Press Release By: Central Wyoming College Athletics
Members of the CWC Cross Country teams traveled to Huntsville, AL to compete in the NJCAA National Cross Country Meets this weekend. A total of 208 men and 180 women completed the D1 races to finish the 2023 season.
Freshman Tayden Bell and Sophomore Quinten Gasaway competed in the Men’s 8K (5 miles) race. Tayden finished the race in 28:08 minutes and Quinten finished with a PR of 30.22.
Four women competed in the 5K (3.1 miles) race. Sophomore Larissa McElroy finished first for CWC, and 75th overall, with a PR time of 20:17. Freshmen Kallee Cook and Amberly Froerer also finished the race with PRs in 20:31 and 21:35 respectively. Sophomore KayKay Sandall finished strong with a time of 22:33.
I am really happy with the race each team member ran this weekend, We did not have enough runners to compete as a team in either race this weekend, so their competition was really against the clock. Each of the CWC team members ran their hardest and did their best this weekend. It was great to see the outcomes of all their hard work and effort during this season, in the races this weekend. It is exciting that almost everyone posted PR times at the National competition. The freshman team members will be strong competitors next season.
KayKay Sandall shared, “The trip to Alabama was both fun and an awesome racing experience! Almost everyone on the team PR and had a solid race! It was awesome to get to race in a race that big, and was tons of fun!”
Here is the link to the results from the National Meet. It includes results for both men and women for all three divisions.
Rustlers Off to Best Start Since 2014-15
The women’s basketball has started the season with its best 4-game start since the 2014-2015 season, finishing the weekend with two wins to bring the program to 3-1. The crowd was nothing less than entertained with the women bringing home nail-biting victories, securing the win in the final 3 seconds of game one, and in overtime of game two.
In game one, the Rustlers fell behind early to the Wyoming All-Stars, not able to find their stride offensively until late. As the women pulled back into the game, it wasn’t until the final few minutes that the Rustlers were able to find their stride. With 10 seconds, Coach Westmoreland calls a timeout to set up a final play with the score 59-59. “I drew up a set for a final shot, and I told them to not dare let this game go into overtime.” Well, Coach Westmoreland got his wish, as the ball was inbounded and freshman guard Ariana Rodriguez dribbled off of a ball screen to the right elbow and let it fly with 3 seconds left to secure the victory for the Rustlers 61-59. Freshman Natalia Ballin finished with 12 points, while freshman Esperanza Vergara had 10 points and 7 assists. Freshman Emily Sawyer brought down 12 boards followed by Freshman Tiffany Tervort with 11.
In game two, the Rustlers again fell behind early, this time plagued by both shot selection and defensive efforts. Trailing by 14 points to start the fourth quarter, the outcome seemed too far out of reach, but the Rustlers led by 10 freshmen did not throw in the towel. The women poured in 31 points in the fourth quarter compared to the 17 points by the Buccaneers of Dawson College to take the game into overtime. Ultimately, the Rustlers pulled out a 99-93 victory led by freshman Ariana Rodriguez with 35 points, a new Central Wyoming College Women’s Basketball Single-Game Scoring Record. She shot 45% on the afternoon, going 6-11 from 3PT range while hitting 11 FT’s for 84% from the line. Emily Sawyer also brought in a monster performance with 18 rebounds, 21 points for the Rustlers. Natalia Ballin also finished in double-digits with 14 points on 6-11 from the floor. The Rustlers continue their efforts tomorrow night as they face off against the Plainsmen of Northeastern JC at 5:30pm in Rustler Gymnasium for their final home game of the semester.
Rustlers Win One, Loss One at Home Classic
The CWC Men’s Basketball team split a pair of home games this past weekend. Friday night the Rustlers took the floor against Utah Post Grad out of Salt Lake. This was one of the few games on the Rustlers pre-season schedule that was to be a built in win. “Scheduling is incredibly challenging. I want to push the guys with high level opponents, but I also have to find some teams I know we can beat. This was one of those teams and the guys took advantage of it.” Coach Schmit commented on his team’s lopsided win, 119-70.
Saturday’s contest against Dawson CC out of Glendive, MT was a whole different challenge. Dawson entered the game with a 4-0 record after winning their opening pre-season tournament and beating Western Wyoming on Friday night. The game was competitive throughout the first half with quality play from both teams. With the score tied 38-38 at halftime, the game looked like it would be a 40 minute battle. Unfortunately the Rustlers lost Sam Marbury, a starter and impact player at halftime along with shooting a dismal 30% from the field in the second half. “We cannot overcome losing guys to injuries and shooting the basketball the way we did. To beat the higher level teams on our schedule, our entire roster needs to play to their capabilities. Tonight that was not the case. I hope we can put a 40 minute performance together again sometime soon or we are going to be in a tough spot.” quoted Coach Schmit on his team’s 15 point loss, 76-91.
The men are back in action this week with a game on Tuesday in Ephraim, UT against Snow along with a classic at Northwest in Powell, WY later this week.
This past weekend the CWC Rodeo Team hosted a Rhen Richard roping clinic that started Friday at noon through Sunday afternoon. “It is a great way for us to get potential recruits on our campus along with giving our current team, myself included, more knowledge about roping, horsemanship, and overall attitude,” said Coach Schrock. “Rhen has been to the NFR multiple times in both the Team Roping and Tiedown Roping and is a great horseman. He also had his brother, Kaden, and Carson Johnson here to help, so there was a lot of one on one instruction for all the students. I feel like horsemanship is a huge stepping stone from high school to collegiate and onto the professional level of rodeo.
This week we will prepare for our Champion Living Roughstock clinic that is scheduled for November 17th-19th. We will have more potential recruits on our campus, and get some great instruction from some of the most current cowboys going down the road. “We feel blessed to have these opportunities, and excited to share and use our new state of the art facility.”