FHSU defeated CCC 85-66 to get its second win of the season.

This marks the fourth game of the season for FHSU, but it’s only the second regular season game. This was an exhibition game for CCC, but counts towards regular season for FHSU.

The Tigers came into the game with a 1-0 record while CCC came in with a record of 4-0.

The game started off with an early score from CCC’s Mike Francois. The Tigers’ junior guard Dominique Jones then answered back with a 3-pointer that began a 9-0 run from the Tigers that included a field goal and pair of free throws from senior forward Tim Peintner before CCC’s Sean High hit his first of six 3-pointers of the night.

Junior forward Ken Bowman dunks against Central Christian College on Wednesday.

The Tigers were leading 15-8 early in the first half before CCC went on an 8-0 run of its own before sophomore Ben Congiusta hit a 3-pointer. CCC went on another run mid way through the half. FHSU and CCC traded baskets throughout the rest of the half, failing to complete a buzzer beater, and headed into the locker rooms tied 35-35.

There were eight lead changes in the first half. The largest lead was seven by FHSU. CCC had better shooting percentages than the Tigers in field goal (45 percent to 36 percent) and 3-point shooting (38 percent to 20 percent) percentage. The Tigers led in free-throw percentage (100 percent to 0 percent).

The second half started with CCC gaining a 42-37 lead over FHSU before the Tigers went on the largest point run of the night. Their 10-point run started off with two 3-pointers from Jones and senior guard Orrin Greer and ended with two free-throw points from CCC’s High.

High was limited to one field goal in the second half after a 24-point first half performance. However, he went to the line eight times, hitting 16 of 17 shots.

The Tigers improved their 3-point shooting, hitting eight 3-pointers in the second half while limiting CCC to just one.

The Tigers really hit a stride, going on a 12-3 run midway through the second half to set the tempo for the rest of the game.

CCC led only once in the second half before the Tigers took a lead they would never relinquish.

The highest lead of the game came from Fort Hays, leading by 19 with 23 seconds left in the game.

Peintner had the only double-double of the game, leading the Tigers with 10 rebounds (second on the team) and 22 points. CCC’s High had a 42-point game, which was the highest individual score against the Tigers so far this season.

“Number 12 (High) is a great player,” Peintner said. “You can’t take anything away from him. He gets a lot of shots. He’s making a lot of plays happen.”

FHSU dominated the boards, out rebounding CCC 54-30 in total rebounds and also in points in the paint (40-12).

Herrman led the team and the overall game with 11 total rebounds.

“Thank gosh for Ryan Herrman,” Peintner said. “He was in there still goin’; his motor was still goin’. You can always count on him.”

Herrman wasn’t a starter at forward this game but brought a lot of energy off the bench. The Tigers had 20 points off the bench compared to CCC’s one.

The Tigers outscored CCC 50-31 in the second half, credited to game-plan changes made by coach Mark Johnson.

“I told them to be more focused and play harder,” said Johnson. “Either we were not ready to play or we weren’t focused or we were shooting poorly. I think in the second half we handled the ball better and made better shots.”

The Tigers’ next game will be Nov. 30 against the University of Nebraska-Kearney.

“I think the only positive we can take from this game is that our team faced adversity,” Johnson said. “We were down five early in the second half, and it could have easily gone south from there.”

FHSU (2-0) defeated Northwestern Oklahoma State University (4-2) 89-33, and the Tigers scored 16 3-pointers — a school record.

The Tigers broke the previous school record of 13 3-pointers against Southwest Baptist University on Jan. 6, 2007.

“We are a shooting team,” senior guard Naomi Bancroft said. “That is one of our strongest points, so it is nice to see us (break the record).”

NWOSU came into the game trying to double-team FHSU’s posts early, and the Tiger guards took advantage of it.

Freshman forward Kelsie Sorensen looks for open teammates as a University of Northwestern Oklahoma State University defender guards her.

Bancroft led the 3-point effort and attempted all of her shots from beyond the arc, making 5-of-9 shots.

