Vance Twitchell Named WAC and USU Athlete of the Week

Sept. 18, 2006

LOGAN, Utah - Cross Country athlete Vance Twitchell was named the WAC and Utah State Athlete of the Week for the period ending Sept. 18 it was announced on Monday [Sept. 18].

 

Twitchell, a senior from Helena, Mont., took first-place to lead Utah State to a second-place overall finish at the Montana State Cross Country Invitational on Saturday. Twitchell claimed first for the men in the five-mile race with a time of 25:08 in the Aggies' second meet of the season.

 

Last year at the Montana State Invitational Twitchell finished in fourth-place with a time of 24:53.

 

In the Aggies' season opener, at the America West Heritage Center, Twitchell claimed second-place in the 3.75 mile race with a time of 18:07.14. In last year's open meet Twitchell came in fourth place with a time of 18:46.30.

 

Last season Twitchell was first-team all-WAC for cross country and he made the 2006 Division I USTFCCCA Men's all-academic track & field team.

 

The cross country team will next compete in the Oregon Invitational in Eugene, Ore., on Saturday, Sept. 29. This will be the first time Oregon has hosted a distance meet.

 

 

Women's Cross Country — Jennifer Twitchell. Finished third individually at the Montana State Invitational as the Aggies placed third among eight teams. Twitchell recorded a time of 17:17 finishing behind a runner from Weber State and Montana.

 

Football — None

 

Soccer — Ali Griffin. Sophomore goalkeeper recorded a career-high eight saves in USU's 1-0 OT loss to BYU, ranked No. 19 in the soccerbuzz.com poll. Griffin made two leaping, sprawling saves on close-range shots. She moved up to number six on USU's career saves list, as she now has 33 career stops.

 

Men's Tennis — None (BYU provided no results from its tournament).

 

Volleyball — Kelsi Peterson. Was named to the 2006 Oral Roberts Classic all-tournament team as she helped Utah State finish in third-place with a 2-2 record as the Aggies defeated Arkansas-Little Rock (3-2) and St. Francis (NY) (3-0). Peterson recorded 22 digs against Arkansas-Little Rock, 23 against Oral Roberts, and a season-high 31 against Texas-Arlington. During the week, Peterson averaged 4.89 digs per game.