Brigham Young
WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL: Amy Steele had 12 kills, Korie Rogers six blocks, and Angie Tanner 14 digs to lead BYU to a 15-6, 15-5, 15-10 sweep of the UTEP Lady Miners Friday night in El Paso.
The Cougars recorded 12 team blocks in the match, giving them 182 for the season, a new WAC record for team blocks in WAC matches only.
BYU, 19-6 on the season and 10-3 in the WAC, close out the conference season Saturday night against New Mexico in Albuquerque.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: The preseason for the BYU women's basketball team ended on a sour note with a 78-71 loss to the Portland Saints in Provo.
The Cougars were lead by Kari Gallup and Kim Anderson both scoring 16 points apiece. Kim Morris was also in double figures, hitting 15 points on the night.
BYU begins its regular season on the road, playing Southern Utah next Friday night in the Portland Tournament.
CROSS COUNTRY: Attention has focused on BYU's third-ranked women's cross country team, but the 14th-ranked Cougar men are not far behind as both ready for Monday's NCAA Championships.
The NCAA Championships for 300 runners begins at 11 a.m. for the men in an 18-team 10K race, followed by a 5K race for the women at noon with 20 teams. The races are contested on the newly-constructed million dollar course at Iowa State University in Ames.
BYU's men, ranked as high as ninth this season, qualified as one of three at-large teams after finishing third in last week's NCAA District Seven Championships in Salt Lake City behind third-ranked Colorado and seventh-ranked Northern Arizona. The Cougar women upset number one Colorado by a total of 13 seconds to earn an automatic berth.
The women's team, which won three of six meets this season, has upset top-ranked Colorado, third-ranked Michigan and beat 15th-ranked Arizona. BYU's women are currently ranked behind Providence and Oregon, respectively.
BASEBALL: Jeff Stone, a 6-1, 175, lefthanded pitcher from Taylorsville has signed a letter of intent to play for BYU.
"Jeff is one of the most outstanding pitchers in the Rocky Mountain area," said BYU Coach Gary Pullins. "He projects to be a great college pitcher and an outstanding professional prospect."
Stone, who helped Taylorsville High to third place last season in 5A, recently competed in the Doyle High School All-America Baseball Tournament at Peoria, Ariz.
BYU's baseball team, which logged a 36-25-1 record last season, opens its season Feb. 8 at Arizona State.
WRESTLING: BYU wrestling coach Mark Schultz will take a freshman dominated team into International competition Saturday of this week, participating in the Klansman Open in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The Saturday event will feature free style wrestling with many of the world's best wrestlers competing.
The new BYU coach is working with his first recruiting class this year and it is loaded with talented but inexperienced freshmen.
"We'll get a quick dose of reality at Vancouver," Schultz says, "but it will help as we prepare for Arizona State next week at home."
BYU hosts Arizona State on Saturday, November 25th at the Smith Fieldhouse. The Sun Devils are the third ranked team in the nation.
Utah
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: The 14th-ranked Colorado Buffaloes defeated Utah in an overtime thriller, 63-61, in second-round action of the Women's Preseason NIT Friday night at the Coors Events Center in Boulder, Colo.
LaShena Graham converted two free throws with 14 seconds left in overtime to give Colorado the victory over the Utes.
Graham, making her first career start, also made two free throws with 14 seconds left in regulation to give Colorado (2-0) a 55-52 lead. Utah's Julie Krommenhoek then hit a 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime.
Colorado had jumped out to a four-point advantage in overtimme, but the Utes cut the Buffalo lead to to two at 63-61 when Ammber McEwen banked in a shot off the glass with 2.3 secodns remmaining.
Colorado then was able to inbound the ball cleanly and preserve the win.
Erin Scholz had 14 points and 10 rebounds for Colorado, which scored 29 points off 28 Utah turnovers.
McEwen led Utah with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Colorado will play host to Texas A&M in a semifinal game Sunday. Texas A&M defeated Duke 83-73.
WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL: The University of Utah volleyball team lost to New Mexico, 14-16, 8-15, 13-15, to drop its record to 14-14 overall, 7-6 in WAC play.
The Utes were down by four for most of the first game, coming back to tie late in the game. Sophomore Brenda Barton had two service aces to start a four to one run, yet the Utes couldn't hold off the Lobos.
"We didn't take control, we didn't rise to the occasion or fight hard enough," said coach Beth Launiere.
In game two, the lone highlight for the Utes was a three point rally which closed the gap to two points. Early in game three, the Utes led 6-1 but New Mexico went on a 10-1 run and never looked back.
The Utes face a must-win situation at UTEP Sunday at 1 p.m.
Weber State
MEN'S GOLF: In the Rolex Collegiate Golf Rankings released November 8, the Weber State men's golf team has been ranked third in District Seven by the Rolex Collegiate Rankings administered by the College Golf Foundation.
Weber State follows the University of New Mexico and Fresno State in first and second place.
The University of Nevada and Boise State follow ranked in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Weber State's Rich DeRond was also ranked seventh in the Top Ten in District Seven.
Nationally, Weber State was ranked 44th among all teams in the nation and DeRond was ranked 96th of the top 100 golfers in the nation.
Southern Utah
FOOTBALL: Rick Bojak has declined an offer to become the new head football coach at Southern Utah University.
"I'm definitely going to stay at West Jordan," said the 1995 Utah Teacher of the Year. "My love for high schools and my love for education is too strong to make any changes right now."
Bojak, who is 93-46 as a Utah high school football coach with Jordan and West Jordan, is a former assistant coach with the Thunderbirds.
Utah Valley
MEN'S BASKETBALL: Former Alta High star Brad Willden poured in 24 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to lead Utah Valley State College to a 131-104 win over Baltimore City College Friday. Scott Benson had 21 points, and Derrick Elliott added 15 more to aid UVSC's cause. The Wolverines improved to 4-0 on the year.