However, it was a team effort as seven other Tigers hit at least one 3-pointer to nab the record.

“It seemed like everybody that we put into the game to play was hitting shots,” Hobson said.

While FHSU’s offense never slowed the 3-point scoring shower, NWOSU could not find an answer for the Tigers’ defense.

In the first half, NWOSU posted more turnovers than points, committing 23 turnovers and scoring only 15 points.

“We tried to hang our post players out there and guarded them one-on-one to see if they could handle them,” Hobson said. “They couldn’t score there, and they couldn’t kick it out because we were staying on their shooters. We kind of just shut them down.”

Due to the double-digit lead for most of the game, Hobson had an opportunity to experiment with several different lineups and gave the bench players a chance to play.

Bancroft led the team, but freshman guard Whitney Taylor came off the bench and scored 11 points.

Players off the bench accounted for 37 of FHSU’s 89 points.

Senior center Erica Biel and senior guard Audra Binford also reached double-digit scoring with 10 points apiece.

Biel led the team in rebounds with eight, while Bancroft posted five assists.

Hobson was surprised his team managed to hit so many 3-pointers when he was constantly experimenting with the lineup.

“I would hate to see what we would have shot from the 3-point line if we left them in,” Hobson said. “I didn’t leave (the shooters) in long enough to get into a rhythm.”

Hobson said he used the game as an opportunity to try different schemes with his offense and defense.

His defense utilized the full-court press in the first half, but he went away from it after his team had captured a commanding lead.

“We were trying some new things on defense early, but then when it gets out of hand, you have to rethink that, too,” Hobson said. “It is full-court pressure, and you don’t need to get into that.”

On Sunday, Bancroft obtained her own milestone as she reached the 1,000-point career mark in the 104-56 victory over Bethany College (0-4).

She scored 27 points but was pulled after she tied the mark.

“It is a great feeling anytime you can accomplish that, but it never would have happened if it wasn’t for the players I have played with in my time here,” Bancroft said. “As much as it is an award for me, it is an award for everyone else that has helped me get there.”

The Tigers will travel to the University of Nebraska-Kearney on Tuesday. It is the first NCAA Division II test FHSU will face.

“We are taking one game at a time,” Bancroft said. “This is awesome, beating teams like this. This is a great confidence booster, but we also know the reality of it.

“We still have to keep improving every day. Kearney has always been a tough game and a good rival, so we have to go in there and prepare to win there, too, and get it done.”

Kohler said the changes would start with the team’s personnel as he plans to have only five Tigers return to the lineup from this season’s roster.

Junior setter Whitney Liggett, sophomore libero Tracie Hileman, sophomore middle hitter Rebecca Mausbach, freshman outside hitter Makayla McPhail and freshman defensive specialist Maddy Mall are among the Tigers planned to be on the 2010 roster.

“We’ve got to bring in some players that can compete in the top half of the (Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association),” Kohler said. “The other thing we need is to have that winning attitude and know when we step on the floor that we are confident enough to win every match and to play all the way through.”

Kohler said next season’s team will probably be very young.

He said he has already signed four players in the early singing period and hopes to have eight or nine freshmen on next season’s roster along with several junior college transfers.

“That is going to be a learning experience for them,” Kohler said. “But I think after keeping that group together over the next three or four years, we will really start seeing some success coming through this program.”

Sophomore libero Tracie Hileman passes the ball to a teammate against No. 9 Emporia State University.

FHSU graduates its only two All-MIAA selections — senior outside hitters Lilian Rezende and Lydia Karnopp.

Rezende earned second-team honors to complement last season’s honorable mention honor.

Rezende averaged a team-high 3.67 kills per game, a team-high 0.34 service aces per game and 2.63 digs per game. She also led the team with a .221 hitting percentage.

“Lilian was a JuCo All-American and really has dominated this program for the last two years,” Kohler said. “She was a kid that kind of carried the team over the last couple of years, and that showed with her being the only MIAA All-Conference player over the last two years.”

