the meet’s host, University of Arkansas, a Division I university ranked No. 5 in D-I for cross country.

Following this meet, the Pack currently has at least one first place finish between the men and women’s teams in every meet that cross country has competed in this season.

The meet was the last warmup for the team before the RMAC Championships, set for Oct. 22 in Spearfish, S.D. hosted by Black Hills State University.

Women’s Volleyball has up-and-down week— goes 1-1

L, 0-3. at Metro State University-Denver, Sept. 30

W, 3-2 at University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, Oct. 1

With the in-conference portion of their schedule in full-swing, the Pack’s volleyball team went 1-1 against league opponents MSU-Denver and UCCS to bring their conference record to 4-2.

After a 0-3 set loss to MSU-Denver, the Pack followed up with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over UCCS on the road in Colorado Springs.

The Pack was led by a record-setting performance by Katie Burnett, who set a school record with 35 digs to break Tessa Accomasso’s record of 34, set on Oct. 3, 2003.

The ThunderWolves had 86 digs as a team in the match, while senior Mariangel Perez and junior Elena Michalski each recorded double-double’s to help lead the Pack to victory.

The ladies will have two more road games on their four-game swing, facing off against Colorado Mesa and Western state, before a four-game homestand against UCCS, Metro State, Regis and Chadron State.

Men’s soccer goes 0-2 against in-conference foes

L, 0-1, vs University of Colorado-Colorado Springs
L, 2-5, at No. 21 MSU Denver 2

The men’s soccer team dropped both games this week to RMAC foes UCCS and MSU-Denver, by a combined score of 6-2, including five goals allowed to No. 21 ranked MSU-Denver.

The losses bring the Pack’s record to 3-7, with a 1-5 record in the conference following seven losses in their last eight games.

The Pack will have to get things together quickly if there’s any hope of making the postseason with just eight conference games left before the RMAC tournament begins.

Their next game comes Friday, Oct. 7, on the road against Fort Lewis.

Men’s golf takes fifth out of 20 teams at the Western New Mexico University Fall Intercollegiate

M: 5/20, Sept. 26-27

The Pack was led by junior Neil Tillman who finished sixth overall, shooting 31-over-par through 54 holes to capture his third top-10 finish of the season for the Pack.

The Pack’s fifth place finish was the leading finish of all the RMAC participants in the tournament, as well as their second top-5 tournament finish in the 2016-17 season.

CSU-Pueblo’s next tournament appearance for the men will come during the RMAC West Tournament on Oct. 11-12, at the Tierra Rado Golf Course in Grand Junction.

Edited by: Theresa Wolf

Men’s Soccer by Josh Smith, Women’s Soccer by Nelson Kahler

Women's Soccer vs. Colorado Mines

Women’s Soccer thrilled with their big win over Colorado Mines.

Women's Soccer vs. Colorado Mines

Sandra Grimaldo diving for a kick.

Women's Soccer vs. Colorado Mines

Sandra Grimaldo celebrating to the Women’s Soccer bench after an amazing goal.

Women's Soccer vs. Colorado Mines

Sandra Grimaldo Running up to her team mates to celebrate the second goal for the game.

Women's Soccer vs. Colorado Mines

Megan Garcia in the foreground as Sandra Grimaldo attempts a kick at goal in the background.

#6

Mackenzie Paquette holding off a UCCS defender.
Photo Credit: Josh Smith

#5

Michael Chism chasing after a ball in the first half.
Photo Credit: Josh Smith

#2

CSU Pueblo attempting to score on a corner kick.
Photo Credit: Josh Smith

Pack vs Fort Lewis
~ photo courtesy of Josh Smith

Another week of Pack sports is in the books— and what a week it was for the ThunderWolves.

For the first time this year, the Pack had a winning record across the programs, amassing six combined wins and just one loss in the sports of men and women’s soccer, football and volleyball, and also took home a sixth place finish for the men’s golf team at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference North Tournament.

So let’s take a look at the highlights of the Pack’s strongest week of athletics of the year so far.

Pack Football wallops New Mexico Highlands

            -W 61-6, Sept. 24

The ThunderWolves’ football team finally got back to its dominant nature on Saturday, trouncing the New Mexico Highlands Cowboys 61-6 at the Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl.

