One that’s for e for for e for all right all right these guys it’s a running joke I have with these guys that when I walk out I always I want the lights to flash and the drum part of in the air tonight so they kind of fool me
Tonight but good evening welcome tonight um let me say this first of all let me apologize I know we had this event set up to be in a different uh venue tonight but as you all know we can’t control the ice and the weather that’s happened this
Past week so we’ve kind of had a make a makeshift here tonight um I want to say thank you to my staff because we had two basketball games today and then as soon as the games were over with they were picking up trash and sweeping up popcorn
And doing all those things they trying to transform the gym back into where we could have this event tonight and Brian Lee and his staff are being here but let me say this all right athletes parents there’s two and I don’t know what’s more important to me I I know
What I’m supposed to say but there’s two days during the season that I really enjoy one of them is watching our athletes walk across the stage with a diploma because that’s important they that’s why we brought them here was to to be uh good stewards of this University grow while they’re here but
Also walk across that stage and the other day the other event that runs neck and neck is putting championship rings on their fingers okay and that’s nothing that I’ve done or nothing that my staff has done we’re just here to witness it and those and we
Get to be here tonight and watch that so I applaud you and parents thank you for allowing us the opportunity to honor your student athlete tonight and your child because they have done nothing but represent this University in a first class manner tonight we have three teams we’re
Going to recognize we actually would have had four cuz our men’s basketball team won a championship last year also but we wanted to honor them prior to their season starting so we would have had four teams here tonight but tonight we get to honor a team actually three of
Them you know and whether it’s their the first time in the NCAA era that we went to the golf National Championship whether it’s the fact I hope everybody understands we got rid of women’s tennis for a while okay we were so bad and our
Court was so bad that we just we got rid of women’s tenis in 2019 we brought it back and we get to honor them for their second conference title in 5 years and then we also get to honor a team that that they had a championship season for the 29th time not Championship
Championship season because as you’ll hear later there’s a lot of those Seasons where they might have won two or three championships the last thing I’m going to say is I’m really proud because if you I I invite you to come to my desk come to my office and when we get done
Here tonight I get to put my 31st 32nd and 33rd ring on my desk and that is nothing that I’ve done that is everything that our student athletes have done that our student athletes have done our coaches have done our athletic trainers our support staff that’s
They’ve done all the hard work I just get to sit back and witness it but thank you for being here we’re going to honor you all it probably won’t take very very long but we do hey stick around take all the pictures you want this is a very
Special moment I know these coaches will say it enjoy it tonight and let’s get be let’s get it behind us and get ready to win another championship but for our program tonight I’m going to bring up Jacob Pumphrey he’s our assis and ad for athletic Communications he’s going to
Talk a little bit about each team bring up each head coach and then we’ll present the Rings Jacob py thank you coach Browning I appreciate it I’ve had the real quick I’ve had the opportunity to participate as a student athlete uh in one of these cereem several of these ceremonies I should add
And uh and of course in my eight or so years uh in this position uh it never gets old it never gets old so let’s go ahead and hand out some uh let go and hand out some rings but before we begin I’d like to talk a little bit about the
Mider women’s tennis team under the leadership of fifth year head coach Greg Owen the SAU women earned a share of its Second Great American Conference regular season title the MERS won 11 matches last spring including four in League Play sonn Arkansas won its last four GAC matches three of which were decided 43
In a span of just 5 days in mid April true freshman anak barendorf was named the Great American Conference women’s tennis freshman of the year and she was joined on the all GAC first team by unanimous selections Lena mvic and Sarah Roy Greta Wallen received all league
Ploted as she was tabbed to the second team in addition to being joined by CI Smith as a GAC distinguished scholar athlete and at this time I’d like to bring to the podium Head tennis coach Mr Greg [Applause] Owen I’m going to keep this extremely short and sweet and you can tell
Why I want to start off by thinking I want to start off by thanking Dr Rankin and his administration team I want to thank coach Browning Sage Jacob pumy Eric everybody in our athletic office does a tremendous job I want to thank Jan Trevor our athletic training
Department oh my goodness and I want to give a big thank you to our mule Rider Club as well and the support that they give to us this truly is a special place we are extremely appreciative and supportive of everything provided this 23 championship team brought the GAC Championship right back
