Never Say Never
Sixth annual festival comes to Mission
Pages 4-5
March 20, 2014
Volume 70, No. 23
ONLINE CONTENT
Students remembered
panamericanonline.com
Festiba
Books and arts festival returns
Galax Z Fair
Third annual music festival in McAllen
Planning Ahead Jon Nutt/The Pan American
Financial tool built for student debt
UT-RGV presidential candidates identified
Basketball
Women’s season comes to an end
utpa sophomore and friend die after fatal car crash By Andrew Vera The Pan American Candles, flowers, balloons and notes from friends and family adorn a utility pole on the corner of Sugar Road and Freddy Gonzalez Drive in honor of Eric Davila and Joshua de Zenea. A candlelight vigil was held at the location Saturday in honor of de Zenea, who had died two days earlier, March 13, after fighting for his life in the hospital. In the early hours that March 7 morning, Davila, a 20-year-old UTPA student, and neighbor de Zenea, a South Texas College
student, were driving northbound on Sugar Road at a high speed, according to Edinburg police. Davila, the driver of a grey ‘90s model Chevy Camaro, lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a utility pole on the northeast corner of the intersection, according to Action 4 News. Davila, a sophomore kinesiology major, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, while de Zenea, 19, was rushed to McAllen Medical Center in critical condition. Neither of the young men were wearing a seatbelt at the time of impact.
De Zenea, a physical therapy major, fought for his life at the hospital but lost his battle Thursday, March 13. He would have been 20 years old in May. According to the Edinburg police, illegal drugs and alcohol were both found at the scene and are believed to be the cause of the accident. While social media was demonizing Davila for his actions that led up to the accident- only providing information about the drugs and alcohol- the words of the people who knew him painted a different picture. Davila worked at Peter
Piper Pizza on University Drive for more than two years. He was a game room attendant and greatly loved by co-workers and patrons alike. Isiah Cantu began working for Peter Piper Pizza at the same time as Davila and said what he will always remember about Davila is the smile he always donned. “He was just always happy,” Cantu said. “That was the good thing about him, he was never mad at anyone, he would never be angry. He was always nice to customers, to us, friends. He was just a great person to be with. He was a good guy.”
According to the game room manager, Greg de la Rosa, Davila was also a stand-up employee. “He was always here on time, whenever we needed him,” de la Rosa said. “If we needed him to come in on his day off, he would come. If he didn’t have school, he wanted to come in.” Aside from his job at Peter Piper Pizza, Davila was also a lover of sports. He played football, baseball and ran track for Edinburg High School, from which he graduated in 2012. His coach, Robert Valdez, remembered Davila as a
great kid who was never without a smile on his face. “He had a very big heart. He was heck a of a competitor. Another thing, I think everybody knew Eric because of his smile,” noted the head EHS baseball coach and football assistant. “He was always smiling, no matter how gloomy the situation was, it always seemed to light up a room, or give us hope or aspiration on the sideline or in the dugout.” Valdez also felt that the press put Davila and de Zenea in a bad light by reporting that drugs were the main cause of the accident,
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
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opinion
March 20, 2014
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Leave the house at 7:30am. Get back at 12am. Fuck graduate school right now. #UTPA -@DAVID_LEE_GARZA Unity is the worst place to live rn.#utpa #somuchnoise #UTPA I want to start a campus cat -@Perlee12 club. #utpa -@ayeshazahd omg who assigns work over spring break!! I didn’t know it was assigned and now I Like forreal #UTPA get your have a whole weeks worth shit together with these of work missing :( #UTPA shuttles. -@smanthalo -@SandyDavis
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news
The winner’s circle Newly elected ticket to be last under the UTPA name By Andrew Vera The Pan American This year’s elected SGA team will be the last to serve a full year under the UTPA school name. With the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley coming into effect in fall 2015, next year’s elected officials for SGA will split their term between the two named schools. The results of the 2014 Student Government Association elections were released to the student population March 3 through Bronc Notes. Winning the election for president and vice president by a margin of 235 votes were Alberto Adame and Carla Fernanda Peña, respectively. Adame and Peña both talked about what being in these positions meant to them. “It is the last year as UTPA and we do want to leave our mark here. We don’t want people to forget about UTPA,” said Peña, a junior rehabilitative services major. “We want to lay the foundations for (students)...in the new university.” Adame said he feels that being in this position will give them the opportunity to impact future students of UT-RGV. “I think it’s very important to
