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Handball Club Wins Multiple National Championships

March 01, 2024

The Angelo State University Handball Club brought home three national titles and a host of other medals from the recent 71st U.S. Handball Association (USHA) National Collegiate Championships at the University of Minnesota.

The ASU women’s team took first place in the Women’s A Division with 2,060 points to win the national championship ahead of runner-up Utah State University (1,392 points). The ASU men’s team took fourth place in the Men’s A Division – and their combined total of 3,816 points propelled the ASU Handball Club to the overall A Division national championship.

Four Angelo State handball players and coaches posed outside with their medals and plaques (L-R) Coach Diarmuid Mulkerrins, Israel Lopez Jr., Austin Colwell and Coach Aoife Holden with their national awards

In individual competition, ASU’s doubles team of Israel Lopez Jr. and Austin Colwell won the national title in the Men’s B Doubles Division. Colwell also won the Silver Medal in the Men’s B Singles Division, and his teammate, Cade Whitley, won the Silver Medal in the Men’s C4 Singles Division.

Angelo State handball players Kim and Kelly Salisbury with their national medals Kim and Kelly Salisbury For the ASU women’s team, Taigan Rivers won the Silver Medal in the Women’s B Singles Division, and Kinzi Jo Leon won the Silver Medal in the Women’s C Singles Division. Twin sisters Kelly and Kimberly Salisbury won the Silver Medal in the Women’s C Doubles Division.

“The coaches and I are so proud of how well our student-athletes competed and how well they represented Angelo State,” said Dr. Veronica Snow, faculty sponsor. “We would also like to thank the Randolph Foundation that funded our handball endowment, the Houston Handball Association that paid the entry fees for all the Texas schools that competed at nationals, USHA and several local sponsors. It really was a joint effort to promote the sport of handball and the success of the ASU Handball Club. To reward that effort with national championships is just awesome.”

More than 220 student-athletes from 33 universities competed at the national tournament. Players representing the ASU Handball Club, with their hometowns and academic majors, included:

ASU Women’s Team

ASU Men’s Team

The ASU Handball Club is coached by retired faculty member Dr. Warren Simpson and graduate students Aoife Holden and Diarmuid Mulkerrins.