Boise State Students Head to Greenland

Boise State University graduate students Mark Robertson (far left) and Gabriel Trisca, along with researcher Hans-Peter Marshall, gather in their Boise State lab for final preparations before Robertson and Trisca depart for Greenland.


Students at Boise State are making a difference in what they do. Boise State technology that is used this year to measure snow accumulation and melt at Bogus Basin is on its way to Greenland to help scientists answer questions about that country's massive ice sheets.

Boise State graduate students Gabriel Trisca, computer science, and Mark Robertson, geophysics, will spend a month at Summit Camp at Greenland's highest point, where they will help test the capabilities of a unique NASA robot and gather radar data to help the scientists better understand the extent of summer 2012's unusual ice melt.

The radar system, developed by Boise State geosciences assistant professor Hans-Peter Marshall, will be utilized by the robot to measure snow accumulation over the past 30-plus years and help determine how much melt occurred during the extremely warm summer last year when melting occurred at the summit for the first time since the late 1800's. The robot can be operated remotely and the low-power radar system is unique in that it uses the same frequency range as NASA satellites, making it unlike that is available commercially.

Dubbed "GROVER", or Greenland Rover, the robot weights over 800 pounds and uses two snowmobile tracks and electric motors to traverse the ice. It employs large solar panels and batteries that it uses for a power source.


“NASA is very interested in a remote ground unit. They have aircraft and space measurements but nothing capable of taking continual ground measurements,” Marshall said. “This trip is to prove the concept of autonomous ground-based radar measurements on ice sheets. It if goes well, robots like GROVER could be deployed in polar regions around the world and operated from anywhere in the world.”

GROVER was first developed from 2010-2011 by teams of students, including Trisca. NASA has since provided funding to fine-tune the robot at Boise State through several grants led by Marshall that focus on radar measurements of snow. It incorporates the same technology that the Cryospheric Sciences group at Boise State has been utilizing for NASA snow remote sensing field campaigns in Alaska, Canada and Austria. The project in Greenland will be the last of six major NASA sensing field campaigns that Marshall and six Boise State graduate students will participate in this winter.

Boise State was the sole university research group representing the U.S. for the two NASA/ESA snow radar campaigns in Europe. The snow radar has been integrated with GROVER this year and was tested in Idaho this winter in preparation for being deployed to Greenland. This final campaign’s goal is to demonstrate the potential for large-scale, ground-based radar measurements, which could be done at a fraction of the cost of large field campaigns.

“This really is an opportunity for Boise State to demonstrate an exciting new science platform for radar and other measurements in polar regions, which would enable continuous measurements in extremely remote areas,” Marshall said. “I love going to these places, but after over a decade of lots of fieldwork in these isolated areas, the potential for controlling a robot to do the radar measurements for us in Greenland or Antarctica, from my office at Boise State, is pretty exciting.”

Marshall just returned last week from a NASA field campaign in Arctic Alaska on the North Slope of the Brooks range. Trisca has been writing software for various versions of GROVER for a couple of years.

“This trip to Greenland is such a rare opportunity,” Trisca said. “Computer science doesn’t often have you doing field work in geosciences. I’m really excited to be able to go out and test what I’ve written. Not to mention that we are doing something that has such potential for impacting research in polar regions.”

Trisca also is writing software for detecting snow avalanches, using low frequency microphones, along Idaho Highway 21 between Lowman and Stanley. The local avalanche project with one of Marshall’s Ph.D. students, Scott Havens, is funded by the Idaho Transportation Department. The avalanche starting zones are too dangerous for Marshall’s group to take radar for snow measurements, but next winter they will test a long-range version of the radar system for measuring snow conditions and avalanche speeds to add to the infrasound avalanche measurements.

The Boise State students will meet with NASA scientist Lora Koenig in Greenland for the research project, and will collaborate remotely with Marshall via email and Skype. NASA will send a reporter to Greenland at the end of May to document GROVER’s progress on the ice sheet.

“Robots like GROVER will give us a new tool for glaciology studies,” Koenig said, adding that research with polar rovers is cheaper than with aircraft or satellites. “If we can control them from our offices, we’ll able to process the data and get scientific results quicker than if we were in the field gathering data, which will speed up our scientific conclusions on what happened that year on the ice sheet.”

Boise State Leads the Nation in Scoring and Three-Point Shooting

54.9%--that's better than many teams shoot the ball from the field, and the Broncos are doing it from behind the arc:
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/stats/teamsort/NCAAB/SCORING/regularseason/yearly

Thomas Bropleh #12 in Three-Point Shooting, Nick Duncan #22

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/statistics/player/_/stat/3-points

Boise State's Anthony Drmic #13 in the Nation in Scoring

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/statistics/player/_/stat/scoring-per-game/year/2014/seasontype/2/group/50

Boise State Breaks Own Modern Record for Wins in a 15-Year Period

When you judge the top college football teams in history, certainly longevity has to rank among your most important factors.

With Boise State's 48-7 win over Wyoming last night, the Broncos have now eclipsed their own modern record for the most wins in a 15-year period. Boise State broke Florida State's record last year, compiling a 163-29 mark from 1998-2012. The great Seminole teams from 1987-2001 held the existing mark of 160-23-1 prior to Boise State topping them.

But with last night's win, Boise State is now 164-27 since 1999 with at least three games to play.

Seventh Heaven

Boise State consistently shows up in the all-time Top 10 in several football categories, but Boise State's run of success has lasted scarcely over a decade.  This list showing consecutive seasons with seven or more victories requires more consistency.  The teams that make this list are generally the landmark teams, the giants of college football.  Boise State has been a great 15-year phenomenon, and has been doing this for a very short time compared to the Michigan's, the Ohio State's, the Alabama's.  But to land in the Top 25 is still impressive.

