According to 2009 U.S. census data, Wyoming’s population is 93.5 percent white. Only 2.3 percent of Wyoming’s population is foreign-born, while the black population makes up an estimated 1.4 percent of the 544,270 people in Wyoming.

Athletics director Tom Burman has been a strong advocate for diversity in Wyoming Athletics, be it nationally or internationally throughout his time at Wyoming.

“I think it’s really, really important in an institution of higher education, that we try to be as diverse as possible whether it be racially diverse or culturally. We need to provide to the University of Wyoming, the city of Laramie and most importantly to the students a learning opportunity through diversity,” Burman said.

According to associate athletic director for media relations Tim Harkins, the men’s and women’s basketball teams lead the way for the number of international athletes.

Harkins said that the track, volleyball and women’s soccer programs are also strong in international diversity within the athletics department as well as women’s tennis, which is coached by Hungary native Kati Gyulai.

There are eleven international students participating in men’s athletics at Wyoming and 20 international students in women’s athletics, according to Wyoming Athletics.

Francisco Cruz is one of four members of the Cowboy basketball team who was born outside of the U.S.

Cruz, a native of Nogales, Mexico, moved to the U.S. prior to his junior year of high school and is proud to have the chance to play at the Division I level.

“It’s really cool being from Mexico. I mean, not many people from Mexico have a chance to play at the NCAA level,” Cruz said. “I think it’s pretty cool that people from France, Africa and all over the world get the chance to play basketball here [at UW].”

Burman echoed Cruz’s sentiments, pointing out the best parts about the most diverse team in Wyoming Athletics.

“You look at a basketball program like our men’s side…it’s a pretty neat mix of people. You’ve got a kid from Cody, Wyoming [Adam Waddell] playing next to Djibril Thiam from Senegal, with another French kid on the floor at the same time, a kid from Mexico and … a kid from a rough part of Ohio. You merge all those kids together and they learn how to respect each other and how to get along. When they become teammates, and it takes a little while, then it’s an incredible bond,” he said.

Burman has noticed that the department’s move towards diversity has not been entirely accepted.

“We often have African-American young men from the inner-city standing shoulder to shoulder with players from Buffalo, Wyoming [Chris Prosinski], and I think that’s great … but not everyone does. I get a lot of emails and correspondence from people in Wyoming that think that [recruiting other nationalities and ethnicities] is a waste of state resources,” Burman said.

The athletics department strives for diversity in their coaching staff as well. Burman said that while the department has no rules regarding minority hiring, they do emphasize global thinking during hiring and they advise coaches to maintain coaching staffs that match the diversity of their teams.

“There’s no place on campus that’s more diverse than our coaching staff,” Burman said. “We’ve still got a ways to go but we’ve hired more minorities in the last four or five years than we have ever.”

Email: Tom Hesse

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The Branding Iron is a Student Media project. Student Media gives University of Wyoming students valuable experience in writing, editing, advertising, sales, graphic design, photography and production through its publications with the guidance of professional staff members. If you find a mistake in an article, e-mail us at bi@uwyo.edu. We will make sure to torture the poor soul until it's corrected. Just kidding. We probably won't do anything, since we're busy studying for finals.

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Unfortunately for the Cowgirls, the Horned Frogs were too much to handle Wednesday night, giving Wyoming arguably their toughest loss of the season, going down 68-47 to an impressive TCU team.

Senior guard Aubrey Vandiver gave Wyoming their first lead at 7-6 with a fade away jumper on the baseline before TCU went on a 7-0 run to make the score 13-7. The Cowgirls would take the lead again at 18-17 after a crowd-rousing layup from senior forward Hillary Carlson.

TCU would eventually end the first half with a 27-24 lead after a last second lay-in by sophomore forward Starr Crawford.

Crawford led the way for the Horned Frogs in the first half with six points and seven rebounds in just 14 minutes of play.

Vandiver was the star of the first half for Wyoming going 5-8 for 11 points while Carlson added six points and four rebounds.

