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Swain spoils home opener for 'Stangs 08/30/2010 It was a tough night for Smoky Mountain as they fail to get the offense moving in their home opener against Swain County on Friday.
Swain, coming into the game at 1-0 and favored to win their conference showed how tough they can be as they put 49 points in the shutout.
The Mustangs will now put that loss behind them and look to bounce back against Enka as they will face the Jets on the road this Friday.
Be sure to tune in this Friday and support Smoky Mountain beginning at 7 p.m. with the Fatz Cafe pre-game show.
Simmons declines scholarship offers for UNC walk-on 08/18/2010 Some big news happening this week for the Smoky Mt. Mustang big man Jackson Simmons.
It was announced that the senior basketball stand-out will turn down scholarship offers and walk-on at the University of North Carolina.
He had received offers from App State, Western, Davidson, Wofford and others.
Simmons, who stands 6-foot-8 averaged nearly 20 points and over 12 boards a game for the Mustangs last season helping Smoky to the 2-A Western Regional championship game.
Cats scrimmage reveals offensive struggles 08/17/2010 Fans and the media got their first look at the 2010 Western Carolina football team during the opening scrimmage of the fall camp at E.J. Whitmire Stadium.
The Catamounts started at 9:00 am with 11 periods of individual and team drills before taking part in a live scrimmage which began around 10:00 am. The team completed roughly 21 series, rotating through the first three team offenses and defenses.
Cats QB Zack Jaynes talks about what they learned Saturday, “Defensively they looked great, offensively we got a lot of work to do. It was more mental than anything today.”
“With three new centers and four new quarterbacks a lot of exchange problems have got to get cleaned up,” said Head Coach Dennis Wagner.
Practice continued with a helmets and jersey only practice on Saturday evening. The Cats resumed practice on Monday.
Meet the Cats 08/12/2010 Western Carolina football will hold its first scrimmage of the preseason this Saturday, August 14 which will be followed by Media Day and “Meet the Cats.” In addition to the football team, members of the women’s soccer and volleyball teams will be on hand for a meet-and-greet with Catamount fans and to sign autographs.
The first 100 people at Saturday’s “Meet the Cats” event will receive a free WCU water bottle, presented by O’Malley’s of Sylva. The controlled scrimmage is scheduled to begin at 9:00 am and last until 11:00 am with the team interacting with fans and the media afterwards.
WCU Catamount Football Preseason Update 08/09/2010 Catamount Football continued preseason drills on Sunday afternoon, working through its helmet-only practice on the turf at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field. WCU will don shoulder pads for the first time this preseason during today’s practice session with the squad scheduled for full pads on Thursday. Braves to Retire Glavine's #47 08/06/2010 Braves to retire Tom Glavine's #47 Jersey tonight at Turner Field . Glavine a 10-time All-Star and two-time Cy Young winner with the Braves will have his #47 placed beside former teammate Greg Maddux’s No. 31 in left field.
Glavine will be only the seventh Braves player to have his number retired, joining likes Maddux, Hank Aaron (44), Warren Spahn (21), Eddie Mathews (41), Dale Murphy (3) and Phil Niekro (35).
Coverage of the Atlanta Braves game will begin at 6:20 tonight right here on 680 as apart of the Atlanta Braves Radio Network Brett Favre retiring... Is Shuler coming out of retirement? 08/05/2010 WRGC Radio News asked Congressman Heath Shuler with Brett Favre possibly announcing his retirement was there any truth to the rumors that he would be strapping on the pads. Jokingly, without missing a beat Shuler said, "You know that my agent was Sam Bradford's and I just told him that I would take a portion of his new contract. I’m ready; I’m available if anybody needs a 38 year old broken-down quarterback, so I’m available. If there is anybody out there I’m available. I think I can balance both jobs." For the record, Health Shuler is not coming out of retirement for the NFL. Incoming Catamount Freshman Golfer Wins Junior National Championship 08/02/2010 Western Carolina men’s golf incoming freshman Greg Bunner was crowned the individual champion at the 42nd Trusted Choice Big “I” National Championship over the weekend. The Gastonia, N.C., native posted a final round 71 for a one-under-par 283 for the four-round, 72-hole stroke play tournament after sharing the lead at the conclusion of two rounds at the Old York Country Club at Chesterfield.
