LBSU Athlete of the Week: Monica Villareal (4/25/2011)

Junior Monica Villareal finished in second place at the Big West Championship after recording a career-low 67 in the first round en route to earning this week's Long Beach State Athlete of the Week Award. The Black and Gold Insider sat down with Monica to talk about her impressive weekend.

Black and Gold Insider: How does it feel to be named the Long Beach State Athlete of the Week?

Monica Villareal: It is both an honor and privilege! I am very proud of our school, and the fact that I am the athlete of the week here at Long Beach State is a great feeling.

What was working well for you over the weekend when you were able to shoot a career low 67 at the Big West Championships?

Monica Villareal: I went out there with an open mind and no expectations, just another walk on the course for me. I was confident in my shot making and I made a lot of clutch putts. I have been practicing hard these past few weeks, and everything just seemed to fall into place at the tournament.

Who inspired you to play golf?

Monica Villareal: My awesome dad.

Do you have any pre-match rituals?

Monica Villareal: I mark all my golf balls with pink flowers, listen to classical music while warming up, practice my breathing exercises and say a prayer.

What does it mean to Bleed Black and Gold?

Monica Villareal: It means to play hard and work hard no matter what! Bleeding Black and Gold means having great honor and pride in Long Beach State and representing to the best of my ability- win or lose I Bleed Black and Gold.

LBSU Breast Cancer Awareness Recap

This year Long Beach State hosted our first ever Breast Cancer Awareness Day on Saturday, April 16, 2011 at the softball and baseball games. The event was a huge success as over 1,290 dollars were raised to help fight breast cancer.

The baseball game saw the Dirtbags host the University of California, Riverside. 138 raffle tickets were sold at the event for the opportunity to win one of four different packages.
The first package contained:
1 Autographed Dirtbag Jersey
1 Dirtbag Hat
1 Long Beach Beanie

The second package contained:
1 Autographed Black Dirtbag Jersey
1 Dirtbag Hat
1 Long Beach Beanie

The third and fourth packages contained:
1 Autographed Dirtbag T-shirt
1 Dirtbag Hat 1 Long Beach Beanie
1 Breast Cancer Awareness Baseball

Through the raffle tickets $690.00 dollars were raised.

The softball team hosted UC Davis. Carrie Lovelady threw out the first pitch, she is Christina Schallig's mom, and a proud two year breast cancer survivor. The team took the field wearing pink visors, shoe laces, and headbands as Erin Jones-Wesley threw a complete game, one-hit shutout for the first game. In the second game, Nalani St. Germain hit a walk off homer to complete the sweep of UC Davis with a 2-1 victory. Over $600.00 dollars were raised at the softball games through ticket sales and raffle tickets to benefit the Love/Avon Army of Women.

Big West Athlete of the Week (4.11): Colin Dunbar

Colin Dunbar is selected as the Big West Athlete of the Week for his performance in the Big West Cup Challenge on 4.8.11. Dunbar's performance in the hammer at the event earns his spot in the LBSU history books as he is second only to Bill Green. Watch Colin talk about representing LBSU and how to throw shot put.

Student Athlete of the Week: Ceasar Puga (4.11.11)

Track and Field Discus and Shot Put extraordinaire Ceasar Puga is this weeks Long Beach State student athlete of the week. Puga's impressive performance helped lead LBSU set a meet record at the Big West Challenge Cup. Ceasar gave the Black and Gold Insider a few moments of his time to talk about his accomplishments on the track.

Cesar, you are Long Beach State's student athlete of the week for your performance at the Big West Challenge Cup, how does it feel to receive these honors?
It feels great, I was really happy when I found out that I was athlete of the week. I know that there were a lot of other athletes excelling in their sport and for me to get the award makes me feel good.

Not many people are familiar with your events, shot put and discus, how do you prepare for them?
One very important aspect of our training is our weight training. We spend almost as much time lifting weights as we do practicing our technique and throwing. We spend a few hours going over our technique, and a few hours throwing. It is important to be strong and explosive and it is also important to have technique.

Outside of track, what are your passions in life?
Well, one of my passions is exploring different restaurants from many different cultures. I enjoy trying all sorts of different food. I would have to say my favorite foods would have to be steak and seafood.

What is your major, what do you plan to do after graduation?
My major is Communication. What I plan on doing is working in the police force, but not as a regular patrol officer. I want to work for either the SWAT or the FBI or something along those lines.

What does it mean to bleed Black and Gold?
Bleeding Black and Gold means having pride and loyalty in my school and giving 100 percent effort in competitiveness.

Social Media Night at Blair Field (4.15.11)

This Friday LBSU will host our first ever Social Media day at Blair Field as the Dirtbags take on UC Riverside. The theme is in an effort to bring awareness to LBSU's various new media outlets including, the Black and Gold Insider, twitter and facebook.

Fans posting photos of themselves decked out in their black and gold to Long Beach State Athletic's facebook page could be featured on the video board during the game. Moreover, they are eligible to win two free lift tickets for Mountain High!

In game there will be the opportunity for fans to tweet-up. Select tweets will be displayed on the video board.

Fans will be encouraged to like the facebook page either through their smart phone or at a laptop located at the marketing booth. Once fans do so (or show that they were already a fan) a representative at the marketing booth will provide them with a gift card for a free double-double at In n Out.

In addition to showing their support for Long Beach State, fans who are interactive during the game on facebook or twitter will be entered to win a Dirtbags VIP package.

As always the Black and Gold Insider will be blogging live from the game to keep interactive fans who cannot make it out to Blair Field up to date on the latest Dirtbags' news.

Live Blog: Dirtbags vs. UC Davis Aggies 4/9/2011

Live Blog: UC Davis vs. Long Beach State Dirtbags