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Show SPORTS B7 The house that Kjar built By Nate Gray Asst. Sports Editor am. Kira Terry/UVU Review Currently ranked No. 13 in the nation, senior Ben Kjar will finish up his collegiate wrestling career this spring. Much like how Yankee Stadium is nicknamed "The House That Ruth Built" due to his championship influence, The Activity Center should be called "The House That Kjar Built" when the mats are all rolled out. There is no denying how special senior Ben Kjar is when it comes to the UVU wrestling program and its ever-growing national exposure. Those who support and are involved with the program know and realize how lucky they all were to be a part of Kjar's wrestling career. "Ben has been instrumental for our program from day one," said Coach Greg Williams. "He was a highly recruited athlete out of high school, and typically, a new program [UVU] doesn't have an athlete like that come here. I think part of the reason he came here is because he liked the challenge to come here and help build up the program." Kjar would not only take on the challenge head on, but also exceed expectations and raise the bar for all present and future Wolverine wrestlers. "He is the one who has brought the standard up here, helping bring in better recruits that have made the team better as a whole, and he is also a great leader to them," said Williams. "He's a huge part of Utah Valley history now, where he will always be the starting point of building this program, and had he not come we would not be close to be where we are now." It's not every day that a coach can express feelings as strong as Williams did about Kjar and put the responsibility in the hands of an individual to be the foundation and starting point for any Division I program. Now, how does Kjar feel about all this? "It feels great. In life you don't get very many opportunities to help build something like this, and I've always had the same vision that he [Williams] had," said Kjar. "It's something really powerful to see that vision come together with the number of people that have come here and share our vision, and that has been what has made the vision a reality." The reality of it all is a perfect undefeated record at home — not only at UVU, but also all through high school and his entire wrestling career. "I love performing in front of a home crowd; there's nothing better than that," said Kjar. "For me, I feel like it's a way to give back to those who support you, and it means so much more if I can go out and give them a good show." Wrestling is a demanding sport where athletes spend hours upon hours working out and conditioning everyday. Walk into a practice and it won't take long to see the hard work and physical dedication these athletes have to endure to compete. But Kjar takes working out to a whole new level. "We workout, workout and workout physically, but how often does someone workout mentally?" said Kjar. "With a lot of time and effort comes success." Mental workouts are an everyday routine where Kjar has his goals written and posted all over the house and are focused on constantly. His wife and he will also use positive communication at home where they speak in a future tense talking about everything he has accomplished. His wife always tells Kjar that she is "a loving and supporting wife of a National Champion wrestler." All-American and National Champion are goals Kjar has set for himself, and thus far this season, he's right on track to reach them. "The more I put that in front of me, the more it helps me focus. The goal not written down is only a dream," said Kjar. Sports Briefs UVU's Isiah Williams named Great West Conference Player of the Week NAPERVILLE, Ill. — Utah Valley University's Isiah Williams has been named the Great West Conference Player of the Week after leading the Wolverines to two conference road wins last week. The award was announced on Feb. 7 by the league office. Williams scored a careerhigh 33 points in an 88-84 win at Texas-Pan American on Feb. 3 and followed that with a 24-point effort in a 73-66 win at Houston Baptist on Feb. 5. "Isiah had a great road trip to Texas," said UVU coach Dick Hunsaker. "Personally, I think his play has been deserving of player of the week numerous times this year." Williams tied a school record, with at least 10 attempts, by hitting 70 percent (7-of-10) from the 3-point line in the win at UTPA on Feb. 3. He was 6-of-9 from beyond the arc and scored 24 in the win at HBU on Feb. 5, helping the