Karnopp was chosen for honorable mention. It was her first All-MIAA selection. She had the second-most kills on the team, averaging 2.54 kills per game.

Karnopp is the team’s lone senior who has been at FHSU for four seasons. As a freshman, she was on the first team that competed in the MIAA that finished 3-25.

“I’ve really enjoyed being here,” Karnopp said. “We really struggled my freshman year, but I’ve really improved as a player, and I think the teams each year have gotten better and better. I really think Fort Hays volleyball is going in the right direction.”

The Tigers ended the season getting swept 3-0 against No. 9 Emporia State University (16-4 MIAA, 29-5). The loss dropped FHSU to 3-17 in the MIAA.

FHSU stayed with the Hornets early but couldn’t manage to keep up late, losing 25-21, 25-15, 25-15.

“Emporia made some adjustments in the second game, and we just couldn’t quite hit over the block,” Kohler said. “We were making some poor choices. It kind of blew up in our face there. All in all the kids tried hard and did what they could.”

However, the Tigers did set one milestone. For the first time this season, FHSU finished a match without committing a service error.

Since 2005, the Tigers have had only one game per year where the team committed no service errors, and three of the last four have been against ESU.

“I think we are just getting a little smarter with it,” Karnopp said. “Knowing that we need to take that extra break and take a few extra seconds and then serve the ball, I think coach has really tried to reinforce that over the past month, and I think it finally came into play.”

Rezende led the team in kills with 10, while Mausbach had seven kills.

Hileman led the team in digs with 12, and Liggett and sophomore setter Lindsey Larson had 17 assists and 13 assists, respectively.

“This season by far has been the best losing season,” Karnopp said. “I know that sounds weird but it has been. Even though we’ve been losing and we haven’t quite finished all of the games, we have improved so much that it doesn’t feel like a terrible loss.”

FHSU, ranked No. 14 in the NCAA Division II preseason polls, had at least three of the team’s presumptive starters not compete in the tournament, which included national runner-up senior Tommy Edgmon, 125 pounds; three-time national qualifying senior Tyler Gonzales, 184 pounds; and 2008 NJCAA All-American junior Chance Rencountre, 197 pounds.

Head coach Chas Thompson said the wrestlers who missed the competition were either banged up or didn’t make weight.

Thompson said most of the banged-up wrestlers could have competed, but he didn’t want to risk further injuries or wear them down more than they need this early in the season.

“They probably could have wrestled, but we aren’t going to send them out there if they aren’t 100 percent,” Thompson said.

Of the four placers, all of their losses came to NCAA Division I opponents from either No. 6 Oklahoma State University or No. 8 University of Missouri.

“It felt good because we didn’t lose to anybody that wrestled the same division as us,” Thompson said.

Senior Blake Malloy was the highest finisher for the Tigers, placing second at 165 pounds.

Malloy won his first four matches but couldn’t overcome Nick Marable from the University of Missouri, losing by a 6-3 decision. Marable is ranked No. 7 in the NCAA Division I preseason polls.

“(Marable) was about a foot shorter than me, but he was a lot bigger than me,” Malloy said. “I think I have big legs for my weight class, but he outdid me with that. D1 guys are a lot quicker, and he proved that to me, too.”

Senior Danny Grater, who is ranked No. 3 at 157 pounds, wrestled up a weight class and finished sixth in the 165-pound weight class.

Grater defeated his first three opponents before facing Marable. Grater lost by a 15-3 major decision.

Malloy said it had to be difficult for Grater to wrestle up a weight class.

“Some guys are cutting it pretty hard from like 175 pounds when they first start wrestling, so (Grater) is already giving up 15 pounds,” Malloy said. “It is a lot tougher because they have more muscle and are a lot bigger than him.”

After being battered in his first four matches, he then forfeited his next two to avoid any further damage.

“The style Danny wrestles is kind of a banger,” Thompson said. “He hand fights a lot and does a lot of incidental head butting. It is a rough wrestling style. He wasn’t losing the battles, but it really beat him up wrestling those guys trying to keep that style.”

