By Kristopher LodesStaff Reporter

The Central Michigan football program unveiled its new $50,000 uniform line August 15, and they have cre-ated quite a buzz since.

Whether you like them or you don’t, the fact is people are talking about them, and that is what athletic director Dave Heeke was looking to accomplish.

“(We) wanted it to help us get a great deal of exposure and put us on the national stage as one of the programs willing to do those things,” Heeke said. “There are pros and cons and people who like it and don’t, but the great thing is people are talking about it and I do know the players love it.”

Head coach Dan Enos said he didn’t expect such a big

reaction out of the new uni-forms, but the team’s reaction was nothing but positive.

“The reaction was unbe-lievable, and they were so excited,” he said during a post-practice interview with

cmuchippewas.com. “They were fi red up, and it was tough to get them to focus at practice the next day. I kept telling them just because

VOLLEYBALL PREVIEWCoach preaches atmosphere during

annual maroon/gold scrimmage. » PAGE 3B

INSIDE: Former basketball star Roundfield dies at 59

INSIDE: UMASS enters the MAC

FIELD HOCKEY PREVIEW Anastasia Netto brings experience for field

hockey team. » PAGE 2B

cm-life.com SPORTSC E N T R A L M I C H I G A N L I F E

Thurs., Aug. 23, 2012 Sec. B

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By Emily Grove

Staff Reporter

Head coach Neil Sta� ord said the Central Michigan women’s soccer team will have to play like it’s a game of chess this weekend at the Penn State Invitational.

Sta� ord made the com-parison with the Chippewas traveling to Penn State to face West Virginia on Friday, fol-lowed by Sunday’s matchup against Penn State, the ninth ranked team in the country.

“We would have more freedom if we were playing a Detroit or an Evansville,” Sta� ord said. “With (West Virginia and Penn State) we’re going to have to tighten up, be disciplined, be patient and really put some thought into the moves we make.”

CMU started o� the season with a 1-0 win against Detroit on Aug. 17 and a canceled game against Evansville on Aug. 19.

The canceled game was called mid-contest because of weather with the Chippewas leading 2-0. Because of min-utes played, it cannot count as an o� cial game or win per NCAA rules.

“With the play we’ve seen so far, we’ve put the same plan together and seen slow, steady improvement,” Staf-ford said. “But Penn State and West Virginia certainly aren’t going to make it easy on us.”

West Virginia went 1-1-0 last week, dropping their season opener to La Salle 2-1 on Aug. 17 and defeat-ing Western Carolina 2-1 on Aug. 19.

The Mountaineers have a strong player in sophomore forward Kate Schwindel, who netted six goals and moved the ball with seven assists as a freshman. Al-ready this season, Schwindel scored the game-winning goal late in the game against Western Carolina.

Coach Dan Enos excited about 2012-13 schedule By Brandon Champion | Staff Reporter

On Oct. 18, 2008,

a record 30,302 fans

packed Kelly/Shorts

Stadium to witness

the Central Michigan

football team defeat

Western Michigan

38 to 28.

On Sept. 8, 2012 a

new stadium record

will be set when

about 32,885 fans

watch CMU host

the No. 13 Michigan

State Spartans in

their fi rst ever visit

to Kelly/Shorts

Stadium.

The game is one of seven home games on the Chip-pewa’s schedule in 2012, which also includes visits from Navy and in-state rival Western Michigan. This is only the third time in the modern era that CMU will have seven home games on its schedule.

“Our entire team is

excited about this year’s schedule,” head coach Dan Enos said. “When Michigan State comes to our place, it’s going to be a great envi-ronment – it will be very exciting.”

CMU opens its season at home on Aug. 30 against Southeast Missouri State before the clash with the

Spartans. The Chippewas fi rst road

game in 2012 will be on Sep-tember. 22 when they travel to Iowa City to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes, the second of two straight games against teams from the Big Ten Conference.

KAITLIN THORESEN/FILE PHOTO

CMU running back Zurlon Tipton leaps over Ball State defender Joshua Howard during last season’s 31-27 loss to Ball State. The Chippewas will host the Cardinals on

Oct. 20 for the Homecoming game at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.

By John ManzoStaff Reporter

The 2,450 temporary student-section bleachers and three luxury suites added to Kelly/Shorts Stadium this season cost Central Michigan $270,000.

The bleachers cost around $150,000, and each suite cost $40,000.

CMU fans could be con-fused when it comes to the addition after consecutive 3-9 seasons, but the seven-game home schedule, including in-state rivals Michigan State and Western Michi-gan, helped in the decision process.

“We sure hope to fi ll them (bleachers) all season. Obviously MSU was a big genesis for the thought of doing something, but this is the most signifi cant schedule we’ve ever had here—seven home games, Navy and West-ern (Michigan) also highlight-ing the schedule,” Director of Athletics Dave Heeke said.

The suites installed on the east side of the stadium can each hold 60-70 people, giving the stadium room for 180-200 more people.

“We’ll have a lot of people, and it should be a lot of fun,” Heeke said. “Suites are for additional groups, private groups and then the seats themselves are for the stu-dents.”

The concourse remains the same. There weren’t any alter-ations with entrances or exits, but because of the popularity for the upcoming schedule, there will be more personnel to assist with crowd manage-ment.

Heeke said the stadium needs to have a consistent run being fi lled before he can think about expanding the stadium permanently.

If and when that happens, luxury suites are in high demand.

“I think we could sell 5-10 more suites with very little di� culty,” Heeke said.

In addition, general club seating and lodge-level seat-ing could be added.

CMU opens at home against Southeast Missouri State at 7 p.m. Aug. 30.

sports@cm-life.com

Soccer teamfocused for Penn State Invitational

A UNIFORMS| 3B

home sweet home

Added seats to Kelly/Shorts cost $270,000

A SOCCER| 7B

Remembering running back Ontario SneedBy Justin Hicks

Sports Editor

It was always his smile.Whether you ask an old

kindergarten classmate, former teammate, high school coach or his mother, Ontario Sneed will always be remem-bered for the smile that could “light up a room.”

