PROVO — The 2006-07 season was a memorable one for BYU athletics as the Cougars claimed numerous achievements and awards, including 14 Mountain West Conference titles.
"When you see all of the awards and accomplishments achieved by our teams and student-athletes, it really was an amazing season," said BYU athletics director Tom Holmoe.
Fourteen of the 19 BYU teams that compete in the MWC picked up championship titles this year. It is the first time since the 1978-79 season that football, men's basketball and women's basketball won outright regular-season league titles in the same year.
Gymnastics and men's volleyball, which do not compete in the MWC, also achieved success. Men's volleyball, ranked No. 1 several weeks throughout the season, finished second in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Gymnastics followed suit, advancing to NCAA Regionals and ranking as high as No. 19.
The Cougars were well-represented at the national level. The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics ranked BYU No. 26 in its Directors' Cup Standings, the highest-ranked school from a non-automatic BCS-qualifying conference.
Ten teams earned a top-25 final national ranking, with men's volleyball ranking the highest at No. 4. Other top-25 finishes/rankings include men's cross country (No. 8), women's soccer (No. 14), football (No. 15), women's golf (No. 16), men's golf (No. 17), women's cross country (No. 17), women's volleyball (No. 20), women's track and field (No. 21) and men's basketball (No. 24). Eighteen teams advanced to their respective postseason championships, with 17 teams qualifying for the NCAA tournament. Football proved its postseason success defeating the University of Oregon 38-8 in the Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl.
Several individual accomplishments by student-athletes contributed to the Cougars' success. Thirty-four athletes were named All-Americans in their respective sports. Josh Rohatinsky was named Division I men's cross country athlete of the year after winning the national championship, and second-round NFL Draft pick John Beck was ranked second in the nation for passing efficiency.
Additional national achievements included Niklas Arrhenius winning the NCAA championship in the discus and men's volleyball player Yamil Perez being named AVCA national newcomer of the year.
BYU's success in the MWC was evident with 156 athletes being named All-MWC, 10 of whom also received MWC Player/Athlete of the Year. Those honored with the award included Jesse Craig (baseball), Keena Young (men's basketball),
Dani Wright (women's basketball), Josh Rohatinsky (men's cross country), Kassi Andersen (women's cross country), John Beck (football), Rachel Newren (women's golf), Brandon Watson (men's diving), Jodi Norton (softball) and Brett Allen (men's swimming).
Beyond the success on the field, the Cougars also excelled in the classroom. Leading the entire conference, 154 BYU student-athletes earned Academic All-MWC honors with 141 named scholar athletes.
The student-athletes were not the only ones to receive recognition. Eleven BYU coaches were named MWC coach of the year, including football coach Bronco Mendenhall, who also received the American Football Coaches Association Region V Coach of the Year Award.
Others receiving MWC coach-of-the-year honors include Dave Rose (men's basketball), Jeff Judkins (women's basketball), Bruce Brockbank (men's golf), Sue Nyhus (women's golf), Keith Russell (diving), Craig Manning (women's tennis), Mark Robison (men's track and field), Craig Poole (women's track and field), Patrick Shane (women's cross country) and Ed Eyestone (men's cross country).
Baseball
TEAM: 37-20 overall, 17-7 MWC ... First in NCAA in triples (34) ... First in MWC statistical rankings in batting average (.313), ERA (3.93), triples (34), stolen bases (109), earned runs (225) and double plays (60) ... Set MWC records in triples, all games (34); triples, MWC games (19); stolen bases, all games (109); stolen bases, MWC games (41); ERA, all games (3.88); ERA, MWC games (4.22).
INDIVIDUALS:Leon Johnson ranked 23rd in NCAA in stolen bases (29) ... MWC statistical leaders included Jesse Craig (2.94 ERA and 125.1 innings pitched); Johnson (29 stolen bases); and J.T. Musso (six runners picked off) ... All-America honorees were Craig and Steve Parker (Ping!Baseball third team and freshman, respectively) ... Craig was named MWC pitcher of the year and Parker MWC co-freshman of the year.