Junior Andre Harrison finished fifth in the 141-pound weight class, going 4-2 at the tournament.

Harrison twice defeated University of Central Missouri’s Cory Bloodgood, who was ranked No. 4 at 141 pounds in the NCAA Division I preseason rankings.

Harrison sent Bloodgood to the consolation bracket with an 8-3 decision and then defeated him again for fifth place with a 16-5 major decision.

Senior Shawn Kuhlman finished sixth at the tournament after going 4-3. He picked up three of his wins by falls.

The Tigers return to action at the Kaufman-Brand Open on Saturday. The University of Nebraska-Omaha, ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division II, hosts the tournament.

It is the nation’s largest collegiate wrestling meet, attracting 500-700 wrestlers from 35 teams in 12 states.

Thompson said 14 wrestlers would likely compete at the tournament, but like the UCM Open, some of his wrestlers will be held out of the Kaufman-Brand Open to help them recover from early injuries.

“That can be a long day,” Thompson said. “You can wrestle nine matches in one day and still not place.

“It is a very long season. There are six seniors that are in the varsity lineup, and if one of those guys goes down, it is not something that we can afford to have right now.”

The tournament is divided into an amateur division and an elite division.

Last year, six Tigers placed at the competition — three in the amateur division and three in the elite division.

“This is the second time we are going to be there,” Malloy said. “It gets easier and easier as it goes along because you become a smarter wrestler and are stronger.”

“I, myself, came to student government in 2002,” Burnett said. “I was a year out of college, myself, and I came to Student Government Association and I asked for one simple treadmill. That’s all I wanted, just one simple treadmill.”

In that first time in front of SGA, Burnett was turned down. But the following spring he succeeded in getting the treadmill. Now, SGA has passed an 85-cent per credit hour fee that will guarantee the Tiger Wellness Center operational funds.

“There are very few times in your life where you will have a good problem,” Burnett said. “And the problem is this: We have brought this facility up together to a point where we need more. Not for me. I don’t get anything out of this. You know what I get? I get more work. None of this goes to my salary, I wouldn’t take it as a salary, I’ve never asked for a salary.”

The decision passed unanimously, closing the chapter on an issue that has had a troubled history.

Student body president senior Bradley Stramel vetoed a resolution a month ago that would have created a student referendum because it did not meet constitutional requirements.

SGA heard testimony from senior and former allocations committee chairwoman Melissa Winter, who was in favor of the fee.

“I’m someone that uses it every day, and as far as 85 cents a credit hour, that’s about $25.50 a year,” Winter said. “I don’t know if you can find a gym with that kind of amazing equipment and that kind of service for $25 a year.”

The new resolution passes without a general student election because the fee amount is less than $1.

SGA also voted on members to serve on the allocations committee. Sens. junior Jenna Braun, senior Robyn Sellard, sophomore Jessica Tormey, sophomore Andrew Dempewolf, junior Pilar Quinones, junior Kyle Glodt and freshman Alex Hendee.

Two runoffs were used to determine the final seat in a tie between Sens. senior Devin Konkel, senior Luke Hachmeister and Hendee.

The allocations committee writes the legislation distributing student fee dollars to organizations across campus.

Recently released revenue projections by the Consensus Estimating Group show a 5.1 percent decrease in state revenue from last year, 4.2 percent below the previous projection.

Now, it’s a waiting game to see how the governor and legislature will fix the situation.

“I know it’s (Gov. Mark Parkinson’s) intent to try to fix the budget now instead of waiting and having the legislature do it at the first of January,” said Fort Hays State University president Edward H. Hammond. “I think his intent is to try to get the budget in balance as quickly as possible to give state agencies the maximum amount of time to deal with whatever budget cuts are necessary.”

If five percent is cut for state agencies across the board, it would mean a loss of $1.6 million for FHSU. However, some agencies could be cut more than others depending on the strategy by the governor’s office.

This is the fifth time within the last year FHSU has faced the prospect of cuts by the state. Since Thanksgiving last year, the state has cut $4.4 million from FHSU’s funding.

