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Show SCfiMLtah,Sjtatesj|ianSports ARCHIVES OF "STUFF" WWW.UTAHSTATESMAN.COM While you were gone A closer look at summer Aggie athletic highlights Track sends eight to nationals Weston named firstteam all-WAC BY G. CHRISTOPHER TERRY Senior Wriler BY G. CHRISTOPHER TERRY Senior Writer It was another successful season for track and field coach Greg Gensell and his team. On May 14, the men's team placed second and the women's team third at the WAC championships in Hawaii. Sprinter DJ Smith won the 100-meters with a time of 10.51, while freshman Clint Silcock won the high jump. Senior Trevor Ball put a finishing brush stroke on his career at Utah State by winning the 5,000-meters. Amber Judd's second-place finishes in the 200-meter and 400-meter hurdles led the women's side. Although Gensell qualified his remarks by saying the Aggies were used to winning conference championships outright in the Big West, he said the showing was "not bad for our first year in the WAC." The Aggies followed up their strong performance by coming out at the NCAA regionals and faring well enough to send a schoolrecord eight athletes on to the NCAA championships. Ball tore up the field again, •running a 14:58.80 to finish eighth in the 5,000. Junior Jennifer Twitchell and Kristen Guymon, a senior, also dominated at the regionals, placingfirstand second respectively in the 1,500-meters. "There's different things to measure by," Gensell said when asked if it was the best season yet of his career at USU. "If you measure it by .. how we did at the NCAA regionals, it was the best regional meet we've ever had." On the men's side, the three record-setting qualifiers were Smith, steeplechaser Vance Twitchell and senior Justin Wickard competing in the 110-meter hurdles. The other five qualifiers were women, which is a school record in its own right. The five women were Guymon and Twitchell in the 1,500, Judd in the 400 hurdles, Lacey Hulbert in the heptathlon and Stacey Lifferth in steeplechase. The highest finishers at After being named firstteam all-WAC last year, senior forward Charity Weston has been named to the preseason all-WAC team. Weston led the Ags in goals and assists last year. "Charity is one of our team captains as well as our leading returning scorer and is definitely a big part of our attack," USU head coach Heather Cairns said. "With this honor, the coaches in the conference recognize how dangerous of a player she can be." Weston is currently third on USU s all-time assist board, two behind Amber Tracy's record 11. She is also sixth on the all-time goals ranking with 10. On Aug. 19, the Aggies tied Dixie State 1-1 despite out-shooting them 24-13 in the exhibition game. -graham@cc.usu.edu Six gymnasts honored for their smarts BY G. CHRISTOPHER TERRY Senior Writer iyier Larson/tmiarsoniaccusu.eau JUNIOR SPRINTER DJ SMITH blows past a fellow sprinter from Southern Utah University during a season meet. Smith won the 100-meters at the WAC regional meet with a time of 10.51. the NCAA tournament were Hulbert, Lifferth and Vance Twitchell, who all finished 21st. Hulbert was as high as 10th entering the final day of competition, but fell behind by the end. Five of the eight qualifiers are returning for Gensell this year: Smith, Judd, Lifferth and Jennie and Vance Twitchell. Gensell said he places a high degree of importance on academics for his athletes, a commitment rewarded by both the men's and women's team being honored by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. "The main reason the kids come here is to get an education," Gensell said. "One of the things we as a staff decided early on is that we were going to stress that USU to participate in Bracketbusters event BY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS The fifth annual BracketBusters event, a two-day men's college basketball extravaganza pitting potential NCAA Tournament hopefuls against each other on February 16-17, will feature 13 nationally televised games selected from an expanded pool of 102 teams. The field is highlighted by the return of last year's BracketBusters participants George Mason and Wichita State, a Final Four and Sweet Sixteen team, respectively, who met in last year's event and the NCAA Tournament. Last year's field included a potential 100 teams (vying for 13 BracketBusters games), while the 2005 event featured 64 teams (vying for 11 BracketBusters games). For the second consecutive year, the event will feature five BracketBusters games exclusively on ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network, and two on ESPN360, ESPN's customized broadband service. ESPN2 will televise six contests. The 13 BracketBusters matchups will be announced January 29, while game time and network assignments will be announced February 5. BracketBusters, named because of the success of the teams in NCAA Tournament play over the past few years, will provide the 26 televised teams an opportunity to play other top non-conference opponents three weeks prior to Selection Sunday. The 102-team field will feature 12 teams from the Mid-American Conference and Colonial Athletic; 11 from the Ohio Valley Conference; 10 from the Missouri Valley and Metro Atlantic Athletic; nine from the Western Athletic Conference and Horizon League; eight from the Big West; four the Big Sky and Southern; three from the Big South and Patriot; two from the America East, MidContinent and Southland; and San Francisco from the West Coast Conference. As part of the agreement, all 13 of the BracketBusters home teams, as well as the remaining 38 home squads, will play a "return" game at the home facility of their opponent in November or December of the following season. aspect of the student-athlete." Only two other women's WAC teams received the prestigious academic honor, and only two others from the state: Weber State and the University of Utah. Kathryn Duhadway, Tiffany Strickland, Judd, Guymon, Lifferth and Twitchell were named to the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Women's All-Academic Track and Field Team. On the men's side, Ball and Twitchell were named USTFCCCA All-Academic Track & Field. USU was the only men's WAC program to receive the academic recognition. -graham @ cc. usu. edu PIKERS From page 9 of polished. They're further along than we are at this point of the season because they have more experience than we do." Amanda Nielson, with 15 kills, was the only Aggie to record double figures. Nielson also found the spotlight in her team's three-game victory over the Highlanders. She recorded 20 kills and seven digs. DuBose noted it was a positive thing to see players like Nielson come through in learning the new system he has implimented. "Just to see the lightbulb go off was kind of fun," he said. Kelsi Peterson recorded 11 digs to lead USU. The Aggies will not be in action again until Sept. 2 when they travel to another tournament — this time to the Cal State Northridge Tournament — where they will play two games. -sbhislop@cc.usu.edu Do you like sports? If so, become a sports writer. Visit The Statesman offices today inTSClOS USU s gymnastics team's cumulative GPA of 3.3669 was good enough for 19th in the country and six Aggies were named Academic AllAmericans. Meagan Lewis and Rachel Mandy both earned 3.93 GPA averages to lead the team. Liesel Kohler had a 3.83, Sarah Johnson had a 3.68, Ashley Barr had a 3.67 and Jessica Parenti had a 3.59. -graham@cc.u-su.edu HAIRCUT HAIRCUT QQ Er-HS %S S WFtl [WIIH r: U*y Ji.2006 ik GrcacClips for hair" i^Great Clips for haiir I We're not doctors, but we ^ | canfixyour depression. | ^ ^ If you are in a feniler bonder, please call on the best. We specialize in beinji the best when your day is the worst. ^ ^ *Tovving Services • Collision Repair -We work with all Insurance Companies | Fast • Friendly • Reliable ^ j ^ ^ ^ 752-0525 | 50 E. 1000 No. | le^fci/ 'Village Apartments Resort Style Community -Spacious floor plans •24-hour fitness center Laundry facilities -Pool & year-round hot tub Professsional office atmosphere Convenient location | Now accepting applications for 2 & 3-bedroom apartments. Mention this ad and get the FIRST MONTH FREE! 752-2272 WHAT IS HOT-N- READT? Lof3« cheese or peppercpl pirns hot butofthe, overf and when you ami LARGE PIZZA |
