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Thatcher Named WAC and America First Credit Union Utah State Athlete of the Week
Feb. 16, 2009
LOGAN, Utah - Utah State junior Alex Thatcher has been named the Western Athletic Conference Men's Tennis Player of the Week as well as American First Credit Union Utah State Student-Athlete of the Week for Feb. 9-15. This is the first WAC Player of the Week honor for Thatcher as well as the first for USU men's tennis this season. Thatcher, a native of Paradise, Utah (Mountain Crest HS), won both his No. 5 singles matches this weekend in the Aggies back-to-back wins against Montana State-Billings and Northern Arizona. Thatcher defeated MSUB's Geoff Fehr in a quick, 6-1, 6-2, match and then teamed with fellow Aggie Amit Maharaj to win their number No. 2 doubles match, 8-3. Thatcher and the Aggies swept MSUB, 7-0. Saturday against Northern Arizona, Thatcher battled and won, 7-5, 5-7, 6-0, against NAU's Jaco Visagie. Thatcher and Maharaj also partnered and won at the No. 2 doubles spot, 9-8. USU beat NAU, 5-2. Thatcher and the Aggies will continue action this Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 21-22, in Las Vegas, Nev. with matches against UC Riverside and UNLV, respectively. Other USU Athlete of the Week Nominees include: MEN'S GOLF - Senior Tyler Labrum (Roosevelt, Utah) tied for 16th-place at the fifth annual Pat Hicks Thunderbird Invitational hosted by Southern Utah last week to led Utah State to an 11th-place team finish. Labrum began the tournament with a five-over par 77 and then shot a one-over 73 to finish at six-over 150.
GYMNASTICS - Sophomore Jackie Dillon (Anderson, S.C.) tied a personal-best for the second meet in a row as she tied for third on the floor with a 9.825 in Utah State's 196.950-193.500 loss to No. 1 Utah. Dillon was also USU's top finisher on vault as she placed fifth with a 9.800, .025 shy of her career-best. She also tied for seventh on bars with a 9.750. MEN'S TRACK - Junior Steve Strickland (Orem, Utah) finished 55th in the 3,000m at the Washington Husky Invitational last weekend, clocking in at 8:20.55 to set a new personal-best. Strickland's time is now the best in the Western Athletic Conference this season. WOMEN'S TRACK - Sophomore Sonia Grabowska (Warsaw, Poland) won the women's pole vault at the Air Force Invitational last weekend, clearing 13-07.25. SOFTBALL - Freshman Rayna Bradshaw (Las, Vegas, Nev.) hit .273 at the difficult Campbell-Cartier Softball Tournament in San Diego, Calif., last weekend as Utah State played four ranked teams in five games and finished with a 1-4 record. Bradshaw hit her first collegiate home run, a three-run shot, in USU's 9-5 loss to No. 8 Stanford. Bradshaw also added a double, an RBI and a run scored in USU's 6-5 win against No. 24 UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 13. Against No. 10 Washington, the freshman also had a hit and a run scored. For the week, Bradshaw was 3-for-11 with one home run and one double in four starts. 2008-09 Utah State Athlete of the Week Winners Sept. 1 - Jessie Chugg, Cross Country Sept. 8 - Shantel Flanary, Soccer Sept. 15 - Melissa Osterloh, Volleyball Sept. 22 - Diondre Borel, Football Sept. 29 - Christine Morrill, Volleyball Oct. 6 - Ben Kessen, Cross Country Oct. 13 - Lauren Hansen, Soccer Oct. 20 - Sydne Porter, Soccer Oct. 27 - Candice Clark, Soccer Nov. 3 - Diondre Borel, Football & Jason Holt, Cross Country Nov. 10 - Lauren Hansen, Soccer Nov. 17 - Gary Wilkinson, Men's Basketball Nov. 24 - Ana Pares, Women's Basketball Dec. 1 - Ben Calderwood, Football Dec. 8 - Lydia Whitehead, Women's Basketball Dec. 15 - Gary Wilkinson, Men's Basketball Dec. 22 - Jared Quayle, Men's Basketball Dec. 29 - Tai Wesley, Men's Basketball Jan. 5 - Jared Quayle, Men's Basketball Jan. 12 - Gary Wilkinson, Men's Basketball Jan. 19 - Sonia Grabowska, Women's Track and Field Jan. 26 - Ana Pares, Women's Basketball Feb. 2 - John Strang, Men's Track and Field Feb. 9 - Danyelle Snelgro, Women's Basketball Feb. 16 - Alex Thatcher, Men's Tennis
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