“Something about him, people just wanted to be around him, and you felt good when you were around him,” said Brian Brunner, a former quarterback who played with Sneed during his football ca-reer at Central Michigan. “He was a connecting force on that team, and he had the ability to transcend between di� erent groups on the team.”

Sneed died Aug. 14 at John Warner Hospital in Clin-ton, Ill. after arriving at the hospital with dehydration-like symptoms.

“I brought him in because he was throwing up and

couldn’t feel his legs,” said Sherry Rome-ro, Sneed’s mother. “He had no mus-cle tone and couldn’t stand up. When the blood work

came back, it said he had no potassium in his body. They were calling specialists, who said he had to have taken some type of diet pills, which got rid of his potassium.”

Romero said her son looked like he had lost weight when he came to stay with her a week prior to his death but that he told her he was fi ne.

Her motherly instincts forced her concern, but his smile remained and he pressed on.

“I kept asking him because he didn’t look right, and I told him if he felt bad to call me,” she said. “He was always a picky eater, and he was like

that since he was two years old. He was on special diets and regiments at CMU, but now that he left school, he probably wasn’t eating right.”

Sneed attended CMU be-tween 2005 and 2008, starting all four years as running back.

A member of two Mid-American Conference Championship teams, Sneed ranks sixth in school history with 157 receptions, and ninth in rushing yards (2,863) and eighth in rushing touchdowns (26).

“It was a shame that he had to go so soon, and he’ll be extremely missed,” said Frank Zombo, a former teammate and current linebacker for the Green Bay Packers. “Obvi-ously, he was one heck of an athlete and one of the bigger names around campus. Every-body is going to remember the (Sneed Creed) in the back of the end zone.”

New football uniforms, helmets create buzz; cost $50,000 for eight variations

A FOOTBALL| 4B

Thurs., Aug. 30Sat., Sept. 08Sat., Sept. 22Sat., Sept. 29Sat., Oct. 06Fri., Oct. 12 Sat., Oct. 20Sat., Oct. 27Sat., Nov. 03Sat., Nov. 10Sat., Nov. 17Fri., Nov. 23Fri., Nov. 30

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2 0 1 2 - 2 0 1 3 C M U F O O T B A L L S C H E D U L E

COURTSEY PHOTO/CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM

PAGE 3B

INSIDE:

SPORTSSPORTSC E N T R A L M I C H I G A N L I F E

Ontario Sneed

A SNEED| 3B

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Anastasia Netto brings experience for upcoming field hockey season

By Jeff PapworthStaff Reporter

Scanning statistics and re-fl ecting on past Central Michi-gan fi eld hockey games proves Anastasia Netto has grown as a goalkeeper.

The Trinidad and Tobago native went from having a save percentage that looked more like a batting average in her fi rst year on campus, to being on queue with a free-throw percentage in her redshirt junior year.

As a result, she earned a spot on the Mid-American Confer-ence second team.

Although for her to contend for a coveted MAC Champion-ship, she might have to do one better –Mid-American Confer-ence fi rst team.

If her results from previous years are any indication, she might do just that.

“Ana, in her second year starting last year, made huge improvements from her fi rst year starting,” head coach Cristy Freese said. “When you can put an experienced goalkeeper in the cage, certainly I think that’s one of the reasons we should be looked at to really challenge for the conference championship.”

Freese said Netto’s improve-ment came in her decision making.

She allowed 1.83 goals per game last season, after allow-ing 2.68 the year before. After saving 33.3 percent of the shots in the half game she played her freshman year, she saved 71.8 percent of shots last season.

Netto’s enthusiasm and expectations for this season

have gone unchanged. She is ready to push herself for a MAC Championship and “pour everything (she) has into it,” like any other year.

One thing that has changed throughout her collegiate career is her role as a leader on the team.

“I make it a point to reach out to my teammates, on a personal level,” Netto said. “Make sure everything is going well with them and make sure that if there is anything I can help with, I provide any assistance I can, whether it be school or personal life.”

The only thing that could hold Netto back is the time she had to take o� after the season because of a concussion sustained in a conference tournament game against Missouri State. Freese said she is slightly nervous with Netto not being fully ingrained in the o� -season workouts until after spring break, but she has no doubt she will garner the start-ing possession.

“Anytime you miss out on training and practice sessions, it’s going to hurt you,” she said. “(But) she certainly comes into

camp as the starter … To have a good player with experience is how you win a championship.”

Netto considers herself to be at 100 percent.

“I feel better than I ever felt before,” she said. “I’m fi t as I’ve ever been. I’ve been taking such great care of myself.”

While Netto will help the Chippewas immensely in contending in the MAC, her cohorts will have to push CMU the rest of the way to win it. The Chippewas su� ered four losses last season in games in which the opposition had only one goal at the end of regula-tion.

Freese said she has the utmost confi dence that her keeper’s teammates will have her back, and Netto will not have to do everything.

“I would never want to put too much weight (on Netto). I think we have a very good team,” Freese said. “I think if Anna can be consistent and steady through the season, that’s what we need.”

sports@cm-life.com

By John Manzo Staff Reporter

Former Central Michi-gan basketball player Dan Roundfi eld drowned August 6 o� the coast of Aruba at the age of 59, according to multiple reports.

The Aruba Herald re-ported Roundfi eld’s body was found under rocks after he tried to assist his wife, who was distressed while swimming in Baby Beach.

His wife returned to shore, but Roundfi eld was underwater.

Roundfi eld, who attended CMU from 1972-75, was a two-time All-Mid-American Conference team member and named the Chippewas fi rst-ever MAC Player of the Year in 1975, guiding them to a 22-6 record and a MAC Championship.