Men's basketball
TEAM: 25-9 overall, 13-3 MWC ... MWC regular-season champion, second in MWC tournament, ranked 24th in final AP national ranking ... NCAA Top 25 statistical rankings: fifth in 3-point percentage (.415); 10th in FG percentage (.491); 13th in FG defense (.338); 18th in rebounding margin (plus-6.2); 24th in scoring offense (78.1) and 25th in scoring margin (plus-9.0) ... MWC statistical leader (all games/conference games) in assists (542/268), scoring offense (78.1/78.9), FG percentage (.415/.457), 3-point percentage (.415/.457) ... also MWC statistical leader in all games in rebounding margin (plus-6.2), defensive rebounds (859) and rebounding average (37.4) ... MWC statistical leader in conference games in scoring margin (plus-9.7) and assist/turnover ratio (1.3) ... set MWC records in total points in a season (1,263), field goals made in MWC games (459) and assists in MWC games (268 — tied record) ... BYU records set in season 3-pointers (256), game 3-pointers (15) and largest margin of victory (62 points in 102-40 win over Western Oregon).
INDIVIDUALS: Mike Rose tied his own school record with eight 3-pointers in a game ... Keena Young became the 36th member of the Cougars' 1,000 Point Club ... Young also earned AP All-America honorable mention recognition and first-team USBWA and NABC all-district honors ... MWC honors included Young, player of the year and first-team selection; Dave Rose, coach of the year; Jonathan Tavernari, freshman of the year; Trent Plaisted, second team;Lee Cummard, third team; Austin Ainge, honorable mention.
Women's basketball
TEAM: 23-10 overall, 12-4 MWC ... MWC regular-season champion, runner-up in MWC tournament ... 17th in NCAA in FG percentage defense (.357) ... set school attendance record with 4,018 vs. Utah on Feb. 28, 2007 ... MWC statistical leader (all games/conference games) in assists (512/257), FG percentage (.432/.436) and FG percentage defense (.357/.362).
INDIVIDUAL: Mallary Gillespie finished third in NCAA in 3-pointers per game (2.30), and Dani Wright fifth in FG percentage (.594) ... MWC statistical leaders included Melinda Johnsen, assist/turnover ratio (2.19) and Wright, FG percentage (.594) ... Wright received AP All-America honorable mention recognition ... MWC honors included Wright, player of the year and first-team selection; Jeff Judkins, coach of the year; Gillespie, second team; Johnson and Lauren Riley, honorable mention.
Men's cross country
TEAM: MWC champion, runner-up at NCAA Mountain Regionals, 11th at NCAA Championships, eighth in final national ranking.
INDIVIDUALS: Josh Rohatinsky won the NCAA championship, as well as the NCAA Mountain Regional and MWC individual titles. He was the Division I men's athlete of the year and All-America honoree ... MWC honors included Rohatinsky, runner of the year and first-team selection; Ed Eyestone, coach of the year; Kyle Perry, Chandler Goodwin and Dustin Bybee, first team; Jacob Gustafsson and Alden Bahr, second team.
Women's cross country
TEAM: First at MWC championships, third at NCAA Mountain Regionals and 22nd at NCAA Championships ... Ranked 17th in final national ranking ... Team was ranked No. 1 nationally in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Division I All-Academic rankings.
INDIVIDUALS:Kassi Andersen finished sixth at the NCAA championships, earning All-America honors. She also won the MWC individual title, received all-MWC first-team recognition and was named MWC runner of the year ... Other MWC honors included Patrick Shane, coach of the year; Amber Duffin and Amy Fowler, first team; Breanne Sandberg and Anne Heiner, second team.