The Pack got back to its roots in the game, relying on strong defensive play and commanding performances from its running backs.

The ThunderWolves rushed for 246 rushing yards on the day, with an incredible eight rushing touchdowns from four players.

The Pack was once again without their star running back Bernard McDondle, who remained sidelined after a hamstring injury, but did not skip a beat in the running game, as Austin Micci rushed for 130 yards and two touchdowns on just 12 attempts.

Fradlet Dort and David Cardinal Jr. also combined for 111 yards with Dort leading all players in the game with 3 TD’s on the ground.

The win brings the Pack’s record 2-2 on the year after starting 0-2 in the first two weeks. The team will seek to continue its success next Saturday, Oct. 1, against undefeated Colorado Mesa on the road in Grand Junction.

Women’s Volleyball goes 2-0 on the week

            -W, 3-0, Sept. 23 vs. Black Hills State

            -W, 3-0, Sept. 24 vs. South Dakota Mines

The women’s volleyball team had perhaps their best week of the season, winning both of their matches in consecutive home games at CSU-Pueblo.

The Pack swept their opponents in both games 3-0, for their third and fourth sweeps of the season.

On Sept. 23, the Pack outclassed Black Hills State University by beating the Yellow Jackets at their own game. BHSU came into the game the No.1 blocking team in the conference but was out-blocked 10-6 in the game.

The Pack also outmatched BHSU in the categories of aces and digs, besting the Yellow Jackets 7-0 on aces, and 56-47 on digs.

The ThunderWolves followed up on their strong performance with another dominant outing the following day, besting South Dakota Mines in blocks and aces to complete their opening home weekend undefeated and bring their overall record to 5-8 with a 3-1 record within the conference.

The ladies will now face a four-game road swing, beginning Sept. 30, at Metro State University of Denver.

Men’s Golf ties for sixth in the RMAC North Tournament

            -(T) Sixth place, Sept. 19-20.

In their first RMAC tournament of the season, the Pack took home a tie for sixth place out of nine RMAC teams at the Ravenna Country Club in Denver, Co.

The Pack was led by junior Neil Tillman, who took fourth in the tournament with a seven-over-par performance after 54 holes.

Tillman’s fourth place finish was his second top-five showing of the three tournaments thus far for the Pack, having won the Farmers Insurance Samuel Proal Invitational in the Pack’s first tournament of the season.

The team will return to action Sept. 26-27 at the New Mexico University Fall Intercollegiate at the Estrella Golf Course in Goodyear, Ariz.

Women’s Soccer defeats Black Hills State

            -W, 3-2, Sept. 25 at Black Hills State

The women’s soccer team only played in one game this past week but made the best of their opportunity in a 3-2 victory on the road against Black Hills State.

Three Pack players scored goals in the win with Sandra Grimaldo, Hannah Andreson and Laikyn Koss putting balls into the net.

The Pack absolutely dominated the contest in shots on goal, with 14-of-31 shots testing the BHSU goalkeeper in the contest.

BHSU goalkeeper Therese Wilhelmi kept the game close with nine saves in the first half, but ultimately her performance was not enough as the 57th-minute goal by Koss stood at the deciding factor in the game.

The win brings the Pack’s record to 4-3 with a 1-2, in-conference record heading into their next game, Friday, Sept. 30 on the road against Colorado Christian.

Men’s Soccer goes 1-1 on the week

            -W 3-1, Sept. 23 vs. Adams State

            -L, 2-1, Sept. 25 vs. Fort Lewis

Men’s soccer started off its week with a 3-1 in-conference victory over Adams State University on their home field at the Art & Lorraine Gonzales Soccer Stadium.

The Pack was led by a two-goal performance from freshman Miles Sanchez, who netted both goals in the first half despite blustery conditions on pitch throughout the game.

The ThunderWolves only put three of their 13 shots on target in the game but connected on all three to give them the one goal advantage in the contest.

They team was unable to follow up on the momentum from their win on Sunday, however, losing 2-1 to Fort Lewis after a goal by Fort Lewis in the 76th minute could not be overcome by the Pack.

Sanchez scored his third goal of the weekend against FLU. However, both shots-on-goal by the Skyhawks found pay-dirt against Pack goalkeeper Erich Frey to give FLU the advantage.

