Hutcherson, who resides in San Marcos, qualified to play in the tournament after shooting an eight-under-par 64 in a qualifying tournament that was held on Monday, May 17, at the Stonebridge Ranch Country Club in McKinney.  He tied Trevor Fisher of Fort Worth for the low rounds and was one of four golfers to qualify to play in the 2010 Byron Nelson Classic. There was a three-way tie for the other two spots after Will Collins of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Jason Shultz of Dallas, and Bradley Ott of Frisco, Texas each finished the round at seven-under-par. Collins and Shultz both made par on the first playoff hole to qualify.

Those four players were among 85 players who tried to qualify for the Byron Nelson Classic. The 85 competitors included players from the PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour, Champions Tour as well as 54 players that had advanced to the Open Qualifying from Pre-Qualifying.  .

This marks the first time that Hutcherson has played in a PGA Tour event. He has played three seasons on the Adams Golf Pro Tour Series, where he has three Top 10 finishes in his career. His first Top 10 showing came on May 1-4, 2008, when he finished in third place at the Capital One Classic with a nine-under-par score on the Ellendale Country Club course in Houma, La.

He opened the 2010 season tying for eighth place at the Coca Cola Wal-Mart Open presented by Million Air after shooting 11 under par at the OakWing Golf Club on March 17-20 in Alexandria, La. He also tied for third place at the Jamie Hilton’s Hillcrest Children’s Golf Classic  on April 28-May 1 after shooting an even par 288 score at the Twin Rivers Golf Club in Waco, Texas. In between those two tournaments, Hutcherson won the 2010 Austin Open on April 17-18 at the Grey Rock Golf Club.

A native of Memphis, Hutcherson played two seasons at Texas State in 2005-07 after transferring from Midland College in 2005. His best finish during his senior season was at the Middle Tennessee Intercollegiate when he tied for sixth place after shooting even par 72s in each of the three rounds. He graduated in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and sports.

Go Home Ball!

Texas State received an automatic bid to the championship tournament after overcoming a 15-stroke deficit in the 2010 Southland Conference Championship to claim the title. The Bobcats shot an 885 team score to shatter a previous record by 22 strokes set in 2008 by Texas State, as well.

All five member of Texas State’s team, Krista Puisite (t-2^nd), Valdis Jonsdottir (t-2^nd), Caitlin Bliss (t-7^th), Gabby de Reuck (t-11^th) and Katinka Dufour (t-18^th) all finished in the Top 20.

Texas State will compete alongside 23 other teams in the West Regional, including in-state rivals Texas and Texas A&M. Three individuals have also been selected to compete at the three-day tournament.

The top eight teams will advance to the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship in Wilmington, North Carolina, along with the top two individuals not competing on the eight qualifying teams. The Championship will be held May 18-21 at the Country club of Landfall and will be hosted by UNC Wilmington.

West Regional Championship Site – GoStanford.com

Teams
1. UCLA
2. Alabama
3. Arizona
4. Ohio State
5. Virginia
6. Stanford
7. LSU
8. California
9. Texas A&M
10. Texas
11. UC Davis
12. Arkansas
13. UNLV
14. San Jose State
15. San Francisco
16. Idaho
17. UC Irvine
18. Iowa State
19. Maryland
20. Colorado State
21. Oral Roberts
22. Texas State
23. Pennsylvania
24. Portland State

Individuals
1. Amy Anderson, North Dakota State
2. Teresa Puga, Minnesota
3. Ellen Mueller, Oklahoma

Texas State began the day winning all three doubles matches by a score of 8-2, and they won five of the six singles matches to improve their record to 3-2 this season.

The Bobcats began the day with Andrea Giraldo and Melissa Hadad beating Katie Poettcker and Thavindra Ekanayake in the top doubles match. In the other two doubles matches, Kiki Kruse and Nyssa Peele defeated Katie Griffith and Megan Jackson in number two doubles and Gabriel Rojas and Mariana Charalambous defeated Katie Budinsky and Kassie Seger in the number three-doubles match.

“We went up very quickly, and then lost a couple of points in each of our doubles matches,” Plunkett said. “I thought the key was that we did a great job of correcting those mistakes and regained control in each match.

“In singles play, we took care of business and made them play our game. That was an important factor in our ability to keep control of the pace in each match and maintain our lead.”

In singles play, Giraldo won her match against Poettcker very quickly as she beat her in straight sets 6-0, 6-0.
“I took care of the short shots and played aggressively on her second serves,” Giraldo said. “I also changed the rhythm of my shots so it kept her off balance.”

