This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
As you may or may not have noticed, I took some time off the past week or so, what with BYU's basketball season ending and 2013 football spring camp reaching its conclusion on April 5. I'm back at it today, however, so it is time for a quick recap of BYU sports-related news and notes you might have missed. The Tribune unveiled its All-State Boys Basketball Teams in today's newspaper, and BYU-bound Nick Emery of Lone Peak is the 5A MVP. Utah State-bound Jalen Moore of Sky View is the 4A MVP. Three other BYU-bound prospects — Lone Peak's Eric Mika and T.J. Haws (a junior) and Orem's Dalton Nixon (also a junior) — made the first teams in 5A and 4A, respectively. How good is T.J. Haws? He recently combined with four other Lone Peak sophomores and/or JV players to win the Utah AAU state championship. And Lone Peak coach Quincy Lewis certainly deserves all the accolades he's been receiving, showing that he can win when he doesn't have the most experience and/or talent on the floor. Lone Peak beat Kearns, Brighton, Timpview, Syracuse, Alta, Juan Diego and Davis en route to the title. ——————Speaking of Emery, on Tuesday he was named Utah's High School Male Athlete of the Year in the Second Annual Governor's State of Sport Awards luncheon at the Zions Bank Basketball Center. Almost 50,000 votes were cast from sports fans in all 50 states and 62 different countries. BYU's women's soccer team participated in the Game or Event of the Year and Lone Peak's boys basketball team was the Team of the Year.Utah State also fared well in the balloting, with ex-football coach Gary Andersen getting the Coach of the Year award and quarterback Chuckie Keeton getting the College Male Athlete of the Year award.——————— Thanks in part to successful men's and women's basketball seasons, BYU holds the top spot in the race for the 2012-13 West Coast Conference Commissioner's Cup. The cup is awarded annually to the WCC institution with the most success in conference play. BYU has 46.0 points. The University of San Diego has won the cup for five straight years, and is second to BYU right now with 40.0 points. In the men's all-sports trophy race, BYU is tied for sixth. But the BYU women are having a sensational year, and are in first in the women's all-sports trophy race with 31.0 points. BYU had first-place finishes in volleyball and soccer last fall and were third in women's cross country and women's basketball.————————- If the BYU football team becomes bowl eligible this season — and that's not a given, with the toughest schedule in school history and an inexperienced starting quarterback — it appears the Cougars will be spending Christmas in San Francisco. BYU is contracted to play in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl at AT&T Park in San Fran, and bowl officials announced this year's game will be played on Dec. 27 at 7:30 p.m. MST. The game will be televised by ESPN. Teams generally go to bowl game sites four or five days before the game and practice there in addition to participating in pre-bowl activities. BYU's opponent will be a team from the Pac-12. If the Cougars don't get bowl eligible, the bowl says it has an alternative agreement to land an ACC team. ————————- The annual Y Awards were handed out last week at the Utah Valley Convention Center. Here are the winners: Male Athlete of the Year: Kyle Van Noy (football) Female Athlete of the Year: Lindsi Lisonbee Cutshall (women's soccer) Coach of the Year: Shawn Olmstead (volleyball) Assistant Coach of the Year: Aleisha Rose (women's soccer) Men's Team of the Year: Men's cross country Women's Team of the Year: Women's soccer Male Rookie of the Year: Ben Patch (volleyball) Female Rookie of the Year: Alexa Gray (women's volleyball) Outstanding Senior Female Athlete: Carlee Payne Holmoe (women's soccer) Outstanding Senior Male Athlete: Brady Wells (swimming) Walk-on of the Year: FanFan Charles (track) Cougar Club Memorial Junior Award: Andrew Rutherford (swimming)Comeback Player of the Year: Keilani Unga (women's basketball) Female Crowd Pleaser: Erica Owens (women's soccer) Male Crowd Pleaser: Cody Hoffman (football) Spirit of Sport Award: Heather Hanneman (volleyball) Spirit of Sport Award: Ezekiel Ansah (football) Performance of the Year: Kyle Van Noy, Poinsettia Bowl (football) Play of the Year: Craig Cusick, game-winner vs. Utah State (basketball) Service Award: Russell Tialavea (football) Kimball Award, highest GPA: David Corless (swimming)Y Games Winner (attendance at other games): Gymnastics Volunteers of the Year: Dan and Diana Paxton