Football
TEAM: 11-2 overall, 8-0 MWC ... Regular-season MWC champion ... defeated Oregon 38-8 in the Las Vegas Bowl ... Final national rankings included 15th in USA Today/ESPN coaches poll and 16th in AP Top 25 ... Top 25 national statistical rankings included second in passing efficiency (167.08); fourth in turnover margin (1.08), in passing offense (323.54) and total offense (465.46); fifth in scoring offense (36.77); 10th in scoring defense (14.69), 14th in sacks allowed (1.31); 16th in pass efficiency defense (106.23); and 20-th in punt returns (12.87). Ranked first in MWC in passing offense, total offense, scoring offense, turnover margin and passing efficiency.
INDIVIDUALS: Top 25 NCAA statistical leaders included John Beck (second in passing efficiency, 169.05; fourth in total offense, 323.08), Curtis Brown (eighth in all-purpose yards, 143.38), Jared McLaughlin (18th in scoring, 7.69) and Nathan Meikle (24th in punt returns, 11.17) ... MWC statistical leaders included Beck (pass efficiency, total offense), McLaughlin (field goals, 7.69) and Brown (all-purpose yards) ... Brown became BYU's all-time rushing leader in '07 ... Receiving All-America honors were Jonny Harline (first team — The Sporting News, CBS Sportsline, SportsIllustrated.com; third team — AP), Beck (second team — The Sporting News; honorable mention — SportsIllustrated.com), Jan Jorgensen (third-team freshman — The Sporting News), Jake Kuresa (honorable mention — SportsIllustrated.com) ... MWC honors included Beck, player of the year and first-team selection; Bronco Mendenhall, coach of the year; Harline, Kuresa and Cameron Jensen, first team; McLaughlin, Meikle, Sete Aulai and Quinn Gooch, second team; Bryan Kehl, honorable mention ... Mendenhall was also AFCA Region 5 coach of the year.
Men's golf
TEAM: MWC champion and 17th at NCAA Championships.
INDIVIDUALS: Daniel Summerhays tied for fourth at the NCAA Championships, finished 11th in the NCAA statistical rankings and earned PING first-team All-America honors ... He tied an NCAA 18-hole record with a 10-under round at the PING/Golfweek preview meet in Virginia ... Joining Summerhays on the all-region team were Jake Ellison, Clay Ogden, Nick Becker and Robbie Fillmore, with Bruce Brockbank named region coach of the year ... MWC honors included Fillmore, freshman of the year; Brockbank, coach of the year; and Summerhays, Ogden and Ellison as all-MWC.
Women's golf
TEAM: Second at the MWC championships, fifth at the NCAA West regionals and 17th at the NCAA Championships ... ranked 16th in NCAA statistical rankings.
INDIVIDUALS:Rachel Newren was named second-team All-America by the National Golf Coaches Association and the MWC golfer of the year ... Other MWC honors included Sue Nyhus, coach of the year; Newren, Juli Erekson and Natalia Jiminez, all-MWC.
Gymnastics
TEAM: Fourth-place finish at the NCAA North Central Regional ... Finished 28th in the final NCAA rankings.
INDIVIDUALS:Dayna Smart placed 22nd in the beam and 25th on the vault in the final NCAA statistical rankings ... Alethea Boon scored the seventh-highest BYU score on the vault (9.950), while Smart recorded the second-highest on the floor (9.975) and eighth on the beam (9.950).
Women's soccer
TEAM: 13-3-4 overall and 4-1-2 MWC ... Second place in the MWC regular season, ranked sixth in the region and 17th nationally ... Top 25 NCAA statistics rankings included 12th in goals-against average (.524), 16th in shutout percentage (.6), 19th in won-lost-tied percentage (.75) and 20th in save percentage (.853) ... MWC statistical leader in shots (338, 16.9 per game), fewest goals allowed (11, .55), goals-against average (11, .52), shutouts (12), corner kicks (131, 6.55) and offsides (44, 2.20) ... set a school attendance record with 4, 742 on Sept. 8.