To where it belongs here in Magnolia brought back stability to our to our program most of the championship team is returning but I do want to spend time talking about two of them that are not there we go L mosovich who is not able to be here
Tonight A fifth year runit Back Mule Rider who leads this program and all time wins did an absolutely tremendous job in the fifth year after her fourth year she was Adam in and coming back and finishing the way she started by bringing a GAC Championship here I also want to speak about cie
Smith from bsby Oklahoma who is here tonight who before even committing to this program bled blue and gold was a true mule Rider from the moment she was here and a superstar on the Olympic ball court for us as well this brutal extremely grateful and proud of these mule Riders and what they
Accomplished and I know what they’re going to bring this season thank you and God bless there shouldn’t be any doubt on how coach Owen coaches uh his mider women and his mider men thank you coach Owen appreciate that all right ladies first up anakah barendorf [Applause] Tamaya [Applause] Lin Ena sarova Cali [Applause]
Smith Greta Wallen hanoka yoshim [Applause] MOA Amber [Applause] Young and head coach of year 2023 Great American Conference recular season Champions Mr Greg [Applause] Owen ladies and gentlemen one more big round of applause for the M women’s tennis [Applause] team all right moving now to mider men’s golf third-year head coach Niah Browns
Mider men’s golf team never blinked over the course of the final two and a half months of the season six shots back of the advancement line to the NCAA division 2 National Championship the M Riders shot 291 in its final Regional round of golf to force a three- team
Playoff and a two under in that playoff sent the program to its first ever National Tournament in the NCAA era that performance followed a program best finish of second place at the GAC championships and was made possible by a superb play from several mu Riders over
The course of the final round of action as that group of guys right there entered round three seven strokes back of second place Junior Caleb Miller headlined the all great American Conference selections with a first team plotted with Conor Harrington and Logan McDonald receiving all League honorable
Mention Harrington was also named a GAC disting scholar athlete for the second consecutive season Miller capped the year with all central region honors as an All-American both on the course and in the classroom and now at this time I would like to bring to the podium head men’s golf coach Niah [Applause]
Brown uh thank you thank you um I just want to start off by thanking SAU um your out club and all supporters for making this possible um I think it’s no no coincidence that once we opened our practice facility um just behind WT Watson we went on our longest postseason
Run um just those resources um just allow these players to really Elevate and and do what they they love to do um I just know that the last season I I think the the perseverance that the guys showed was was incredible um like I said those those Five Guys
Um Luke Connor Brendan Logan Caleb um they played a lot of a lot of golf um and I said they they didn’t blink and just kept pushing um I know they came close a lot of times throughout the spring um but just coming up short just
Coming up short in conference um but you know they they had in their minds that uh they knew that they could make something happen and I kind of had that and I I felt that and um I just never you know going to forget those moments
At regionals um just being on top of that the hill looking down on the 18th hole wondering if we were going to be in a playoff or not just going back and forth um and then realizing we were in a playoff and then moments when we play
Those holes and just kind of waiting for the results um and finally realized we won and uh and we were going to Nationals which just uh you know incredible time that you know I’ll never forget I just thank thank God for the opportunity to be here do this um but uh
I just just can’t applaud them enough um like I said and uh the way that they instill the culture of the team of just the passion for the game and work ethic you know Caleb Conor Logan you know came back and just this semester all already have conference player of the years and
Just continuing that that that drive and motivation and and instilling it through the rest of the the program so uh just thank him yeah your P their Rings all right first up for the mider men’s golf team Mr Luke [Applause] cot Connor [Applause] Harrington Brendan [Applause] little Logan [Applause] MacDonald and Caleb [Applause]
Miller and your head coach of your mider men’s golf team Mr Niah [Applause] Brown ladies and gentlemen a big round of applause for your meider men’s golf [Applause] team if you if you know anything about the spring semester in college athletics you know it it has a tendency to to mix
To mix in with sports tend to just cross over all all the time and so I was eating a steak Championship steak I might add which those are the best kind I was eating a championship steak with that group right there while watching the live stats of the regional of that