The Pack will look to redeem themselves when it closes out its current homestand on Friday, Sept. 30 against the University of Colorado- Colorado Springs.

Edited by: Theresa Wolf

Soccer photos by Josh Smith, Volleyball photos by Nelson Kahler, Football photos by Jason Prescott

2

Santiago Tinta attempting to slide tackle Fort Lewis player. Photo by Josh Smith

6

Connor Marth kicking a free kick towards his teammates.
Photo by Josh Smith

5

Dycus Kelly attacking the ball.
Photo by Josh Smith

10

Connor Marth hitting a free kick.
Photo by Josh Smith

Pack Volleyball vs. Black Hills State

Megan Shultz and Morgan Wilkening going up for a block.

Pack Volleyball vs. Black Hills State

Pack celebrating after a tough point.

Pack Volleyball vs. Black Hills State

Mariangel Perez jumping high for a powerful spike.

Pack Volleyball vs. Black Hills State

Pack Voleyball in a time out.

Fradlet Dort scores one of hs three touchdowns Saturday.

Photo by Jason Prescott

Runningback David Cardinal looks for room to run against Highlands on Saturday.

Photo by Jason Prescott

Punt returner DAniel Wise finds some room to run during the first jalf of Sturdays game against New Mexico Highlands.

Photo by Jason Prescott

Players come through the smoke on their way to the field before Saturdays game.

Photo by Jason Prescott

Sandra Grimaldo about to shoot on goal
Photo by Josh Smith

Another week in Pack athletics has come and gone, and once again the Pack had an up-and-down week throughout the five sports currently in session.

All-in-all, the ThunderWolves totaled three wins and five losses over the week in team sports, not including the multi-team meets for men and women’s golf and cross country.

The sports that brought us the highlights of the week were men’s cross country, who took home another first place win, as well as Pack football, which got it’s first win of the young season.

Let’s take a look at those highlights and more in this week’s Pack Roundup.

Women’s golf takes 5th at the RMAC North Invitational Sept. 12-13

In their first Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament of the year, the CSU-Pueblo women’s golf team took home 5th place out of 14 teams at the Murphy Creek Golf Course in Aurora.

In their second top-five team finish of the year, the Pack recorded a score of 75 over par, with three golfers tying for the 18th overall finish in the competition.

Sophomores Courtney Ewing and Jolene Kam matched senior Jacquelyn Porman over the two-day competition with an overall score of +17.

The ThunderWolves will look to ride their current momentum at the team’s next event, the West Texas A&M Invite, which takes place Oct. 3-4 at the La Paloma Country Club, in Amarillo, Texas.

Men’s golf takes 8th the Ryan Palmer Invitational Sept.12-13

The Pack men’s golf team played their second tournament of the season this week as well, taking 8th place at the Ryan Palmer Foundation Invitational in Amarillo, Texas, at the Tascosa Golf Club.

The men’s team was once again led by senior Jake Ice, who followed up on his first place victory at the Farmers Insurance Samuel Proal Invitational with another top-five finish, finishing fourth with a score of three-under-par on the 54-hole course.

Ice and the men’s team have already begun their next tournament, after golfing their first round of the RMAC North tournament at the Ravenna Country Club in Denver on Sept. 19, with their final round of the tournament coming this evening.

Women’s soccer 1-2 on the week

W 2-0 vs. Eastern New Mexico, Sept. 13

L 3-2 in 2OT at Fort Lewis, Sept. 16

L 2-1 at Adams State, Sept. 18

Women’s soccer put together one win and two losses in their games this week, starting off with a dominant 2-0 win at home against Eastern New Mexico on Sept. 13, followed by two closely contested road losses, one in double overtime on Sept. 16 against Fort Lewis and the other on Sept. 18 against Adams State.

Four different players scored goals for the Pack in the three-game stretch, led by senior Sandra Grimaldo who scored both goals in the 2-0 shutout against New Mexico and followed by seniors Kacie Licata and Laikyn Koss, and freshman Reece Hummel, who each had one.

The one win and two losses bring the team’s overall record to 3-3 with a 0-2 beginning to conference-play, with all of their 10 games remaining coming against RMAC opponents.