INDIVIDUALS:Erika Woodbury was 13th nationally in goals-against average (.52) ... She led the MWC in goals-against average, shutouts (12) and shutouts per game (.60) ... Katie Larkin tied for the MWC lead in shots (68) ... Woodbury's 12 shutouts is BYU season record; she also set the career saves mark at 188 ... Larkin received third-team All-America honors (NSCAA/adidas, Soccer Times, Soccer America), while Andrea Willis was a third-team freshman honoree by NSCAA/adidas ... All-region honors included Larkin, first team; Jessica Harmon, second team; Willis, freshman ... MWC awards included Willis, co-freshman of the year; Larkin, Woodbury, Harmon and Natalie Nate, first team; Willis, second team.
Softball
TEAM: 43-20 overall, 16-4 MWC ... MWC regular-season championship ... finished 2-2 in NCAA Tournament action ... Ranked second in NCAA in home runs per game (1.38) and third in slugging percentage (.528) ... MWC statistical leader in batting average (.314), runs (360), slugging percentage, hits (535), RBI (326) and home runs (87). Set a season school record in home runs and added a BYU-best 16-game winning streak.
INDIVIDUALS:Jodi Norton ranked fourth nationally in home runs per game (.37) and 19th in slugging percentage (.766) ... Jennifer Whitely was 21st nationally with a .416 batting average ... MWC statistical leaders included Whitely (batting average, 82 hits), Norton (slugging percentage, 59 RBI, 23 home runs and 141 total bases) and Christina Gwyn (34 games started) ... Norton set a single-season record for home runs and Whitely a career mark with 13 triples ... Easton named Norton to its All-America second team and Whitely to its third team. The two were first-team all-region honorees, with Emi Snow a second-teamer ... MWC honors included Norton, player of the year and first-team selection, with Whitely, Snow, Angeline Quiocho and Christie Zinanti.
Men's swimming
TEAM: 6-1 overall, 4-1 MWC ... MWC regular-season champion and runner-up at MWC Championships ... Finished 25th at NCAA Championships ... 400-meter freestyle relay was ranked 15th in the nation and the 200 free relay 16th ... Ranking top in the MWC among relay squads were the 200-free relay and the 200 medley relay.
INDIVIDUALS: NCAA Top 25 ranked individuals included Brandon Watson (fifth, 3-meter dive, 16th, 1-meter dive), Brett Allen (14th, 50 free) and Jorge Azevedo (23rd, 100 fly) ... First in the MWC statistical rankings were Watson (1- and 3-meter diving), Allen (50 and 100 free) and Azevedo (100 fly) ... Allen set BYU and MWC records in the 50 free and Azevedo a BYU mark in the 100 fly ... All-America honorees included first-teamers Watson (3-meter dive) and Allen (50 free) and second-teamers Watson (1-meter dive) and Allen, Azevedo, Chris Patience and Travis Price (all 200 free and 400 free relays) ... MWC honors included Keith Russell, dive coach of the year; Watson, diver of the year; Allen, swimmer of the year; and Allen, Azevedo, Patience, Price, Watson, Zach Anderson, Kenny Clark, Chad Fong, Neal Hamilton, Jacoby Jacobsen and Jeffrey Su, all-MWC.
Women's swimming
TEAM: 10-1 overall, 7-1 MWC ... MWC regular-season runner-up, first place at MWC Championships, 40th place at NCAA Championships ... First in MWC statistical rankings in 400 medley relay, 400 free relay and 800 free relay ... Set BYU and MWC marks in the 400 free relay (3:22.47) and 400 medley relay (3:42.76)
INDIVIDUALS:Angela Goodson was ranked 15th nationally in the 100 fly and 22nd in the 200 fly ... Goodwin was ranked first in the MWC in those two events, as well as the 200 IM. Also tops in the MWC statistical rankings were Natasha Menezes (500 free) and Brittany Davis-Burk (100 back, 200 back) ... Goodson set BYU and MWC records in the 100 fly and 200 fly and earned second-team All-America honors ... MWC honors included Stan Crump, swim coach of the year, Keith Russell, dive coach of the year, Davis-Burk, senior swimmer of the year, and Davis-Burk, Goodson, Menezes, Jamie Bloom, Kristy Ferrell, Whitney Hall, Ava Jackman, Tawni Jones, Celleigh McHenry, Angela Nelson, Tara Patience, Leilani Roberts, Sarah Woodbury and Emily Woods, all-MWC.