Hammond said once FHSU knows how much money it will be losing, he will schedule a campus-wide meeting similar to the ones from last year.

“I suspect we’ll get some decisions within the next two weeks at which point, once (Parkinson) makes that decision, I’ll probably have another campus-wide meeting where we spell out what the problem is — what the university’s strategy is going to be — and then we will proceed to implement that strategy.”

Hammond said he could not speculate on what money will be used to cover any cuts until he knows the scope of the problem. However, he said if the cut is for $1.6 million, it could be handled with strategic planning money until the end of the year. The $680,000 cut in July was covered with strategic planning money.

“But that only gets us through this year. Then we have to build next year’s budget without $2.2 million that will be missing,” Hammond said. “That’s the real challenge. The challenge is the base budget for next year.”

Hammond said it might be more difficult absorbing cuts into the budget than it was last year. FHSU saved $500,000 through efficiencies last year, in large part because faculty and staff went to a four-day workweek during the summer.

“Now, that’s kind of in our operating budget,” Hammond said. “That’s the reason why we announced we’d do it again this year.

“The only day we could go back to a regular schedule would be if we got $500,000 back into the budget, which we don’t have.”

Fortunately, the participants themselves were not harmed. Leadership classes from Fort Hays State University provided a video game tournament, with all proceeds going toward the American Red Cross.

“The purpose of this event is to raise money and awareness for the Red Cross disaster relief fund. We’re trying to tell college students that even though they’re young, they can still donate their money or time,” said senior Tara Lawrence.

Although a number of games were available for participants, the main tournament of the event was a “Mario Kart Wii” event. “We chose ‘Mario Kart’ because it’s kind of a universal game. I think everybody has played it at least once,” said senior Jed Wipplinger. “You have four players, and at the end of the race you have a point system, so it’s easy to organize a tournament.”

Though competitiveness was not in short supply, participants in the event were glad to be contributing to the Red Cross. “I’m just here to win a prize for being the best,” joked junior Anthony Smith. “Really, it’s a cool event. Having fun and helping people out at the same time is great.”

The event was successful in its bid to raise funds for the disaster relief program. “We had a $2,000 goal. Unfortunately we fell a little short of that. We mostly went around to sponsors because we didn’t want the kids to be the ones bringing in all the money,” Lawrence said.

Reception for the event was largely positive.

“It’s a great idea: taking something like this—getting students involved in helping others—and making it fun. It gives you a chance to help people and play games at the same time,” said senior Brady Peters.

First and foremost, Student Government Association passed Resolution 09F102, which is the Tiger Wellness Center fee. With the approval of the senate, I have signed the legislation into law to place on our tuition and fee proposal for FY11. The Kansas Board of Regents will review the proposals in the spring semester upon approving FY11 tuition and fees. What is now into law is to have an 85-cent fee to fund the Wellness Center’s maintenance, employment and equipment costs. Once the Board of Regents votes on our tuition and fee proposal, it will go into effect.

The FHSU community and the city of Hays are pleased to recognize this week as International Education Week. President Hammond and the Hays mayor Ron Mellick have both signed proclamations to support and dedicate this week to learn, grow and become diverse in an international culture. SGA continues to support the on-campus international community, and we look forward to taking part in this week’s scheduled events. Please check the schedule of events through your emails and other forms of communication around campus.

With impending budget cuts on the rise from the Governor’s office, it is vital for all of us students living, learning and working hard for our future careers that we must have our voices heard to those who assist us with state funds. Please email and call your elected state legislators to tell them about what could happen if we don’t get sufficient state funds.

In the SGA office, we have a state legislator writing campaign to encourage you as students to write to your representatives. In these tough and trying economic times, we need to make everyone accountable for their actions and what they are doing to our future in order to succeed. It is pretty simple and painless to come on down to our office in the lower level of Memorial Union, and we will take care of the addresses and postage.