For the Broncos to truly get respect, however, they will need to stay consistent for at least another decade.  Given that they land near the top in about every other category, if the Broncos can reach the Top 10 in this list, most will feel at that time that they belong.  There will of course be a scattering of skeptics.  But you can't please everyone...

Nebraska put together the most amazing run in the history of football by winning seven or more games every year from 1969 to 2003, an incredible streak of 35 straight seasons. That all came to a crashing halt when the Cornhuskers finished 2004 by winning just five of 11 games.

Florida State has compiled a streak of 32 straight seasons that is still current. The Seminoles have won seven or more games every year since 1982. Michigan had a great recent streak of 23 years that ended in 2008 when the Wolverines were 3-9. Florida’s streak of 25 consecutive seasons that began in 1988 is still current but in jeopardy. Oklahoma put together a streak of 22 straight seasons; the Sooners were highly consistent from 1970 to 1991.  Coach Frank Beamer has guided Virginia Tech to seven or more wins every season since 1993, giving the Hokies 21 consecutive seasons.

BYU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Penn State and Miami of Florida each achieved the feat 17 straight seasons, with the Cougars winning seven or more from 1976-1992, the Wolverines winning seven or more from 1968 to 1983, the Fighting Irish recording the feat in the years 1964-1980, the Nittany Lions putting together seasons of seven or more wins from 1967 to 1983 and the Hurricanes doing it from 1980 to 1996. Tennessee’s streak of 16 straight seasons (1989-2004) ended when the Volunteers went 5-6 in 2005. 

Ohio State’s best streak came between the years of 1972 and 1986, when the Buckeyes ran through 15 consecutive seasons of seven or more wins. Oklahoma's current run from 2002-2013 has matched Boise State for 15 straight seasons.  The Sooners also put together a run of 14 straight years from 1946 to 1959, the 20^th best streak of all-time. LSU started their current run a year after Boise State and Oklahoma and the Tigers now stand at 14 straight years.  Virginia racked up seven or more wins from 1987-1999, 13 consecutive seasons. Alabama put together streaks of 13 (1971-1983), 12 (1985-1996) and 10 (1959-1968). 

Mississippi won seven or more from 1952 to 1963, a streak of 12 seasons, matched by Notre Dame’s run from 1938 to 1949 and more recently by Boston College's streak from 1999-2010.  Another streak of 12 consecutive seven-win seasons ended in 2010 for Texas when the Longhorns were 5-7.  USC has now set a school record with 12 consecutive seasons of seven or more wins (2002-13) and Wisconsin matches USC with their run from 2002-2013.  Washington’s most successful years came from 1977-1987 when they too won seven or more games in eleven straight seasons. Texas A & M matched the Huskies’ streak from 1985 to 1995. Arizona State enjoyed ten consecutive seasons of seven or more wins from 1955-1964. Alabama (1959-1968), USC (1924-1993), Colorado (1987-1996),Colorado State (1994-2003), Ohio State (1989-1998), Pittsburgh (1974-1983) and Duke (1932-1941) also had ten seasons of seven or more wins. 

Yale dominated football in the 19^th century and the first part of the 20^th century, winning seven or more games for 28 straight seasons (1882-1909). Princeton strung 27 such years together (1881-1907) and Pennsylvania (1888-1912) and Harvard (1886-1910) both had 25 consecutive seasons in roughly the same time period. Carlisle, which featured running back Jim Thorpe, won seven or more games from 1902-1913, a streak of twelve seasons.

The top streaks in the history of college football are featured below. 

Consecutive Seasons of Seven or More Wins:

1.  Nebraska…35 (1969-2003)

2.  Florida State…32 (1982-2013)

3.  Yale…28 (1882-1909)

4.  Princeton…27 (1881-1907)

5.  Harvard…25 (1886-1910)

5.  Florida…25 (1988-2012)
7.  Pennsylvania…25 (1888-1912)
8.  Michigan…23 (1985-2007)
9.  Oklahoma…22 (1970-1991)
10.  Virginia Tech…21 (1993-2013)
11.  BYU...17 (1976-1992)
11.  Miami of Florida…17 (1980-1996)
11.  Notre Dame…17 (1964-1980)
11.  Penn State…17 (1967-1983)
15.  Michigan…16 (1968-1983)
15.  Tennessee…16 (1989-2004)
17.  Ohio State…15 (1972-1986)

17.  Boise State…15 (1999-2013)

17.  Oklahoma…..15 1999-2013 
20.  Oklahoma…14 (1946-1959)

20.  LSU...14 (2000-2013)
22.  Alabama…13 (1971-1983)
22.  Georgia…13 (1997-2009)
22.  Georgia Tech…13 (1997-2009)
22.  Virginia…13 (1987-1999)
26.  Alabama…12 (1985-1996)
26.  Boston College…12 (1999-2010) 
26.  Carlisle…12 (1902-1913)
26.  Mississippi…12 (1952-1963)
26.  Notre Dame…12 (1938-1949)
26.  Texas…12 (1998-2009)

26.  USC...12 (2002-2013)
26.  Wisconsin...12 (2002-2013)

Blue Through and Through Goes Over 75,000 Page Views

Thank-you for accomplishing that.  Since we own three blogs, we'll put our most effort in the ones that do the best.  The more page views, the harder we'll work!  Thanks again for your support!

