Jan. 19, 2006 LOGAN, Utah - Utah State landed 35 of its student-athletes on the fall academic all-Western Athletic Conference teams it was announced on Thursday. To be eligible, a student-athlete must have completed at least one academic year, have at least a 3.0 cumulative grade point average and have participated in at least 50 percent of the team's contests. USU's 35 honorees, were just shy of Fresno State's league-best 37 selections. Boise State was second with 36 picks, while Idaho and Hawai'I tied for fourth with 26 selections after USU. Athletes from the sports of men's and women's cross country, football, women's soccer and women's volleyball were recognized by the league for the classroom achievements. Eight fall Aggie athletes earned both athletic all-conference and academic honors this season. Among USU's honorees were WAC cross country individual champion Trever Ball and league runner-up Clark Bryner. Tiffany Strickland, who finished second at the WAC Cross Country Championships and Ashley Johnson, who was sixth, were also recognized for the academic success. Charity Weston and Liz Masson, who were both first-team all-WAC selections on the field, were two of 13 Aggie soccer players recognized for their classwork. Volleyball honorable mention All-American Zuzana Cernianska was also named to the academic team. In all, USU's seven women's cross country selections tied for the most among women's cross country teams in the league, while the 13 soccer players topped the conference's soccer teams. Football landed eight players on the team. Utah State Fall Academic all-Western Athletic Conference Selections Men's Cross Country Trever Ball, Gr., Masters of Education Clark Bryner, Gr., Masters of Bio Regional Planning Women's Cross Country Carolyn Andrus, Sr., Elementary Education Caroline Berry, Jr., Family Consumer Science Education Amy Egan, Jr., Teaching/English Ashley Johnson, Jr., Exercise Science Stacie Lifferth, So., Communication Jill Steele, Sr., Exercise Science Tiffany Strickland, Sr., Elementary Education Football Ben Childs, So., History Malik Cin, Jr., Marketing Derek Hoke, So., Exercise Science Terrance Washington, Jr., Finance Josh Anderson, So., Law and Constitutional Studies Frank Maile, So., Exercise Science Otis Nelson, So., Business Eric Sobolewski, So., Exercise Science Soccer Kelli Allred, So., Undeclared Rachelle Dixon, Sr., Interdisciplinary Studies Andra Hansen, So., Elementary Education Abby Hunt, So., Undeclared Lindsay Lauro, So., Undeclared Elizabeth Masson, Sr., Finance Tiffany Jones-McQueen, Sr,. Elementary Education Dana Peart, So., PE-Teaching Shannon Ross., So. Exercise Science Sierra Smith, Jr., Exercise Science Chanel Blaquiere-Weddle, Sr., Social Work Charity Weston, Jr., PE-Teaching Lisa Willardson, So., Undeclared Volleyball Dominique Arsenault, Jr., French Teaching Zuzana Cernianska, Sr., Marketing Erin Graybill, Sr., Accounting Masters Program Elizabeth Hodge, Jr., Psychology Kelsi Thoman-Peterson, Jr., Physical Education |