Wyoming got off to a sluggish start in the second half allowing TCU to expand their lead to 38-26 at the 15:54 mark. TCU’s largest lead of the game was 22 points at the 1:18 mark.

The Cowgirls shot a meager 36.5% from the field and senior forward Hillary Carlson had one of her worst outings of the season, going scoreless in the first half.

Sophomore forward Chaundra Sewell was tops for the Cowgirls in points and rebounds with 18 and 9. Vandiver added 16 points for the Cowgirls.

Head coach Joe Legerski said in his postgame conference that TCU was the best team they’ve played all season and there’s a reason why they won the conference last season. He emphasized the fact that TCU has a very balanced team, seven players had between 6 and 11 points, and is hard to guard collectively.

“You don’t come into this place and think you are going to have a game like this. They have an excellent team and we were fortunate to play really well,” TCU coach Jeff Mittie said after the game. “You know how tough it is to come up here and leave with a win because [Wyoming] has such a quality team… it feels good.”

The Cowgirls head to Salt Lake City to take on Utah squad on Wednesday, January 19th at 3 p.m.

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The Branding Iron is a Student Media project. Student Media gives University of Wyoming students valuable experience in writing, editing, advertising, sales, graphic design, photography and production through its publications with the guidance of professional staff members. If you find a mistake in an article, e-mail us at bi@uwyo.edu. We will make sure to torture the poor soul until it's corrected. Just kidding. We probably won't do anything, since we're busy studying for finals.

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Mike Morris:

The Cowboys picked up their most significant win of the season – and perhaps in recent program history – on Saturday when junior guard Paco Cruz hit a desperation shot at the buzzer to give Wyoming a 67-66 win over a good New Mexico team.

Wyoming had been shakier than a first-time snowboarder on a double black diamond in its first 15 contests, but against New Mexico, the Cowboys finally, finally played to their potential and put together a complete 40 minutes. It was the type of performance which – if the Cowboys can find a way to replicate it – gives reason to believe Wyoming can truly be competitive throughout the remainder of the MWC conference schedule. The intensity and toughness of a returning Adam Waddell was especially reassuring, as Waddell put up 16 and 8 against the Lobos in just 23 minutes, and New Mexico simply had no one who could match up with the 6’10 big man on Saturday.

If Waddell’s health continues to improve and the Cowboys continue to develop chemistry and depth – Daylen Harrison had 17 points off the bench against the Lobos – Wyoming men’s basketball will experience a truly exciting spring for the first time in years.

The status of Afam Muojeke’s injured knee still presides over the team’s post-season aspirations, and Muojeke is still nowhere near being able to channel his capability to be one of the most dominant scorers in the entire conference.

The Cowboys will need to continue to improve and develop over the remainder of the conference schedule and try to lock up a five or a six seed for the conference tournament in March.

If by then Muojeke’s knee has healed enough for him to be an effective scorer, Wyoming will be very much capable of putting together a magical 3-game run in the MWC tourney and, yes, dancing with a little March Madness.

As for the Cowgirls, a stellar 11-3 start – by an experienced squad which seems to improve with each game – has expectations soaring in Laramie.

A conference title, 22 or more wins, and an appearance in the NCAA tournament all seem more and more possible with each passing victory by the Cowgirls.

Zach Greubel:

After the men’s basketball team’s embarrassing loss to Colorado State and before their thrilling victory over New Mexico I thought conference play might be the same as it was last season- atrocious. However, the win against the Lobos may spark new life. Granted, they beat San Diego State at this point last season and still had a miserable season in conference play. On the bright side, junior center Adam Waddell is back from injury, hopefully for good, and gives the Cowboys some leadership on the court. Plus, they did just beat one of the best teams in the conference. We’ll see if the win against New Mexico maintains momentum through their conference season.

The Cowgirl basketball team looks primed for another promising season in conference play.  They’ve already beat Colorado State, by 40 points, and New Mexico but have their first big conference test against Texas Christian on Wednesday night. They’re the best team in the conference right now and shouldn’t stray too far from the top of the conference standings throughout the season.