Be sure to check out our sister blog, Inside The Rock Era, with now over 500,000 page views!

Boise State Powers Past Simpson 110-53

The emphasis on defense this past off-season is obvious--the message has gotten through to the Boise State players.  Despite the second straight game in which they scored 110 points in a 110-53 win over Simpson last night in Taco Bell Arena, we still don't know how good this team is.

Although I maintain that any team that does to another what Boise State has done the past two weeks is pretty darn good.  We'll begin to know with Seattle, and then progressively Utah and Kentucky after that.

Senior guard Jeff Elorriaga made up for lost time by scoring 26 to lead the Bronco attack.  Elorriaga had sat in the home opener as a precaution after being hit in the head after a fall in practice leading up to the game.  Elorriaga missed his first trey, then connected on his next nine attempts from the field, including seven howitzers.  Last week it was Anthony Drmic and his 34 points; this week it was Jeff, who had 20 points  in the first half alone.

Boise State as a team made 15 three-pointers, one shy of a school record.  Drmic added 16 points of his own and Nick Duncan, who is beginning to emerge as a threat, chipped in 14, including 4-of-5 shooting from three-point land.  

Boise State jumped out to a 19-5 lead early and kept up the defensive pressure, creating steal after steal.  Coach Leon Rice's team opened up a 92-33 lead with 10:48 to play.

The Broncos take on Seattle next Tuesday in Taco Bell Arena.

Emma Bates Wins NCAA West Regional, Jeff Howard Will Join Her at Nationals

They still haven't been able to find someone to beat Boise State's Emma Bates, so now she'll race against the best in the nation, after topping all participants in the NCAA Western Regional Cross Country Championship in Sacramento today.

Bates beat Arizona State's Shelby Houlihan by three seconds and broke her personal best in the 6-kilometer by 58 seconds.  Her time of 19:11 today is 16 seconds than the time won by the national champion in 2012.  Courses and the times run by the athletes vary of course.  Emma is the first Bronco to ever win a Regional, and is the first woman to qualify for the National Championship since Abby Peters did it in 1999.  The Bronco women finished 10th today. 

Jeff Howard was seventh on the men's side and will also advance to Nationals after leading the Bronco men to their best-ever finish at a Regional Championship, fourth place.  Howard maneuvered through the 10-k course in 29:54, while senior Allan Schroeder was 14th (29:59) and junior David Elliott delivered a career-best of 30:08 to get 18th.  

Boise State's Jennifer Forbey Secures Two NSF Grants

With support from two grants from the National Science Foundation, Jennifer Forbey, assistant professor of biological sciences at Boise State University, is working with researchers from universities in Washington, Florida and California along with biologists from state and federal agencies, to determine how the quality of sagebrush as food influences the success of pygmy rabbits and sage grouse.

“Pygmy rabbits and sage grouse are among 1 percent of all plant-eating mammals and birds that rely entirely on a single plant for food,” said Forbey, assistant professor of biological sciences at Boise State. “Both only exist where you find sagebrush. Unfortunately sagebrush habitats are considered one of the most threatened ecosystems in North America.”

A $980,000 NSF grant will be used by Forbey and the other researchers to explore how pygmy rabbits make decisions between eating the highest quality sagebrush and using sagebrush to hide from predators and extreme temperatures.  

Unique chemistry and different nutrient levels can affect whether the rabbits eat or ignore the plants.  

“Past conservation of sagebrush habitat focused on cover characteristics, not food quality. We are trying to change that approach,” Forbey said.

A second grant of $470,000 will allow the researchers to study how availability and selection for tasty sagebrush affects courtship displays of male sage grouse.  If the grouse have to travel farther away from mating sites, called leks, for tasty sagebrush, they may use more energy traveling and be at a greater risk of being attacked by predators.  Males that eat low quality sagebrush near a lek may not have the strength for the intense mating rituals required to attract females.

“We want to identify what makes certain sagebrush tasty and how that diet quality influences their reproductive success,” Forbey said. “We can then map, monitor and restore the distribution of tasty plants to improve the mating success of sage grouse.”

Forbey and her fellow researchers will use cutting-edge technologies for observation and experimentation, including a robot grouse capable of mimicking female grouse behaviors and wireless devices that measure real time movement of grouse.

Pygmy rabbits and sage grouse are both threatened species, Forbey noted. “Everyone wants to prevent the loss of these iconic animals, which also would prevent economic consequences associated with listing them as endangered species,” she said. “Our research could help identify which types of sagebrush help promote the healthiest populations of pygmy rabbits and sage grouse and can help keep these species off the endangered species list.”

Boise State Signs Two High Quality Recruits

Two promising prospects have signed letters of intent to play at Boise State.

Guard Chandler Hutchison (6-6) and forward David Wacker (6-9) have agreed to play for Coach Leon Rice and, truth be told, what high school basketball player in their right mind wouldn't want to?

Hutchison is ranked as the #11 prospect in California after averaging 13.8 points and 4.8 rebounds last year.  Hutchison helped Mission Viejo to a 26-5 record and a beth in the CIF quarterfinals.  

“Chandler is a very skilled, athletic guard who has the chance to be a very special player,” Rice said. “He is going to have a terrific senior year.”

Wacker is ranked as the #21 center in the country and #11 prospect in Texas.  He averaged 14.7 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.7 blocked shots as a junior in leading Converse High School to a 29-8 record and the third round of the Texas Class 5A State Tournament.  He was tabbed 5A All-State.  

“In David Wacker we got a great on- and off-the-court leader who will not only impact our basketball program but will impact the campus and community,” Rice said. “Not to mention he’s a very talented young big man.”