The 6-foot-8 forward

holds the all-time rebound record with 1,031 and is the only player with more than 1,000 rebounds

at CMU. He is third in total blocks with 175.

Roundfi eld, who was inducted into the Marcy Weston Athletics Hall of Fame in 1985, was sched-uled to be inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame on August 16. His No. 32 is retired at CMU.

“This is a tragic loss for the Central Michigan family,” Central Michigan Director of Athletics Dave Heeke said in a press release on CMUChippewas.com. “Dan was not only one of our all-time great basketball

players, but one of our all-time greatest athletes. Our sympathies go out to Dan’s family, all his close friends and those that grew to love him throughout our basket-ball program.”

Roundfi eld was drafted with the 28th overall pick in the 1975 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He played for four NBA teams in 12 years: Indiana Pac-ers, ABA/NBA (1976-78), Atlanta Hawks (1978-84), Detroit Pistons (1984-85) and the Washington Bullets (1985-87).

ESPN analyst and former Duke basketball player Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) tweeted about the former CMU great:”RIP Dan Roundfi eld: I played against Roundfi eld in Italy. He was a good man. A sad day.”

sports@cm-life.com

Former CMU basketball player Roundfield dies at 59 off the coast of Aruba Aug. 6

Dan Roundfi eld

OVERCOMING ADVERSITYOntario Sneed grew up in

Clinton, Ill. and attended Clin-ton High School.

It wasn’t until his junior year that he would meet arguably one of the most monumental people in his life: his high school football coach Josh Johnson. 

“When Ontario was starting his junior year, I took the head coach job and I knew he was a pretty special player, just based on the film I watched,” Josh Johnson said. “He was a shy kid, but as he got older and more comfortable in the weight room, he looked like a man playing with boys.”

As the college o�ers began to reach Sneed, it became apparent to him and Johnson that his grades would not allow him eligibility to compete at the next level.

Sneed’s love for the game, combined with the potential that was apparent to John-son, took control of his senior season.

“(Sneed) stayed with us on a regular basis, and my wife Lori, who graduated from the Uni-versity of Illinois, helped him with his homework,” Johnson said. “We guided him through that whole process while he was staying with us four or five nights a week.”

Although his grades began to improve, Purdue and Colorado University were among a group of schools that withdrew o�ers because they couldn’t wait until he qualified academically.

Then CMU head coach Brian Kelly saw something special in the young recruit and stood by him.

“He finally reached the standard scores that he needed to go play June 2005,” John-son said. “I was shocked at how they hung in there with him and said they’d sign him on signing day. They meant what they said, and did what they said and I gained a lot of respect for coach Kelly, (Butch) Jones and (Je� ) Quinn.”

Josh and Lori remained in Sneed’s life after graduation, attending the majority of his games and taking him up to school.

“We usually talked once a week or so, whether he’d call or I’d call, and we’d talk for 15-20 minutes,” Josh said.  “Back in May, he came to visit and stayed with us, and my oldest son, who is six, just wouldn’t leave his side… which just shows how personable he was.”

Romero said she considered Josh and Lori to be Sneed’s godparents and credits them for helping Sneed get his name out, eventually reaching the collegiate level.

Sneed recently filled out his FAFSA information with intent to return to CMU to complete his final six credits to earn his degree in the fall.

“People told him there was no way he could qualify, but he did,” Josh said. “Then they said he couldn’t finish school or graduate, and I think the biggest thing for me was how he made himself into a better man by sticking through the adversity and obviously had great success.”

REMEMBERING SNEED“It shocked me how much

people liked him,” Josh said. “The outpouring of stu� my family has gotten and his mom got; it makes me very proud at how well-liked and respected he was.”

It was apparent at his memo-

rial service just how many peoples’ hearts he touched in his 25 years.

Former teammates, coaches and friends from around the country came to pay their re-spects to the Clinton native.

“There were so many people that his memorial book they have has three pages left in it, and you get 12 pages,” Romero said. “Just to see the love for this kid. He’s touched a lot of people’s hearts, and that makes Clinton stand out. And it shows the rest of the kids that they can do it, too.”

Director of Football Op-erations at CMU Plas Presnell presented a shadow box with Sneed’s jersey during the memorial service, as well as a CMU football helmet.

Presnell got up at the funeral and spoke about the former Chippewa and what he meant to the school and the program that believed in him, loved him and knew he had the face to get things done.

Kelly and former running back coach Earnest Jones cred-ited Sneed for advancing on in their coaching careers.

“Earnest Jones and Brian Kelly went to Cincinnati and Notre Dame and said Sneed was how they got there,” Rome-ro said. “I met Jones when I went to one of Ontario’s games, and he said ‘I love this kid’. It made me feel so good how loved he was around campus.”

Funding for the service was taken care of completely by donations made to the Ontario

Sneed memorial fund.Zombo and former team-

mate Joe Staley were two of 5-10 former teammates that pitched in to help cover the near $10,000 funeral costs. Kelly and Johnson also made donations to help the Sneed family.

“One of his teammates in particular donated to his fund, and it almost paid for the whole thing,” Romero said. “The rest of the community came together (to help), and the church made the dinner. We received so much support from the community.”

Sneed would have turned 26 Monday as classes begin for the Fall 2012 semester.

“It’s a tough swallow,” former teammate Colin Miller said. “But it’s life, and we’re go-ing to do our best to remember him and celebrate his life.”

sports@cm-life.com

By Kristopher LodesStaff Reporter

The Central Michigan vol-leyball team held its annual maroon and gold scrimmage Saturday with the gold team sweeping the match 3-0.

But the score isn’t neces-sarily what the scrimmage was all about.

Head coach Erik Olson want to create a volleyball atmosphere unlike any other in the Mid-American Con-ference.

“Home atmosphere is so important to us, especially if we want to win a regu-lar season championship,” Olson said. “(We’re look-ing to introduce) culture and atmosphere and to get our parents, especially the new ones, on the same page because they’re the generals in terms of fan control, along with marketing.”

