Going the Distance

by Roy Ivey

Most college students leave team sports behind when they graduate from high school, but some still want that camaraderie and social interaction.

Angelo State’s intramural sports, through University Recreation and Intramurals (UREC), offer such outlets for students seeking fun and physical activities.

“I stumbled onto intramurals when I got here,” Abilene kinesiology major Jason Reynolds said.  “I came here for school, but I missed sports, so I started playing intramurals.”

Reynolds, who played football, baseball and ran track at Abilene Wylie High School, found the UREC program at ASU impressive.  The co-captain of the co-recreational flag football team, The Invisibles, has even heard about students calling friends to recommend they come to ASU for the intramurals program.

While most intramurals participants stay close to campus, some UREC teams look for challenges against other universities.  Top teams can go to the national level.

“We have what we call ‘extramural sports,’ where teams participate in regional and national tournaments,” UREC Director Bradley Petty said.  “The first event we went to outside the city after I came to ASU was a women’s three-on-three basketball tournament in 2001, and we won it.  That started the fire.”

Since then, extramural teams have won regional tournaments in co-recreational divisions, while several teams have advanced to the “elite eight” in national flag football and ASU basketball teams have played in regional and national competitions.

The Invisibles took on some big-college squads at the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association Flag Football Championships held in January at the University of Texas-Dallas. They lost in the championship game to a team from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I university.

“We also played teams from Texas A&M and the University of Florida,” Reynolds said.

The Invisibles’ other co-captain, Whitney Monzingo, participated in varsity volleyball, basketball and softball at Pflugerville Connally High School.  She also discovered intramurals soon after arriving in San Angelo. 

“I had a chance to play in college, but I didn’t want to be that serious about it,” Monzingo said.  “When I came to Angelo State, I didn’t even know about intramurals.  We played sand volleyball and a friend asked me to play in the intramurals program.”

Teams actively seek out athletes to strengthen their ranks.

“We definitely recruit players,” Monzingo said.  “We always look for someone with skills and athleticism.  We scout on campus.”

The kinesiology major plans to get her teaching certificate, coach basketball and teach English.

Monzingo said she gains skills useful in coaching by doing paperwork, setting up hotels and transportation for extramural trips. Most of the expenses for off-campus tournaments are out-of-pocket with help from players’ families and sponsors.

“UREC will refund entry fees if every player on the team has at least a 2.0 grade point average,” Monzingo said.  “This year, we got sponsors and pooled our resources with donations to help pay for trips.”

The co-rec Spartans and men’s division Roos and Iron Outlaws also traveled to the NIRSA championship tournament.

“We made it out of pool play in regionals and then lost at nationals to a Georgia college that came in second,” said Andrew Heinen, captain of the Iron Outlaws.

Heinen ran track at Colleyville Heritage High School but has found college intramurals more to his liking.

He also emphasized the importance of recruiting for good intramural teams.  Some intramural team members come from the San Angelo area and look at other incoming freshmen from the area for prospective players.

“They know about a lot of these guys coming in and know who is good,” Heinen said.  “A lot of guys on our team played six-man football in high school.”

He said teams want agile, quick players.  The six-man game with its wide-open style works well on the intramural field.

“Speed kills in six-man and in flag football,” Heinen said.  “Speed is what we are looking for.”

Like their intramural rivals, the Wolfpac ventured into the bigger arena, competing in a regional tournament in Oklahoma and then at the Pontiac American Collegiate Intramural Sports Flag Football National Championships in December at the University of New Orleans.  The team advanced to the quarterfinals and several members won individual honors.

Wolfpac member Jakody Huckaby was not thinking about national tournaments when he got involved in UREC.

“You want to stay in shape and meet people,” the Denver City senior said.  “When I got here, I saw what sports they had in intramurals and started putting teams together.  Then the Wolfpac picked me up.”

Other students have found their athletic outlet on the basketball court.

“I was playing basketball in the Center for Human Performance and some upperclassmen asked me to play with the Renegades,” said Matthew Castro, a senior from Hamlin. “I like the program and the Renegades is a great team of good guys.  They make you feel like family.”

Aisha Moreno serves as captain of Ice Cold, a women’s basketball team that made it to the semifinals of a regional tournament in spring 2008.

“I played basketball at Southeast Missouri State, but I didn’t like it there,” the kinesiology major said of her Division I experience.  “I looked around and found San Angelo.  I liked ASU and transferred here in spring of 2007.

“I still loved the game and wanted to be part of it,” the San Antonio Providence High School graduate added.  “I’m real active and like working out.”

Janna Henderson, a spring 2008 Business Administration graduate, got into intramurals more than most students.

“I played all the main sports – flag football, volleyball, basketball and softball,” Henderson said. 

Besides that, she pole vaulted for the Rambelles for four years.

“Extramurals are a blast,” Henderson said. “The teams really get into it.  Other schools have coaches and do warm-ups.  They are really organized and scout games.”

Henderson played varsity volleyball, basketball and ran track at Lubbock Coronado High School where her father, Butch Henderson, is head football coach.

“I enjoy sports but I never anticipated that I would play to the extent I played here,” said Henderson.