“We are very excited about both of these young men because of their tremendous upside,” said Rice. “The best basketball is definitely still ahead for both Chandler and David. They have a great work ethic to go along with their ability and they’re going to continue to improve here at Boise State. They both come from great families and are really high character young men.”

Boise State #31 in AP Poll

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/rankings/ap

Boise State #30 in Coaches Poll

The highest a Boise State basketball team has ever been ranked is #23 back in the magic year of 1987-88.  At that time, the polls consisted of a Top 20, and the Broncos were third-best of Others Receiving Votes.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/rankings/coaches

Boise State 14th in Three-Point Shooting

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/statistics/team/_/stat/3-points

Boise State 11th in the Country in Field Goal Percentage

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/statistics/team/_/stat/field-goals

Boise State 4th in the Country in Scoring

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/statistics/team/_/stat/scoring-per-game

Anthony Drmic 3rd in the Nation in Scoring

Hopefully, you were there to witness his great start to this basketball season.  I was!

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/statistics/player/_/stat/scoring-per-game/year/2014/seasontype/2/group/50

All-Time Bronco Great Steve Connor Has Passed Away

Sad to read in this morning's paper that Steve Connor has passed away at age 58 in North Carolina.  Connor was the guard for Borah High School on one of the best high school basketball teams the state has ever produced, then as a four-year starter for Boise State and his father, head coach Bus Connor.

Connor finished his career in 1978 as one of the top players in Bronco history.  He continues to hold school records for career scoring average (18.0), career assists (502), career field goals (771) and career field goal attempts (1,718).  Connor is #2 all-time in points at Boise State with 1,927, third in career free throws with 385, third in free-throw attempts with 486, sixth in career free-throw percentage with 79.2% and eighth in single-season scoring with 530 points.

Connor also scored 490 points in the 1975-1976 season, helping Boise State win the Big Sky Conference Tournament and a berth in the NCAA Tournament, and 457 in the 1976-77 season.  He was drafted in the 10th Round of the 1978 NBA Draft by the Washington Bullets, and played professionally in Europe and in the CBA.

I went to school with his brother, Ty, and worked with his younger brother Bret.  Condolences to the Connor family during this sad time.  Our thoughts and prayers are with them.

Where Will Boise State Be Ranked Tomorrow?

After an easy win over UT-Arlington, the Bronco basketball team is now 1-0.  The first official college basketball poll will be released tomorrow.  Last week, Boise State was #32.  Will be interesting to see what the pollsters do.

Red-Hot Drmic Keys Resounding Bronco Win

Bottle this one up, especially the first half.

The Boise State basketball team put one of its best shows in years with a 116-87 victory over UT-Arlington tonight in Taco Bell Arena.  Coach Leon Rice's team put up 60 in the first half alone, and were two points shy of a school record for points.

Anthony Drmic was on fire early and often, displaying a devastating mixture of draining threes and lightning quick drives to the hoop to pace the team with 34 points to go along with six rebounds and two assists.  What made Drmic so special tonight was his tenacity on defense, hustling hard to save loose balls, and his amazing passing to wide open teammates under the basket.

Drmic hit 5-11 from downtown tonight and passed Anthony Thomas (2006-2010) for 10th place all-time with 142 career three-pointers.  The sharpshooter from Down Under is zeroing in on becoming the 23rd player in Bronco history to score 1,000 career points--he now has 947.

If you haven't seen this team play yet, you're going to notice two things.  First, the defensive pressure is much improved from last year.  Still nothing like the Bobby Dye days at Boise State, but getting better.  I've said often that if this team played defense, they'd be a Top 10 team and I still believe that.  The second eye-popping thing is the depth.  They now have the depth that the football team has had for years, with solid contributions nine and ten deep in the lineup tonight, and that was without star senior guard Jeff Elorriaga, who sat out for precautionary reasons because of an injury to his head last week.

The Broncos are back and looked better tonight than they've looked, well, since the Bobby Dye days.  Offensively, of course, there's no comparison--this is the best offensive team by far the school has ever fielded.  The entire team was lights out shooting the ball--their 13 three-pointers were just three off another school mark.  If they can keep improving defensively, there's almost no one that can beat them.

Derrick Marks poured in 17 points and included a couple of highlight reel dunks, while Ryan Watkins played another superb game inside for the Broncs with 14 points and 10 boards, true freshman Dezmyn Trent had 13 points and reserve guard Mikey Thompson scored 10 points and had six assists.  Add in Igor Hadziomerivic and Thomas Bropleh with nine points each and you have a deep team. 

Boise State hosts Simpson next Friday in game number two for this special team.

Boise State Soccer Team Headed to MWC Championship!

In only their fourth year of play in the Mountain West Conference, the Boise State soccer team has reached the championship game.  They did it with a 2-1 victory over #2 seed Fresno State in double overtime.

Boise State Shuts Out Wyoming in Mountain West Quarterfinals

The third-seeded Lady Broncos blanked Wyoming today 3-0 to advance to the semifinals of the Mountain West Soccer Tournament.

Katy Oehring scored in the opening minutes when she headed a Mikhalia Bowden corner kick into the net.  Sophomore Brooke Heidemann got in on the scoring in the 43rd minute when she took a pass from junior Shannon Schueren and booted it home.  Ohering headed in another Bowden corner kick for the final margin.

Junior Maddy McDevitt posted her eighth shutout of the season in helping the Broncos advance.  Boise State will meet second-seed Fresno State Thursday afternoon.

