Three New Sports Signal UNO Athletics is "Up and Running" (submitted by Jason Plotkin, Assistant Sports Information Director, 9/5/08)
Fans have begun to see our "Up and Running" campaign, whether it through billboards, television commercials or advertisements. Thanks to the Leffler Agency, the campaign has had some nice reach into the greater New Orleans and beyond while bringing more attention to our athletic program.
Our athletic department is truly showing signs that we are "Up and
Running" this week as three sports programs that were suspended will
complete their return to the Lakefront as they compete this coming week.
Our men's swimming and diving program has not competed since 1992, when the program was suspended along with it's companion women's program due to budgeting. The women's program was brought back in 2004 and four years later, the men will rejoin them in the pool.
If you were looking for an opening splash, this Monday's opening dual is it. Head coach Randy Horner will lead his team into the pool against nationally ranked Stanford in the first dual of the national calendar.
The storyline has gotten more intriguing in the last week as Hurricane Gustav came ashore in Louisiana. Despite the cancellation of every other collegiate sporting event in Baton Rouge, Stanford is still coming and the dual, taking place at Crawfish Aquatic Center, will go on as scheduled. You may have seen a Tammy Nunez article about it in the Times Picayune, if not you can view it by clicking here.
Horner and his squad have practiced at Delta State in Cleveland, Miss. for the last week. In addition to practicing, the team has also partaken in what coach Horner billed as a "Bonding Trip" having team barbecues and games of volleyball mixed in throughout the week.
The team drove back into New Orleans on Friday, spreading out amongst several residences. Some of the doors opened were of parents of local athletes while a few are residences of current student-athletes. The team will finally return "home" when they move back into their Privateer Place apartments later this weekend.
The other teams returning are the men's and women's tennis teams. Stationed in Montgomery, Ala. on the campus of Auburn-Montgomery, the team will once more return to Montgomery to compete in the Blue-Gray Classic.
Head coach Burzis Kanga returns as the head coach for the 2008-09 edition of the Privateers, after heading the squad in 2005, when the team was put on hiatus in wake of Hurricane Katrina. Prior to the aftermath of the storm, the team had reached new highs including both the men and women being ranked amongst the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's top 75 at the same time.
Recent finishes saw both Privateer men and women seeded at their highest in Sun Belt competition and Kanga hopes his squad can pick up right where it left off. The team opened up organized practice while in Montgomery with Kanga heaping praises on freshmen Calvin Kemp and Oliver Cuthill, in addition to transfer Ben Smith. On the women's side, Kanga has been impressed with what he has seen in the freshman trio of Cassandra Escobar, Ceara Howey and Kir Kemp.
Kanga, an All-American during his time as a student-athlete at UNO, knows that depth will be critical to the success of his teams and has been very excited about this group of athletes. We'll know later this week how his teams stack up against competition when many of his student-athletes get their first taste of top collegiate tennis later this week.
Three new teams, over 30 new student-athletes to add to our count and UNO is truly "Up and Running".
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