Roadrunners go head-to-head with the best

Metro State's softball season ends with a 53-6 record.
June 2, 2010, from @Metro

Last weekend, the Roadrunners made their mark in both softball and track and field.

Metro State's softball season ends with a 53-6 record in just the third year of the program. The team’s run in the NCAA Division II College Softball World Series semifinals game came to an end on Sunday, when they were defeated 7-2 by Hawaii Pacific.

To top off their fantastic run, Tara Mickelson and Jennessa Tesone were both named to the NCAA Division II Softball All-Tournament team on Monday following the championship game, which was won 4-3 by Hawaii Pacific over Valdosta State (Ga.)

Track and Field
Metro State men's track runners Anthony Luna and Shawn Lindbom both finished in the top four in the 800 meters at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Charlotte, N.C. Luna finished second and Lindbom came in fourth. Teammate Rick Bogatay finished 11th in the 1500 meter run.

Metro State to play St. Cloud in quarterfinals; Fans can now receive text message updates on Roadrunner games

Metro State fans can now receive free text message alerts on Roadrunner athletics (standard rates apply, depending on your service plan). Subscribers will receive scores, news and schedule changes the minute they occur. To sign up, click on the button on the right side of the Metro State Athletics homepage or click this link. Follow the simple steps to receive alerts on the Roadrunner teams you would like updates from.

Metro State will play St. Cloud State (Minn.) in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Central Region Tournament on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. (CDT) in Mankato, Minn. It is the 13th time in the past 14 years that Metro State has qualified for the NCAA Tournament, the most of any Division II school during that time. For more info, click here.

Roadrunner Review airtimes for February 2010

ALTITUDE TV (ch. 25 Comcast Denver)
Tues, Feb 2 at 4:30 p.m.
Wed, Feb 10 at 5:30 p.m.
Sun, Feb 14 at 4 p.m.
Tue, Feb 16 at 6:30 p.m.
Fri, Feb 19 at 1 a.m.
Tue, Feb 23 at 5:30 p.m.
Wed, Feb 24 at 10:30 a.m.

COMCAST CET (ch. 5 Denver)
Sat, Feb 6 at 12:30 p.m.
Wed, Feb 10 at 6 p.m.
Thu, Feb 11 at 6 p.m.
Mon, Feb 15 at 7 p.m.
Tue, Feb 23 at 3 p.m.
Fri, Feb 26 at 1:30 p.m.
NOTE: also on CET Sports VOD (video on demand)

KWHD – TV (ch. 53 Comcast Denver)
Mondays at 7:30 p.m.

Video of Metro State Women's Basketball team win.

To watch a YouTube video of Metro State Women's Basketball @ Regis University, click here.

This Week At Metro: Graduates cover a broad spectrum of experiences, Kevin Darcy

Kevin Darcy

Kevin Darcy had only been driving a year when he started to go blind. For anyone, the thought of going blind is horrifying. It is even more so when you are only 17. "It started really slow at first and was only in my right eye. Then, while I was reading books, pieces of letters weren't there. Teachers thought I was out of my mind," says Darcy, now 29, who is preparing to graduate with a double degree in anthropology and history.

The cause turned out to be a genetic condition onset in the teen years. Though the (now) father of two has not let the obstacle stop him from moving forward, he admits that time has been a huge factor. "I have to scan worksheets and texts so that I can enlarge letters to about an inch or so. All of my books get scanned into a Word document and my computer has a program that speaks to me."

Darcy, who has 20/400 vision, does not have a seeing-eye dog. He says he sometimes "misses a step and goes down, but that's life. "He just gets up and continues moving forward. It's a great lesson to share with others, he believes, specifically teens.

Darcy is also working towards teacher licensure and says his ideal job would be to teach history to high school students.

This Week At Metro: Graduates cover a broad spectrum of experiences, David Morgan

David Morgan

David Morgan, 44, has played and coached soccer for Metro State. Now the assistant coach for women's soccer can add college graduate to his list of accomplishments.

Morgan began at Metro State in 1983 on a soccer scholarship. In 1986, he left the College mid-semester of his senior year to travel the country playing professional soccer for the Colorado Comets. After his experiences in the professional realm of soccer he came back to Metro State, and has been an assistant coach for six years. From 2000-2005, he coached under Danny Sanchez. The Roadrunners won the national championship in 2004.

"Education is everything," says Morgan, an education student his first three years at Metro State. He returned as a result of recruitment efforts funded by a grant from the Department of Higher Education to encourage former students to complete their degree.

For Morgan this was the perfect opportunity as his real-world experience gained over the years could be used to supplement classroom credits through the Individualized Degree Program. This allowed him to personalize a degree concentrated on sports administration.

This Week At Metro: Graduates cover a broad spectrum of experiences, Eva Vasquez

Eva Vasquez

At 23 years old, Eva Vasquez has experienced a wealth of adversity. When she was in high school, her brother and cousin were killed in the same car crash. "When my older brother Edgar died, I missed school for a month. I was not focused," she says. When high school graduation came, "the school put a seat for him next to me" and she made it through.

Also while she was in high school, her grandparents were assassinated in Mexico. Since then, the Denver native has married and is the mother of two but her husband was deported.

Now, Eva is graduating with a degree in business management and a minor in Spanish. She hopes to start her own business with the guidance of her father, who owns a local Mexican retail shop in Denver. "I grew up working in the store."

She notes the College's TRIO program helped her with the transition from high school to college. "I was in doubt about college. I thought it was too hard. But the TRIO program helped."

The first in her family to go to a four-year college, Eva understands that she is a now a role model.Eva's younger sister is a sophomore at Metro State.

This Week At Metro: Graduates cover a broad spectrum of experiences, Adesola Owolabi

An artist, a soccer coach, an entrepreneur, and an anthropologist are among the 1,066 students expected to receive their diploma at the commencement ceremony at 2 p.m. on Sunday at the Colorado Convention Center. Their journeys represent a sampling of the widely varied experiences of Metro State students in earning their college degrees.

Adesola Owolabi

Adesola Owolabi's (Ad-dee-sola O-wo-la-bee) husband thought she was crazy when she decided to switch her studies from computer information systems to art with an emphasis in ceramics. It started in 2006 with a simple glance into a ceramics class. From that point, she was hooked. On Sunday, the 35-year-old Nigerian-born art major will graduate from Metro State.

When her husband Bola, a 2001 Metro State grad in engineering technology, took a software engineer job in Kansas City, Missouri in 2007, the couple created a plan where she could remain in Denver to finish her program. Adesola stayed in Denver with their son, Justin, who was three at the time. Then they had another son, Jordan, who stays with Bola. It has worked, but Adesola is looking forward to joining her husband in Kansas City. She also plans to go to graduate school.

She is exhibiting her work, along with that of other students, at the BFA Thesis Exhibitions that run through Dec. 10 at the Center for Visual Art. Her exhibit "Ikoko Ibile" features a series of vessels -- averaging two feet tall -- which take a critical view of decoration within her cultural identity, the Yoruba culture.