Boise State Holds Off Colorado State 42-30

It turned out much closer than it should have been, but Boise State survived with a 42-30 win over Colorado State tonight in Fort Collins.  The Broncos have a much-needed bye this week to try to heal some wounds.  Boise State has 21 players out, 12 from loss of scholarship from their players paying for other players to eat tacos at Taco Bell, and another 9 from injury.

The good news is that Boise State is still in control of its own destiny, and it got that bowl-eligible sixth win tonight.

Kentucky #1 in Men's Basketball

Will be a great opportunity for these Broncos later in the year.  Boise State is #35:

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/24166158/ap-preseason-poll-released-uk-at-top-msu-ville-duke-ku-follow

Boise State and Utah State Finish Where They Began

A tie game.  No one could break the 1-1 deadlock at the half.

Broncos Storm Past Lewis-Clark State 80-52

Boise State's basketball team opened the season with an 80-52 exhibition win over Lewis-Clark State tonight in Taco Bell Arena.  Ryan Watkins led the way with 15 points and seven boards, but it was the reserves who clamped on the defense to stymie a Warrior team that came into the game averaging 100 points a game.

Coach Leon Rice's team hosts UT-Arlington next Friday to open the regular season.

Boise State Soccer Tied with Utah State 1-1

Halftime score.  Kayla Tucker scored at the 20:21 mark to put Boise State up, but USU has tied it.

Women's Cross Country Results

1.    Emma Bates, Boise State (20:48) (won by 24 seconds)
2.    Samantha Silva, New Mexico
3.    Marisa Howard, Boise State
4.    Charlotte Arter, New Mexico
5.    Anna Everson, Air Force
6.    Holly Page, Wyoming
7.    Nicole Roberts, New Mexico
8.    Kali Zachary, New Mexico
9.    Annette Eichenberger, Air Force
10.  Helene Tambet, New Mexico

Freshman of the Year;  Sonna Helleran, Colorado State
Athlete of the Year, Emma Bates, Boise State

2013 Champions:  New Mexico--31 points
2.  Boise State 60 points
3.  Colorado State 117
4.  Air Force 118

Taryn Treadway Earns 2nd Team All-Mountain West

Treadway finished 12th today.  Congrats Taryn!

MWC Men's Cross Country Results

1.    Isiah Bragg of the Air Force (24:08.39)
2.    Luke Caldwell of New Mexico
3.    Adam Bitchell of New Mexico
4.    Pat Zacharias of New Mexico
5.    Garrett Zans of Wyoming
6.    Eric Showhorn of Utah State
7.    Ben Larson of Colorado State
8.    Shawn Stamm of New Mexico
9.    Andrew Goodman of Colorado State
10.  Christian Meyer of Colorado State

Aaron Back of Boise State finished 12th

Freshman of the Year:  Michael Kessey of Wyoming
Athlete of the Year:  Isiah Bragg of Air Force

2013 Champions:  New Mexico--32 points
2.  Colorado State 51
3.  Air Force 80
4.  Boise State 101

Aaron Back 2nd Team All-Conference

Back finished 12th today and earns MWC 2nd Team.  Congrats Aaron!

New Mexico Wins Both Men's and Women's

The battle will be for the other spots.  The Bronco men are no better than third, but I think the Boise State women might have gotten second.  We'll let you know first right here!

Two Broncos at 23:28 and 24:11

Unofficially, I had Bates at about 20:49; the MWC record is 20:42.

The Bronco women with a real shot at second.

Bates Wins Easily

Super, super performance.  She won by at least 200 yards.

Marisa Howard gets third!

Howard Now in 2nd

New Mexico 3, 4 and 7.

Bates Now by 50 Yards

Emma running away with this--she's incredible!

One mile to go, about a 200-yard lead!  She's like Secretariat!

Bates Opening Up Lead

Howard now third as the runners begin to separate.

Bates leads by about 30 yards.

Problem for Boise State is that it is just about a two-woman team.  The rest of the Broncos now way back.

New Mexico Still with 6 Runners Near the Lead

Boise State has four near the front.  A pack of about 20.

Bates Now Leads

Boise State is 1 and 4 (I believe that's Marisa Howard in fourth).

Broncos Making Their Move

Five Broncos now near the lead, along with New Mexico, Colorado State and Air Force.

Colorado State Finishes Second

Colorado State placed runners in the #7, #9, #10 and #11 spots today and will defeat #20 Boise State for second in the Mountain West.  Not sure if the Broncos even got third.

Bronco Women Fall to the Back

Most of the Bronco runners are near the back of the back.  Not good.

2 Kilometers In

New Mexico, Fresno State and Colorado State are 1-2-3.

New Mexico Has All Six Women Near the Front

Only one Bronco near the lead as of the moment.

Bronco Women Get Great Start

But the men did too earlier. 

Women's MWC Cross Country About to Start

Hopefully, the Bronco women will do what the men could not.

Women run a 5K as opposed to the 7K for the men.

Mountain West Slow on Results

They claim to have "high technology", but the race has been over for 10 minutes, and still no results.  All you have to go on is our unofficial results.  New Mexico won easily.  It will be a battle between Colorado State, Air Force, Wyoming and Boise State for the next few positions.

If I had to guess, I would say Colorado State finished third.

One Runner Still on the Course

Eight minutes or more behind the winner.  We'll have final results as soon as that runner finishes.

Winning Time Under 25 Minutes

Gavin Owens of Air Force upset Luke Caldwell of New Mexico to win the individual title.  New Mexico was 3 (Adam Bitchell) and 4 (Pat Zacharias) followed by a Wyoming runner.  Two Boise State runners were near the back, hurting the Broncos' team chances.  They will be lucky to finish third.