A few of the points Olson preached to the fans are yell-ing “C-M-U” on the bump, set and attack on the first five points of a set and the set winning point, yelling point Central after each point and acknowledging a good block, dig, kill and ace.

“We’re looking for no

dead spots, exciting calls in a game, great reaction from the crowd and appreciation for great volleyball,” Olson said.

As far as the action on the court is concerned, the Chippewas saw positives from both sides of the net.

“It was great to put our jerseys on and play for a crowd,” said outside hitter Lindsey Dulude. “It’s nice to put (our preseason work) into a game atmosphere and we were very pleased with how both sides played.”

Dulude was second in kills on the day with eight, two behind sophomore outside hitter Kaitlyn McIntyre who had 10.

One of the big position battles going into the season is at setter between junior Kelly Maxwell and freshman Jordan Timmer. Maxwell recorded 28 total assists and three aces while her counterpart Timmer had 24 assists.

“We put a lot together and the most important part is that we figured out we had a lot of depth,” Dulude said.

CMU displayed new uni-forms during the scrimmage.

Instead of the solid ma-

roon and gold tops and ma-roon bottoms, the uniforms now sport a strip of maroon or gold along the shoulders and down the side and a gold strip on the bottoms.

“We love our new jerseys, they’re really nice,” Dulude. “New jerseys and new equip-ment emphasize the whole aura we’re trying to set.”

The team’s sights are now set on Auburn on Aug. 24 in

the Green Bay/ Country Inn & Suites Tournament to start the regular season.

“It’s time to fine tune and sit down with our players and establish those roles going into preconference,” Olson said. “Auburn will be a great a opponent and we’ll have to do a great job of executing Chip-pewa volleyball.”

sports@cm-life.com

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cm-life.com/sports [SPORTS] Central Michigan Life || Thursday, Aug. 23, 2012 || 3B

Coach Erik Olson preaches atmosphere during volleyball’s annual maroon/gold scrimmage Saturday

CHUCK MILLER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Junior middle blocker Danielle Gotham attempts to spike during the Chippewas’ first

practice of the season last week in McGuirk Arena. The Chippewas are coming off

a successful season that ended in a MAC tournament championship and a berth in

the NCAA tournament.

CONTINUED FROM 1B

UNIFORMS|

you’ve got those fancy jerseys doesn’t mean you’re going to win every game you play. You still have got to go out and execute, but it was a fun night for everybody.”

The $50,000 project has been in the works for some time now with the Chip-pewas athletic department and its apparel sponsor, Adidas. The team was in need of new helmets, which accounted for half the cost, and decided to bring in a new look as well.

“We didn’t have backup helmets, which is standard, and we needed to do that anyway,” Heeke said. “So we brought that together to knock o� two things.”

Along with the two new helmets, CMU will be don-ning maroon, white, gold and black tops and bottoms with the availability of eight di�erent combinations.

“I think, as we worked with Adidas and we devel-oped our relationship with them, we wanted to bring more clarity to our overall uniform look,” Heeke said. “First and foremost we wanted to bring a strong look as we formed the part-nership, bringing back the colors of maroon and gold,

which are associated with athletics.”

With the new uniforms, athletics is now in talks with the CMU Bookstore to sell replica jerseys in the many locations on campus. Heeke hopes that new uni-forms will mean more stu-dents and alumni wearing more Chippewas apparel.

“Nothing is more dis-appointing to me than students on this campus that choose to wear non-CMU items,” he said. “(We wanted) something strong that our student body and alumni want to wear and has a fashion sense, too.”

Whether football fans like it or not, there is a trend of new uniforms around the nation. New uniforms have become a recruiting tool that shows style and commitment to the program.

“I’m a believer in mar-keting and exposure, and I don’t think you can mea-sure the positives enough for doing those sorts of things,” Heeke said. “Like it or not, people are talking about it, and that’s very good for us.”

sports@cm-life.com

CONTINUED FROM 1B

SNEED|

JILL WOODBECK/FILE PHOTO

Tailback Ontario Sneed leaps into members of “Sneed’s Creed” on September 16,

2008 before the football game against the University of Akron at Kelly Shorts Sta-

dium.

With all the excitement surrounding the upcom-ing football season, it seems that fans of the sport and of Central Michigan in gen-eral still have a chip on their shoulders.

A chip that no new jerseys, stadium improvements, high-intensity schedules or tailgating policy updates will not mask.

The Chippewas are coming o� back-to-back 3-9 seasons, and football fans have been calling for head coach Dan Enos’ job the entire way.

Expecting a winning record from a team that listed more than 60 percent of its depth chart as freshmen or sophomores last season was a bit challenging.

Expecting a winning record from a team that gave 21 play-ers their first career collegiate starts might have been less than attainable.

But expecting a winning re-cord from a coach three years into his contract shouldn’t be too far of a stretch.

Expecting a team with seven home games to finish above .500 is feasible.

No sports fan will stand by cheerfully while their team goes through a rebuilding process, but CMU has had a culture of winning football pried away from it over the past few years.

With two years of rebuild-ing under his belt, it’s time for Enos to prove he’s worth the $325,000 he receives an-nually.

This season’s experience-packed roster showcases 19 seniors, including two-year starting quarterback Ryan Radcli�, MAC-third team receiver Cody Wilson, Jahleel Addae, who led the confer-ence in interceptions last season, and four returning members of the o�ensive line.

Defensively, the team re-turns five of the seven players who started on the defensive line last season, as well as five of the six defensive backs that started games.

Young players like receiv-ing leaders Titus Davis and Courtney Williams and sophomore linebackers

Justin Cheroci, Cody Lopez and Shamari Benton earned significant playing time dur-ing their freshman seasons and will take on even more responsibility this year.

Some of Enos’ rising stars were forced into key roles last season to carry the load that injured veterans were unable to muster.

