LOGAN, Utah – Utah State senior cross country runner Cierra Simmons was named the America First Credit Union USU Student-Athlete of the Week for the period ending on Sunday, Nov. 11, it was announced Monday. The award is voted on by a state-wide media panel.
 
It is the first time this year and second time in her career that Simmons has been named USU's student-athlete of the week. With their sponsorship of the Student-Athlete of the Week, America First Credit Union donates funds directly to support student-athlete scholarships.
 
The native of Soda Springs, Idaho, was one of 38 individual qualifiers for the 2018 NCAA Women's Cross Country Championships as she garnered all-region honors for the first time in her career after placing 17th in the 6k race with a time of 20:25.0 last weekend at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships held in Provo, Utah.
 
Simmons led Utah State to a seventh-place regional finish with 222 points. The Aggies finished ahead of in-state rivals Weber State (eighth, 243 points), Utah (11th, 294) and Utah Valley (15th, 377), as well as Mountain West-foes Colorado State (ninth, 280) and Wyoming (12th, 300).
 
Both of Utah State's cross country teams concluded their seasons at the NCAA Regional Championships as the men placed eighth with 239 points.
 
This year's NCAA Cross Country Championships will take place at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in Madison, Wis., on Saturday, Nov. 17. The women's final will be held at 9:45 a.m. (MT). Coverage of the championships will be available for streaming at www.FloTrack.com.
 
Simmons is making her second consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships. As a junior in 2017, she placed 112th overall with a time of 20:48.60 to help the Aggies finish 14th as a team (395 points) in the program's first-ever appearance at the national meet.
 
Simmons is looking for her second All-American honor after becoming the first distance runner in Utah State history to first-team All-American accolades during the outdoor season. She finished the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a school-record time of 9:49.33 at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Finals at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
 
Fans can follow the Utah State track & field and cross country programs at twitter.com/USUTF_XC, on Facebook at USUTrack and on Instagram at instagram.com/USUTF_XC. Aggies fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at twitter.com/USUAthletics or on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics.
 
Nominees from other sports for USU Student-Athlete of the Week included:
MEN'S BASKETBALL – Junior guard Sam Merrill (Bountiful, Utah) led Utah State in scoring last week as the Aggies posted a 2-0 record with a 101-71 season-opening win at Montana State, followed by a 100-73 home-opening win against Hartford. Against the Bobcats, Merrill scored a career-high 37 points, hitting a career-high 12 field goals on a career-high 18 attempts. Merrill also added four rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block. Against the Hawks, Merrill scored 14 points, shooting 85.7 percent (6-of-7) from the floor, and added four rebounds, four assists and one steal. For the week, Merrill averaged 25.5 points per game, shooting 72.0 percent (18-of-25) from the floor, 75.0 percent (6-of-8) from behind the 3-point line and 100.0 percent (9-of-9) at the free throw line, while totaling eight rebounds, seven assists, three steals and one block.
 
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL – Junior guard/forward Hailey Bassett-Meacham (Layton, Utah) scored in double figures in both games last week as Utah State opened its 2018-19 season with a 2-0 record, posting a 72-61 win at Washington State followed by a 106-35 home win against Northern New Mexico College. Against the Cougars, Bassett-Meacham led USU with a career-high 23 points, to go along with six rebounds, three assists and one steal. Against the Eagles, Bassett-Meacham again led the Aggies with 18 points, to go along with four rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal. On the week, Bassett-Meacham averaged 20.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, shooting 66.7 percent (18-of-27) from the floor, 50.0 percent (1-of-2) from the 3-point line and 100.0 percent (4-of-4) at the free throw line.
 
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY – Junior Luke Beattie (Woodstock, Ill.) led Utah State at the NCAA Mountain Regional Championships held last weekend in Provo, Utah, as he finished 31st overall with a time of 30:05.8. The Aggies placed eighth out of 17 teams with 239 points.
 
FOOTBALL – Sophomore quarterback Jordan Love (Bakersfield, Calif.) was 32-of-42 (.762) passing for a career-high 491 yards and a school-record-tying five touchdowns in Utah State's 62-24 Mountain West home win against San José State last weekend. His 32 completions are a career high and tied for the second-most in a single game in school history, while his 491 passing yards are the third-most in school history. Love, who did not play in the fourth quarter, also carried the ball two times and scored on a 1-yard run.
 
MEN'S TENNIS – Junior Duro Opacic (Belgrade, Serbia) posted a combined 4-2 record last weekend at the Loyola Marymount Invitational with a 3-0 record in singles play and a 1-2 doubles record as he teamed up with sophomore Felipe Acosta.
 
VOLLEYBALL – Sophomore right side Bailey Downing (Lucas, Texas) led Utah State in kills last week as the Aggies posted an 0-2 Mountain West home record with a 3-0 loss against Colorado State and a 3-0 loss to Wyoming. Against the Rams, Downing hit (.063) with three kills on 16 attempts and two errors, while finishing second on the team with five blocks. Against the Cowgirls, Downing recorded a match-high 13 kills, hitting a team-best .458 (13-2-24) and added one block. For the week, Downing totaled 16 kills, hitting .300 (16-4-40), and six blocks.
 
2018-19 Utah State Athlete of the Week Winners
Sept. 3 – Jordan Love, Football
Sept. 10 – Dominik Eberle, Football
Sept. 17 – Isaac Arturo Arevalo, Men's Tennis
Sept. 24 – Jordan Love, Football
Oct. 1 – Adam Hendrickson, Men's Cross Country
Oct. 8 – Jordan Love, Football
Oct. 15 – Jordan Love, Football
Oct. 22 – Corinne Larsen, Volleyball
Oct. 29 – Jordan Love, Football
Nov. 5 – Darwin Thompson, Football
Nov. 12 – Cierra Simmons, Women's Cross Country