TRACK AND FIELD: Joe Canavan has been named the Utah State Student-Athlete of the Week for the week of April 26-May 2.
Canavan, a sophomore from Palm Desert, Calif. (Palm Desert HS), won the shot put with a career-best distance of 18.40m (60-04.50), on Saturday at the Boise State Utah-Idaho Border Clash Meet. Canavan improved on his Western Athletic Conference-leading distance by almost four inches and moved up to 13th in the NCAA rankings. Canavan's distance is also the fourth-best in USU history.
This is Canavan's first USU weekly award of the season and of his career. Canavan is the third Aggie men's track and field student-athlete winner in the last four weeks, joining senior hurdler Nick Karren on April 12 and senior high jumper Clint Silcock on April 19. Overall, Canavan is the fifth different men's track and field team member to earn the honor, joining junior sprinter Mike Pyrtle on Feb. 8 and sophomore Brian McKenna on Feb. 15 during the indoor season.
In their next action, Utah State track and field teams will compete in the Wildcat Twilight Invitational on Wednesday, May 5, at Ogden, Utah, hosted by Weber State. Action is slated for a 1 p.m. start at the Chick Hislop Track & Field Complex at Stewart Stadium. That is the Aggies' final tune-up for the WAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, May 12-15 at Ruston, La.
MEN'S GOLF: At Henderson, Nev., junior Benjamin Schilleman shot an opening round two-under 70 and is tied for seventh individually to lead Utah State at the 2010 Club Glove Western Athletic Conference men's golf championship held here at the Rio Secco Golf Club Monday.
Utah State is currently in seventh-place after the first day of competition with an 11-over 299, while Nevada is in the lead after a seven-under 281.
Two-time defending WAC champion New Mexico State is in second-place with a five-under 283, followed by San Jose State (287), Fresno State (288), Idaho (290), Louisiana Tech (293), USU (299), Boise State (301) and Hawai'i (302).
New Mexico State's Timothy Madigan shot an eight-under 64 on Monday and has a three-shot lead over Nevada's Scott Smith heading into Tuesday's round.
Idaho's Matt Rawitzer is in third-place after carding a four-under 68, while Jared Becher of Nevada, Mark Hubbard of San Jose State and Thomas Kua of Hawaii all fired rounds of 69 and are tied for fourth at three-under.
Schilleman (Layton) shot a two-under 34 on the front nine with four birdies and a double-bogey, and then had two birdies and two bogeys on the back nine for his two-under 70. Juniors Chanse Gooderidge (Smithfield) and Tyson McFarland (Rexburg, Idaho) both carded four-over 76's on Monday and are tied for 30th, while freshman Tanner Higham (Shelley, Idaho) finished with a five-over 77 and is tied for 37th. Senior Thad Truman (Blackfoot, Idaho) was USU's other competitor and is tied for 42nd with a seven-over 79.
The 54-hole tournament will continue on Tuesday with the second round beginning at 8:30 a.m. (MT). On Tuesday, USU golfers will be grouped with players from Boise State and Hawai'i. The tournament will conclude with 18 holes on Wednesday.
Live scoring is also available throughout the tournament on the WAC's home page at www.wacsports.com.