Sophomore Anthony Gar-land slid his foot in the door when junior Zurlon Tipton went down with a broken bone in his foot early last season.

This season, Tipton, Gar-land and junior Tim Phillips add depth to the backfield.

Director of Athletics Dave Heeke showed his support for the third-year coach back in February by extending his contract an additional year through the 2015 season.

He renegotiated CMU’s tailgating policy, revamped the team’s look and brought excitement back to the game- day experience with seven home games this season.

Athletics have done all they can to build up excite-ment for the upcoming season.

The pieces are set. Now let’s see if Enos’ reputation in this city can be saved or if the chants of “fire Enos” will finally get to Heeke.

Put the past behind us; it’s do or die time for Enos and the Chippewas.

4B || Thursday, Aug. 23, 2012 || Central Michigan Life cm-life.com/sports[SPORTS]

University of Massachusetts aims for competition in the Mid-American ConferenceBy Ryan ZukeStaff Reporter

University of Massachusetts head football coach Charley Molnar is not hesitant to say he believes his team will be com-petitive in its first season in the Mid-American Conference.

“I think we are going to fit in,” Molnar said July 24 during MAC Media Day at Ford Field. “Some teams will throw it a little bit better, some teams will run it a little bit better, but, at the end of the day, I think our spread o�ense is going to be similar to the other o�enses in the league and we will be competitive.”

The Minutemen are making the transition from the Foot-ball Championship Subdivi-

sion, where they last com-peted in the Colonial Athletic Association.

In order to be successful, Molnar said he must first start by building a foundation that will last for generations.

“In Massachusetts, there are homes in Amherst where I live that were built in the 1700s,” the first-year head coach said. “And what’s the common denominator? They all had a great foundation, and that’s why those homes still exist today. That is how our football program is going to be. We are going to put down a great foun-dation, and if that means win-ning twelve games or winning less than twelve games, I don’t know. But when we put that foundation down, it’s going to

last for a long, long time.”That foundation begins with

playing team defense.“Our defense has to have

a real trademark and the trademark that I want is for us to be the most physically and mentally tough defense in the MAC,” Molnar said. “And that’s something that doesn’t take skill. That just takes a mindset, a will and great coaching.”

Along with its eight confer-ence games, UMass will also play the University of Michi-gan and Indiana University of the Big Ten, the University of Connecticut of the Big East and Vanderbilt University of the Southeastern Confer-ence — all major conference opponents that could pose

a di�cult challenge for the Minutemen.

“We have to be physically and mentally ready to basically bring our ‘A’ game 12 weeks in a row,” Molnar said. “That’s the challenge ahead of us, and I believe it can be done. I believe the guys that we have right now have bought into that, and I believe as coaches we can get our guys ready week in and week out for the challenges that lie ahead.”

Northern Illinois head coach Dave Doeren said he thinks UMass will have little di�culty adjusting to the new league.

“They will be very com-petitive,” Doeren said. “I’ve coached at that level for a num-ber of years. They’re going to have good players, and they’re

not going to be shell-shocked by playing in our league.”

A new league also means a new stadium for the Minute-men, who will now play at Gillette stadium — home of the New England Patriots in the National Football League.

“We have 1,500 UMass alumni that live about an hour or so away from Gillette Sta-dium,” Molnar said. “We are going to bring the game to the people. For us to be a big time football program, we need a big time football stadium.”

With the addition of UMass, the MAC now has 13 teams, a number MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher says he is very comfortable with.

There is no rush to add an-other school any time soon.

“At the heart of the Mid-American Conference is a very stable core of institu-tions,” Steinbrecher said. “And I think it’s because of the common philosophy that permeates all of our schools. We look an awful lot alike, our athletic programs look an awful lot alike, our budgets are very similar, so we will be very deliberate in anything we do. Could we at some point? Perhaps. But we’re in no great hurry.

Central Michigan is sched-uled to take on the Minute-men in Foxboro, Mass. on November 23 for its final con-ference matchup before the MAC Championship game.

sports@cm-life.com

Justin HicksSports Editor

Enos’ pieces are in place, now can he

win?

By Ryan ZukeStaff Reporter

The Mid-American Conference could see more games this year like North-ern Illinois’ 63-60 win over Toledo last season.

Five of the six quarter-backs who threw for more than 3,000 yards in 2011 will be returning this year.

On top of that, four teams had more than 5,900 yards of total offense last season, with only two teams failing to reach the 4,000-yard pla-teau — a feat that has many coaches in the league believ-ing fans could be seeing a lot of points put on the board once again.

“I think you are going to see it again,” Central Michi-gan head coach Dan Enos said at MAC Media Day. “I look at things in terms of other teams’ quarterbacks, and there is going to be a lot of talented, veteran-like quarterbacks back in this league.”

Western Michigan quar-terback Alex Carder led the league with 3,873 passing

yards and will be returning for his senior season.

“I think it just goes to show you, even though we are in the Mid-American Conference and not fighting for a BCS Championship, we do still play good football here,” Carder said. “It stems right from our coaches down to our players.”

Ohio head coach Frank Solich said the potent of-fenses in the conference permeates from the MAC’s ability to recruit top-rated quarterbacks.

“It just seems to be in the MAC, you are able to recruit excellent quarterbacks and excellent skill people in general,” Solich said. “And generally, when you have that, you have the ability to put a lot of points on the board.”

The key to winning foot-ball games might just be a team’s ability to stop these powerful offenses.

“The team that can play the best defense will have the best chance to win,” Enos said. “There is a misconception that people

think that the offenses in this league just win. But to be quite honest with you, it’s the offenses that are potent, but the one with the most solid defense, that’s the one that is going to have the best chance to win. There are going to be days when your offense is struggling, and you are going to have to win a 14-10 game.”