Hadad also won her number two singles match 6-0, 6-1 over Griffith, while Rojas defeated Ekanayake 7-5, 6-4 in a hard-fought number three match.

In the other three singles matches, Kruse defeated Budinsky 6-0, 6-0 in number-four singles, while Nyssa Peele defeated Jackson 6-3, 6-1 in a number-five singles match. Trinity won its lone match of the day when Seger defeated Charalambous in three sets by scores of 2-6, 7-5, and 10-6.

“Mariana was playing her first home match and she was the only player on the team who had not played a here before since she joined us in the second semester,” Plunkett added. “It can be difficult to play at home for the first time, and I am sure that she was nervous throughout the match.”

After their victory against Trinity, the Bobcats return to action next Thursday afternoon when they play host to St. Edward’s in a non-conference match at the Bobcat Tennis Complex. The match begins at 3:00 p.m.

“We need to continue working on closing out games when we have our first opportunity,” Plunkett said. “We have to put pressure on each of our opponents on every point. That is something that will be very important when we start playing (Southland Conference) matches.”

Junior outside hitter Mo Middleton recorded eight kills and six digs, while senior outside hitter Jessica Weynand added five kills and seven digs. Senior setter Brittany Collins tallied a match-high 15 assists.

Texas State held its own in the first as they traded points with the Longhorns for the first half of the set. Texas had three straight attack errors to help the Bobcats come to within three at the 9-12 mark.

The Longhorns stretched their lead to seven after a Bobcat attack error to go up 18-11. AJ Watlington tried to get things going with a late kill, but Texas grabbed the first set 25-16. Destinee Hooker led all players after the first set with six kills.

Middleton gave Texas State its first lead of the match with a kill down the right side to go up 3-2 on the Longhorns. Crucial attack errors saw the Bobcats drop down 4-9 with Texas extending its lead to seven after two service aces by Hooker.

Amber Calhoun sent two kills through the Longhorn middle to close in on the Longhorns lead. Unfortunately, the momentum favored the Longhorns as the set went on, with Texas taking advantage of Texas State miscues and winning the set 25-14 after a kill by Rachel Adams. Middleton recorded three kills in the set to bring her total to five and lead the pack.

The Longhorns momentum carried over into the third set jumping out to an early 7-2 lead. A series of Longhorn blocks, six total in the set, and kills stretched their lead to 19-8.  Texas State had one last effort after a Melinda Cave kill was followed by an Ally Buitron ace to only lead to a powerful kill by Hooker to close out the final set, 25-14.

The Longhorns outhit the Bobcats, .289 to .044. Hooker led all players with nine kills and five blocks. Jennifer Doris also chipped in eight kills, while Rachel Adams had six blocks. Texas will face TCU in the second round of the NCAA Championships.

Junior outside hitter Mo Middleton was named the Most Valuable Player. Middleton registered 36 kills in the tournament, including tying her career-high of 18 in the championship match.

Joining Middleton on the all-tournament team were senior outside hitter Jessica Weynand and junior right side hitter Melinda Cave.  Weynand recorded 12 kills and 15 digs in the match for her ninth double-double of the season. Cave tallied 28 kills and 23 digs throughout the tournament to help the Bobcats to the title.

“I’m just so excited for our players,” said head coach Karen Chisum. “I was worried we had over extended ourselves against Lamar in the semifinals. Fortunately we still had enough left in the tank to get the job done. My hat is off to Coach Debbie Humphreys and Stephen F. Austin. They played a very good tournament and pushed us in the final match.”

Texas State started the match down two, before Weynand slammed a kill to the right side, followed by a Brittany Collins service ace to start the match. The Bobcats continued to hit well as they went up 10-6 thanks to a kill by Cave that forced SFA to call a timeout and slow things down.

Cave was on fire in the set as she helped Texas State to a 15-11 lead, heading into a media timeout. A solo block by Weynand coming out of the timeout kept the Bobcats rhythm flowing as they maintained a five-point lead at 19-14.

The Ladyjacks came back after two kills by Mary Caitlin Bottles to bring the score to 23-20 in favor of the Bobcats. Texas State took the set 25-21, after an off the shoulder kill by Middleton and an error by Ashley Bailey.

After being down by three in the second Middleton nailed a kill to tie the set at 6-all. Texas State grabbed a two-point lead after kills by Middleton and Amber Calhoun, taking them up on the Ladyjacks 11-9.

Texas State spread the lead to four after three straight errors by SFA in the set. An ace by Ally Buitron gave the Bobcats a six-point advantage at 20-14; as they went on to take the set 25-20.