Brad Estes:

The men’s loss to CSU was not encouraging. It reminds me of a team that came up short and couldn’t finish games so many times last year. The buzzer beater New Mexico win is a good win, any win is a good win for the Cowboys. After a non-conference schedule that wouldn’t have scared a high school team, its hard to make predictions for the rest of the year. Losses to teams like South Dakota, North Florida and Green Bay make it difficult to believe that the team can win consistently.

San Diego State and BYU are both impressive teams and ranked in the top 10, and those games might be worth going to see just for that fact. It all depends on how many times the Cowboys decide to show up and play like they did against New Mexico. The losses are more telling than the wins so far, and until the wins start to add up a little more, I will wait to call them even a fifth place finish in the conference.

The Cowgirls are playing well and are coached well, so they will be at the top of the conference all year. Forty point victories over conference opponents are always encouraging. A win against TCU at home tomorrow night would also be big. As a young team, the only thing to be worried about would be consistency late in the year, but so far the Cowgirls have been just that.

Tom Hesse:

I usually peg the Cowgirls for a team that comes on late in the season but they’ve looked like world beaters in their first two conference games. They should have beaten CSU without question but I didn’t see an 83-43 dismantling in them and their ten-point win in Albuquerque showed a convincing road win that I wouldn’t have looked for in a team that is a little on the young side. The Cowgirls haven’t lost in nearly a month and if they take care of the home court this Wednesday, I think they have a real shot at one of those top three spots in the conference.

I was critical of the Cowboys early in the season and I’m still not sure to make of them. All I know is that Francisco Cruz’s intangibles made him a favorite of mine early in the season and his shot to bury the Lobos has made Cruz my favorite player to watch. If the Cowboys can play half as scrappy as they did against New Mexico for the rest of the season then They have a legitimate claim to the upper half of this conference.  That CSU loss still hurts and the MWC is incredibly tough this year but I’m very excited to see this team against UNLV, BYU and SDSU. There are a lot of things to like about this team and they’re still evolving. I’ll optimistically stick them at fifth in the conference with a shot at fourth.

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The Branding Iron is a Student Media project. Student Media gives University of Wyoming students valuable experience in writing, editing, advertising, sales, graphic design, photography and production through its publications with the guidance of professional staff members. If you find a mistake in an article, e-mail us at bi@uwyo.edu. We will make sure to torture the poor soul until it's corrected. Just kidding. We probably won't do anything, since we're busy studying for finals.

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The department will perform three different shows this semester, and two of the shows host their auditions this week.

All students are welcome to audition, according to department chair Leigh Selting. Information can be found on the call board located outside the theatre and dance office inside the Fine Arts Building.

Monday night auditions were held for “Books on Tape,” a comedy written and directed by UW professor William Missouri Downs.

Theatre and dance student Noelia Antweiler preformed in Downs’ play “Seagulls and a Cherry Tree” last year and is prepared for this round of auditioning. “I definitely spend a lot of time alone so I can practice and prepare,” Antweiler said.

Antweiler also prepares by meeting with her scene partner and being physically and vocally ready for the audition.

Those who auditioned for “Books on Tape” will find out Tuesday if they received the part.

Auditions for “Chicago” will start Wednesday. The musical will be directed by Selting, conducted by Michael Griffith and vocally conducted by Patrick Newell.

Wednesday will consist of the singing audition, and Thursday will be dancing and singing. Callbacks can be expected on Friday.

Anyone interested in auditioning for “Chicago” can find information about the required songs by going to the theatre and dance office, Selting said.

UW student Corey Winfield will also be auditioning for both shows this semester. “It’s always good to have something ready, be it a monologue or a song. Always have something in your head that’s ready to go,” Winfield said. “That way you’re not tripping or stumbling over your words, even if it’s a spur of the moment ‘read this’-type audition.”

“Chicago” has been preformed on Broadway and has won six Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards and a Grammy award.