The Chippewas will face two of the top six pass-ing quarterbacks from a year ago — Alex Carder of Western Michigan and Zac Dysert of Miami—but CMU senior defensive back Jahleel Addae said its de-fense will be well-prepared for the challenge.

“We have a lot of good quarterbacks throughout the conference, NFL-type guys, but we have a lot of NFL-like, legit (defensive backs), as well,” Addae said. “So the only thing we can do is pre-pare to play our best, keep working how we’re working and be ready for when we meet up.”

sports@cm-life.com

MAC coaches expecting offensive clash

According to Enos, games like these are crucial.

“Anytime you can go play some very good people in your non-conference, in great environments, it can only be a positive in my opinion,” he said. “It helps in learning how to deal with those situations and those environments. We need to learn how to focus on the task at hand.”

The Chippewas open up Mid-American Conference play with two-straight road games, first on Sept. 29 against Northern Illinois and then on Oct. 6 at To-ledo, before returning home for a stretch of four-straight

home games. The home stand begins against Navy on Oct. 12, followed by the homecoming game against Ball State on Oct. 20, Akron on Oct. 27 and WMU on November 3.

CMU travels to Ypsi-lanti to take on in-state rival Eastern Michigan on Nov. 10 before hosting Miami on November 17 in its final home game on 2012.

The Chippewas close out the regular season on Nov. 23 when they travel to Foxboro, Mass. to play the University of Massachu-setts, the newest member of the MAC, for the first time.

This year’s schedule is a far cry from last season, when the Chippewas had back-to-back home games just once.

“Last year, we had a brutal schedule,” Enos said.

“We had to go on the road three weeks in a row two di�erent times; we were the only team in the country that had to do that. We had to play like three games in a 13-day span, which is re-ally di�cult in a sport like football.”

Another advantage to this year’s schedule is the fact that CMU will play just one Thursday game and two Friday games.

“This year, we have more of a regular schedule when we’re playing every seven days,” Enos said. “It’s going to be a big help for our foot-ball team. We have some good tests on our schedule this year, those home games are going to be great for our players and our fans.”

sports@cm-life.com

CONTINUED FROM 1B

FOOTBALL|

By Jeff Papworth

Staff Reporter

Central Michigan field hockey coach Cristy Freese said her team’s chances of a 2012 conference title were high entering the 2011 season.

“We’re trying to position our team to not only push for the conference championship this year,” she said in August 2011. “But to win the confer-ence in 2012 and for years to come after that.”

And push they did, finish-ing tied for second in the conference last season. This year, it appears the stars are lined up for her prediction to come to fruition as well.

Freese credits experience on the field as a key factor to why this season’s team has such high hopes.

“Experience is the goal with Ana (Netto) as a fifth-year senior (and) the fact that we’ve got nine returning starters,” she said. “Those types of things should really help when you’re trying to win a championship.”

The Chippewas have a home schedule that matches, if not surpasses, the excite-

ment of the home schedule the Central Michigan football team has.

Big Ten schools including Iowa, Michigan and Michigan State will be coming to Mount Pleasant this season, as well as Ohio and Kent State, who faced o� in the Mid-Ameri-can Conference Champion-ship game.

Freese pointed out that the last two conference games, which are at home against Kent State and Ohio, could be MAC-title-clinching games.

This is for the best for the Chippewas, considering they were 6-3 at home and 1-6 on the road last season. Their only conference games on the road this season are against bottom dwellers Ball State and Missouri State.

Freese speaks highly of senior goalkeeper Netto, who was second in the MAC in shutouts with three in 2011. CMU also returns MAC Freshman of the Year Cayleigh Immelman, who has more experience than her sophomore status implies.

Immelman, 20, played for the Old Grey Premier A team from 2009 to 2011 under her father, Robert Immelman.

She had a team-leading 12 goals and added nine assists in her first year at CMU.

She is not the only scorer on the team. Freese said the number of players who can tally goals is one of the team’s strengths. Erin Dye, Juliana Makrinos and Bailey McKe-on, the second through fourth leading scorers respectively, return to the lineup this season.

The team does know where they need to improve, though.

“We just all need to con-nect on passes. I think we need to connect with each line: defense, midfield, of-fense,” McKeon said. “I think we need to work on commu-nication.”

Freese was not confident CMU would produce another MAC Freshman of the Year this season, though she said they do not really need one following the first team practice.

“If we don’t have a MAC Freshman of the Year, I’ll be fine with that,” Freese said. “I feel like we have more contenders for MAC Player of the Year.”

The Chippewas only lose Brooke Sihota and Paulina

Lee from last year’s team. Lee led CMU in assists with 10.

“Paulina came up big when we needed her,” Freese said. “I think that

will be a key to us. Who’s our Paulina Lee in terms of on the field that can really ignite our offense?”

Freese said Erica Gar-wood could fill that role as

a senior, while McKeon and Immelman have strong pass-ing abilities.

sports@cm-life.com

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6B || Thursday, Aug. 23, 2012 || Central Michigan Life cm-life.com/sports[SPORTS]

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By Anthony RizzoStaff Reporter

It has been an exception-ally busy summer thus far for the Central Michigan athletic department and athletics director Dave Heeke.

“I’m a believer in continu-ity, consistency and commit-ment. We have coaches in dif-ferent phases of their careers, and any time we can have quality coaches stay here, that’s a good thing,” Heeke said. “Transition times are challenging for programs and for universities, so we want to make sure we do whatever we can for our coaches to keep those successful coaches here.”

The series of extensions began with the head football coach Dan Enos, when he was given a one-year extension this past February.

Enos will earn a base sal-ary of $250,000 including a $75,000 annual media bonus for working with radio and television, with a grand total of $325,000. This new exten-sion does not come with an annual increase in his base salary or buyout provisions.

“I can’t say enough about the support our program has received from our director of athletics, Dave Heeke, and the rest of our administration,” Enos said back in February.

“We share the expecta-tion that our program will compete for championships on the field and achieve academic excellence in the classroom.”