SFA went on a slight run in the third to go up 14-9 on Texas State and take the lead. Staying one point ahead of the Bobcats, the SFA offense was powered by Bottles and Ashley Bailey as the Ladyjacks survived forcing a fourth set.

AJ Watlington got things started in the fourth as she scored Texas State’s first two kills of the set. Holding on to the lead, Middleton served four-straight points for the Bobcats including an ace to give them a 10-6 edge over SFA.

The Bobcats kept their heads high and bodies moving as they went on to win the set and the match 25-17 with a block assist by Watlington and Jillian Wolpman to end the match.

“It is so exciting,” said Weynand. “This is our third title in four years. It’s such a huge accomplishment for us.”

Texas State recorded 58 kills on .287 hitting, plus 63 digs. Stephen F. Austin hit .250, with 51 kills.

Mary Caitlin Bottles led Stephen F. Austin with 18 kills and five digs. Both Kelsey Owens and Ashley Bailey both registered 10 kills each.

The NCAA Championship Selection Show will be on Sunday, Nov. 29 at 2pm on ESPN News.

The Bobcats improve their record to 19-12, 13-3 in the SLC. The 10-match win streak is the longest since 2004 when the Bobcats went on a 14-match run. Today’s win marks the 11^th victory over the Islanders for the Bobcats as they remain undefeated versus Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Senior outside hitter Jessica Weynand led the way with nine kills on .231 hitting and four digs. Freshman setter Caleigh McCorquodale had 13 assists, seven digs and five kills. Whitney Rhoden was perfect on the court as she tallied four kills and two digs.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi stayed within arm’s reach for all three sets, but Texas State managed to stay ahead beating the Islanders in three to win the West Division title.

The Bobcats outhit the Islanders .294 to .204. Emma Ridley led the Islanders with 19 kills and eight digs. Courtney Wypiszynski recorded 36 assists and four digs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi falls to 9-22, 2-14 in the SLC.

The Southland Conference Tournament runs from Friday, Nov. 20 through Sunday, Nov. 22 hosted by UTSA at the Convocation Center in San Antonio.

Ticket prices are as follows:

Day Session – $8 – Adult/$5 – Youth (Age 3-18)
Tournament Pass - $16 – Adult/$10 – Youth (Age 3-18)
Free admission to Southland Conference students with a valid institutional I.D.

Tournament Schedule
Friday, November 20
Match 1 - 11 a.m.
No. 3 Seed vs. No. 6 Seed
Match 2 - 1:30 p.m.
No. 2 Seed vs. No. 7 Seed
Match 3 - 4 p.m.
No. 1 Seed vs. No. 8 Seed
Match 4 - 6:30 p.m.
No. 4 Seed vs. No. 5 Seed

Saturday, November 21
Match 5 - 1 p.m.
Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2
Match 6 - 4 p.m.
Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4

Sunday, November 22
Championship Match – 2 p.m.
Winner Match 5 vs. Winner Match 6

The host institution’s team has the option of playing the late match on its first day of championship competition. The bracket will be adjusted accordingly to maintain appropriate bracket positioning throughout the rest of the tournament to maintain competitive balance and rest considerations.

The Hall of Honor is the highest athletics honor given to former Texas State letter winners. Each person selected is nominated by their fellow letter winners and selected for induction by the “T” Association Board of Directors.

Borreson was a basketball letterman from 1977-79 and played an instrumental part in helping Texas State win a pair of Lone Star Conference championships both seasons. He served as the sixth man for the 1978-79 team and helped the Bobcats reach the semifinals of the NAIA national tournament the same season. A member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, Borreson graduated with a bachelor degree in criminal justice. Upon graduation, Borreson has contributed to Texas State Athletics for over 30 years, and been a tireless volunteer for the “T” Association. He also served on the Board of Directors for the “T” Association.

Borreson currently serves as a regional manager for Brown Distributing in Austin and is the head of marketing for Brown Distributing with Texas State. He spearheaded one of the longest and most productive partnerships in the history of Bobcat Athletics with Brown Distributing annually contributing over $50,000 to Texas State Athletics.

Bob Hackney was a two-year letterwinner for the Bobcat Track and Field program in 1947 and 1948, and set a pair of school records that lasted over a decade. His first record came at the 1947 Drake Relays when he was a member of the distance medley relay team that place first. The second came at the 1948 Lone Star Conference championships when he was the high jump champion.

He originally enrolled at Southwest Texas State in 1943 as a member of the track and field team, but was called to serve his country as a member of the U.S> Marine Corps from 1943-47. After re-enrolling, he went on to earn a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education while continuing to serve as a lieutenant, spending a total of 10 years in the USMC. In 1950, Hackney was wounded in action at the Chosen Reservoir, 40 miles from the Yalu River in North Korea. After leaving the Marine Corps, Hackney was a teacher and coach for 34 years in the Brazosport ISD and a past president for the Brazosport Teachers Credit Union. Currently, he is the co-owner of Buccaneer Apartments.