be the last president and vice president of the student body here at Pan Am, not only because of the legacy we are leaving behind...but also because we have the power and the ability to do things that are going to benefit the students at the new university,” said the sophomore finance major. Playing this landmark role as the last executive ticket for UTPA will come along with many responsibilities, according to Adame. Involvement with the University of Texas at Brownsville this year will be a big part of their job description, he said. “What we need to do is work with the current and next UTB SGA to work on the constitution, and just about everything,” Adame said. “How it’s going to work, the student government of the new university? It’s really not a simple process at all. We need to meet with (UTB) I’d say once a month, at least, just to start laying the foundations and to leave everything ready for the next term.” A debate was held Feb. 18 in the Student Union Theater between Adame and Peña and the opposing executive ticket, Bi-
anca Blanco and Johnathan Weisfeld-Hinojosa. Both tickets stated their platforms and answered questions about what they hoped to accomplish during their year as president and vice president. Some of the key points of Adame and Peña’s platform were longer library hours and healthier food options in the Student Union. They also said they are willing to adopt part of the Blanco and Weisfeld-Hinojosa platform, which included more microwaves in the Student Union, stating that their ideas were noteworthy. Another platform that Peña stood strongly behind was campus sustainability, or “going green.” She said it is time for UTPA to jump on the bandwagon of this movement. “We want to promote a more sustainable campus. Recycling is a big deal,” Blanco said. “We want to go green because a lot of campuses are already green, and we’re not as green as we’d like to be. We’re almost there, but we’re not there.” While students learned the election results on a Monday, Adame and Peña were notified of the news Saturday, March 1. Both expressed how they felt when they found out they had won. “It feels very humbling, honestly, that so many people voted for you and that they trust you in being their representative to the administration and basically representing the whole student body,” Adame said. “It’s also very exciting.” Adame and Peña will be inaugurated into their positions April 14 in the Student Union at 1 p.m. They will replace incumbents SGA President Aaron Barreiro and Vice President Erik Sanchez. Their duties as president and vice president will officially begin April 15.
Jon Nutt/The Pan American
March 20, 2014 saying that only one side of the truth was released to the general public. “Everything that was publicized through the media is speculation. There are two sides to this story. The only thing that came forward is what the media and what the press wanted out there. It doesn’t absolutely mean (the drugs) were all Eric (Davila)’s (or) all Josh (de Zenea)’s,” Valdez said. “Nobody knows the real story...it’s just a tragedy that came out of this. The consequences when you do play with fire, you are eventually going to get burned.” Eric Ortiz, a neighborhood friend of Davila and de Zenea, said he had known them for more than 10 years. Ortiz said de Zenea,
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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 much like Davila, was a good guy that everybody liked. “(De Zenea) always liked to put everybody before himself, no matter what the consequences were, no matter what the situation was,” the 22-year-old said. “Whether it was going out of his way at two in the morning to go pick somebody up, regardless of the situation, he would say yes. He was never a ‘no’ kind of person, it was always yes, yes, yes.” In order to help the Davila family pay for funeral expenses, a fundraiser was organized at Peter Piper Pizza by his friends March 10. Upon presenting a flyer provided by the Facebook page created for the fundraiser, the establishment would donate
15 percent of the bill to the Davila family. A separate barbecue fundraiser was held in memory of de Zenea March 15 at Superior Oil Express, across the street from the scene of the accident. Money from the fundraiser was used to help the family pay for medical bills that accumulated over the six days de Zenea spent in the hospital prior to his death, according to Ortiz. Funeral services for de Zenea were held Monday at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in McAllen. Christian services were held for Davila at The Family Church in McAllen Tuesday, March 11.