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The Branding Iron is a Student Media project. Student Media gives University of Wyoming students valuable experience in writing, editing, advertising, sales, graphic design, photography and production through its publications with the guidance of professional staff members. If you find a mistake in an article, e-mail us at bi@uwyo.edu. We will make sure to torture the poor soul until it's corrected. Just kidding. We probably won't do anything, since we're busy studying for finals.

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Their home slate begins Saturday, when they will host the University of Idaho Vandals at 12 p.m. in the Arena-Auditorium. They host three more games, Westminster (Utah) on Dec. 11, Wisconsin on Dec. 15 and Washington State on Dec. 18 before taking a two-game road trip.  The Dec. 15 tilt between the Badgers and Cowgirls will be a televised on the The Mtn. Sports Network—a rematch of the 2007 WNIT championship game played at the Arena-Auditorium in front of a sold-out crowd, which the Cowgirls won convincingly, 72-56.

The Cowgirls will then head to Missoula, Montana on Dec. 21, to face off against the Montana Grizzlies and will continue on to Logan, Utah to play the Utah State Aggies Dec. 23 before taking a week off, when players will head home for the holiday.

An exhibition in Rock Springs, head coach Joe Legerski’s hometown, against Montana-Western will mark the post-Christmas return of the Cowgirls Dec. 30.

The New Year brings the beginning of conference play for the Cowgirls, as they will host CSU on Jan. 5 and travel to New Mexico on Jan. 8.

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The Branding Iron is a Student Media project. Student Media gives University of Wyoming students valuable experience in writing, editing, advertising, sales, graphic design, photography and production through its publications with the guidance of professional staff members. If you find a mistake in an article, e-mail us at bi@uwyo.edu. We will make sure to torture the poor soul until it's corrected. Just kidding. We probably won't do anything, since we're busy studying for finals.

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Their home slate begins Saturday, when they will host the University of Idaho Vandals at 12 p.m. in the Arena-Auditorium. They host three more games, Westminster (Utah) on Dec. 11, Wisconsin on Dec. 15 and Washington State on Dec. 18 before taking a two-game road trip.  The Dec. 15 tilt between the Badgers and Cowgirls will be a televised on the The Mtn. Sports Network—a rematch of the 2007 WNIT championship game played at the Arena-Auditorium in front of a sold-out crowd, which the Cowgirls won convincingly, 72-56.

The Cowgirls will then head to Missoula, Montana on Dec. 21, to face off against the Montana Grizzlies and will continue on to Logan, Utah to play the Utah State Aggies Dec. 23 before taking a week off, when players will head home for the holiday.  

An exhibition in Rock Springs, head coach Joe Legerski’s hometown, against Montana-Western will mark the post-Christmas return of the Cowgirls Dec. 30.

The New Year brings the beginning of conference play for the Cowgirls, as they will host CSU on Jan. 5 and travel to New Mexico on Jan. 8. 

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The Cowgirls traveled to Northridge, California over Thanksgiving break and returned to Laramie with a little extra weight in their luggage—a tournament championship trophy.

In the first game of the Woodland Hills Holiday Inn Thanksgiving Basketball Classic Friday, the Cowgirls played the Chattanooga Lady Mocs. 

Led by the strong play and double-double performance of senior guard Aubrey Vandiver, the Cowgirls were able to escape defeat and head to the championship game against the Wichita State Shockers. 

“Aubrey played as good a 40 minutes that I’ve seen from a player,” Cowgirl head coach Joe Legerski told Wyoming Athletics. 

“Not only did she have 31 points and 14 rebounds, she had a great defensive performance as well. I thought we came out and executed the game plan from the beginning, hit some shots, which gave us confidence. Chattanooga is a good basketball team. They’ve won their conference several years in a row and made it to postseason. This is a big win for us as a program.”

Vandiver ended the game with a career-high 31 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Hillary Carlson added 10 points and three boards, while Kristen Scheffler chipped in with eight points of her own.

The Cowgirls led by six at halftime, but a Chattanooga comeback capped off by a three-pointer with less than a minute to go tied the game at 65. Vandiver continued her aggressive play, drawing a foul with less than thirty seconds left and hitting the game clinching free throw. Strong defense and a late steal by forward Jade Kennedy allowed Wyoming to hold on for the 66-65 win.