Air Force Takes the Lead

New Mexico still 2-3-4.

Boise State Not Looking Like the Second Best Team Today

New Mexico is 1-2-4, and no Bronco in the top 6.

There are two Broncos in the Top 10, #7 and #10.

Caldwell Now 30 Yards Ahead

And his Lobo teammates have similar leads on the rest of the field.  New Mexico still 1-2-3.

New Mexico 1-2-3

The Lobos are running away with it.  Only one Bronco near the lead now.

New Mexico Now 1-2-3-4

Defending champ Luke Caldwell leading the Lobo men.

Three Lobos and Two Broncos near the Front

Colorado State also has a runner near the lead.

Three Broncos Now Near the Lead

Three Broncos are in a huge pack of leaders--very few stragglers at this point, and no Broncos are at the back.  New Mexico, though, has the early advantage.

Two miles remain.

Broncos Now Slipping Off the Pace

4 Kilometers to Go.

Only two Broncos near the lead now--New Mexico is taking over as expected.

Chris Grimbel of Fresno State is leading--there are five Lobos near the lead.

Boise State Men Off to Great Start

The Bronco harriers are near the lead in the early going.

There are four Broncos in the Top 10--Wyoming and New Mexico also with several in the lead pack.

MW Cross Country Championships About to Get Underway!

This is the best the Broncos have looked in years, so it will be interesting to see how they do!

Then men will go first, followed by the women about 45 minutes later.  (Whatever happened to "Ladies First"?)

Boise State Cross Country Teams Compete in Mountain West Championships

They may not top New Mexico, ranked #9 in both men's and women's, but the Bronco cross country teams will give it a shot today at the Mountain West Championships in Colorado Springs.  Action gets underway at 10 this morning.  As usual, Blue Through and Through will have results before any other media outlet or website in Idaho.

Bronco Wrestlers Ranked #20 in Opening Poll

The Boise State wrestling team is back where it belongs--in the Top 25.  The Broncos are #20 in the first Intermat poll--Oregon State of the Pac-12 is at #6.

Boise State opens the season this weekend with wrestlers competing in two tournaments.

Lori Orr Hayes Passed Away Friday

Lori Orr Hayes, a dedicated Bronco who was the assistant sports information director at Boise State in the Olympic Sports, and did so many other things for Boise State, passed away last Friday after a long battle with cancer.  Lori had been diagnosed with a tumor in 2011 and underwent surgery then.

I first met Lori when she was a student intern at KFXD radio station.  She started out doing news and sports, but literally would do everything we asked of her.  My condolences to her husband James and their family.  Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and everyone who knew her.  She was a special person.

Boise State Stomps BYU

While the Boise State football team couldn't get it done in Provo, the Bronco swimmers could and did, with a resounding 178-112 victory over the Cougars.

Ciera Cortney set a new school record in the three-meter dive with a score of 324.15 and won the one-meter with a score of 304.2 to lead the Bronco charge.  Freshman Brittany Aoyama won a pair of races and was on two winning relays.  Aoyama won the 100-yard freestyle in 55.12 and the 50 free in 23.88.  Aoyama also helped the 200 freestyle relay team win (1:34.92) and anchored the 400-yard medley relay team to a win with a time of 3:48.18.  Heather Harper (2:24.25), Whitney Jorgensen (2:24.64) and Sydney Johansen (2:25.30) went 1-2-3 in the 200-yard breaststroke, and Harper doubled with a win in the 100 breaststroke in 1:06.19.  

Sophomore Emri Moore won the 1000 freestyle in 10:33.70, while Megan Myers won the 500 in 5:07.78.

Boise State takes a few weeks off before traveling to Wyoming November 16.

Derrick Marks on Cousy Watch List

Sensational Boise State junior Derrick Marks has been placed on the Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guar of the Year Award Watch List.  Marks is one of 50 players on the list.

Last year, Derrick averaged 16.3 points, 3.9 assists and 3.8 rebounds a game.  The list will be narrowed to 20 in early February, with the final five candidates announced in early March.

Bronco Cross Country Teams Make History

What long distance runners do for you is give the school a chance to win six conference championships--two in cross country, two in indoor track & field and two in outdoor track & field.  And today, Boise State's cross country teams proved they are on target to become part of the elite.

Boise State's men's team was ranked #20 this week while the women made their first-ever appearance in the national Top 25 at #25.  The Bronco women finished 11th at the prestigious 2013 Pre-National Invitational last weekend, while the men finished eighth.

Boise State is thus one of only 12 programs in the country to have both men and women ranked in the Top 25.  The others are:  Arkansas (#12 men, #2 women), Colorado (#1 men, #16 women), Indiana (#24 men, #21 women), New Mexico (#9 men, #9 women), Notre Dame (#23 men, #22 women), Oregon (#4 men, #12 women), Princeton (#15 men, #23 women), Providence (#19 men, #4 women), Stanford (#13 men, #20 women), Syracuse (#14 men, #19 women) and Washington (#25 men, #13 women.  The Pac-12 is the only other conference besides the Mountain West to have more than one team owning this distinction.

Bronco Soccer Team Blanks Colorado State

Boise State scored three goals in the second half to shut out Colorado State Sunday afternoon in Fort Collins, Colorado.  The Lady Broncos are now 9-5-2 overall and 4-2 in conference play.