Embracing the green and orange Edinburg begins monthly UTPA Day By Elizabeth Palacios The Pan American Just as UTPA and the University of Texas at Brownsville prepare for next year’s transition to The University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, the City of Edinburg has found a way to demonstrate support for the University. The first official UTPA Day took place Friday, Feb. 28 and UTPA students, their families and Edinburg residents were encouraged to wear a UTPA T-shirt or the University colors, green and orange. Local businesses including Edinburg H-E-B grocery stores and Doctors Hospital at Renaissance have pledged to participate in future UTPA Days, which will be the last Friday of every month. The Edinburg City Council approved UTPA Day Feb. 18. Three of the five council members, including Mayor Richard H. Garcia, Mayor Pro Tem Elias Longoria Jr. and council member J.R. Betancourt, are Edinburg natives and UTPA graduates. According to Irma Garza, the City of Edinburg’s director of public information, the idea came from the Edinburg Marketing Committee, made up of 15 representatives from local organizations including the City of Edinburg, the Edinburg Chamber of Commerce and UTPA. “We believe in the work that the University is doing and we want them to know we are proud,” said Garza, a 2010
UTPA graduate. “What better way to improve our way of life than through education? I believe that education is the way.” Simon Reyes, who has lived in Edinburg all of his life, said he thinks it is important for the University to have support from the community. “It’s a win-win for each of us because Edinburg is benefitting because it’s producing college graduates for this area,” said the 21-year-old. Jessica Quezada, a UTPA student and caterer at Doctors Hospital at Renaissance, has lived in Edinburg for 10 years.
University,” Garza said. “Also signs or a statue depicting the mascot are for the mayor and community to decide.” For now, this new tradition is Edinburg’s way of showing support for the 87 years that the University has provided a local means of higher education, Garza said. Universities across the country in what are known as “college towns” receive support from the surrounding community, according to U.S. News & World Report, which published a list of “10 Great College Towns” in June 2010. A few of the cities listed are Austin, Berkeley, Calif. and Boston. According to the magazine, college towns are known for displaying the school colors and mascot around the city, and for instilling school spirit in visitors and local residents. UTPA sophomore and Edinburg H-E-B employee Sebastian Garza said he thinks Edinburg needs to provide that sort of assistance for UTPA. He said he is proud to attend the University and plans to participate at work for the next UTPA Day. “You know how Texas A&M has its College Station, and the whole city around it is all filled with colors,” said the 19-yearold accounting major. “I feel that our city should be more oriented to how our college is doing and to be more of a college city than just a normal city.”
It’s a win-win for each of us because Edinburg is benefitting because it’s producing college graduates for this area. - Simon Reyes Edinburg resident She has not seen UTPA Day incorporated into her workplace, but she said she would wear the colors on that day. “If we get more help from the city, it’s better, and people will want to come here into Edinburg, live here and go to UTPA,” the freshman said. According to Garza, the hope is that not only local businesses, but the entire Rio Grande Valley, will embrace UTPA Day, especially now that the University will become UT-RGV. “The long-term goals are to change the colors and mascot and ultimately to be able to have markers along the expressway to show that this is the home of the
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THE PAN AMERICAN
March 20, 2014
March 20, 2014
THE PAN AMERICAN
Page 5
Never Say Never Festival reaches sixth consecutive year Story and Photos by Elisa Garcia The Pan American The sun was shining in Mission’s Las Palmas Race Track March 12 as nearly 5,000 people gathered to enjoy a day of non-stop music. DontGetEmo concerts hosted its sixth annual Never Say Never Festival (NSN) and welcomed a lineup of more than 35 bands to perform on four stages, with acts such as Bring Me the Horizon, Asking Alexandria and Of Mice & Men. NSN is a multi-stage festival held in Mission every March during spring break. The music festival brings together performances in rock ‘n’ roll,
