Brigham Young
MEN'S TENNIS COACH RETIRES: BYU men's athletic director Val Hale announced Monday that men's head tennis coach Jim Osborne will retire from coaching at the end of the 2002-03 season. Osborne, a former member of the U.S. Davis Cup Team, has coached the Cougars for the past 15 seasons.
Hale also announced that assistant men's tennis coach, Brad Pearce, has been hired as the new head coach. He will take over the program for the 2003-04 season.
Utah
GYMNASTICS: Following its final home meet of 2003, for which it drew 9,827 fans, Utah won its 20th national gymnastics attendance championship in the past 22 years.
Utah's average for six home meets in 2003 was 9,851. Georgia drew 9,176 for seven meets, and Alabama 8,120 for five home meets.
Since 1992, Utah has not drawn an average below 9,500, and it has averaged more than 10,000 a meet for a 10-year period — more than any other team has averaged for any one season.
Utah State
ATHLETE OF WEEK: Aggie forward Desmond Penigar was named Utah State's Athlete of the Week, it was announced on Monday. The honor is selected by a local media panel.
Penigar, a senior from Upland, Calif., led Utah State to its third Big West Conference Championship in the last four years with wins against Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine and Cal Poly. For his play, Penigar was named tournament MVP.
Southern Utah
BASEBALL: The baseball team (3-4) opens an 11-game homestand this weekend with a four-game series against Northwest Nazarene (2-13) in a pair of doubleheaders this Friday and Saturday in Cedar City. Both twin bills will feature a nine and seven-inning game and will start at 12 noon (MST) at Thunderbird Park (500) on the SUU campus.
WOMEN'S TENNIS: The tennis team (1-4) swings back into action this weekend with three dual matches in northern California. The T-Birds will open play Thursday at San Jose State, followed by dual matches Friday at Dominican University and Saturday at San Francisco.
GYMNASTICS: The gymnastics team travels to Boise State Friday before hosting BYU Monday in the Thunderbirds' final two meets before they host the Western Gymnastics Conference Meet, March 29.
The Thunderbirds are coming off two of their best meets of the season, a 195.875 at Brigham Young March 7, and a 195.375 at Utah State March 10. The 'Birds went 4-1 in the two meets while setting three team records and twice tying an individual record. In addition both team scores rank among SUU's all-time top-10.