For a football program that hasn’t won a conference game in four years, there certainly seems to be a lot of excitement building around the Greyhounds in 2010.

   Not only are several returning players back on an offense that set numerous NCAA, LSC and school records in 2009, but ENMU is moving from the South to the North Division, where it should be more competitive this year.

   “We’re really excited about being in the North,” said head coach Mark Ribaudo, who enters his sixth year as head coach. “We’ve had some really great games against some of the North teams. I’ve been at Eastern for 14 years in different capacities, and some of the greatest games I can remember against those North opponents.”

   Last year, the Greyhounds scored a school record in points with a wild 76-56 win over eventual-LSC North champion Texas A&M-Commerce.

   The team also broke a 39-year NCAA record previously held by Notre Dame, by averaging 93.45 offensive plays per game.

   “We’re very excited about what’s going on with the Greyhounds this year,” Ribaudo said. “We’ve had 17 starters returning. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to say we’ve got an older team coming back.”

   One of those starters is sophomore quarterback Wesley Wood, who took over in the middle of the and help engineer an offense that led the LSC in passing, averaging 448.0 yards per game.

   “Our quarterback is a winner,” Ribaudo said. “Wes Wood had a great spring and we’re looking forward to big things on offense.”

   One of his favorite weapons will be wide receiver Jesse Poku, who caught 63 passes for 830 yards and nine touchdowns. Arvin Jackson also returns after a 73-catch season with 848 yards and five scores.

   Ribaudo said he hopes to bolster the running games this year after averaging just 63.5 yards per game in 2009.

   Defensively, the Greyhounds return some senior leadership with inside linebacker Nathan Uland, who led the team in tackles last year with 132, including 18 ½ for loss.

   Senior cornerback Rodney Mitchell is back after picking of seven passes (second-most in the LSC) last year, with 16 pass deflections. 

   “There are some good things going on at Eastern,” Ribaudo said. “Again, we’re delighted to be in the North. We’ve got our offense going. If we get our defense up to where we think it should be, we think we can be a really formidable opponent.”

 

   While head coach Mike Maguire enters his 21st season, by the longest of any volleyball coach in the conference, he probably doesn’t reflect as much on when he started back in 1990, but maybe more on the 2006 campaign.       

   For it was that season when the Zias recorded their last LSC victory. Since then, ENMU has gone 0-38 in the last three years in conference play.

   Eastern New Mexico was 6-23 overall in 2009, but do return eight players, including six starters. While the Zias did lose departing senior Caitlin Murphy from last year’s squad, several young players return, including senior setter Veronica Valdez-Kent and junior middle blocker Jessica King. The pair ranked in the top two in most statistical categories last year. Also returning is outside hitter Madison Rhoades, sophomore middle blocker Jennifer Schaap and junior defender Camala Beek.

  

   While the Greyhounds didn’t exactly light it up in LSC play under then first-year head coach Harold Munoz, there were plenty of bright spots about the 2009 season.

   Leading the way is junior forward Emerson Rodrigues, a first-team All-LSC pick and first-team All-SSC selection. Rodrigues led the team with 13 goals, which nearly tripled the second-best scorer on the team. Rodrigues also had 22 shots on goal and had two game-winners as well.

   Also back is sophomore midfielder Kal Herbert, last year’s Co-Freshman of the Year in the LSC. Halbert was second on the squad with five goals, including three game-winners. He was also a second-team All-LSC selection.

   Sophomore midfielder Diego Santos had three goals and two assists last year as a freshman, as did junior midfielder Luis Castaneda, who also had eight points in 2009.

   Other returning Greyhounds include senior forward Mario Alarcon, senior midfielder Edgar Bear, senior defender Tiago Silveira and sophomore defender Michael Stewart. 

   ENMU was picked to finish last out of the five teams in the LSC preseason poll.

 

   Seven starters return for head coach Ray Nause, who enters his third season on the sidelines.

   Last year, the Zias finished 9-10 overall with a 4-6 LSC record, good for eighth in league play.

   This year, the Zias return a pair of All-LSC honorable mention selections, including junior goalkeeper Sierra Cardenas, who tied for fourth in the conference with five shutouts last year. Cardenas also averaged 3.56 saves per game.

   Also back is junior midfielder Danielle Thurman, the team’s leader is assists last season with five. Thurman finished second on the team in total points with 13, which included four goals.

   Sophomore forward Brittany Bustos had five goals as a freshman last season. Senior midfielder Kandace Padilla scored two goals last season and junior defender McKenize Morris started 18 games and had two assists.

  

   Coming off a third-place LSC finish last season, the Greyhounds are once again picked to finish third in the conference in the preseason polls. However, Eastern New Mexico was also ranked fifth in the early 2010 regional poll, the highest in school history.

   The Greyhounds were ninth in last year’s regional meet in Abilene. Two runners return from that successful squad, including senior Richard Kogo, who was 34th in the regional meet. Sophomore Jacob Lozano was 37th and had many respectable runs last year as a freshman.

   Other returning runners include sophomores Thomas Martinez and Patrick Lueres.

    

   The Zias look to improve on last year’s seventh-place LSC finish, although the squad had a nice showing in the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Championships in Abilene with an 18th place finish.

   Senior Nicole Reid was the school’s fastest runner at the regional meet with a 36th place finish. Also returning for the Zias this year include seniors Yared Gamiz and Megan Bryant.

   ENMU was picked to finish ninth in the preseason LSC poll.