hip-hop, indie, pop punk, electronica and other genres. Zar Castillo, co-creator of NSN along with George Culberson, explained that starting this one-day event was not an easy process. Both put their own money together and began to build their vision piece by piece. “I remember having the first festival in 2009 and having $30 in my bank account,” said Castillo, a Mission native. “Yet in the middle of the fest, doing this $100,000 project, I was like, ‘I don’t know how we’re doing this, it’s going, it’s happening.’” While coming up with the idea, Castillo said his vision received negativity from local businesses, people and friends. Castillo said he and Culberson had backlash such as, “It sounds like it’s not worth it,” and “The market down here is never going to accept it.” “After hearing all this negativity, that’s how the name Never Say Never came about,” said 29-year-old Castillo. “It was just this grand idea of (DontGetEmo) that was never gonna happen and then one day, one spring break, w e did.” Castillo, who has been in the music business for 10 years, formerly hosting concerts at Nikki Rowe VFW in McAllen, believes NSN provides a different experience for fans as
well as bands. “At the fest, these bands and their fans love interacting with each other. Most of these bands will walk around after they play and take many pictures with fans,” the South Texas College alum said. “It’s not just about the music, but more so about the experience.” MOSH UP For first-time NSN attendee Rosalinda Guerrero, the festival was unlike any other concert she had been to. “I met so many amazing people,” the University of Texas at Brownsville student said. “Even the ones that hit me in the face or pulled my hair, I loved them all. It was great getting to meet the bands. I got to meet my baby Alan Ashby from Of Mice & Men…he called me gorgeous.” While Guerrero checked out some of her favorite bands, such as Emmure and This Wild Life, 16-year-old Daniela Dorado fulfilled her wish of meeting Craig Owens, lead singer of American posthardcore band, Chiodos. “The best thing about NSN is getting to see all the bands live that I’ve been listening to on my iPod,” the first-year attendee said. “It’s more thrilling seeing the bands, actually hearing the bass and the beats in real life than through ear buds.” Eighteen-year-old Guerrero believes NSN is a nice way for locals to see bands that ordinarily wouldn’t come to the Rio Grande Valley. “It helps out the people that don’t have a lot of money to travel great distances to see their heroes,” the Brownsville native said. “It puts small cities like us to be known.” Both Guerrero and Dorado agreed that NSN is an experience that they will take part in again. “It’s worth the whole day. You won’t get bored when you’re at a place full of bands that you love,” said Dorado, a McAllen native. “It gives you a great opportunity
to check out other amazing bands that come to your liking.” Fans weren’t the only ones that left with a new experience. Troy Fonseca, lead singer for local band In the Hero Prevails, has been looking forward to playing at NSN for some time. “(In the Hero Prevails) have been wanting to play NSN for a long time, but nothing really worked out. This year just fell into place and we’ve worked harder than ever,” the San Benito native said. “We just played and it was amazing. It was probably my favorite show ever. I’ve never been this tired after a show.” CJ McMahon, lead singer for Australian deathcore band Thy Art Is Murder, explained that this is the group’s first appearance at NSN, but they toured Texas last year when performing at San Antonio’s Everything’s Bigger in Texas Festival. “America in general is really good to us, and everybody knows that, especially American bands that tour here,” the 31-year-old said. “Texas always has something different about it. The energy, the people are crazier here or something. Texas is always unreal for us, so we love it.” Thy Art Is Murder is currently on tour with Emmure on The Mosh Lives Tour, which began in early March with more dates to be announced, according to McMahon. “Every show we play, the fans are erratic and crazy. We’re destroying every show,” he said. “All our fans are super supportive and respectful of us and we act the same towards them. Without our fans, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do.” NO BOUNDARIES As the bands packed their drum sets and guitars, Castillo and his team at DontGetEmo concerts will begin
working on Never Say Never Festival 2015. Castillo explained that his team will start bringing together ideas for what can be improved for future events. “We have huge goals for where we want the festival to get to,” he said. “My biggest goal is to have someone like Fall Out Boy or Paramore play our festival. That’s kinda like the pinnacle level where I see NSN going.” Castillo explained that since its creation in 2009, NSN has received invitations to take the concert to other cities, such as San Antonio and Houston. Despite the offer, DontGetEmo is loyal to Mission’s Las Palmas Race Track and doesn’t see NSN moving any time soon. “That’s kinda in the future, you never know. This could be a tour one day,” Castillo said. “I would love to work on NSN until the last day that I can. The plan is to keep doing what we’re doing, let (NSN) keep growing and maybe we’ll take it on the road one day, but right now we’re focusing on what’s in front of us.”
