This past year was a memorable one for Colorado State athletics. There were heart-stopping comebacks, improbable finishes and plenty of record-setting performances. Here are the 10 best sports moments of the 2013-14 season.
10. Rams take on Goliath (September 21, 2013)
Ad
What appeared to be disaster slated to strike the CSU football team ended up serving as a key, confidence-boosting experience for the Rams looking to end their early-season slump. CSU stuck tight with two-time defending national champion Alabama, entering the final quarter in Tuscaloosa facing only an 11-point deficit before falling late to the Crimson Tide.
9. Softball turning more than double plays (Spring 2014)
Coming into the 2014 season, the CSU softball team had won only 41 percent of its games over three previous campaigns. All 20 players on the roster, including six seniors, changed that by posting the Rams’ best regular-season finish since 2004 with a 32-17 record while contending for the conference title coming down the final stretch of the season.
8. Track rewrites the record book (April 26, 2014)
The 4×400-meter relay record, set in 1976 stood as the third-oldest record in Colorado State track and field history. That was until Robert Wasinger, Trevor Brown, Zach Browning and Travlor Skudneski rewrote the 38-year-old milestone after covering the distance of a mile in 3:10.48 at the Jack Christiansen Invitational.
7. CSU soccer program kicks off inaugural season (Fall 2013)
Since its inception as a higher level educational institution in 1870 as Colorado A&M, Colorado State University had never boasted a Divsion I women’s soccer program. The Rams’ debut season showcased homegrown talent from 10 student-athletes who originated from the Centennial State.
6. Bringing back the Boot (October 19, 2013)
The Bronze Boot trophy crossed back over state lines for the first time in five years following CSU football’s 52-22 dismantling of rival Wyoming in the 105th meeting between the two programs. Separated by just 65 miles, the two teams are a part of second-longest rivalry currently standing west of the Mississippi River. The Rams’ 52 points were also the most scored in a Border War game since 1922.
Ad
5. Hilbert hits 600 (November 9, 2013)
CSU volleyball head coach Tom Hilbert became the 10th head coach in NCAA history to earn 600 career wins (with a winning percentage of .770 or better) after his Colorado State squad, then No. 10 in the nation, swept Nevada in front of 4,418 people in attendance at Moby Arena.
4. Bibbs runs into the record books (Fall 2013)
In his one and only season at Colorado State, running back Kapri Bibbs became the fourth player in NCAA history to rush for 30 or more touchdowns in a single season, joining NFL legend Barry Sanders (Oklahoma State, 1988), now- Denver Bronco Montee Ball (Wisconsin, 2011) and Keenan Reynolds (Navy, 2013) by posting a school-record 31 touchdowns during the 2013 season. Bibbs also racked up 1,741 yards (fifth-best in the nation), averaged 6.2 yards per carry and tallied a conference-record seven games with three or more touchdowns.
3. Volleyball chases perfection (Fall 2013)
The CSU volleyball team was all but flawless in its 2013 season, climbing as high as the No. 9 spot in the AVCA Coaches’ Poll en route to a 28-1 regular-season finish. The Rams opened their season on a 27-game winning streak, locking in the program’s fifth-consecutive Mountain West regular-season title.
2. Women’s basketball back on top of the Mountain West (February 26, 2014)
The CSU women’s basketball team cut down the nets in Moby Arena after winning its first Mountain West regular season title in 12 years. Head coach Ryun Williams turned the Rams’ 11-19 finish in 2012-13 into a record-setting 25-8 campaign during his second year as head coach, which included claiming 17 victories over an 18-game span.
1. Furious rally leads CSU to heart-stopping bowl victory (December 21, 2013)
Trailing by 15 points with 4:17 left to play, the CSU football team began to piece together its come-from-behind win over Washington State in the 2013 Gildan New Mexico Bowl. The Rams scored 11 points in the final 33 seconds of the game, capped off with kicker Jared Roberts’ 41-yard field goal to seal CSU’s first bowl game victory and winning season since 2008.
Collegian Sports Reporter Quentin Sickafoose can be reached at sports@collegian.com and on Twitter @QSickafoose.
