Roadrunners On Deck Feb. 15 Baseball Double Header vs. Hastings College (Neb.) at Noon Auraria Feb. 16 Baseball Double Header vs. Hastings College (Neb.) at Noon Auraria Women’s Hoops at Chadron State 4 p.m. Men’s Hoops at Chadron State 6 p.m. Feb. 20 Women’s Hoops vs. Colorado Christian  5 p.m. Men’s Hoops vs. Colorado Christian  5 p.m. Feb. 21 Baseball Double Header vs Northwest Nazarene at Noon Auraria WEEKLY RESULTS Feb. 8 Men’s Hoops beats Colorado Mines 63-60 Women’s Hoops beats Colorado Mines 65-50 Feb. 7 Men’s Hoops beats Colorado Christian 54-41 Women’s Hoops lost to Colorado Christian 50-62 Athletic Hall of Fame The Metro athletic department recently announced its 2003 inductees to the Roadrunner Hall of Fame. They include former women’s basketball coach Darryl Smith (1990-98), men’s swimmer Darwin Strickland (1993-96), volleyball player Crissy Cananda (1991-94), baseball player Keith Schulz (1983-86), artist Malcolm Farley and the 33-0 1978 volleyball team. The Class of 2003 will be honored at a ceremony at the Holiday Inn Select at 455 S. Colorado Blvd., 6 p.m. Feb. 14.

Well, well, well… Look at what we have here: A microwave rivalry.

The Volk Gymnasium on the Colorado Mines campus was filled with the kind of passion and intensity that chucks common sense aside. Emotions reached full flame in the final eight seconds when the Orediggers pulled within four points after trailing 33-17 to the No. 9 nationally ranked Metro men’s basketball team at halftime.

Both head coaches either barked orders or bellowed at the referees or hotly reminded the scorekeeper to start the clock.  And when Mines forward, Justin Buckmaster followed a missed shot to make the score 61-57 Metro, the Orediggers’ student section staggered and held their heads and arms in astonishment, as the Roadrunners put Mines in a 16-point hole.  

“We really didn’t think we had the game won going into halftime,” Metro junior Luke Kendall said. “We knew what we had to do. We knew that their shooters were going to come out and throw it up. We just had to take their punches and keep rolling with them.”

With the second-best defense in Division II, the Roadrunners held off Mines (who usually average 84 points a game) for a 63-60 thrilling victory Feb. 8.

In a 54-41 win at Colorado Christian the previous night, Metro’s defense was, again, second to none.

All four of Metro’s returning starters were the center of attention at all points of the game at Mines. Senior Patrick Mutombo led the way with 19 points, Kendall scored 15, point guard Clayton Smith ran the show with five assists and three steals, and Lester Strong spotted 11 rebounds.

These same veterans have played in so many stress-filled games they now take them in stride. After being fouled off the inbounds following Buckmaster’s basket, Kendall strode to the free-throw line and didn’t bat an eyelash. The preseason All-American honorable mention iced the game with two swishes, making Stephen Bahl’s three at the buzzer for Mines mean nothing but a great foreshadow for their next meeting on Feb. 22.

Generally, rivalries in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference are slow-cooked over the years and have a semblance of balance to them. Even though they haven’t beat Metro in 11 games, the Orediggers (15-6; 9-4 RMAC) sudden rise to the top of the conference standings after 12 straight losing seasons, makes them a legit threat. Plus, Mines has Bahl, the RMAC leading scorer who averages 23. 2 points along with a handful of three-point shooters who have hit 38 percent on the year combined.  Mix in the 1,127 fans —770 more than last year— that percolated to a boiling point in the small, dimly lit Volk Gymnasium where the adrenaline rush hit full tilt, creating an instant rivalry.

“They’ve been playing well this year and they have that pride, where you don’t want to lose home,” said Mutombo, the RMAC East Division Player-of-the-Week. “They hit some tough shots and they kept coming back, and they kept coming back.”   

Metro played backyard ball to gain its double-digit first half lead against Mines. They scored off fast breaks, turnovers and kick-out threes.

Photo by - Shannon Davidson Metro forward Patrick Mutombo goes up for two of his 19 points against Colorado Christian during the first leg of the Roadrunners two-game roadtrip Feb.7-8. Metro beat the Cougars 54-41.