The win led the Cowgirls to the championship game against the Shockers, who defeated host Cal State Northridge to make their way to the championship. 

The Cowgirls fell behind early but were able to ride the strong play of Vandiver and Carlson to an eight-point victory. 

Vandiver ended with 13 points and seven rebounds while tournament MVP Carlson finished with 18 points and nine boards. Both were named to the All-Tournament Team. Bec Campigli chipped in 14 points to help the Cowgirls earn the championship.

“It was a tremendous performance against a good Wichita State team,” said Legerski. 

“It came down to so many big plays from so many people. We always count on Hillary and Aubrey but I thought Bec (Campigli) gave us a big lift in the first half with 14 points and then the effort by Chaundra Sewell. The group as a whole and which they performed as a whole was a tremendous performance.”

The Cowgirls ended their road trip last night in an 8 p.m. tip-off against UC Irvine in Irvine, California.  Look in for results in Wednesday’s edition of The Branding Iron.

Email: Tyler Reese 

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The first match of the Cowgirl volleyball team’s final home stand will be against conference-leading and No. 15 Colorado State (23-3, 12-1) at 5 p.m. tonight in the UniWyo Sports Complex.

Wyoming (22-7, 7-6) split their last two matches on the road, beating Texas Christian and falling to New Mexico.  

Head coach Carrie Yerty was content with the split but knows the importance of tonight’s match against CSU. “I expect CSU to be a battle like it always is,” Yerty said. “Sometimes records and scores don’t mean a lick when you’re talking about who’s right across the border.” 

Yerty added that the Border War prospect doesn’t really make a difference as far as the team being excited to play. “I don’t think it takes a lot to fire our team up on a regular basis and it certainly doesn’t take a lot to fire them up for CSU. Any time you can play a top-15 team that’s a natural rival you’re going to be fired up and they’re certainly ready.”

The Cowgirls are led by sophomore outside hitter Jodi Purdy who is averaging 3.30 kills per set. Senior outside hitter Lauren Whitney averages 2.61 kills a set and senior middle blocker JennaRae Jester leads the team with 1.37 blocks per set, according to Wyoming Athletics.

Senior outside hitter Danielle Minch leads CSU this season with 3.32 kills per set while redshirt sophomore middle blocker Megan Plourde averages 1.56 blocks per set to lead the Rams, according to CSU Athletics.

“I know that [CSU Head Coach] Tom Hilbert will have his team prepared,” Yerty said. “I know those seniors will want to avenge [their loss against New Mexico] last weekend. I know they’re getting ready for the postseason and fine-tuning things. We’re going to have to play at the very top of our game to beat CSU.”

Wyoming’s final regular season matches this season will be against BYU and Utah next week in Laramie.

Email: Zach Greubel 

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The Branding Iron is a Student Media project. Student Media gives University of Wyoming students valuable experience in writing, editing, advertising, sales, graphic design, photography and production through its publications with the guidance of professional staff members. If you find a mistake in an article, e-mail us at bi@uwyo.edu. We will make sure to torture the poor soul until it's corrected. Just kidding. We probably won't do anything, since we're busy studying for finals.

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With a crowd standing below and instruments in hand, the bands were ready to rock at this year’s Battle of the Bands in Cheyenne at the Old Community House in Lions Park.

One of the bands playing was a band from Laramie. 

Sorry No Sympathy, which has been playing together for about a year, consists of five members: lead vocalist Chase Corrigan, first guitarist Jesse Riter, second guitarist Trevor Kuma, drummer Blaise Turcato and bassist Sean Mcgee.

Sorry No Sympathy competed against five other bands this last Saturday night, and finished in third place.

Battle of the Bands was the first competition for the group. Wyoming’s Battle of the Bands is split into two tiers: the preliminary round and the final round, both held in Cheyenne.

The band was formed and named by Turcato and Corrigan. Riter followed close behind, and the three started out in Corrigan’s garage writing their first song, Riter said. 