Final round that coach uh Brown was talking about so it was some uh intense moments inside that Steakhouse I will I will admit that so um our next team the M baseball team seu claimed the Great American Conference regular season Championship outright the program seventh as a league member and then
Carried the top seed into the GAC tournament where it took two of three from sou Eastern Oklahoma in in the opening round seu then went on to win three straight games from inside Arvest Ballpark in Springdale to earn its seventh league tournament title and claim the gac’s automatic bid to the
NCAA postseason for the 15th time overall and for the third consecutive season Under head coach Jus pedig group The mider saw five members of the 2023 Squad Garner Garner All Region Acclaim nine receive all conference honors with three all defensive team selections five all tournament team members with the
Tournament M VP to go along with four that were named to all Academic Teams this time I’d like to bring to the podium head baseball coach Justin [Applause] pedigree all right first off I just want to thank everybody for being here I know the weather’s been a little bit rough uh
In our area and everybody else’s area and I appreciate you guys uh coming to honor all of these athletes uh one thing that I really love is the fact that we’re able to see multiple Sports receive this most of the time when we did ring ceremonies in the past I’ve
Been fortunate enough to be around for a lot of those uh obviously when coach Browning was coaching he won quite a few as well so um and I was part of that and you know one thing that I I really like though is getting to see other sports
Come up here and celebrate them because a lot of times spring Sports at mule esps um and then if we do win championships have ring ceremony in the past it was very singular and you we really didn’t get a chance to uh share you know with the other athletes cuz in
Mu ESP the spring Sports we’re not done yet uh we’re more celebrating the fall Sports and then also like fall winter sports like basketball uh but it’s just an honor to be in this room with all these great athletes um you know I want to thank just like everyone else all the
Way down from Administration here at Southern Arkansas uh starts in the president’s office trickles down into the athletic department uh and then down into our program and we couldn’t do any of that and any of the things that we’ve done as a team in the past uh without
Our donors without our mu Rider Nation to be honest uh we’ve had a lot of upgrades in our stadium in our facilities uh it’s been because of the great support that our program has on a daily basis and I want to thank everybody that I just mentioned for that
Um last year’s team um really as far as going into the year probably the most hyped team ever in Southern Arkansas University baseball history uh pre-season number two in the nation uh the highest preseason rank that had ever been for SAU baseball in the NCA uh postseason area and actually I think
Ever um and so there were there was a a big bullseye on our back nothing that we aren’t used to uh we talk about pressure being a privilege in our program and embracing that and I would you you know we talk about we would much rather have
The bullseye on our back and be hunted uh than being that team that nobody really worries about and uh goes out and never knows what’s going to happen uh the the things that I remember about the 20 uh 2023 team was again the high expectations um they met them every
Single day they met the challenges we had a lot of adversity early um with losing a guy that we thought would be back with us and you know a guy that had been with us forever that was going to be our starting center fielder um that
Didn’t work out then we had some guys you know some injuries and things like that and they just kept answering the bell and kept going to work every single day and didn’t really look back um there were multiple times throughout the season where we got punched in the face
I remember going to Henderson State um we lose game one their pitcher really through very well our offense didn’t do what we needed to do and it was a very frustrating loss and then game two we had a huge lead and to be honest with
You I was terrible as a head coach and didn’t make a move to go with our Bullpen and we lost a game that we shouldn’t have lost and it was because of me and the thing that I really loved was our team I was able to apologize to
Them for me screwing up as a coach and they rallied around me they rallied around each other and we moved forward okay and so the next weekend I believe we went to Southern Nazarene we swept that series and then the next three weekends were kind of a gauntlet for us
We were right everybody was kind of up there at the top fighting for who was going to take possession of the conference uh lead uh we had Oklahoma Baptist coming in that is a very talented very well coached team and uh all we did was sweep those guys okay and
So Chris Chris LS hits a walk-off home run in game one to set the tone and then we punch him in the face game two and game three and we win that series uh Wasa Baptist comes you know the next weekend we win two out of three and then
It’s us and Arkansas Tech right at the top um you know jockeying for that position we did something that you know as far as I’ve been the head coach nothing that hadn’t been done in a long time and it was go to Arkansas Tech and