Bunner, who was named the Southern Piedmont 1-A/2-A Conference Player of the Year and was a two-time, 1-A North Carolina High School State Boy's Golf Champion at Highland Tech, is a part of a four-member incoming freshman class including Michael Fitzgerald ( Flossmoor, Ill.), Jack Walsh ( Lawrenceville, Ga.) and Collin Witiak ( Columbia , S.C. ). The incoming class is among the best-ever in school history.
Bunner averaged four birdies per round en route to the biggest victory of his junior career. Consistent strong putting throughout the week led him to the victory in his last junior golf appearance before enrolling in WCU this fall. With the two second-place competitors in the clubhouse tied at even-par 284, Bunner two putted from 20 feet for par to seal the victory on the final hole.
The Trusted Choice® Big “I” National Championship, which featured 102 boys and 54 girls, ages 12-18, from 35 states, with nine juniors representing the host state of New Jersey, is one of the nation’s premier junior stroke-play championships.
Former Catamount Called Up To Major League Baseball 07/30/2010 Greg Holland becomes the ninth Catamount to land on a Major League Baseball roster. Dressing out in jersey number 56 for the Kansas City Royals, the right handed reliever was in the bullpen in front of 17,220 fans in attendance when the Royals and Orioles met last night. Though he was not called into action in that game, the Royals have said they are deepening their bullpen after trading an outfielder to Los Angeles. Greg Holland, who is originally from the Marion area, was a walk-on for the Catamounts his freshman year, he tallied ten saves for the Cats and was named first-team All-Southern Conference by the 2007 campaign, getting drafted by the Royals in the tenth round of the MLB draft that year.
Prior to his promotion yesterday, he's spent this season with the AAA Omaha Royals and was last week named Pitcher of the Week in the league in which the Omaha Royals play. Kansas City dropped yesterday's game in eleven innings. Final score: Baltimore 6, Kansas City 5.
(WRGC Radio News/Eric Moore)
WCU Cross Country Season Preview 07/29/2010 Western Carolina head cross country coach Danny Williamson today released his squad’s 2010 season schedule which includes five seasonal events including hosting the season-opener and culminates with the annual Southern Conference Championship in Boone.
“This schedule will allow us to continue on our path towards the top of the Southern Conference,” said Williamson who is entering his 26th year coaching the cross country teams at WCU. “Our schedule is one that will allow us to be able to compete and develop at the same time. Each competition affords us a little tougher task. And with the every other weekend format of competition, it will give us ample time to be prepared to give our best effort.”
Cullowhee will play host to the season-opening Western Carolina Invitational on the evening of Friday, Sept. 3. The women will run a two-mile course while the men will circumnavigate the 5K course, both of which represent the shortest races of the season. Teams will hit the starting line at 6:30 pm.
The next four events will feature 5K women’s races and 8K on the men’s side. Western Carolina will take part in the Winthrop Invitational in Rock Hill , S.C. , in mid-September before running in the UNC Charlotte Invitational two weeks later on Oct. 1 at McAlpine Creek Park in Charlotte.
The NCAA Southeast Regional event which includes a 6K run for the women and a 10K men’s competition scheduled for November 13 at the Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville , Ky. , with the NCAA Championships again scheduled for Terre Haute, Ind. , on Nov. 22.
(WCU Sports Information Department/Daniel Hooker)
Three Catamount Football Games For Television Broadcast This Season 07/28/2010 Western Carolina University has confirmed the slate of three games that will be televised this season. A fourth is possible late in the season as the Southern Conference has announced that they will determine which late games will air. They'll take into consideration conference standings and televise the games that will have the most meaning for the league championship.
As previously reported, the Western Carolina-Appalachian State rivalry game, the Battle for the Old Mountain Jug, will be televised by SportSouth on October 23. In addition, the WCU-Furman game will be televised for the fifth time in six years; Comcast/Charter Sports-Southeast will carry the game, which features a 12:30 PM kickoff, at Furman, November 6th.