Boise State had six shots in the first 45 minutes, but none found their mark.  But in the 53rd minute, Brooke Heidemann netted a penalty kick to break the deadlock.  Four minutes later, Kayla Tucker streaked down the right side, fed a pass to Ashley Hruby, who booted it in for a 2-0 lead.  Baylee Blaser scored in the 89th minute for the final tally.

"It was freezing today, about forty degrees with rain and strong wind gusts," said head coach Jim Thomas. "We haven't had much experience in that type of environment so it took us some time to get settled down and play our style of soccer. We started and controlled the game well and we created good opportunities, but we had no killer moments in the first half. We knew once we had a goal it would relieve some of the pressure and we could settle down."

Boise State hosts San Diego State this Friday at the Boas Soccer Complex off of Boise Avenue.  Action gets underway at 4 p.m.

Boise State's Emma Bates Named National Cross Country Athlete of the Week

We were the first media outlet in Idaho to report to you that Emma Bates had won the 6K at the Pre-National Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana.  

Bates was recognized today as the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association National Division I Women's Athlete of the Week.

So proud of Emma for how she continues to get better and get recognized for her accomplishments!

Depth Pays Dividends as Boise State Downs Nevada 34-17

http://bluefootballthroughandthrough.blogspot.com/2013/10/bronco-depth-pays-dividends-as-boise.html

Bates Paces Bronco Women to 11th Place Finish at Pre-National Invitational, Bronco Men Finish 8th

Emma Bates has done it again.  This great distance runner who made a name for herself at the NCAA National Track & Field Championships is coming home with the championship at the prestigious Indiana State University Pre-National Invitational 6-kilometer race title.  Bates' great performance Saturday enabled Boise State to finish 11th at the meet with 443 points.

Meanwhile, the #19 Boise State men were not to be outdone.  They finished eighth at the course in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Bates held onto the lead in the women's competition with several competitors trying to overtake her.  After dropping to third in the final stretch, Emma summoned an additional gear from inside, passing Aisling Cuffe of Stanford, who had just taken the lead from Florida State's Hannah Walker, and sprinted to the finish.

Bates won the race of 339 competitors in 20:09.90, with Cuffe finishing in 20:10.17 (27/100th's behind).  Marisa Howard of Boise State was 47th in 20:59.90.

Aaron Back paced the Bronco men this time, finishing 47th out of 359 runners.  Back finished the 8-kilometer course in 24:10.51, while Allan Schroeder was 56th in 24:16.29.  David Elliott was 61st with a time of 24:18.21.  

Kennedy Kithuka of Texas Tech won the men's individual race in 22:52.78, while #2 Colorado won the team title with 90 points.  #5 Georgetown captured the women's team title with 117 points.

With that spectacular performance behind them, the Boise State cross country teams prepare for the 2013 Mountain West Cross Country Championships November 1 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Boise State Swimming and Diving Team Rocks Competition

Hard to believe the Boise State swimming and diving team might be better than the team that produced Amber Boucher and Stephanie North, but that might be the case.

The Broncos routed their competition at the Bulldog Invitational with 1,232 points to 765.5 for host Fresno State, 751.5 for San Jose State and 591 for California.  Boise State captured nine titles on the final day to win going away.

Senior Ciera Cortney won the one-meter diving competition with a score of 306.30, the highest score in school history. 

Coach Kristin Hill's squad won the 200-yard freestyle, 400-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle relays.  

"Our relays were strong again today," said Coach Hill.  "It's great to see early season speed even though we have just started touching on our speed work."

Freshman Brittany Aoyama won the 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly races.  Fellow freshman Whitney Jorgensen won the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:26.85.  Sophomore Emri Moore won the 1,650-yard freestyle in 17:28.53.  Junior Heather Harper won the 100-yard breaststroke (1:05.31) while Jessica Bottelberge touched first in the 100-yard backstroke in 56.48.  

The Lady Broncos take on Utah and BYU on the road next weekend.

Broncos Win Big One, 34-23 Over Utah State

Boise State took a major step towards a berth in the first Mountain West Conference Championship game with a 34-23 win on the road against Utah State.

The Broncos are now 4-2 on the season with their 49th consecutive win in the month of October.

Bronco Swim Team On Top At Bulldog Invitational

It was a good first day for the Boise State swimming team, as the Broncos set the pace at the Fresno State Bulldog Invitational with 353.5 points.  San Jose State is a distant second with 229 points.

The Bronco 200-yard medley relay team stunned California to set the pool and meet record that the Golden Bears set last year.  Boise State finished in 1:43.15, topping Cal's 1:45.97.  

Felicity Cann captured the 500-yard freestyle in 4:56.52, with teammate Taylor Padington taking second (4:59.50.  Junior Jessical Bottelberghe led a Bronco sweep in the 200 IM, with Sydney Johansen taking second and freshman Whitney Jorgensen touching for third place.

"Going 1-2-3 in the 200 IM was fun for the team," said head coach Kristin Hill. "And all of our 200 IM swimmers set new individual dual meet records.  Ciera Cortney's score was even higher than last week and was the second highest all time score for a Bronco.  Brittany Aoyama'slead off time in the 800 freestyle relay was very strong. We had some fast 50 freestyles and most were faster than last weekend which is a great sign considering the heavy training we put in this week, as well as a big travel day yesterday. This is a very strong, resilient team that loves to race and that showed today."

Ayoma won the 50-yard freestyle in 23.61.  The Invitational continues with action today in Fresno.

Bronco Soccer Team Blanks San Jose State 3-0

Don't look now, but the Boise State soccer team is a contender.