Men's tennis
TEAM: 14-14 overall, 2-4 MWC ... Fifth in MWC regular season, third in region, 62nd in NCAA.
INDIVIDUALS: Mountain Region singles rankings included James Ludlow, sixth, and Chip Hand, 10th; regional doubles rankings included Dominic Kaufhold and Ludlow, third ... Ludlow was Mountain Region's senior player of the year ... All-MWC singles honorees were Ludlow and Hand, with the Kaufhold/Ludlow duo earning all-MWC doubles recognition.
Women's tennis
TEAM: 22-7 overall, 7-1 MWC ... MWC regular-season champion, regional champion ... Won MWC Tournament title and placed 26th nationally.
INDIVIDUALS:Anastasia Surkova and Lauren Jones were ranked fifth and 11th in the Central Region singles rankings, with the Surkova/Jenny Miccoli doubles team first and the Jones/Dolly Chang duo ninth in the region ... MWC honors included Craig Manning, coach of the year, Surkova, co-player of the year; Surkova and Jones, all-MWC singles; and Jones/Change and Surkova/Miccoli, all-MWC doubles.
Men's track and field
TEAM: MWC champion in both indoor and outdoor ... Ninth at West Regionals, 26th at NCAA Championships.
INDIVIDUALS:Niklas Arrhenius won the men's discus title ... Josh Rohatinsky set BYU school and MWC championship meet marks in the 5,000 meters and a MWC all-time 10,000-meter record ... Arrhenius broke the MWC Championship record ... All-America honorees included Rohatinsky, Arrhenius, David Pendergrass and Chandler Goodwin ... All-region honorees included Goodwin, Arrhenius, Pendergrass, Nate Rencher, Bryce Bergen, Ammon Dahl, Skyler McDonald and Matt Weirich ... MWC honors included Mark Robison, indoor and outdoor coach of the year; and MWC event champions Pendergrass (high jump), Goodwin (1,500 meters), Rohatinsky (5,000 meters) and Rencher (110-meter hurdles) ... All-MWC honorees included Arrhenius (indoor shot put), Bergin (high jump) Dahl (indoor and outdoor high jump), Pendergrass (indoors and outdoors high jump, indoors triple jump), Rencher (indoors 60 meters, outdoors 110 hurdles and 400 hurdles and indoors and outdoors 4x400 relay), Rohatinsky (indoors and outdoors 5,000), Dustin Bybee (indoors mile and distance relay), Jason Dorais (indoors 800), Jacob Gustafson (indoors 800), Tyrel Jensen (indoors mile and distance medley, outdoors 1,500), Bob Low (indoors and outdoors pole vault), Whitney Neves (indoors pole vault), Justin Palmer (indoors long jump and heptathlon), Kyle Perry (indoors mile and distance medley), Matt Weirich (indoors pole vault), Nate Page (indoors 4x400 relay and distance medley), Lance Walker (indoors 4x400 relay), Chris Carter (indoors 4x400 relay), Goodwin (outdoor 1,500 and steeplechase), Keith Jensen (outdoors 400 and 4x400 relay), Boian Marinov (outdoors long jump), Lance Walker (outdoors decathlon), Victor Weirich (outdoors pole vault), Jacob Garlick (outdoors 4x400 relay) and Stig Robertson (outdoors 4x400 relay).
Women's track and field
TEAM: MWC champion in both indoor and outdoor ... Seventh at West Regionals, 21st at NCAA Championships.
