PROVO — Some BYU teams earned their bragging rights out on the field of competition last fall. Those who did not will have to settle for bragging rights in the classroom while they prepare for next season.
BYU landed 74 athletes on the Fall 2005 Academic All-Mountain West Conference Student Athlete Team, more than any other school in the conference.
More than half of the selections, 42, were underclassmen.
First-Team All-MWC selections John Beck and Jonny Harline were among 30 players selected from the football team, which led all BYU teams in the number of athletes named to the list.
The women's soccer team was next with 15 players named to the team, including freshman phenom Jessica Aquino, who was fourth on the team in total points with 12, and stalwart goalkeeper Erika Woodbury, who logged a .852 save percentage last season.
The women's cross country team landed 13 runners on the list, including the two BYU student-athletes with the highest grade point averages, MWC Freshman of the Year Amy Fowler (3.94) and sophomore Amber Duffin (3.93). MWC Runner of the Year Heidi Magill and All-MWC First-Team selections Chelsea Smith-McKell, Breanne Sandberg and Anne Heiner also made the list.
The men's cross country team was next with 10 runners on the list, including two-time All-American and MWC Runner of the Year Josh Rohatinsky. All-MWC First-Team runners Dustin Bybee and Joshua McAdams earned honors, as did MWC Freshman of the Year Jacob Gustafsson.
The women's volleyball team contributed seven members to the list, including hitting leaders Chelsea Goodman, Lindsy Hartsock and Rachel Dyer.
To be named to the conference academic team, student athletes needed to maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better for at least one term and make significant contributions to their respective teams.
A total of 362 student-athletes made the team. Utah was second with 58 student-athletes. Wyoming was third with 47, followed by New Mexico (35), UNLV (34), Air Force (33), Colorado State (31), TCU (27) and San Diego State.
HOCKEY: The Provo IceCats' season ended on a bittersweet note with two losses in the American Collegiate Hockey Association Western Regional Tournament last weekend.
In the first game, the IceCats fell to Eastern Washington in overtime, 5-4. It was the team's third overtime game against Eastern Washington this year — and second overtime loss.
In the second game, Provo suffered a disappointing 6-3 loss to USC, a team the IceCats had already beaten this season.
Despite the losses, the team is proud of a strong turnaround after a poor start to the season, one that saw the team climb to a No. 8 ranking in the region and qualify for postseason play for the first time in team history.
The IceCats were able to qualify because of a change in playoff format that allowed the top 10 teams in the region to compete for berths in the national tournament, as opposed to the previous format of automatically qualifying the top four teams.
RUGBY: The BYU men's rugby team swept last weekend's Red Rock Tournament in St. George, running its record to 4-0 and starting the season in convincing fashion.
Since opening the season two weeks ago with a 30-10 win over Cal-Poly SLO, BYU has outscored opponents by a combined total of 218-20, including an 81-0 lambasting of Colorado State on Saturday.
All four wins have come on the road, an important way to begin the season for a team that will be playing the majority of its games this season away from home.
The Cougars will be on the road again this week, at Air Force tonight and Colorado on Saturday, before returning home next Saturday for one of just three home games this season, a crucial match with rival Utah.
E-mail: jtwitchell@desnews.com