Thy Art is Murder
We Butter the Bread With Butter
Oceano
Page 4
THE PAN AMERICAN
March 20, 2014
March 20, 2014
THE PAN AMERICAN
Page 5
Never Say Never Festival reaches sixth consecutive year Story and Photos by Elisa Garcia The Pan American The sun was shining in Mission’s Las Palmas Race Track March 12 as nearly 5,000 people gathered to enjoy a day of non-stop music. DontGetEmo concerts hosted its sixth annual Never Say Never Festival (NSN) and welcomed a lineup of more than 35 bands to perform on four stages, with acts such as Bring Me the Horizon, Asking Alexandria and Of Mice & Men. NSN is a multi-stage festival held in Mission every March during spring break. The music festival brings together performances in rock ‘n’ roll,
hip-hop, indie, pop punk, electronica and other genres. Zar Castillo, co-creator of NSN along with George Culberson, explained that starting this one-day event was not an easy process. Both put their own money together and began to build their vision piece by piece. “I remember having the first festival in 2009 and having $30 in my bank account,” said Castillo, a Mission native. “Yet in the middle of the fest, doing this $100,000 project, I was like, ‘I don’t know how we’re doing this, it’s going, it’s happening.’” While coming up with the idea, Castillo said his vision received negativity from local businesses, people and friends. Castillo said he and Culberson had backlash such as, “It sounds like it’s not worth it,” and “The market down here is never going to accept it.” “After hearing all this negativity, that’s how the name Never Say Never came about,” said 29-year-old Castillo. “It was just this grand idea of (DontGetEmo) that was never gonna happen and then one day, one spring break, w e did.” Castillo, who has been in the music business for 10 years, formerly hosting concerts at Nikki Rowe VFW in McAllen, believes NSN provides a different experience for fans as
well as bands. “At the fest, these bands and their fans love interacting with each other. Most of these bands will walk around after they play and take many pictures with fans,” the South Texas College alum said. “It’s not just about the music, but more so about the experience.” MOSH UP For first-time NSN attendee Rosalinda Guerrero, the festival was unlike any other concert she had been to. “I met so many amazing people,” the University of Texas at Brownsville student said. “Even the ones that hit me in the face or pulled my hair, I loved them all. It was great getting to meet the bands. I got to meet my baby Alan Ashby from Of Mice & Men…he called me gorgeous.” While Guerrero checked out some of her favorite bands, such as Emmure and This Wild Life, 16-year-old Daniela Dorado fulfilled her wish of meeting Craig Owens, lead singer of American posthardcore band, Chiodos. “The best thing about NSN is getting to see all the bands live that I’ve been listening to on my iPod,” the first-year attendee said. “It’s more thrilling seeing the bands, actually hearing the bass and the beats in real life than through ear buds.” Eighteen-year-old Guerrero believes NSN is a nice way for locals to see bands that ordinarily wouldn’t come to the Rio Grande Valley. “It helps out the people that don’t have a lot of money to travel great distances to see their heroes,” the Brownsville native said. “It puts small cities like us to be known.” Both Guerrero and Dorado agreed that NSN is an experience that they will take part in again. “It’s worth the whole day. You won’t get bored when you’re at a place full of bands that you love,” said Dorado, a McAllen native. “It gives you a great opportunity
to check out other amazing bands that come to your liking.” Fans weren’t the only ones that left with a new experience. Troy Fonseca, lead singer for local band In the Hero Prevails, has been looking forward to playing at NSN for some time. “(In the Hero Prevails) have been wanting to play NSN for a long time, but nothing really worked out. This year just fell into place and we’ve worked harder than ever,” the San Benito native said. “We just played and it was amazing. It was probably my favorite show ever. I’ve never been this tired after a show.” CJ McMahon, lead singer for Australian deathcore band Thy Art Is Murder, explained that this is the group’s first appearance at NSN, but they toured Texas last year when performing at San Antonio’s Everything’s Bigger in Texas Festival. “America in general is really good to us, and everybody knows that, especially American bands that tour here,” the 31-year-old said. “Texas always has something different about it. The energy, the people are crazier here or something. Texas is always unreal for us, so we love it.” Thy Art Is Murder is currently on tour with Emmure on The Mosh Lives Tour, which began in early March with more dates to be announced, according to McMahon. “Every show we play, the fans are erratic and crazy. We’re destroying every show,” he said. “All our fans are super supportive and respectful of us and we act the same towards them. Without our fans, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do.” NO BOUNDARIES As the bands packed their drum sets and guitars, Castillo and his team at DontGetEmo concerts will begin