INDIVIDUALS:Whitney McDonald broke MWC marks in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters and set a BYU mark in the 5,000 ... Michelle Turner set an MWC Championship record in the 800 meters ... Turner, Heidi Magill, Julie Meads and Carlee Clark set a BYU record in the 4x800 relay, while Turner, Magill, Clark and Amy Fowler set a BYU record in the 4x1,500 relay ... Mindy Neeley earned All-America honors in indoor competition, while McDonald, Kassi Andersen and Ashley McAllister were outdoor All-Americans ... All-Region honorees included Turner, Magill, Andersen, Fowler, McDonald, McAllister, Neeley, Jennifer Grossarth, Sandra Mazan, Heidi Houle, Kelly Furr andKamila Rywelska ... Craig Poole was named Mountain Region indoor, MWC indoor and MWC outdoor coach of the year, with Patrick Shane West Region outdoor assistant of the year ... MWC champions included Fowler (indoors and outdoors steeplechase), McAllister (pole vault), Turner (800) and McDonald (5,000) ... All-MWC indoor honorees included Andersen (indoors 3,000, outdoors steeplechase), Clark (indoors 800, distance medley), Fowler (indoors 3,000, distance medley), Furr (indoors and outdoors pole vault), Houle (indoors 800, outdoors 4x400 relay), Magill (indoors mile and distance medley, outdoors 1,500), McAllister (indoors and outdoors pole vault), McDonald (indoors and outdoors 5,000), Meads (indoors mile), Neeley (indoors 200 and long jump, outdoors high jump), Rywelska (indoors and outdoors triple jump), Mazan (indoors distance medley, indoors and outdoors 4x400 relay), Grossarth (indoors and outdoors 4x400 relay, outdoors 400 hurdles), Amber Duffin (indoors 3,000 and 5,000, outdoors 10,000), Tipaleli Fotu (indoors weight throw), Sarah Lacey (indoors and outdoors high jump), Nicole Nevitt (indoors 4x400 relay), Diane Stewart (indoors 4x400 relay), Turner (outdoors 800 and 4x400 relay), Katie Bowen (outdoors steeplechase),Sarah Lancaster (outdoors javelin) and Stacy Slight (outdoors 800).
Men's volleyball
TEAM: 23-6 overall, 18-4 Mountain Pacific ... Finished second in MPSF regular season and reached MPSF semifinals ... Was ranked No. 1 nationally for several weeks and finished the season at No. 4 ... 17-5 record vs. ranked opponents ... Ranked sixth nationally in hitting percentage (.343).
INDIVIDUALS: Top 25 national statistical leaders includedYamil Perez (first in assists, 13.34), Russell Holmes (fifth in blocking, 1.45; 14th in hitting percentage, .438), Rodnei Santos (13th in blocking, 1.22), Joel Silva (17th in digs, 2.19) and Yosleyder Cala (18th in kills, 4.07) ... Perez was also first in the MPSF in assists ... Holmes set a BYU season record with 28 block solos ... Perez was named AVCA national newcomer of the year ... Cala andIvan Perez earned AVCA first-team All-America honors, with Holmes on the second team ... MPSF honorees included Yamil Perez as newcomer of the year, Cala, first team; and Ivan Perez and Holmes, second team.
Women's volleyball
TEAM: 25-6 overall, 13-3 MWC ... MWC regular-season runner-up, lost in MWC Tournament quarterfinals ... Reached NCAA Tournament's second round and finished No. 20 in the final national rankings ... Top 25 statistical rankings included 16th in hitting (.269) and 24th in win-loss percentage (.806) ... Set a BYU record in season attendance average at 1,902.
INDIVIDUALS: Finishing among the Top 25 national statistical leaders were Lindsy Hartsock (17th in hitting, .389) and Amy Schlauder (24th in assists, 13.15) ... Chelsea Goodman was an honorable mention All-America selection by AVCA and Volleyball Magazine ... Goodman also received AVCA West All-Region recognition, with Rachel Dyer andErica Lott earning honorable mention ... All-MWC honorees included Hartsock, Goodman, Lott and Dyer.