Men’s soccer 0-2 on the week

L 2-1 in OT vs. Colorado College, Sept. 16

L 3-0 vs. Colorado Mines, Sept. 18

It was another disappointing week for CSU-Pueblo men’s soccer, who lost a heartbreaker in overtime on Sept. 16 against Colorado Christian in their first RMAC match of the season, followed by a 3-0 loss on Sept. 18 against Colorado School of Mines.

The matches were part of a five-game home stand at the Art & Lorraine Gonzales Soccer Stadium, all of which are against in-conference opponents.

The ThunderWolves will look to turn their 0-2 start to conference play Sept. 23, when they take on Adams State University, followed by another quick two-day turnaround game against Fort Lewis.

Men and Women’s cross country at Bozeman Running Company/Montana State Invite Sept. 17

Men finish 1st, Women finish 6th

Perhaps the two most dominant athletic teams for the Pack so far in 2016 have been the men and women’s cross country clubs, who have managed at least one first place team finish in each other their three combined meets so far this year.

This time, the first place honor belonged to the men’s group, which now has two 1st place finishes to go along with one 2nd place finish to start the year.

Junior Montana native Derrick Williams from Columbia Falls, took home first place in the 40th annual running of the Montana State Invite with a 5-mile time of 24:30.5, beating out all 137 other competitors in the race.

Closely on his heels was sophomore Marcelo Laguera, who finished 2nd at 24.32.2, while freshman Paul Roberts placed 5th with a time of 24:41.2.

The Pack’s ladies also had a strong showing at the invite, placing 6th overall out of 14 teams, led by junior Miriam Roberts, who finished 15th, and senior Bailey Hughes, who finished 21st.

The next invitational for the men and women’s cross country teams will come at the Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Oct. 1.

Pack football gets its first win Sept. 17

37-10 vs. South Dakota Mines

Pack football got its first win of the season on Saturday, taking down South Dakota School of Mines and Technology 37-10 on their home field at the Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl.

It was a day of new faces for the Pack, with junior quarterback Rex Dausin getting his first start under center for the ThunderWolves.

The absence of junior running back Bernard McDondle for a hamstring injury opened up the running back position and was filled by a committee consisting of Austin Micci, David Cardinal, Jr. and Fradlet Dort.

The Pack’s defensive unit got back to its old ways, creating two turnovers, one of which was an 85-yard pick six, and limiting SDSMT to just 74 yards rushing on the day.

The ThunderWolves will seek to ride the momentum of this win into their next contest on Sept. 24, their third straight home game coming against New Mexico Highlands University.

Volleyball goes 1-1 on the week

W 3-2 at Colorado Christian, Sept. 16

L  3-0 at Colorado School of Mines, Sept. 17

Pack volleyball went 1-1 on the week to bring their overall record to 3-8 with a 1-1 record in the RMAC.

The highlight of their week came against Colorado Christian, when the Pack rallied back from a 2-1 deficit to come back and win two straight sets to win the match.

The Pack had a lower hitting percentage and less digs than their opponent in both matches, but did manage to best CC in blocks and aces in Friday’s contest.

Colorado School of Mines ranked No. 18 in the nation for Division II volleyball, bested the Pack in all significant categories.

Next up for the ladies are three straight RMAC games against Black Hills State, South Dakota Mines and Metropolitan State University-Denver.

Edited by: Theresa Wolf

Image courtesy of gothunderwolves.com

It was another busy week for Pack athletics, as five sports continued their seasons and one more got underway.

All-in-all it was a pretty disappointing week for fans of Pack sports, with only a few bright spots in an otherwise bleak showing for the athletics programs across the board.

So do you prefer to start with the good news or the bad? I personally, always like to start with the good…

Pack men’s golf begins their season with a win— Sept. 5 and Sept. 6

The Pack men’s golf team got their season underway on Monday, starting it off with a bang by taking first place overall at the Farmers Insurance Samuel Proal Invitational on their home course at Walking Stick Golf Course.

The team was led to victory by senior Jake Ice, as well as junior, Neil Tillman, who finished tied for first place as both earned their first tournament wins for the Pack.

As a team, CSU-Pueblo finished at +2 after 54 rounds, finishing the tournament eight shots better than their closest competition, Dodge City Community College.

Pack women’s golf takes 4th place— Sept. 5 and Sept. 6

The CSU-Pueblo women also got their season started on Monday, putting in a strong showing in their first tournament of the year by taking 4th place overall out of 14 teams.