When the month of June came around the corner, Heeke got out his checkbook and gave out four new coach-ing extensions.

The first of the summer was given to one of the lon-gest tenured coaches at CMU – field hockey head coach, Christy Freese.

Freese has been the head coach of the field hockey team for the past 26 years, and her new deal will take her through the 2015 season. Her contract four-year exten-sion has no alterations to her current salary, which stands at $88,894.

“I’m excited that I’ve been here over 25 years and that I can finish my coaching career here at Central Michigan and that administration had a lot

of confidence of where our program is,” Freese said. “We certainly feel we’ve set our-selves up for some champion-ship seasons.”

Next in line was the longest tenured coach at CMU, Jerry Reighard, the head coach of the gymnastics team.

Reighard signed a new four-year extension to con-tinue his 28 years of head coaching responsibilities at CMU. His income remains at $110,305 annually.

“I think it’s a great thing for me,” Reighard said. “It gives me some continuity, I think it will be a great thing for recruiting. One question I get asked by recruit’s parents is “Will I be here for their daughter’s entire career?” those questions won’t come up now.”

Head volleyball coach Erik Olson, whom has coached the team at CMU for the past eight years, also earned an extension. His five-year con-tract, which pays him a base salary of $85,000 per year, was the longest given out this summer.

The last contract extension was bestowed to the head

coach of the women’s soccer team, Neil Sta�ord.

Sta�ord signed a new four-year contract at the end of June that will pay him a base salary of $66,500 per year.

“I feel great, I’m really hon-ored,” Sta�ord said. “Central Michigan is a great place for student-athletes and profes-sionals to grow and achieve their goals.”

This coming fall, there will not be many coaching changes around the athletic environment.

CMU is a university that prides itself on tradition, and Heeke said coaches spending so much of their career here is something exceptional.

“It’s tremendous and says something special for sure, having coaches that will stay here for so long. Those coach-es have received extensions, and there will be more to come,” he said. “You want to show commitment, commit-ment to the sta�, to the pro-gram to recruits, to parents so that they can see that their sons or daughters see the direction of the program.”

sports@cm-life.com

CMU extends contracts of coaches Cristy Freese, Jerry Reighard, Erik Olson, Neil Stafford over summer

Coach Cristy Freese has high expectations for women’s field hockey team

CHARLOTTE BODAK/FILE PHOTO

Senior midfielder Erin Dye runs the ball down the field during the game against Kent State at the CMU Field Hockey Complex

Oct. 8, 2011

By Justin HicksSports Editor

John Regenfuss sat in his o�ce Monday afternoon on the lower level of McGuirk Arena.

For the first time in 13 years, the Milwaukee, Wisc. native went in to work for some place other than the Big Ten Conference.

His Penn State media guide sat on a box, just out of reach of his new desk. On the floor next to it lie a Central Michi-gan football media guide.

CMU athletics welcomed Regenfuss as an assistant director of athletic com-munications Monday, filling the spot left behind by Scott Rex, who moved to Colum-bus, Ohio to be closer to his extended family.

What began as a pool of

100 candidates at the begin-ning of the summer was nar-rowed down to 12 applicants and eventually down to three potential candidates.

Regenfuss held the posi-tion of Assistant Director of Athletic Communications at Penn State for seven years, dating back to 2005. He worked as contact for the football program, through the controversy involving Jerry Sandusky and the late head coach Joe Paterno, as well as contact for men’s soccer, men’s gymnastics and women’s lacrosse teams.

“I think John was the clear call for the job,” Sports Information Director Jason Kaufman said. “His experi-ence being in a tough situa-tion at Penn State and being through the fire … we’re excited for the maturity level

he brings to the department.”At CMU, he will be respon-

sible for running the media relations portion of work and improving editing functions, Kaufman said.

Regenfuss earned his Master’s Degree in sports management from Ohio State University. He did his under-graduate at Ripon College, where he played football for four years as a tight end, safety, linebacker and special teams specialist.

His background with the Big Ten gives him contacts in the conference, which Kaufman said he believes will

be helpful throughout the current and future seasons.

“We expect he’ll get out and use those contacts to in-crease exposure for our team and our program,” Kaufman said.

Monday marked Regen-fuss’ first day working in Michigan, and he said he was excited to move to the area and get his two kids enrolled into Mount Pleasant schools.

His wife was a CMU graduate and recently took a job at Alma College.

sports@cm-life.com

Athletics Communications hires new assistant director John Regenfuss from Penn State University

Penn State is undefeated in their first two games, taking down No. 7 Virginia in an upset and dominating St. John’s 5-0 .

Senior midfielder Christine Nairn and junior forward Maya Hayes are leading the Nittany Lions this season, both of whom have been named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List.

Though CMU won’t face Hayes, who is out for the begin-ning portion of the season with obligations to the U.S. National Team, Nairn is a dominant player who is sure to largely contribute in Sunday’s game.

Nairn has scored two goals so far this season and also has an assist on the books.

The Chippewas might also face pressure from freshman Mallory Weber, a Michigan native who has been named Big Ten Freshman of the Week. Weber scored two goals in the upset over Virginia, one of them game-winning.

Sta�ord said his team will have to adjust quickly in the upcoming contests.

The defense and o�ense for CMU will be under faster pres-

sure and be in tighter spaces, he said.

“We need our brains to think quicker than our feet. If we can do that, I think

we have every chance to compete with these teams,” Sta�ord said.

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cm-life.com/sports [SPORTS] Central Michigan Life || Thursday, Aug. 23, 2012 || 7B

By Matt ThompsonSenior Reporter

Some people go to Hawaii for their honeymoon, others go to Cancun. New head coach Keno Davis and the Central Michigan men’s basketball team went to the Bahamas for theirs.

For five days, CMU went to the Bahamas and finished 3-0 against local semipro teams. Di-rector of Athletics Dave Heeke said he thought the trip was important with a new system and so many new faces.

