Dec. 1, 2008

LOGAN, Utah - Ben Calderwood has been named the Western Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week as well as the America First Credit Union Utah State Student-Athlete of the Week it was announced on Monday. The USU weekly award is voted on by a state media panel, while the WAC honor is selected by the conference office.

Calderwood, a senior defensive lineman from Hyde Park, Utah (Sky View HS), had three sacks for a loss of 30 yards in the Aggies' 47-2 win over New Mexico State on Saturday. The three sacks ties a single-game WAC best this season. He also recovered a fumble that led to a 56-yard field goal for USU. Calderwood helped lead a defense that held New Mexico State to -7 rushing yards and 156 yards of total offense, 217 below its season average.

This is Calderwood's second career WAC player of the week honor, as he earned the accolade on Oct. 9, 2006 after his performance in USU's thrilling 13-12 win over Fresno State in which he had a then career-high nine tackles, which were the most by an Aggie lineman since 2003, only to top it last season with 10 stops against Nevada.

For the season, Calderwood was sixth on the team overall and first among defensive linemen with 39 tackles (16 solo, 23 assists). That included eight and a half tackles for loss and four and a half sacks, as well as three fumble recoveries, all of which were team-highs.

Calderwood ends his career with 139 tackles (64 solo, 75 assists) including 21.5 tackles for loss for a total of 85 yards, nine sacks for 54 yards and four fumble recoveries.

Other USU Athlete of the Week Nominees Include:

MEN'S BASKETBALL - Senior forward Gary Wilkinson (South Jordan, Utah) led Utah State to a 2-0 record last week with a 75-49 win against Weber State and a 97-57 win against Cal Poly. Against the Wildcats, Wilkinson scored a game-high 18 points and added six rebounds as he was 6-of-8 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line. Against the Mustangs, he had game-highs with 21 points and nine rebounds in just 21 minutes as he was 6-of-8 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free throw line. He also had career-highs with four assists and two steals against Cal Poly. For the week, Wilkinson averaged 19.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists, while shooting 75.0 percent from the field and 88.2 percent from the free throw line.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL - Senior guard Danyelle Snelgro (Altadena, Calif.) led the Aggies to a 2-1 record last week, including a second-place finish at the UTEP Thanksgiving Classic in El Paso, Texas as she was named to the all-tournament team. Snelgro began the week by scoring 10 points and grabbing four rebounds in a 42-39 home win against Montana State-Northern. She then scored a season-high 17 points to go along with four rebounds, four steals and three assists in a 50-47 win against Texas State. Snelgro then finished the week by scoring 12 points and adding three rebounds and three steals in USU's 48-44 loss to Monmouth. For the week, Snelgro averaged 13.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

Previous Utah State Athlete of the Week Winners
November 24, 2008 - Ana Pares, Women's Basketball
November 17, 2008 - Gary Wilkinson, Men's Basketball
November 10, 2008 - Lauren Hansen, Women's Soccer
November 3, 2008 - Diondre Borel, Football & Jason Holt, Cross Country
October 27, 2008 - Candice Clark, Women's Soccer
October 20, 2008 - Sydne Porter, Women's Soccer
October 13, 2008 - Lauren Hansen, Women's Soccer
October 6, 2008 - Ben Kessen, Men's Cross Country
September 29, 2008 - Christine Morrill, Volleyball
September 22, 2008 - Diondre Borel, Football
September 15, 2008 - Melissa Osterloh, Volleyball
September 8, 2008 - Shantel Flanary, Women's Soccer
September 1, 2008 - Jessie Chugg, Women's Cross Country

-USU-