Hackney is a 60 year member of the American Legion VFW Purple Heart Disabled Vets organization. He has served as commander of the Caldwell, TX VFW Post 4458 for four years, chaplain of the American Legion Lake Jackson Post and Board Member at First National Bank of Lake Jackson.

He also continues to support the Bobcats with lifetime gifts totaling over $165,000, ranging from sport specific gifts to the Hackney Family endowed scholarship.

Hackney currently resides in Clute, TX, with his wife of 62 years, Bobcat alumnus Betty M. Hackney.  There are three generations of Bobcats in the Hackney family, including Betty’s mother Nora Jordan who attended Southwest Texas Normal College in the early 1900’s.  Bob and Betty have two sons, Gary (56), who is married to Bobcat alumnus Ruth Ann, and Greg (58).  The Hackney’s have two grandsons, Carl Daniel (21) and Clint (19).

The third member of this year’s Hall of Honor class is Tim Staskus, who played for the Bobcat football team from 1980-83. He lettered all four years at Texas State and was a member of the school’s two NCAA Division II national championship teams.

A graduate of Bellaire High School in Houston, Staskus was a two-time Kodak and Associated Press All-American, and chosen All-Lone Star Conference First Team honors in both 1982 and 1983 as a linebacker, and named to the LSC All-Academic Team twice. He also earned Texas State’s J.C. Kellam award, which is given to the team’s outstanding senior player in 1983, and named the school’s defensive Player-of-the-Year in 1982. He also earned the Erwin 50 Yards Award and the Lone Star Conference Award for top defensive and outstanding lineman.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology, Staskus was a salesman with Brown Distributing in San Marcos, and worked with several prominent companies such as Labatt USA, InBev USA, and Anheuser-Busch, Inc.  Recently, Anheuser-Busch appointed him as a senior accounts manager.

He received the Texas State Department of Geography’s Distinguished Service award in 1996 and 2004, the Department of Geography’s Distinguished Alumni award in 2004 and the College of Liberal Arts Distinguished Alumni award in 2008. He also is a member of the College of Liberal Arts Development Advisory Board.

Staskus has served in charity events for the Children’s Miracle Network, Muscular Dystrophy, United Way, and United Cerebral Palsy.  He also was the 2005 group director in the United Nations’ Sian Kaan World Heritage Site Beach Clean Up project.

Staskus and his two siblings established an endowed scholarship in the Geology department in memory of their father, Phillip A. Staskus, with Tim donating over $20,000 to the endowment. He and his wife, Lynn, have been married for eight years and currently reside in Chandler, Ariz.

Mo Middleton registered 13 kills and five digs, while Jessica Weynand tallied 12 kills and nine digs. Both Collins and Shelbi Irvin recorded double-digit assists with 12 and 22, respectively.

“We were playing good today. We came into the match with a lot of confidence. I think we made a statement tonight. We’re looking for a championship,” said head coach Karen Chisum.

Bobcats had a block party to start the first set as they jumped out to a 13-8 lead. A solo block by Amber Calhoun led to a Sam Houston State timeout to rethink their strategy. Texas State scored five more point, resulting in ten unanswered points to lead to another Bearkat timeout. The Bobcats won the set 25-11, as the Bearkats hit -.139 to Texas State’s .200.

Texas State outscored the Bearkats 9-2 after a 10-10 tie to go up by seven in set two. Weynand had three of the nine kills to help boost the Bobcats pass the Bearkats. Texas State won the set on a kill by Calhoun to go up two sets on the Bearkats.

Middleton had five kills on .833 hitting in the third as Texas State managed to stay one step ahead of Sam Houston State and grab the set and match win. The Bobcats hit .682 in the third to beat the Bearkats 25-17.

Texas State posted its second highest hitting percentage of the year with .421. They outhit the Bearkats 39 to 22, while collecting 46 digs and 20 blocks.

The Bearkats were led by Anna Ferguson who tallied 10 kills and Michelle Miller who had 17 assists and two block assists.

Sam Houston State drops its record to 19-12, 11-3 in the SLC having lost two straight, after posting an 11-match win streak.

Texas State honored its two seniors Jessica Weynand and Brittany Collins in a pre-game ceremony in honor of Senior Day.

The Bobcats will travel to UTSA on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 6:30pm and then make their way to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday, Nov. 14 to play the Islanders at 4:00pm in their last regular season match of the season.