working on Never Say Never Festival 2015. Castillo explained that his team will start bringing together ideas for what can be improved for future events. “We have huge goals for where we want the festival to get to,” he said. “My biggest goal is to have someone like Fall Out Boy or Paramore play our festival. That’s kinda like the pinnacle level where I see NSN going.” Castillo explained that since its creation in 2009, NSN has received invitations to take the concert to other cities, such as San Antonio and Houston. Despite the offer, DontGetEmo is loyal to Mission’s Las Palmas Race Track and doesn’t see NSN moving any time soon. “That’s kinda in the future, you never know. This could be a tour one day,” Castillo said. “I would love to work on NSN until the last day that I can. The plan is to keep doing what we’re doing, let (NSN) keep growing and maybe we’ll take it on the road one day, but right now we’re focusing on what’s in front of us.”
Thy Art is Murder
We Butter the Bread With Butter
Oceano
Page 6
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March 20, 2014
sports
By Kristela Garza The Pan American This season the Bronc women’s tennis team has made program history by achieving the longest winning streak, six matches, breaking the previous record of five in 2008. Despite the record-breaking achievement, the team has had its ups and downs this season. The record comes at a time when the Broncs are facing all new opponents as they travel through the Western Athletic Conference ranks. Despite the unfamiliar ground, the team surpassed the wins record March 9 by defeating the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns with a score of 4-1. According to senior Wanda Beguelin, nothing will change from here on out. They plan to play just as they always have, record or no record.
By Marco Torres The Pan American The men’s golf team ended in 17th place at the Border Olympics, hosted by the University of Houston at the Laredo Country Club March 14-15. The Broncs finished, in back-to-back rounds and were unable to move up in day two. Head Coach Josh Fosdick believes that this course provided valuable experience even though he believes his team did not play up to its potential. “It was just a great golf course,” Fosdick said. “There wasn’t any hole where you could just coast and take a breather. You had to hit golf shot after golf shot and that was a new experience for this team. It’ll help us get better, that’s for sure.” At the end of three rounds, junior Mathew Charles led the Broncs with a first round of 77, second round score of 72 and a final round of 76. “The most difficult thing about the course was your approach shot. Even if you were in a perfect position off the tee you still could be looking at making a bogey if you did not place your shot in the right position,” Charles said. “Also, there was no such thing as a ‘Birdie Hole.’ If you wanted to make birdie you had to hit excellent golf shots
March 20, 2014
“I think it gives us more confidence,” the French native said. “Winning all of these matches in a row motivates everyone in the team to practice harder and keep winning.” But, just as the team was reveling in its success, it took a loss to the Nicholls State University Colonels March 12, ending the streak. Since then it has been a roller coaster ride as the Broncs gained a win against Oral Roberts University March 13 then a loss to the University of Texas at San Antonio March 16. Coach Stephanie Vallejos knows the teams the Broncs played have been tough, but she insists this is the only factor that affects the season’s outcome and she is happy that her team has overcome and done well. “With each match the team gets tougher,” Vallejos said. “But it’s in all the traveling that I have
and actually earn it.” Day one for the Broncs started roughly as they entered a team score of 327 between Gareth Saxon, Ben Maskus, Ricardo Solis, Chris Felix and