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Photo by - Shannon Davidson Metro guard Martina Gandzalova takes the ball downcourt while Colorado Christian's Tammy Rosenberger attempts a steal during the second half of play Feb. 7.

Winning on the road in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference is like walking into the Soprano’s parlor and stealing the meatballs; you may come back with a busted nose, but at least you came back with the sacrificial offering.

RMAC women’s basketball teams have found the travel to be anything but reverent this season. Conference teams have won only 34.8 percent of their away games. Only two teams, Nebraska-Kearney (6-1) and Fort Hays State (5-4), have won more then they’ve lost. Metro is hovering with a 5-5 road record, one that recently shifted down and up. After a bitter 62-50 loss at Colorado Christian  (9-12; 3-10 RMAC) Feb. 7, the Roadrunners regrouped and bounced Colorado Mines (4-17; 2-11) with a 65-50 win Feb. 8.

With everything to gain and a season to lose, the Metro women’s basketball dug in to take a stand after losing to the Cougars, while senior Malene Lindholm’s confidence took a quantum leap forward.

After two and half games of brick city (she shot 2-of-21 from the field and 1-of-10 from three-land) Lindholm was 20 minutes of clutch city, scoring all 17 of her points in the second half helping boost the Roadrunners to the win at Mines. Miss Consistency, junior Rachel Grove, added 16 points and eight rebounds as Metro shot 45.3 percent for the game. This scoring surge came on the heels of a 16-of-63 shooting performance in the loss to Colorado Christian, in which the Roadrunners offense was often thwarted by themselves. Minus Grove scoring 18 points and grabbing six boards, the only other positive was Metro’s perfection (16-of-16) at the charity stripe.

“We can’t beat anybody shooting 25 percent,” Metro head coach Dave Murphy said. “The kids are going to have really let all the distractions (surrounding) the game go at the front door. We are carrying a lot of baggage on to the game floor, and on to the practice floor, and that is not like us.”

Errant passes also shackled the Roadrunners offense against the Cougars. They turned the ball over 17 times. A night later, though, Metro made bail by beating Mines for the first time in six games, dating back to the 1998-99 season.

“We were really upset about last night and we still were when we walked on the court (at Mines),” Lindholm said. “We really needed to show people that we can win and that we can win by a lot.”

Metro took an early 11-2 advantage against Mines, then fell into a pox of missed jumpers and missed free throws despelling their flawless the night before from the line. The Roadrunners, though, were able to hold onto a 24-22 halftime lead. And somewhere during the 15 minute halftime show, Metro heard the chord, and the notes of its pre-season goals seemed a bit far off, both in place and in tune. They wanted the music back. If the season ended today, they would be the eighth and final seed in the RMAC Championship Tournament (renamed the Wells Fargo Shootout). But if the Roadrunners still want to host a conference playoff game, they can’t afford another setback; it’s now or never.

“We just reiterated that their destiny lies in their own hands; they control it,” Murphy said. “It’s all about desire. We were really positive with them and they responded. They really want to do something and they want to be proud of their team. They want to be proud of their school. They knew they weren’t very well represented (against Colorado Christian). They wanted to get back.”

Lindholm led Metro on 20-7 and 17-2 scoring bursts in the second stanza. The 2002 All-Conference player got back on track by first putting back a missed lay-up, she then nailed a three from NBA range with a graceful trajectory, made two free throws, a hook shot inside and hit another long jumper. By the end of the two runs, the Roadrunners had a commanding 61-40 advantage with a minute and a half to play.

“I’ve tried in the last couple of games to shoot and not worry about it,” Lindholm said. “And then I got that one shot (where) I wasn’t worried; I didn’t have time to worry about it. I got the shot, made it and then I got the feel back.”

Metro definitely wants to keep that winning feeling heading into its final six games before the conference championship tournament at the World Arena in Colorado Springs. They can start by taking their frustrations out on Regis University Feb. 13 (during homecoming week). A win would pull Metro even with the Rangers (9-4) in the conference standings. Staked to an eight-point lead at Regis on Jan. 29, Metro allowed the Rangers (14-7 overall) to come back and win in the final minutes.

A little revenge is Metro’s ace in the hole.