The Southland Conference Tournament begins on Friday, Nov, 20 in San Antonio at the Convocation Center. The tournament runs three days, with the championship match being held on Sunday, Nov. 22.

Mo Middleton registered 15 kills. Jessica Weynand and Jillian Wolpman both finished with 11 kills, while AJ Watlington added 10. Middleton also recorded five service aces.

Tonight’s match was one of the most energetic matches at Strahan this season. With neither team willing to give up it went to a vigorous five sets, with the Bobcats coming out on top tonight.

Texas State took a 3-0 lead up on the Cardinals and never looked back as they won the first set 25-17. Middleton started out hot with four kills on 1.000 hitting. The Bobcats hit .242 and kept Lamar to .000.

Set two had a slower pace as Lamar managed to stay within arm’s reach for the first half of the set, until Texas State began to take a slight lead. Texas State made its move at the 15-13 mark when Middleton served two straight aces. Weynand registered a kill at the 18-15 mark to spark the Bobcat offense as they held the Cardinals to just four more points in the set, with Texas State winning 25-19.

Lamar managed to pull some extra stuff out of its pockets tonight to come out and take sets three and four, but Texas State was not willing to let them grab another win.

Texas State came out in the fifth with determination as they kept the lead the whole way. Block assists by Watlington and Amber Calhoun gave Texas State the final point they needed to beat Lamar.

The Bobcats finished the match with 64 kills on .205 hitting and 59 assists. The Cardinals recorded 49 kills on .140 hitting. Kaci Brewer led Lamar with 13 kills and 16 digs.

Texas State returns to the court on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 4:00pm for its last home match of the season. Saturday will be Senior Day as the Bobcats have two players in the Class of 2009; Brittany Collins and Jessica Weynand.

The scholarship athletic teams were not the only ones to have a good showing last weekend.  Students from the cycling, water ski, rugby, and soccer teams were in action on West Campus and around the country.

Drew Hochstatter of the Cycling Team placed 37^th of 70 competitors in the Mountain Bike Nationals at Lake Tahoe, California.

The Texas State Water Ski Team went to the National Tournament in Bakersfield, California where they competed against teams from The University of Wisconsin, Cal Poly, Cincinnati, Texas A&M, Kansas, Clemson, Michigan, Western Washington, and Georgia.  Overall, Texas State finished fourth in the final standings, third in jumping, sixth in trick skiing, and tenth in slalom.  Individually, Amanda Stevenson of Conroe won Women’s Slalom, finished 3^rd in tricks, and 3^rd in jumping. Bobby Hall finished 6^th in slalom, 2^nd in jumping, and 2^nd in jumping.  Lisa Gerkin finished 9^th in jumping.  More results are available here – http://www.ncwsa.com/index.php/nationals/nationals-results

The Men’s Rugby team split the weekend matches.  They lost a close one to SFA in a ‘friendly’ competition.  They came back on Saturday to win against the University of Dallas.

The Women’s Rugby team hosted a Halloween Rugby tournament and played a pair of matches with Texas A&M and Sam Houston.  According to President Mari Suarez, “the tournament turned out great! We put up a good fight against A&M.”  The second game of the weekend was against Sam Houston State.  Unfortunately, the ladies were dealing with a depleted roster and in the lost by kick, final score 12-10 in favor of Sam.

Both the Men’s and Women’s Club Soccer Teams won their Regional Tournaments in San Antonio, Texas over the weekend.  I was unable to get scores for the Women’s team, but they played against Texas, Baylor, and LSU.  Meanwhile, the Men tied their first game 1-1 against Louisiana-Lafayette.  In games two and three, they beat UH-Downtown and Lamar by the scores of 1-0.  They faced Baylor in the tournament final.  They won the game on a penalty kick shootout 3-2.  Both teams will move on to compete at the National Tournament in Phoenix, Arizona November 18-22.

The brackets have not been set yet, but you can find the list of teams that made the tournament at http://www.nirsa.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Sports/Soccer/2009_Teams.pdf.

Coming up this week,

Men’s Lacrosse will host their homecoming a week late, as they invite the Alumni back to campus on Sunday, November 8^th.  The Alumni vs. Current Students game starts at Noon.

Tennis will be traveling to Houston to compete in a Tournament, November 6 – 7.

The Buckets (Men’s Ultimate Disc) will be traveling to College Station to compete in a Tournament, November 6 – 8.

You can learn more about clubsports at — http://www.campusrecreation.txstate.edu/programs/sport-clubs.html

Chris Leman

chris@bobcatfans.com