“We look for ways with a new program, a new team, that

provides an opportunity for additional practice and playing days,” Heeke said. “We thought it was critical that we do this and give them an opportunity to start to figure out where they are.”

“A new start to the program.”The program is allowed to

take a trip every four years, ac-cording to NCAA rules. In 2010, the NCAA changed the rule for foreign trips, allowing freshmen to join the team. That rule was vital to Davis, who has so many newcomers.

Along with the trip, the NCAA allows the team to

practice at home before the trip. Something that was important to the new program.

“Anytime you can borrow more hours and put more additional hours on, it can only enhance your ability to coach and prepare your team,” Heeke said.

The athletic director said the trip comes at no cost because it was funded by a promoter. In return, CMU will travel to Salt Lake City for a three-game tournament around Thanksgiving.

sports@cm-life.com

Team uses Bahamas trip to add experienceM E N ’ S B A S K E T B A L L

CONTINUED FROM 1B

SOCCER |

By John Manzo and Jeff

Papworth

Staff Reporters

In addition to Central Michigan extending contracts of four head coaches this sum-mer, the wrestling, baseball and women’s soccer teams have all added new assistant coaches.

Former Chippewas wrestler Jason Mester was hired to become an assistant coach for the wrestling program in June.

He replaces Mark DiSalvo, who left his position in October to pursue a career in business.

“We were looking for some-one who can work with our middleweights,” head coach Tom Borrelli said. “More so than that, someone who had the same philosophies, was loyal to our program, was go-ing to be here for a while and does things that we feel like they should be done.”

Mester has been an as-sistant coach at Missouri the last two years. He was a part of its record-breaking 2012 season that included the program’s first Big 12 Tourna-ment Championship and a school-record four individual conference champions.

He wrestled for the Chippe-was from 2001-2004, and the accolades he achieved were numerous.

He won a Mid-American

Conference Championship three of four seasons at 141 pounds. He earned All-Amer-ican honors his junior and senior year, with season-win-ning percentages that were respectively sixth and eighth all time at CMU.

He is one of 15 CMU wres-tlers in the 100-win club, with 104 wins, placing him tied for 11th.

“He wrestled here, so he be-lieves in our system,” Borrelli said. “He believes in the things we teach technically. He has the same philosophy when it comes to the kind of athletes we want to recruit. The way we want to coach them. The way we want to train them.”

After wresting, he became a volunteer assistant under Borrelli. Then he moved on to Nebraska to be the strength and conditioning coach for five years, where he trained two national champions with the Cornhuskers.

BASEBALLThe CMU baseball team

followed suit by bringing in an assistant coach with ties to the program.

Former baseball volunteer assistant Sam Flamont gave head coach Steve Jaksa a last-ing impression.

When assistant coach Derek Simmons accepted a position at Kennesaw State, it left an assistant coaching vacancy,

and Jaksa said filling it didn’t take long, especially when Flamont showed interest.

“It’s a close network of coaches,” Jaksa said. “You know how that is; it’s like a fraternity within itself. We’ve stayed in touch with him. It’s not like he left and we didn’t talk to him anymore. You see him out at games, you see him at events and in the summer he was working camps, so it wasn’t like we weren’t in touch with him at an as-need-ed basis or a regular basis.”

“When we knew that Derek was able to leave and going to leave, we didn’t even really have to advertise. We had a select few guys and he ex-pressed interest right away, so we went through that process, which wasn’t a lengthy pro-cess because of the history.”

Flamont, who took the opportunity to become an assistant coach at Davenport in 2011, will work defensively with infielders and be a hitting coach.

Jaksa said Flamont knows how the program works and liked what he did for it as a graduate assistant during his short, one-semester stint in 2010.

“You know how life goes, an opportunity came somewhere else, and, at the end of the day, he worked his way back here and we’re very pleased,” Jaksa said. “He’ll hit the ground running and keep us going.

He knows a lot of people here, and he knows the ropes a little bit. We’re excited to have him back.”

Simmons left after one season, and Jaksa appreciated his loyalty to the program but expects a similar coach in return.

“Both have a lot of energy, both are good teachers, so the way I look at is, I lost a really good coach and I’m getting a really good coach.” Jaksa said. “To have a quality person, a quality teacher, a guy the guys can relate to and also a guy they respect. I had a guy like that, and I’m getting a guy back like that, so I feel really good about that.”

SOCCERThe women’s soccer

program added former Fort Wayne FC head coach Anne Houliston and 2011 CMU

graduate Randy Oja to the 2012 coaching sta� in August.

Houliston, who has been a graduate assistant at Murray State, will resume the same role with the Chippewas.

Oja joins as a graduate assis-tant of director of operations.

“Anne has a great knowl-edge of the game and will be magnificent on the field with her instruction, her coaching and her ability to communi-cate what she wants out of the players,” head coach Neil Sta�ord said in a press release on CMUChippewas.com. “She’s bringing great playing experience and some really great coaching experience with her.”

“I really think having a great female role model for our players is so important. We’re here to teach life les-sons, using soccer as vehicle, and Anne will be able to do

that very well.”Houliston, a native of Scot-

land, represented her country on the U-16 and U-19 teams four times at the European Championships and was a first-team NAIA as an All-American and all-conference at Lindsey Wilson College.

Houliston and Oja join Sta�ord, assistant coach Ian Carry and volunteer assistant Jacquie Lacek on the sta�.

The Chippewas season be-gins at 3 p.m. Aug. 17 in Detroit against the Titans. CMU beat U of D 1-0 in Mount Pleasant last season, 1-0 on a goal by Autumn Hawkins, who is now a senior.

The home opener follows at 1 p.m. Aug. 19 against Evans-ville. The Chippewas beat the Purple Aces last season 3-1 in Evansville, Ind.

sports@cm-life.com

Wrestling, baseball and women’s soccer teams add assistant coaches