ESPN360.com, an ESPN online broadcast affiliate will carry the season opener from Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh against the North Carolina State Wolfpack of the Atlantic Coast Conference. That game features a 6:00 PM kickoff September 4th.
(WRGC Radio News/Eric Moore) UConn Transfer QB Quits Team, Goes Home 07/27/2010 Western Carolina University Head Football Coach Dennis Wagner confirmed today that the highly-touted transfer quarterback prospect from the University of Connecticuit has quit the team. "Casey is not here with us. After spring, for personal reasons, he has had to leave and go home, and I believe he is attending a non-playing school back in his home state."
Wagner is still upbeat on quarterback position. "We have some transfer students that will be coming in and both of those guys are going to have an opportunity to compete for that position with [incumbent starter] Zach [Jaynes], and a young freshman, Brandon Pechloff who we think is going to be a heck of a football player, so we think these four scholarship quarterbacks are going to be guys that work hard and do good things for us. Of course, Zach has played for us for a year and a half for us as a starter and he's got valuable experience, but we tell all our players that every year we go out a recruit to try and find someone to take their jobs, because competition is going to make us better."
Wagner was asked for clarification on Casey Turner's departure and asked if the competition was so stiff at the position that Turner didn't think he had a chance at playing time. Coach stated that he knew it was a personal matter and that the transfer had returned home to take care of personal business.
(WRGC Radio News/Eric Moore) Two Catamount Basketballers Honored For Academic Excellence 07/23/2010 Two Catamount men's basketball players were honored for their academic achievements, joining just six other Southern Conference counterparts in the achievement. The other six were three each from Elon and Wofford.
Jake Robinson and Brigham Waginger have been named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches' Honor Court. They are recognized for maintaining a 3.2 cumulative grade point average. Only athletes that are juniors or seniors academically are considered for the recognition.
Waginger and Robinson, while excelling academically, were both key to the Catamounts' success last season. Robinson-- the Canton native and Pigah High School alum-- became Western Carolina University's all time three point leader last season, concluding his collegiate career with 278 made three point shots.
Waginger became WCU's single season-- and all time-- steals leader, tallying 90 steals last season and 285 in his four years. Brigham Waginger was a physical education major; Robinson majored in finance.
(WRGC Radio News/Eric Moore with content provided by the WCU Sports Information Department) Catamount Club Tops $1M For Third Straight Year 07/21/2010 For the third year in a row, the Catamount Club has exceeded one million dollars in fundraising. The Catamount Club is the booster organization that supports Western Carolina University athletics.
According to Daniel Hooker, the Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations, the 2010 fiscal year has concluded with a total of $1,135,435 in gifts to annual and endowment funds. Another milestone was reached: Some 300 new members have joined the Catamount Club in the last year, bringing the total membership to 813.
Catamount Club Director Gorham Bradley said that the greatest need for the upcoming year will continue to be scholarship aid for student athletes. The Catamount scholarship fund saw a six percent increase last year over fiscal 2009.
Student Athletes Prepare For Season Ahead 07/14/2010 The second semester of summer school at Western Carolina University has begun, and with it marks the return of the bulk of the Catamount football team to campus for classes and summer training. Over 70 football players have enrolled in the second semester of classes to continue the squad’s academic improvements, while also enabling them to work in the WCU Weight Room.
In addition to the football team several additional sports like men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, softball and a few baseball players that are finished with the summer leagues are also utilizing the summer for academic and voluntary strength & conditioning purposes.
NCAA regulations stipulate that only the strength and conditioning coaches can participate, and no sport-specific equipment, such as tackling dummies can be used in the voluntary offseason workouts. The workouts are ongoing four days a week for one to two hours each day and include weightlifting and cardiovascular training.
WCU football opens the season in Raleigh at Carter-Finley Stadium to take on North Carolina State September 4. The Wolfpack finished last season 2-5 in conference play; 5-7 overall. Western Carolina only beat Eastern Kentucky and The Citadel.
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