March 10, 2008

LOGAN, Utah - Utah State men's basketball player Jaycee Carroll has been named the America First Credit Union Utah State Student-Athlete of the Week for the period ending on Sunday, Mar. 9, it was announced on Monday. The award is voted on by a state media panel.

Overall, it is the fourth time this year that Carroll has been named Utah State's Athlete of the Week.

Carroll, a 6-2 All-American guard from Evanston, Wyo., (Evanston HS) led Utah State to three wins in six days to give it a share of its first-ever WAC regular season championship last week as the Aggies defeated Fresno State at home, 79-66, followed by a pair of road wins at then league-leading Boise State, 88-69, and at Idaho, 78-58. Carroll began the week by tying his season-high with 33 points to go along with five rebounds against FSU. He then had 23 points and nine rebounds at BSU and 23 points and three rebounds at UI.

For the week, Carroll averaged 26.3 points and 5.7 rebounds and shot 55.8 percent from the field (24-43), 50.0 percent from three-point range (10-20) and 95.5 percent from the free throw line (21-22).

Carroll, who was named the WAC's Player of the Year on Sunday, is averaging 22.7 points and 6.1 rebounds this year and is shooting 52.3 percent from the field, 50.2 percent from three-point range and 92.3 percent from the free throw line. Overall, Carroll is leading the nation in three-point shooting, is third in free throw shooting and 12th in scoring.

Utah State finished its regular season with a 23-9 record after winning its final five games to notch its ninth-straight 23-win season. USU is the top-seed in next week's WAC Tournament and will play either eighth-seeded San Jose State or ninth-seeded Louisiana Tech on Thursday, Mar. 13 at 2:30 p.m. (MT) in the first round of the tournament, which will be played in Las Cruces, N.M.

Nominees from other sports included:
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL - Senior forward Jenny Gross (Caldwell, Idaho) led Utah State in both of its games this week as the Aggies lost to Boise State, 65-57, and Idaho, 67-55, at home to end the regular season. Against the Broncos, she recorded her second double-double of the season and the third of her career with 12 points and 11 rebounds. She then had 18 points and six rebounds against the Vandals. For the week, Gross averaged 15.0 points and 8.5 rebounds, while shooting 45.5 percent from the field (10-22) and was a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line.

GYMNASTICS - Sophomore Heather Heinrich (Littleton, Colo.) registered a career-high in not just the all-around but floor as well with scores of 39.000 and 9.850, respectively, in winning the all-around and tying for first on floor in leading Utah State to a 194.450-194.125 victory against San Jose State on Friday. Heinrich also tallied a season-high and tied her career-high on bars with a 9.750, placing third.

MEN'S TENNIS - Sophomore Oscar Ericsson (Stockholm, Sweden) led Utah State to a 1-1 record this past week with a 7-0 win against Montana State-Billings and a 4-3 loss to Montana State. Ericsson notched a 2-0 record at No. 2 singles during the week as he won both of his matches in straight sets. He also teamed with senior Fernando Gallegos to notch a 2-0 record at No. 1 singles.

WOMEN'S TENNIS - Sophomore Marie Livingston (Highland, Utah) went 3-0 at No. 6 singles in helping Utah State notch a 2-1 record with wins against Portland State, 4-3, and Montana State-Billings, 6-1, and a loss to Montana State, 4-3. Livingston won all three of her matches in straight sets.

WOMEN'S TRACK - Senior Amy Egan (Latrobe, Pa.) won the 800 meters at the Last Chance Meet, hosted by the University of Washington on Saturday. Egan broke the tape with a time of 2:10.43, short of the NCAA automatic selection time of 2:05. Egan finished nearly three seconds ahead of unattached runner Jennifer Thomas' second-place time of 2:13.28.

SOFTBALL - Junior designated hitter Kayla Dunn (Carson City, Nev.) led Utah State to a 1-2 record against Colorado State over the weekend. In USU's 4-3 win against CSU, Dunn went 3-of-4 and tallied an RBI. For the week, she was 4-of-8 (.500) at the plate with a double, an RBI and a run, while walking three times.

MEN'S GOLF - Junior Devin Daniels (Hyde Park, Utah) led Utah State to a 13th-place finish at the Braveheart Classic as he tied for 41st with a 19-over par 235. Daniels began the 54-hole tournament with an eight-over par 80 before carding scores of 79 and 76. It is the fourth time in six tournaments this year that Daniels has been USU's top finisher.

2007-08 Utah State Athlete of the Week Winners
Sept. 4 - Dana Peart, Soccer
Sept. 10 - Amanda Nielson, Volleyball
Sept. 17 - Dana Peart, Soccer
Sept. 24 - Kevin Robinson, Football
Oct. 1 - Melissa Osterloh, Volleyball
Oct. 8 - Kevin Robinson, Football
Oct. 15 - Seth Wold, Cross Country
Oct. 22 - Amanda Nielson, Volleyball
Oct. 29 - Seth Wold, Cross Country
Nov. 5 - Lauren Hansen, Soccer
Nov. 12 - Danielle Taylor, Volleyball
Nov. 19 - Rob Myers, Football
Nov. 26 - Stephen DuCharme, Men's Basketball
Dec. 3 - Jaycee Carroll, Men's Basketball
Dec. 10 - Danyelle Snelgro, Women's Basketball
Dec. 17 - Tai Wesley, Men's Basketball
Dec. 24 - Jaycee Carroll, Men's Basketball
Dec. 31 - Gary Wilkinson, Men's Basketball
Jan. 7 - Tai Wesley, Men's Basketball
Jan. 14 - Gary Wilkinson, Men's Basketball
Jan. 21 - Jaycee Carroll, Men's Basketball
Jan. 28 - Erin Stratton, Women's Track
Feb. 4 - Maria Halton, Women's Track
Feb. 11 - Nick Karren, Men's Track
Feb. 18 - Jakob Asplund, Men's Tennis
Feb. 25 - Jenny Gross, Women's Basketball
Mar. 3 - John Strang, Men's Track
Mar. 10 - Jaycee Carroll, Men's Basketball