UtahCROSS COUNTRY: Utah's Travis Hildebrand and Johanna Nielsen were given at-large invitations to compete in the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Nov. 22 in Bloomington, Ind. Along with Chris Merkley who qualified last Saturday by placing seventh at the Mountain Regional, the Utah cross-country team will send three runners to the national championships.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: The Utes open their home schedule Saturday at the Huntsman Center when they host Washington State at 3 p.m.
Utah has won six of the seven meetings with Washington State, including the last six. Utah is 2-0 at home vs. Washington State, 3-0 in Pullman, Wash., and 1-1 at a neutral site. In their last meeting on Dec. 10, 1998 in Pullman, Wash., Utah claimed victorious as it held onto a 81-70 win in overtime.
SMITH HONORED: Utah wide receiver/punt returner Steve Smith has received a Compaq National Play of the Week award for the third time this year, this time for a punt return for a touchdown against New Mexico on Nov. 13.
Smith, who previously won the national award for best punt return and most unusual play, picked up his third such honor for a 52-yard punt return in which he fought through several tacklers, losing his shoe in the meantime, and scored his second punt return touchdown of the day. His first was a 70-yard touchdown run.
Utah State
WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL: USU will travel to Stockton, Calif., to face the fifth-ranked Pacific Tigers in the Big West Conference Championship match. The Tigers advanced to the championship match with a four-game victory at Long Beach State in the final match of the regular season. Match-time is slated for 8 p.m. (MST) in the Alex G. Spanos Center (6,150) on the campus of the University of Pacific. All-time, USU is 4-19 vs. Pacific.
Weber State
CROSS COUNTRY: Weber State's men's cross-country team has received one of 13 at-large berths to the 1999 NCAA Division One Championships on Monday, Nov. 22, in Bloomington, Ind. The meet has 18 automatic berths, which are the first and second place teams from each NCAA Region. Southern Utah University and the University of Colorado captured the Mountain Region automatic berths last weekend in Fort Collins, Colo.
For the Wildcats, it will be the 5th trip to the nationals as a team in the 1990s. They finished 4th in 1991 (236 points); 10th in 1997 (278 points); 14th in 1990 (322 points); and 17th (376 points) in 1994.
SLCC
BASKETBALL: The Bruins' men's basketball team defeated Western Wyoming 92-74 Tuesday night to improve to 4-1 on the season. Sophomore David Hancey led SLCC with 19 points. The women's team improved to 3-3 on the season with a 89-55 victory over Western Wyoming as Tara Cook scored 20 points.
UVSC
WOMEN'S SOCCER: The UVSC women's soccer team has been invited to the 1999 NIRSA National Tournament which begins this week in Statsboro, Ga. UVSC finished the regular season with a 9-3 record.