The ThunderWolves were led by sophomore Courtney Ewing, who finished the tournament, and tied for third with a cumulative score of 152, finishing eight-over-par.

Women’s and Men’s cross country finish first and second respectively at Colorado College Invitational

Both the men and women’s cross country athletes had strong showings in their second meet of the season, with the women’s team taking home first place out of six teams, and the men placing second.

Junior Miriam Roberts finished first overall in the women’s 6k race with an overall time of 22 minutes and 28 seconds, the same time as senior teammate Bailey Hughes, though Roberts edged Hughes for the first place title.

Senior Jordan Mathes finished third with a time of 22:36, while freshman Gillian finished 10th, helping their team to the overall meet title with a time of 1:57:14.

On the men’s side, the Pack did not take home a first place finish in the men’s 8k event but did however have the event’s second, third and fourth place finishers with Marcelo Laguera, Paul Roberts and Derrick Williams rounding out the top four.

The men finished with a team time of 2:06:52, less than a minute behind the events winner and defending national champion Colorado School of Mines.

Women’s soccer defeats Emporia State 1-0 in overtime

The last of the Pack sports to finish the week on a positive note was the women’s soccer team, who scored an overtime win in their only contest of the week against Emporia State.

Sophomore Rianna Lockhart scored the game’s only goal just a few minutes into the overtime period, giving the pack the go-ahead goal in a game that stayed scoreless through the contest’s first 90 minutes

It was a closely contested game for the Pack, with both teams putting more than 10 shots on goal, but just three on target.

Senior goalkeeper Alison Darr kept all three shots by ESU out of the net to tally the seventh shutout of her Pack career and helped bring the team’s overall record to 2-1, with their next contest coming Tuesday against Eastern New Mexico at home.

And now for the not-so-good news.

Pack volleyball goes 1-3 on the week

Pack volleyball had a tough week with just one win and four losses from Wednesday to Saturday, bringing their overall record to 2-7 on the season. The Pack lost Wednesday to Angelo State in their home opener, then got a win Thursday at the ThunderWolves Classic.

Unfortunately, the Pack couldn’t ride the momentum of the win, and dropped two straight, losing to Texas A&M-Kingsville, 3-2, and Wayne State, 3-0, on Friday. The ladies then took another 0-3 set loss in the CSU-Pueblo Steel & Silver Classic against Adams State.

Luckily for the ThunderWolves, as of this point they still have not faced any conference match-ups, and therefore have plenty of time to turn their season around.

The most important part of their schedule begins now, as their next 18 games will be against conference opponents, starting with Colorado Christian on Friday, Sept. 16.

Football drops its second straight game

ThunderWolves football had their annual red-out home opener on Saturday, taking their second consecutive loss to start the season against West Texas A&M, 26-10, at the Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl.

The outcome was less than ideal for the Pack, who lost their first regular season game at home in the last 29 appearances.

The team could not get much going over the course of the game, as a fourth quarter touchdown by running back Fradlet Dort would stand as the team’s only TD on the day.

The game was once again dictated by turnovers, as the Pack threw three interceptions on the day, two of which led to 14 points for the Buffaloes.

The Pack will look to turn their season around and get back on track Saturday, in another home game at the Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl.

Men’s soccer goes 0-2 on the week 

After starting the season hot last week with two straight wins to begin the season, the Pack dropped two in a row to even out their record at 2-2 overall.

The Pack lost a tightly contested game on Friday, in overtime against Northeastern State, and followed up with a one-sided 0-3 loss to West Texas A&M on Sunday.

The loss to WTAMU was determined early on, as back-to-back-to-back chances led to three quick goals for the Buffaloes before the game was even 13 minutes in.

The Pack held strong from that point, allowing no goals in the final 77 minutes, but also failing to score themselves.

CSU-Pueblo returns home Friday to begin a five game home-stand at the Art and Lorraine Gonzales soccer stadium.

Edited by: Theresa Wolf

Image courtesy of gothunderwolves.com

The first week of the 2016 fall athletics season was an up-and-down affair for the CSU-Pueblo ThunderWolves, as five sports kicked off their season’s in the first four days of September.

All-in-all, Pack athletics brought home six wins and five losses across all programs combined, although Pack cross country’s two wins in that total were first place overall for the men and women’s teams in a meet consisting of four schools, making their achievement more impressive than just a simple “W”.

