LOGAN, Utah – Utah State men's track & field runner Devin Pancake has been named the America First Credit Union USU Student-Athlete of the Week, for the week ending Sunday, Feb. 13. The award is voted on by a state-wide media panel.
 
With their sponsorship of the Student-Athlete of the Week, America First Credit Union donates funds directly to support student-athlete scholarships.
 
Pancake (Springville, Utah) set a new school record in the men's mile at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational, which was hosted by Boston University. Pancake crossed the line with a time of 4:00.36 to place 15th in the event, breaking former Aggie All-American Dillon Maggard's record of 4:01.25 set in 2017.
 
"It feels really good to break Dillon's record," Pancake said. "Dillon just ran a 13:13 5K, so to be able to break that record for somebody that is that good of an athlete, it really means a lot. To train with him personally and have him believe in me that I could do it.
 
"Obviously, I came up a little bit short of my goal of being the first Utah State athlete to run sub-four minutes for the mile in an open race, but it will come. Hopefully, I will get it soon. It was a great race overall and it feels really good to break the record."
 
Utah State track & field competed this past weekend at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Mountain State Games in Pocatello, Idaho, and the David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston, Massachusetts. The Aggies came away with 34 top-five finishes across the three competitions. Next up, USU is slated to compete at the Mountain West Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Feb. 24-26.
 
For more information on the Utah State track & field/cross country programs, follow the Aggies on Twitter at @USUTF_XC, on Facebook at USUTrack and on Instagram at USUTF_XC.
 
Nominees from other sports for USU Student-Athlete of the Week included:
 
MEN'S BASKETBALL – Senior forward Brandon Horvath (West River, Maryland) scored 20-plus points in back-to-back games last week as the Aggies lost in overtime at Wyoming (78-76) and then lost at home to Nevada (85-72). Against the Cowboys, Horvath knocked down each of his first five shots, including a pair of triples, en route to scoring a team-high 20 points. He also added eight rebounds and six assists, while playing in a career-high-tying 44 minutes. Against the Wolf Pack, Horvath scored a career-high 29 points and added eight rebounds and two assists. For the week, Horvath averaged 24.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, while shooting 56.3 percent (18-of-32) from the floor and 68.8 percent (11-of-16) at the free throw line.
 
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL – Junior guard/forward Adryana Quezada (Frisco, Texas) averaged a double-double last week as Utah State went 1-1 in Mountain West play with an 86-83 loss at Colorado State and a 63-55 home win against Boise State. Against the Rams, Quezada registered 29 points, a season-high-tying 15 rebounds and three assists. Against the Broncos, she led the team with a game-high 20 points and stuffed the stat sheet with a team-high seven rebounds to go along with a career-high six steals and two blocks. For the week, Quezada averaged 24.5 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.0 steals, 2.5 assists and 1.0 blocks per game, while shooting 54.3 percent (19-of-35) from the floor and 64.7 percent (11-of-17) at the free throw line.
 
GOLF – Sophomore Javier Vazquez (Mexico City, Mexico) closed with an even-par 72 in the final round of the Southern Utah-hosted Pizza Hut-Pat Hicks Thunderbird Invitational to finish tied for 16th at 1-under 215, which is a 54-hole career best. During the three-day tournament, Vazquez led the Aggies in par-4 scoring, pars and eagles. As a team, Utah State finished in eighth-place in the 14-team field with a 7-over 871 (292-291-288).
 
GYMNASTICS – Junior Rebecca Wells (Smyrna, Tennessee) won the all-around with a career-high 39.300 and tied for first on vault with a personal-best 9.900 to help Utah State record a season-high score of 196.800 last weekend at Southern Utah. SUU won the dual meet with a team score of 196.975. The 196.800 for USU is tied for the second-best score in school history. W6-9ells helped the Aggies notch a season-high 49.250 on vault, which ranks third all-time in school history. USU also had a season-high 49.375 on floor, which is tied for seventh all-time in program history.
 
MEN'S TENNIS – Junior Bodin Zarkovic (Belgrade, Serbia) posted victories in both doubles and singles play in Utah State's 4-3 home loss to Gonzaga. Zarkovic teamed up with fellow junior David Cierny for a comeback 7-5 win at the second position in doubles. In singles, Zarkovic again stormed back to defeat Gonzaga's Oliver Andersson in three sets at the No. 2 spot (3-6, 6-3, 6-4).
 
WOMEN'S TENNIS – Senior Annaliese County (Highland, Utah) went 2-0 in singles play and 1-1 in doubles play last week in helping Utah State to a 7-0 win at Dixie State and a 5-2 home win against Weber State. Against the Trailblazers, County teamed with fellow senior Gabrielle Dekkers for a 6-1 win at the third doubles position and posted a straight-sets win at No. 3 singles (6-1, 6-1). Against the Wildcats, County notched a three-sets win at No. 3 singles (6-4, 1-6, 6-4).
 
WOMEN'S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD – Senior Katie Haviland (Lehi, Utah) recorded the second-fastest time in school history in the women's 5,000 meters as she placed 19th with a time of 16:23.77 at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational hosted by Boston University.
 
SOFTBALL – Senior shortstop Lexi Orozco (San Marcos, California) led the Aggies in their opening weekend with a .474 batting average as Utah State posted a 2-3 record at the UC Santa Barbara-hosted Campus Diamond Kickoff. USU began the tournament with losses to North Dakota State (3-10) and UCSB (6-9) on Friday, before posting back-to-back victories against NDSU (6-4) and UCSB (8-7) on Saturday. USU then concluded the tournament with a 15-9 loss to NDSU. Orozco finished the weekend with nine hits, including three home runs and two doubles, and seven RBIs. She also had 10 putouts and seven assists on the weekend. Orozco hit two game-winning two-run homers during the weekend. Her first came in the top of the second inning against NDSU on Saturday to give the Aggies the 6-1 lead, and her second was against UCSB in the top of the fourth to give USU an 8-4 lead.
 
2021-22 America First Credit Union Student-Athletes of the Week
Aug. 30 – Ashley Cardozo, Soccer
Sept. 6 – Deven Thompkins, Football
Sept. 13 – Sammie Murdock, Soccer
Sept. 20 – Tenzi Knowles, Soccer
Sept. 27 – Bodin Zarkovic, Men's Tennis
Oct. 4 – Caleb Garnica, Men's Cross Country
Oct. 11 – Kennedi Boyd, Volleyball
Oct. 18 – Savon Scarver, Football
Oct. 25 – Sara Taylor, Soccer
Nov. 1 – Katie Haviland, Women's Cross Country
Nov. 8 – Deven Thompkins, Football
Nov. 15 – Justin Bean, Men's Basketball
Nov. 22 – Justin Bean, Men's Basketball
Nov. 29 – Logan Bonner, Football
Dec. 6 – Logan Bonner, Football
Dec. 13 – Adryana Quezada, Women's Basketball
Dec. 20 – Nick Heninger, Football
Dec. 27 – Justin Bean, Men's Basketball
Jan. 3 – Justin Bean, Men's Basketball
Jan. 10 - Rebecca Wells, Gymnastics
Jan. 17 - Brie Clark, Gymnastics
Jan. 24 - Adryana Quezada, Women's Basketball
Jan. 31 - Steven Ashworth, Men's Basketball
Feb. 7 - Brandon Horvath, Men's Basketball
Feb. 14 - Devin Pancake, Track & Field
 
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