A reminder to student organizations — the preliminary allocation request deadline is December 7 at 4:30 p.m. in the SGA office. The 2010-2011 Allocation Request Form is online and in the SGA office for pick up. Also sample four- and six-digit budgets are available online under as well as in the office.

With Fall Break coming next week, I would like to take the time to personally thank each and every person on campus. Everyone deserves recognition for his or her individual accomplishments and hard work for the university and higher education as a whole. Furthermore, my fellow students, thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve and protect your interests by being your head representative. I extend my gratitude to my executive staff — Haley Wilkison, Amanda Basye, Cody Kiser and my right-hand man Vice President Tyler Thompson. Also, I want to thank the student senators for their work and dedication to SGA and their respected constituents.

On behalf of the student body, we want to thank the faculty and staff for their efforts and continual support for our future aspirations. A big thank you goes out to President Hammond for seeing us through these tough economic times and enabling us to have the education we need to succeed and prosper. From the SGA Senate and executive staff, we wish all of you a relaxing Fall Break and have a Happy Thanksgiving. Travel safely!!!

Click the link below to listen:

TigerTimeout13

“I’ve never seen a rocket launch, so I’ll be interested to see what happens with it,” said freshman Traci Keyser prior to the launching.

Freshman Traci Keyser listens as associate professor Richard Lisichenko explains the functions of a GPS before launching a rocket for GIS day.

The Department of Geosciences celebrated its 11th annual GIS Day this Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on the FHSU campus.

The day’s events included lab activities in Tomanek Hall, the rocket launch and speaker presentations.

During the lab activities, GIS Day participants were able to learn more about GIS software and applications.

“They showed how their GIS program worked and how they layer maps,” senior Loy Anthony said. “They can subtract certain parts and just have certain parts stick out.”

Although the department has been launching rockets for many years, this year marked the first time a rocket with a video camera had ever been shot into the sky.

“We’ve been doing it for the Boy Scouts,” said John Heinrichs, chair of the Department of Geosciences at FHSU. “This is the first time that we’ve gotten college students involved in it.”

After the rocket landing, observers watched the video of the rocket in the air, which showed the rocket’s leaving and then gave an aerial view of the ground as it soared higher into the sky. The rocket’s perfect showing impressed the viewers.

“The launch was pretty amazing, especially the fact that it landed two feet from where it was launched,” said Anthony. “It was a perfect day for a launch. It was really amazing how they videotaped it and actually hooked it up to look downwards as it was taking off. Overall, I couldn’t ask for a better day for a launch.”

Heinrichs’ hopes for the rocket launching to reach beyond campus.

“There’s no other university in Kansas doing all that much with space technology,” Heinrichs said. “So we think this is a real opportunity for us. We’re carrying a camera on here so that we can observe the earth from various altitudes. Eventually, I want our students to participate in a competition that NASA has to get a rocket to an altitude of one mile.”

Students interested in rocketry are asked to contact Heinrichs.

Picture taken from on-board rocket as it reaches apogee during GIS Day.

The theme for this year’s GIS Day was “Disaster Management and Litigation.” The day’s special guest speakers wrapped up the celebration and even included Rodney Odom, a representative from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the agency that provided Greensburg with assistance after the tornado in 2007.

Other speakers included Eileen Battles from the Data Access and Support Center in Lawrence; Sherry Massey, the Dickinson County GIS Coordinator; AJ Thomas from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, who phoned in to the conference; and Steve Thompson, who is a GIS and GPS consultant, professional engineer and independent surveyor out of Salina.

“The theme for this year is dealing with disaster management and disaster preparedness,” said Richard Lisichenko, associate professor of Geosciences at FHSU. “So each one of them is going to share a unique aspect of the use of GIS towards that.”

Heinrichs’ enthusiasm for GIS goes beyond this day’s celebration, and he hopes that GIS Day will get more students interested in the program.

“We’re hoping that our students find out more about what the professional world of mapping and GIS is all about,” Heinrichs said. “(We also hope) to attract interest to the fact that we have an excellent geographic and GIS program here at Fort Hays State. We want people to get involved in the program and come and learn what GIS is all about.”