“Beat ‘em up,” Lindholm said. “We want to get them back for sure. We didn’t feel like we should have lost last time.”
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Outfield power source
RMAC Champs back in full swing
by Rami Wilder
The Metropolitan

The Metro baseball team has high expectations following last year’s Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championship.

“I think we are the best team in the conference. I think (this season) is going to be a chance for us to show it,” said junior outfielder and co-captain Brian Edwards. “Our expectation is to win the conference and the RMAC tournament and move on to regionals this year. If we fall short of the regional everyone would be pretty disappointed.”

Accomplishing Edward’s goals won’t be easy considering the difficulty of Metro’s schedule, which includes a month-long stretch without a home game and more non-conference regional games against highly-ranked opponents.

The challenging regular season will give the Roadrunners an opportunity to see if they have what it takes to surpass last year’s team. Head baseball coach Vince Porreco purposely chose a more difficult schedule to prepare his team for tough conference opponents and to better their chances for selection into the regional tournament.

“We have some long road trips against some good competition,” Porreco said. “We are going to find out what we are made of on the road. We’re playing teams like Central Missouri, which is in the top five in the nation pretty much every year. We want to find out exactly where we stand against the best.”

Edwards is also looking forward to his team’s chance to show their talent this season.

“The competition will be better for us,” Edwards said. “We will know how we can play against the better teams instead of taking a light schedule into the conference, and the conference games being the best teams we’ve seen so far.”

Last year, Metro started strong, winning their first nine games, then struggled during the midseason. At one point they lost 10 out of 12 games and put themselves in a position where they had to win 19 of their final 23 games to claim the conference crown. Porreco has looked back on last year’s losing streak and plans on making sure it doesn’t happen again.

“Too many times you look ahead and then you let things slip by,” Porreco said. “We have a lot of success early and then you take everything for granted and then you go into a lull and you have to bring yourself out of it. I think we need to monitor the highs and lows and be more consistent, where we are peaking at the end of the season.”

Porreco believes this year’s team has the strength and leadership to overcome the roller-coaster of emotions and sustain over the long regular season.

The Roadrunners strengths begin in the outfield. Seniors Aaron Garcia and John Burney will be back, along with Edwards who was first-team All-Conference in 2002 and led the team in hitting with a .459 batting average. Edwards led the conference in stolen bases with 39 in 2002 and his batting average placed him sixth nation-wide in Division II. Jased Devine, the designated hitte, slash occasional outfielder and 2002 RMAC All-Tournament team member, will join the three starters.

“We have all of our starting outfield coming back, so I think we are going to be very strong… the best we’ve ever been in the outfield, both offensively and defensively,” Porreco said. “The bulk of our new players are in the infield. However, I think we have improved in every single position. We’ve brought in experienced players.”

These players include, C.J. Brown (starting catcher) and Ricky Fuller (starting at third base) who are both transfers from Sierra Community College in California. James Edwards will be starting at first base, Adam Wolfinger will start at second base and Clint Cleland will complete the newly-formed infield as the starting shortstop.

One of the few weaknesses Porreco sees for the Roadrunners is that with 16 new players it will take some time for the team to come together as a group. Still, he is not worried about how the team will perform.

“I think we are going to surprise a lot of people this year, and in the end I think we are going to be competing for a No. 1 spot,” Porreco said. “In the very beginning we are going to be very strong on the mound and defensively. Hitting will come with time and repetition.”

The pitching staff has five returning players including senior Jason Humphrey, who finished last season with an 5.40 ERA. Humphrey is coming off an injury late last year that forced him to miss the RMAC tournament. Senior Dan Morasci had a strong finish last season and was a member of the 2002 RMAC All-Tournament team. Morasci will make a huge impact this year if he can carry over his success from late last season.

The Roadrunners have a well-rounded team that should make the 2003 season an exciting one. There is plenty of veteran leadership from players like Edwards, Devine, and Burney as well as the addition of many new players who will be looking to prove themselves.

If Metro can stand up against the increased difficulty of this season’s schedule, they will be in good position to advance past the RMAC tournament and begin to fulfill Edward’s expectations for himself and his teammates.

“I think we are going to be better this year than we were last year,” Edwards said. “We have a lot more talent all the way around the field.”

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