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Western Illinois will become familiar foe for SDSU
By Terry Vandrovec
tvandrovec@argusleader.com
Published: September 4, 2007
Every rivalry has to start somewhere, and this one began with a handshake - and the longest game in the 25-year history of the Gateway Football Conference.
Prior to this past weekend, South Dakota State and Western Illinois had met only 11 times in five sports in their respective athletic histories. But with the Jackrabbits joining the Leathernecks in the Summit League this fall and the Gateway in 2008, Thursday's football game marked the first of what will be at least 15 contests in a minimum of seven sports annually.
To get things started, the players from SDSU and Western Illinois marched across the field prior to kickoff in a show of sportsmanship, a Gateway tradition.
There was more glad-handing after the four-overtime contest.
"It's good for everybody," Western Illinois athletic director Tim Van Alstine said. "It's good, healthy competition, and that's what Division I athletics is all about - competing at the very highest possible level."
And this pairing makes more sense than most.
Since leaving behind the North Central Conference and its long-standing and geographically obvious rivalries, the Jackrabbits have tried to build one-sport relationships with the likes of Cal Poly and UC Davis, while selling North Dakota State as their primary foil - even though the schools' administrators are more friends than foes.
Meanwhile, Western Illinois has lost its lone, classic all-sports rival with Valparaiso joining the Horizon League this summer.
Separated by 525 miles, SDSU and Western Illinois are both public institutions with comparable enrollments, athletic budgets and small-town settings. Even their non-athletic logos are similar.
What's more Western Illinois president Al Goldfarb took the lead in lobbying for the Jackrabbits - and the Bison - to get into the Summit and the Gateway, SDSU president David Chicoine earned a master's degree from Western Illinois and Jacks football coach John Stiegelmeier has turned to Leathernecks coach Don Patterson for advice during the transition to the Football Championship Subdivision. . . . (read more)
Go State!
Western Illinois will become familiar foe for SDSU
By Terry Vandrovec
tvandrovec@argusleader.com
Published: September 4, 2007
Every rivalry has to start somewhere, and this one began with a handshake - and the longest game in the 25-year history of the Gateway Football Conference.
Prior to this past weekend, South Dakota State and Western Illinois had met only 11 times in five sports in their respective athletic histories. But with the Jackrabbits joining the Leathernecks in the Summit League this fall and the Gateway in 2008, Thursday's football game marked the first of what will be at least 15 contests in a minimum of seven sports annually.
To get things started, the players from SDSU and Western Illinois marched across the field prior to kickoff in a show of sportsmanship, a Gateway tradition.
There was more glad-handing after the four-overtime contest.
"It's good for everybody," Western Illinois athletic director Tim Van Alstine said. "It's good, healthy competition, and that's what Division I athletics is all about - competing at the very highest possible level."
And this pairing makes more sense than most.
Since leaving behind the North Central Conference and its long-standing and geographically obvious rivalries, the Jackrabbits have tried to build one-sport relationships with the likes of Cal Poly and UC Davis, while selling North Dakota State as their primary foil - even though the schools' administrators are more friends than foes.
Meanwhile, Western Illinois has lost its lone, classic all-sports rival with Valparaiso joining the Horizon League this summer.
Separated by 525 miles, SDSU and Western Illinois are both public institutions with comparable enrollments, athletic budgets and small-town settings. Even their non-athletic logos are similar.
What's more Western Illinois president Al Goldfarb took the lead in lobbying for the Jackrabbits - and the Bison - to get into the Summit and the Gateway, SDSU president David Chicoine earned a master's degree from Western Illinois and Jacks football coach John Stiegelmeier has turned to Leathernecks coach Don Patterson for advice during the transition to the Football Championship Subdivision. . . . (read more)
Go State!