So let’s start chronologically and take a look at how things went for Pack sports over the last week.

Football

57-21 loss at Colorado School of Mines, Sept. 1.

The first game of the fall sports season, as well as the first for Pack football, was a gigantic upset that came at the hands of in-state rival and in-conference foe Colorado School of Mines, after an almost two-hour lighting delayed postponed play.

Returning senior CSM quarterback Justin Dvorak torched the Pack’s defense with 402 yards passing and six touchdowns with no interceptions. While mistakes and costly turnovers never allowed the Pack to find their stride in the game.

The result was a huge upset for CSU-Pueblo. The team entered the game ranked No. 5 in the nation by the American Football Coaches Association, while CSM entered the contest ranked No.18.

The 36-point differential was the largest such difference since CSU-Pueblo’s football program was reinstated in 2008, so the Pack will look to regain their footing this coming week against West Texas A&M in the team’s first home game of the young season

Women’s Soccer

0-2 Loss vs. Texas Woman’s, Sept. 1

2-0 win vs. Midwestern State, Sept. 3.

CSU-Pueblo Women’s Soccer had two games in three days to start their season, facing off against Texas Woman’s University on Thursday, followed by Midwestern State University on Saturday.

In their opening matchup against Texas Woman’s, the Pack fell 0-2 to TWU, despite producing three more shot attempts than the pioneers, as well as attempting three more corner kicks.

However, TWU had more shots on-target than the Pack, as the Pioneers netted two of their five on-target shots, while the ThunderWolves were unable to capitalize on any of their three on-target attempts.

The Pack redeemed themselves on Saturday, however, in a matchup against Midwestern State. CSU-Pueblo was on the winning side of the same 2-0 scoreline in their first win of the season, bringing their record to .500 with a 1-1 start to the year.

Senior forward Laikyn Koss, who netted two goals in the first 20 minutes of the match, put the Pack up 2-0 going into the second half.

Stellar defense and a steadfast performance by CSU-Pueblo goalkeeper Alison Darr ensured the two-goal lead held for the rest of the game. Darr had five on-target saves ad picked up her sixth career shutout for the Pack, while the CSU-Pueblo defense limited MSU to just eight shots on the day.

Cross Country

Wins for both Men and Women’s teams at Border Classic Meet against Fort Hayes University, New Mexico Highlands University and West Texas A&M University, Sept. 2.

CSU-Pueblo’s cross country team started their season off with a dominating bang on Friday, taking first place overall in both the men’s and women’s categories.

Dominant is the primary word, as the men not only finished first overall but placed every one of the top four runners in the men’s 5k, while the women also took first overall and placed all of the top three in the women’s 4k event.

The men ran a team time of 1:17.53 to finish first in their first competitive event of the year.

Returning All-American sophomore Marcelo Laguera, took first for the men with a time of 15:22.8, followed by fellow returning All-American Derrick Williams and freshman Paul Roberts who both ran a 15:23.3. Junior Ben Vaughan finished fourth with a time of 15:36.4.

The women’s team finished with a time of 1:14.20, with senior Bailey Hughes finishing first at 14:14.4, just one-tenth of a second ahead of teammate Miriam Roberts who crossed the line at 14.14.5. Senior Jordan Mathes finished third with a final time of 14:17.

Next up for the Thunderwolves is a meet at the Colorado College Invite on Sept. 10 at North Monument Valley Park in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Volleyball

1-3 loss at Texas A&M Commerce, Sept. 2.

2-3 loss at Texas Woman’s, Sept. 2.

3-0 win vs. Lubbock Christian, Sept. 3.

0-3 loss vs. Newman, Sept. 3.

The ThunderWolves volleyball team had a tough go in their first tournament of the season, dropping three-of-four games in Texas at the Texas Women’s Tournament in Denton, Texas by a combined score of 6-9 sets.

In the first match against Texas A&M Commerce, the Pack fought hard but ultimately lost three sets to one, despite a .225 team hitting percentage in comparison to a .167 for TAMUC.

Serving might have been the biggest determinant of the game, as the TAMUC Lions combined for 11 aces, compared to just five for the Pack.

Their next three games saw two losses and one win for the Pack, who got that elusive first win on Saturday in a three-set sweep of Lubbock Christian University.