seen us really step up and play stronger. They have learned how to come together the best when we are on the road competing, and our on court communication has helped us see more success.” With the team moving toward the end of the season, Beguelin has attributed their success so far to her team’s willingness to work and to the cohesion she has with her teammates. “This year’s team has played with motivation,” said Beguelin, whose record in singles is 2-3. “They each have a goal and they’re constantly reminding themselves of what they are working for when we practice, and especially, (when we) compete. I’m proud of the work ethic we have and this year it’s finally starting to pay off.” Currently, the Broncs are holding on to a 12-6 season record with only one match
Through day one The University of Oklahoma led with a tworound tally of 569, 63 strokes ahead of the UTPA. Baylor’s Jerry Ruiz led with a two-round score of 137, which was 14
(Ben) Maskus and (Gareth) Saxon are both right there, but continue to make freshman level mistakes. I think you’ll be hearing their names often over the next four years. - Josh Fosdick
Men’s Golf head coach
Charles, who had the best first round. After the first round was recorded, the players would continue with the course for another 18 holes. The Broncs improved 22 strokes from their first round and posted a 305 to give a tworound result of 632. At the end of day one, Charles stood tied for 51st while freshmen Saxon improved from his first round. Saxon, a Manchester, England, native, shot an 83 in round one then went to a two-over par 74 performance in round two. Fellow freshmen Maskus bounced back from an 86 first round mark to a 76 second round. “We didn’t rise to the occasion,” Fosdick said. “This was a great chance to measure ourselves against a few of the nation’s best and we didn’t get it done.”
strokes ahead of Charles. The Broncs continued the next day, March 15, with an 8 a.m. start, and Charles, a Corpus Christi native, led the way again with a final round score of 76. “I felt like my performance this past weekend was a bit under par,” Charles said. “I expected my scores to be lower considering how hard I prepared for this last tournament. With that being said, all I can do now is put it behind me and prepare for our upcoming event in Arizona.” Charles’ four-over par final day performance was good enough to finish tied 52nd individually with a three-round total of 227 (77, 74 and 76). Maskus was able to keep momentum following his 76 round two tally as he shot a 79 in the final round, bringing
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left against the University of the Incarnate World at home March 21. Soon comes the WAC Conference Championships in Las Cruces, N.M. April 25-27. With the championships on the horizon, Vallejos explained that though they only have a short time left on the court, she knows her team has trained hard and has gained a sense of accomplishment. Now all that’s left is to move forward. “The team has worked really hard and has made a great effort at helping each other improve,” Vallejos said. “With each match this season they’ve gained a sense of mental toughness. If we can continue to play together and fight for each other as a team we should end the season strong.” Wanda Beguelin
his three-round total to 238 (83, 76 and 79). Maskus would finish 89th in the individual standings. “(Ben) Maskus and (Gareth) Saxon are both right there, but continue to make freshman level mistakes,” Fosdick said. “I think you’ll be hearing their names often over the next four years.” The University of Houston’s Ramon Robledo won with a three-round score of 209, 18 strokes better than Charles. As a team the Broncs had a final round result of 316, which brought the team total to 948 (327, 305 and 316). The Houston Cougars took the team title with a three-round total of 858 strokes, 90 strokes ahead of the Broncs. The Broncs will return to action March 31 as they will travel to Louisiana for the Wallace Jones Invitational, hosted by the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Fosdick said he knows that it is going to take smart golfing in order for his players to do well. “We have to be ready for longer approach shots to the greens and the potential for less grass than we are used to here in the RGV,” Fosdick said. “Smart golf wins that event. Lots of fairways and lots of greens.”
Jon Nutt/The Pan American
Jon Nutt/The Pan American
Mathew Charles finished in 51st place, shooting an 77, 72 and 76 through three rounds at the Border Olympics at the Laredo Country Club last weekend.
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March 20, 2014
4/2/14
4/2/14