“We then got our bass player, Shawn McGee, who moved down here from Cheyenne to play with us. Then we recently picked up “A Silent Demise”’s guitarist Trevor Kuma to play second guitar,” Riter said.

“Our band plays heavier music. I guess the genre we fit best into is metalcore,” Mcgee said. Metalcore is a fusion genre that blends aspects of metal and hardcore punk.

“Making it to finals was an amazing feeling. We were very honored and humbled to make it to the finals, because any other band could have easily made it,” Corrigan said.

“I think the best quote I heard was after we played our set. We were packing up all our equipment up into the van and this younger kid who was right in front of me while we were playing came up to me and said, ‘You guys have so much energy. That was one of the best live shows that I’ve seen in Cheyenne.’ I think that this quote really described Battle of the Bands that night, because all of us really gave it our all to put on a fun, energy-filled show,” Riter said.

The band used their energy to woo the crowd, and it was needed with the stiff competition at the event.

“The band that won is a full-time touring band, so needless to say they knew what they were doing. The band that took second was easily the most technical band that played, and everyone else was pretty experienced as well. Most, if not all, have toured across the country,” Turcato said.

Email:Davis Bonner 

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The Branding Iron is a Student Media project. Student Media gives University of Wyoming students valuable experience in writing, editing, advertising, sales, graphic design, photography and production through its publications with the guidance of professional staff members. If you find a mistake in an article, e-mail us at bi@uwyo.edu. We will make sure to torture the poor soul until it's corrected. Just kidding. We probably won't do anything, since we're busy studying for finals.

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The Cowboy and Cowgirl basketball teams started their seasons on positive notes notching home wins over the weekend.

The Cowgirls opened their season on Friday against the University of Denver Pioneers.  The game was a hard fought, defensive battle that the Cowgirls eventually won 64-58.

“That’s about as tough of an opener as you want to begin the year,” Cowgirl head coach Joe Legerski told Wyoming Athletics. 

“I thought the game was played extremely well. We talked at halftime that the first four minutes out of the break were very important. We came out with great energy and made a push from a four point to an 11 point lead. It got us into a comfort zone even though Denver made a couple of runs at us, and it really dictates how you want to play defense and what you want to do offensively.”

The stellar play of Cheyenne native Hilary Carlson willed the Cowgirls to victory.  Carlson posted a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Carlson was helped by senior guard Aubrey Vandiver, who added 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Sophomore forward Ashley Sickles came off the bench to add seven points of her own in 13 quality minutes. 

UW was outshot by the Pioneers, but their aggressive play ultimately won them the game, shooting 36 free throws to Denver’s 13.

The Cowboys dominated their season opener, beating the Division III Kean University Cougars 92-58 Saturday.

The Cowboys started the game slowly, going down 12-6 early in the game, but the Pokes went on a 21-2 run and never looked back. 

The Cowboys were led by senior forward Djibril Thiam, who scored a team-high 18 points while grabbing six rebounds. Junior forward Afam Muojeke played in his first game since a Jan. 20 knee injury forced him to miss the remainder of last season. Muojeke played well, scoring 14 points in just 11 minutes of action.

Making the best of his first career start, sophomore forward Amath M’Baye tied a career-high with 14 points. Sophomore guard Desmar Jackson also contributed to the dominating win, scoring 12 points and grabbing eight boards. 

The Cowboys defense limited the Cougars, allowing Kean to shoot only 31 percent from the field while the Cowboys shot 57 percent. 

The Cowboys defense forced Kean to commit 18 turnovers and limited their own turnovers to nine.

Email: Tyler Reese 

Branding Iron

The Branding Iron is a Student Media project. Student Media gives University of Wyoming students valuable experience in writing, editing, advertising, sales, graphic design, photography and production through its publications with the guidance of professional staff members. If you find a mistake in an article, e-mail us at bi@uwyo.edu. We will make sure to torture the poor soul until it's corrected. Just kidding. We probably won't do anything, since we're busy studying for finals.

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