Junior Caitlin Broadwell and freshman Kelsey Bell both picked up their first career double-double for the Pack in the sweep, while CSU-Pueblo out-shined LCU, finishing the game with the lead in hitting percentage, blocks and aces.

Men’s Soccer

1-0 win vs. Newman University

2-1 win vs. Lubbock Christian University

CSU-Pueblo Men’s soccer also started their season off on a positive note, winning their first two home games against Newman University and Lubbock Christian University in a span of three days.

The Pack got their first win of the season on Friday, defeating NU 1-0 at the Art & Lorraine Gonzales Soccer Stadium, after a 32nd-minute goal from freshman Miles Sanchez gave the Pack a lead they maintained for the rest of the contest,

The Thunderwolves outshot the Jets three shots-on-goal to one, after totaling 10 total shots in the game.

The Pack continued their success Sunday,  taking down LCU 2-1 after two goals in the first five minutes, one by junior Lorenz Delaney and one by senior Mackenzie Paquette, gave the team an early two-goal lead.

The Pack once again outshot their opponents four to three in shots on goal, with nine total shots compared to the Chaparrals four.

With their first stretch of home games of the season complete, the Pack will look to replicate their early success in their first road competition on Friday against Northeastern State.

Edited by: Theresa Wolf

Image courtesy of gothunderwolves.com

A new school year is the perfect chance to start over.

It’s an unparalleled opportunity to begin again with a clean slate and build something from the ground up, especially for students who might not have had the most enjoyable or productive semesters in the previous year.

Students, however, are not the only ones who get that chance.

CSU-Pueblo athletic programs also get a clean slate, and like a wide-eyed college freshman in their first day on a big campus, the opportunity to build a new identity begins now.

Back to school means back to sports, and the first of those sports kick-off this week for Pack athletics. Fittingly, the first game of the year is the school’s most popular sport— Pack football.

Pack Football, Thursday, Sept. 1, at 7 p.m.

The winningest football team of the decade starts the season on the road with an in-conference matchup against in-state rival Colorado School of Mines, a game with so much hype that it will be played on ESPN3 as well as WatchESPN.

The Pack is ranked No. 5 in the country by the American Football Coaches Association going into the season, with Colorado School of Mines being another top 20 ranked team with the 18th overall ranking.

Cross Country, Friday, Sept. 2, at 5 p.m.

CSU-Pueblo’s cross country team will have their first meet of the season on Friday, at the Border Classic in Johnson City, Kansas.

The meet will contain men and women athletes from four different states, with competitors from the events host, Fort Hays State University, in Kansas, New Mexico Highlands, in New Mexico, West Texas A&M, in Texas, and CSU-Pueblo.

The meet will consist of a women’s 4k and a men’s 5k, with the women’s event beginning at 6 p.m. and the men’s beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Four CSU-Pueblo cross country athletes were named to the RMAC preseason all-conference team, and will be athletes to keep an eye on in this meet and over the course of this season.

For the men, returning All-Americans Derrick Williams and Marcelo Laguera were recognized, as were returning national qualifiers Bailey Hughes and Miriam Roberts for the women.

Volleyball, Friday, Sept. 2 at 10 a.m.

Pack volleyball opens up their season Friday, at the Texas Women’s tournament, in head coach Jill Muhe’s first game at the helm for CSU-Pueblo. The team will play two games Friday, as well as two on Saturday in the tournament.

Friday the Pack plays Texas A&M Commerce at 10 a.m., and Texas Woman’s at 5:30 p.m, and Saturday, they face Lubbock Christian and then Midwestern State at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. respectively.

One player to watch in this tournament for the Pack is senior Mariangela Perez, who was voted as a pre-season all-conference team member in the RMAC. The two-time all RMAC opposite hitter is from Catia La Mar, Venezuela.

Men’s Soccer, Friday, Sept. 2, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 4, at 12 p.m.

The last CSU-Pueblo sport to kick off over the next week will be CSU-Pueblo’s men soccer on Friday at home against Newman University.

The Thunderwolves enter the season picked to finish sixth in the RMAC by the preseason coaches’ poll, and will try to improve upon an 11-9 record from last year.