Not only win a series but sweep them so we went through the gauntlet of those three teams that are three of the best teams at our conference winning eight out of nine games and I felt like that was the turning point for our program um especially for the regular season is
Being able to weather the storm and go through that and like I said those guys answering the Bell over and over and over and it was because of our seniors and so we were punched in the face late in the year and you know I want to talk
About two different segments but late in the year we didn’t play very well the last couple of weekends uh we go to Northwest Oklahoma lose a game that we probably shouldn’t have lost I end up losing a series there in in bitter conditions tough conditions didn’t play
Well we come back home senior weekend don’t really play that well we lose the series again uh one of our starting pitchers is on the Shelf really don’t know what we’re what our identity is going into the conference tournament CU we’re kind of reeling uh one thing that I
Remember is looking in those seniors eyes and they they had it they knew like and multiple times I could tell that they had it I I didn’t need to worry I knew exactly they were ready they were primed for the postseason we go out and
We get punched in the face game one and lose a game to Southeastern Oklahoma in a best of three series and if we lose that game who knows what our future is um or if we lose the next game who knows what our future is and I remember being
In the Dugout for day two we get down early and all of a sudden I challenged our team in The Dugout and from that point forward our guys Rose to the occasion went on to absolutely dominate the rest of that game and then we were
Able to put a senior that we didn’t know what we were going to get out of him on the mound because he hadn’t been healthy in a couple of weeks and all he did was go out and I believe throw six Innings and absolute dominate Southeastern Oklahoma to move on to the conference
Tournament the final four as we would call it um once we got there uh our guys did what we knew we were capable of we played great baseball um winning game one against Henderson State um beating Oklahoma Baptist then uh being being able to clinch the championship against Oklahoma Baptist again winning that
Championship game beating them for the second time in the tournament and the fifth time in in one year which is extremely hard to do um but the thing that not only these championships is is amazing being able to come back and celebrate and get rings but the biggest
Thing for me was the last couple of days watching guys pour in that aren’t here anymore and looking around and seeing guys that were here multiple years ago that really you know other than maybe coming back and seeing a girlfriend or a brother or something like that um they
Really don’t have any business being here but they come back to support our family okay and that’s the word that we use on a daily basis that’s the word that I got a chance to see at the end of our season last year when we lost um and
You know the crushing moment of uh hugging those seniors and and knowing that that’s going to be their last game but knowing that we have added to our baseball family and the 2023 team the thing that I’m going to remember is they built on our tradition as far as our
Winning tradition but not only that they built on our family and extended our family and I’m just proud to be your coach so thank [Applause] you go all right first up for big blue Tyler Oro [Applause] Jeremy [Applause] adorno Payton Ballard Stetson [Applause] Bishop chance [Applause] Bolter Micah Burke Zane [Applause] DeBerry Jackson
Duke Seth [Applause] Edwards Chris [Applause] Garcia Noel [Applause] Garcia Hayden [Applause] hael Isaiah Haynes [Applause] Michael [Applause] Howell Bo Leonards West [Applause] Lock Chris [Applause] lyes Wyatt [Applause] Mah Landon [Applause] mallister Brett mcge [Applause] Mikey [Applause] mcginness Ben moldun Sai [Applause] Murphy Brandon [Applause] niichel Hayden [Applause] Oglesby Riley [Applause] or Tucker [Applause]
Paris Tran [Applause] Pascal Zach [Applause] Renard Bryson [Applause] rhods will Richardson [Applause] Dominic [Applause] ravino Jack Rubik Grant [Applause] Sanders Evan shider Santos [Applause] Sosa Chris Sutton Jake [Applause] Yuber Logan White Caleb [Applause] wisnoski Ashton [Applause] yarro athletic trainer Trevor [Applause] delone assistant coach Kobe Morris assistant coach Jacob [Applause]
Caples assisant coach Adam Anderson and head coach of the M Riders the two-time GAC coach of the year I guess that’s defending coach coach Justin pedig [Applause] grou Little yes sir yes sir congrats again be up here next year ladies and gentlemen a big round of applause for the mider baseball team ladies and gentlemen M Rider fans we thank you for your attendance tonight we thank you for uh your support of our athletic department and these outstanding student athletes without
These student athletes women’s golf team our men’s golf or women’s tennis team men’s golf team the ones honored here tonight um obviously we wouldn’t be doing what we’re doing here this evening we thank you for your attendance feel free to come down take pictures with the
Backdrop with the trophies and uh have a good rest of your evening God bless