Wolverines to a 6-1 record so far in Great West play, including a 4-1 road record in conference. The junior guard had an average of 28.5 points the week of Jan. 31 while hitting 13-of-19 (68.4 percent) from 3-point range. He is currently second among all Great West players with 18.0 points per game overall this year and 21.9 per game in GWC games. UVU Softball selected as preseason favorites in the Great West Conference NAPERVILLE, Ill. — The Great West Conference softball coaches have selected Utah Valley as favorites to win the 2011 conference softball championship. The preseason poll was announced on Feb. 8 by the league office. Utah Valley received two first-place votes and a total of 13 points, just edging out North Dakota and South Dakota, who finished right behind with 12 and 11 points, respectively. The defending champions, the Fighting Sioux, received the other two first-place votes. Houston Baptist rounded out the poll with four points. The 2011 Great West Conference champion will be crowned at the GWC Softball Tournament held May 15-16 at Vermillion, S .D., and will be hosted by South Dakota. Houston Baptist will host a cluster event to determine GWC tournament seeding on March 25-27 at Farmers Branch, Texas. A week ago, the Wolverines were also selected to finished third in the Pacific Coast Softball Conference (PCSC) Mountain Division. UVU opened its 2011 season Saturday, Feb. 12 when the Wolverines played a 3-game series at the University of New Mexico. The win for Morrill was his third over a ranked opponent on the season, and it kept his undefeated streak alive in the 2011 calendar year. The Wolverine senior is 18-7 on the season and a perfect 6-0 in duals. The conference honor is Morrill's first of his career. The Western Wrestling Conference, which is in its fifth year of competition, is comprised of seven schools, including Air Force Academy, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa, South Dakota State, Utah Valley and Wyoming. Keep up on UVU sports online at www.wolverinegreen.com Lady Wolverine Sammie Jensen named GWC Player of the Week NAPERVILLE, - Utah Valley's Sammie Jensen has been honored as the Great West Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week after an outstanding individual perUVU grappler Justin formance the week of Jan. Morril named WWC 31, the conference office anWrestler of the Week nounced on Feb 8. Jensen, a sophomore OREM, Utah from Stansbury Park, Utah, 141-pounder Utah Valley averaged a double-double University senior Justin in two road wins Feb. 3 and Morrill (Logan, Utah/Moun- 5 over GWC foes Texastain Crest HS) has been Pan American and Houston named the Western Wres- Baptist. Jensen averaged 22 tling Conference Wrestler of points and 15.5 rebounds to the Week after an outstand- lead UVU to their first two ing performance on the mat conference victories of the during the week of Jan. 31. season. The forward went This was announced by the 17-for-29 (58.6 percent) league office on Feb. 8. from the floor, 4-for-9 (44.4 UVU's dual against the percent) from beyond the arc No. 9 ranked Boise State and a perfect 6-for-6 from Broncos on Feb. 4 began the foul line. Jensen now at 141-pound weight class, has 10 double-doubles for and Morrill got the Wolver- the season, and the 23 points ines off to a good start as he at HBU on Feb. 5 was a cadefeated No. 15 Levi Jones reer-high for the sophomore 5-4 in 20T. The match was transfer. tied at four-all at the end of Others nominated were regulation. In the first sud- Courtney Waldon (F) of den victory overtime, Mor- Chicago State, Megan Green rill had a chance for a late (G) of Houston Baptist, Jestakedown, but he ran out of sica Gerald (G) of NJIT, time before he could secure Mallory Youngblut (G) of it as the bout went to a sec- North Dakota, Amber Hegond overtime. Morrill man- ge (F) of South Dakota and aged to score however in Ce'Monay Newell (F) of the tiebreaker period, when Texas-Pan American. he broke Jones' hold and The weekly honor is Jenpicked up an escape point to sen's second of the season. win the contest. • RUN IN DRY SHOES. Arc NO SNOW INDOOR 5K. 5K Indoor Run/Walk Register early at Campus Connection. February 26th, 2011, 9:00 am, Center Stage Registration begins at 8:00 am UTAH VALLEY UVU UNIVERSITY Registration is $10 in advance, $15 day of the race. FREE t-shirt and FREE pancake breakfast after the race! All proceeds will go to the UVU Habitat for Humanity House. Call 863-8786 with any questions. 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