They will hope for their first win of the season on their home field, where the Pack had a 5-4 record last season. Their next game will come Sunday as the Pack faces off against Lubbock Christian in another home game at Gonzales Stadium.

The Colorado Mines Orediggers will likely rely on their senior quarterback Justin Dvorak, who led NCAA Division II last year with 369.3 yards-per-game, as well as 45 total touchdowns.

The Pack will likely stick to its normal strengths of running the ball effectively, and shutting down the opposing team’s offense with its perennially strong defensive unit.

The matchup to watch will be the Orediggers Dvorak, against the Pack’s D, who held Colorado Mines to just 367 total yards in last years competition, a 49-21 victory for the pack.

Women’s Soccer, Thursday, Sept. 1, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 3, at 11 a.m.

CSU-Pueblo Women’s soccer also kicks-off this week, with two home games in three days to start the opening week of the fall season.

Their first game will be Thursday, against Texas Woman’s, as CSU-Pueblo enters the contest picked to finish the year in eighth place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, by an RMAC coaches poll.

A player to watch in this game, as well as throughout the season is preseason all-conference selection Jessica Westhoff, who started all 18 games at midfield for the Pack last season.

Image courtesy of livewellcolorado.org

A Colorado State University-Pueblo student film team was recently named one of four finalists in the LiveWell Colorado Film Challenge.

Spencer Daniels, Kieran Kuiper, Avery Lewis and Josh Smith, wrote, directed, edited and starred in the film, in a statewide competition designed to create, “student-produced short films about barriers to healthy living in the state of Colorado,” according to the organization’s website.

The name of the team’s film is “Taking Life Into Your Own Hands,” and it outlines a day in the life of a college student, played by Daniels, who does not have enough money to afford eating healthy foods.

“Our film is about a young man forced by economic challenges to buy the cheapest groceries possible, thus processed and unhealthy foods. This leads to his realization in a dream of his in which he is diagnosed with diabetes,” Kuiper said. “From there, he takes his health into his own hands and starts work on his own personal garden.”

Lewis said the problem posed in their video applies to a lot of people.

“It’s pretty personal to us as college students. It’s not a secret that a lot of college students struggle with money,” he said. “It’s not only a college student problem, it’s also a problem for a lot of other people.”

The video is relevant on a more local level, too.

“The message is important because it applies to so many people in southern Colorado and rural Colorado areas where money is tight and a situation like this is a reality,” Kuiper said.

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges for the team was to condense the film’s contents into three minutes or less in order to adhere to the LiveWell Challenge guidelines.

“(It was) definitely hard, we didn’t end up shooting a lot of it, we edited it all down and it was still like five minutes,” Lewis said. “We actually ended up cutting a lot of stuff we really liked.”

Kuiper said the team was pressed to tell a meaningful story in such a short video.

“Three minutes is hardly enough time to convey a message so powerful. I think with more time allotted we could have developed our story more thoroughly and included some details we had to leave out. Fitting so much information into a small period of time is very challenging, but I think that’s part of the art of short films,” he said.

The CSU-Pueblo team consists of four mass communications majors who had all worked with the medium of film before, yet had never made such a collaborative short film. In their first such venture, they were named finalists in a statewide competition.

“I think our film is very aesthetically pleasing, we’re proud of how it looks. With so many artistic minds collaborating on one piece I think we have a diverse perspective and angle that can apply to a large audience,” Kuiper said.

In a CSU-Pueblo news release, mass communication department chair Leticia Steffen said, “We are proud of our students but not at all surprised that they were finalists in this competition.”

“We have some extremely talented students in the mass communications program and at CSU-Pueblo in general, and it’s always great to see them do well in these kinds of competitions,” she said.

Although the winner of the competition has already been chosen by a panel of judges, consisting of film industry professionals and LiveWell representatives, the CSU-Pueblo team will learn how their film placed, as well as have their film publicly screened in front of an audience on August 18, at Denver’s Sie FilmCenter.

“It’s pretty exciting, we’re all really stoked about it,” Lewis said.

For Kuiper, “I think we’re most excited about just getting to hang out with our friends that we made this thing with, in a film festival-esque environment. Plus we’ll get to dress up and hopefully make a speech,” he said.

“Most importantly, we simply had fun doing this. Being with friends and creating something we can call our own, and then getting some recognition for it is really special to us.”