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.

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.

NOMINEES FOR USU ATHLETE OF THE WEEK FROM OTHER SPORTS INCLUDED:

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 because BYU provided no results from their 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.

USU ATHLETE OF THE WEEK WINNERS Aug. 28 - Amanda Nielson, Volleyball Sept. 5 - Amanda Nielson, Volleyball Sept. 11 - Marcus Cross, Football Sept. 18 - Vance Twitchell, Cross Country