If you picked up a Criterion at any point this year and flipped it back to the sports pages, you know that Mesa State has talented and successful teams. But does anybody truly know how dominant the Mavericks have been since the fall? Of course baseball, football and basketball are every schools’ big sports, but here we have to start recognizing the teams that have won a lot more than our main headliners.
Springtime has not only bloomed new plants, but both tennis teams have sprung into successful seasons. The Sera sisters led the ladies all the way to the championship round in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament, where they fell just short. The men’s team fared even better and reached the championship round. Both teams made it to the Central Regional Tournament. The boys are hosting the matches May 8 here on campus and it would be ridiculous if you didn’t come out and support this great team. The girls are heading to Minnesota for their Central Region match and are on a hot streak right now that could lead them to somewhere great.
With the opening of a beautiful swimming facility, the women’s swim team dominated all season long through the RMAC’s. Led by Kelly Hogan, the team went on to smash every school record in swimming. When it was all said and done, Hogan just barely missed making nationals. The cheer team made an incredible run at their national competition, finishing strong despite a controversial scoring error. So even when our great basketball team was winning games, there was a team that was just as good every time out.
Did you know that we had a women’s rugby team? Not only that, we have an incredibly talented squad of girls who aren’t afraid to get bruised up to get the victory.
We have incredible freshmen talent on our wrestling team as Tyler Juby stormed all the way to the national tournament. Alexis Skarda is another young talent for our women’s track and field and coss country team. The two time All-American is a sophomore who continues to compete in Division I meets and set school records.
Despite making it all the way to Super Regionals last season, the softball team’s attendance has been pretty low student wise. If you compare this year’s team to last, they are at the exact same spot they were, and the team is looking to explode starting in the RMAC Tournament.
As I write this, the women’s golf team is getting into the swing of things in Minnesota as they look to make some noise in the NCAA Regionals.
There is so much success on campus that I could not even get into it all. In no way am I disrespecting our  major headlining sports because they have had absolutely fantastic seasons, I just wish every team got the respect that they deserve.
It has been an absolute blast for me to cover all these athletes who have showed me nothing but classy gestures and have helped me out. And as a sports fan, there is no other other place I’d rather be. This is where all the sports dreams happen.