The Lady Broncos shut down San Jose State 3-0, as junior Maddy McDevitt earned her sixth shutout of the season.  In the fifth minute, Gabby Garcia broke in the clear along the left flank, and netted a shot to put Boise State up 1-0.  Kayla Tucker followed suit fifteen minutes later and Katy Oehring scored her second goal of the season in the 78th minute of play.  

The Bronco defense was superb, holding the Spartans to just two shots and one on goal.

"I think one of the things that we trained on this week was not just good soccer, if we're going to compete in a tournament, either the Mountain West or the NCAA, we have to have a little more killer instinct about us," said head coach Jim Thomas.

"And I think that's what our team came out with. They came out with the mentality that every single moment counted. They got one goal, instantly got the second goal and they were hunting for the third goal for the rest of the half. And that kept us in so much control of that game because we were in that competitive mentality, not settling for two goals but still hunting for the third. We had a little slow start in the second half but the team got back up to that first half rhythm relatively quickly, and again found that third goal and put the game to bed. So it was really proud of them to take that mentality that will promote us to good conference games and good tournament games as well."

Boise State is now 3-1 in Mountain West Conference play and 8-4-2 on the year.  Coach Thomas's team remains tied with New Mexico for second in the league.  The Broncos travel to Fresno State to try to continue the momentum.

Boise State Cross Country Team Ranked 19th in the Nation

It's been awhile (1996 to be exact), but the Boise State men's cross country team jumped up to #19 in the  U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.  The Broncos had been in the "others receiving votes" category, but were ranked in the poll after giving Oregon trouble in the Bill Dellinger Invitational.

Emma Bates Named Mountain West Athlete of the Week

Emma Bates of Boise State is this week's Mountain West Female Athlete of the Week after finishing as the top collegian at the Bill Dellinger Invitational last week.  Bates finished the 5-kilometer course in 16:35.  

Bronco Swim Team Off to Good Start

The Boise State swimming and diving team didn't quite triple their opponent.  They'll have to work on that.

The Broncos downed Idaho (Moscow) 217.5 to 82.5 in the season opener in Boise.  Freshman Brittany Aoyama won the 50-yard freestyle (23.36) and the 100-butterfly (54.95), while fellow freshman Felicity Cann won the 200-freestyle in 1:50.25.  Junior Heather Harper captured both the 100 and 200-yard breastrokes, with respective times of 1:05.50 and 2:22.51.  

Ciera Courtney was second in the three-meter diving with a score of 308.93.

Boise State will compete this weekend at the Fresno Invitational.

Bronco Harriers Finish 2nd, 3rd at Prestigious Bill Dellinger Invitational

After a month off of competition, the Boise State men's and women's cross country teams showed no effects, as the men nearly shocked #4 Oregon, finishing seven points behind the Ducks, while the Bronco women were third behind #7 Washington and #5 Oregon.

Oregon had 32 points to win the men's competition, while Boise State had 39 and Washington and #8 Portland tied with 87 points.  Washington had 30 points to win the women's competition, with Oregon at 52 points and Boise State with 63.  

Allan Schroeder was fifth overall in the men's race, finishing the course in 24:19, with Aaron Nelson of Washington winning the individual title in 23:55.

Boise State's Emma Bates was the top collegian on the 5-kilometer course with a time of 16:35.  Teammate Marisa Howard was third in 16:50.

Boise State will get their final tuneup before the Mountain West Championships when they travel to the 2013 Pre-National Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana, where the upstart Broncos will compete against over 200 teams from throughout the country.

Boise State Golf Team Wins Utah Invitational

The Boise State golf team finished with a flurry to win the Utah Invitational, in Ark City, Utah, the Broncos' first in more than six years.

Boise State entered the final round six strokes behind Utah State, but rallied to win by 10 at the par-71 Jeremy Golf and Country Club.  The margin of victory is the largest for Boise State since it won the Bronco Spring Invitational by 15 strokes in 1995.

Boise State had rounds of 364, 356 and 356 to finish 11-over for the tournament.  

Ty Travis finished in second place individually with a 7-under 206.  Seokwon Jeon of Utah State sank a 20-foot birdie putt on the second hole of a playoff for medalist honors.  Sophomore Logan France posted a 70 to finish with a three-round total of 214, good for seventh place.

Boise State will travel to Las Cruces, New Mexico for the Price's "GIve 'Em Five" Invitational October 25-26. 

Wacker Set To Be A Bronco

Boise State got their center.  David Wacker (6-9, 210) of Judson High School in Converse, Texas, has committed to Coach Rice and the basketball program.  Wacker averaged 11.5 points and 8.7 rebounds a game the last two seasons.

Bronco Cross Country Teams Well Regarded in Preseason Poll

The Boise State cross country teams earned respect from their Mountain West Conference counterparts, as the Mountain West coaches voted the Bronco women second and the men third in the annual preseason poll.

New Mexico was the choice to win the conference in both men and women.

Not Bronco Related, However...

It is sports related.  Sort of.  

Just finished watching the movie The Legend of Bagger Vance for the umpteenth time, and it is, without a doubt, one of the best movies ever made.

Bronco Football Team #29 in Billingsley

http://bluefootballthroughandthrough.blogspot.com/2013/09/boise-state-29-in-billingsley_15.html

Bronco Football Team #34 in AP Poll

http://bluefootballthroughandthrough.blogspot.com/2013/09/fresno-state-27-in-ap-poll-boise-state.html

Boise State Football Team Gets 5 Votes in Coaches Poll

A far cry from years gone by, but believe it or not, it's more votes than the Broncos received last week:

http://bluefootballthroughandthrough.blogspot.com/2013/09/fresno-state-25-boise-state-gets-5.html