March 20, 2007

LOGAN, Utah - Softball pitcher Lexy Perry has earned the Utah State Athlete of the Week award it was announced on Tuesday. The honor is voted on by a state media panel each week.

Perry became the second softball player to earn the honor in the last three weeks joining fellow pitcher Lindsey Bennion, who was selected the school's top athlete on March 5.

Perry recorded her first career shutout and USU's first shutout win since April 16, 2005, with the Aggies' 2-0 upset win at #15 Oregon State Saturday. The Aggies dealt the Beavers, who were in the Women's College World Series last year, their first shutout loss at home to an unranked team since April 29, 2005.

Perry, a senior from Vancouver, Wash., yielded only five hits while pitching the entire seven innings. She walked four and struck out one in improving her individual record to 2-2 on the season. She owns a 3.60 ERA in eight appearances on the year.

The Aggies who own a 9-17 record, already have more victories than last year's 8-38 team. USU will return to action on Tuesday, March 27, playing a doubleheader at Utah Valley State at 1 p.m.

NOMINEES FROM OTHER SPORTS INCLUDED:

Basketball -Jaycee Carroll... Scored a game-high 22 points to go along with a team-high seven rebounds in Utah State's 68-58 loss at Michigan in the first round of the 2007 National Invitation Tournament. Carroll was nine-of-17 from the field, three-of-five from three-point range, and one-of-one from the free throw line.

Gymnastics - Meagan Lewis... In her final home meet of her collegiate career she finished second in the all-around for USU with a 39.000 against 25th-ranked Minnesota. The senior was third on the bars with a 9.775 and fourth on the floor with a 9.850.

Men's Tennis - Hannes Schenk... Posted a convincing 6-4, 6-2 win against Stanislav Glukhov in number one singles in USU's 5-2 win against Idaho early in the week. Schenk also teamed with Dantley Young to win at number two doubles by a score of 8-4. Schenk owns a team-best six singles wins this year.

Men's Track - Kevin Liu... Posted a regional qualifying mark in the hammer throw in USU's first outdoor meet of the season - the Willie Williams Invitational at Tucson, Ariz. His throw of 57.97 meters was good enough for fifth place. He just missed another qualifying mark in the discus with a throw of 50.96 meters (0.74 meters shy) and placed 10th in the shot put with a mark of 15.64 meters.

Women's Track - Amber Peterson... Won two events and finished third in another at the Willie Williams Invitational. Claimed the 100 hurdles with a time of 13.99 and won the 400 hurdles in 1:01.25. Also placed third in the 400 with a time of 55.06. She won two of the five individual titles won by the Aggies.

2006-07 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
Sept. 25 - Erin Salmon, Soccer
Oct. 2 - Preston Otte, Golf
Oct. 9 - Riley Nelson, Football
Oct. 16 - Kelsi Peterson, Volleyball
Oct. 23 - Paul Igboeli, Football
Oct. 30 - Vance Twitchell, Cross Country
Nov. 6 - Charity Weston, Soccer
Nov. 13 - Beth Hodge, Volleyball
Nov. 20 - Jaycee Carroll, Basketball
Nov. 27 - Jaycee Carroll, Basketball
Dec. 4 - Jaycee Carroll, Basketball
Dec. 11 - Jaycee Carroll, Basketball
Dec. 18 - Chris Sessions, Basketball
Jan. 8 - Taylor Richards, Women's Basketball
Jan. 15 - Jaycee Carroll, Basketball
Jan. 22 - Amber Peterson, Women's Track
Jan. 29 - Jessica Parenti-Otte, Gymnastics
Feb. 5 - Jaycee Carroll, Basketball
Feb. 12 - Stacie Lifferth, Women's Track
Feb. 19 - Brittany Phillips, Women's Basketball
Feb. 26 - DJ Smith, Track
March 5 - Lindsey Benson, Softball
March 12 - Jennifer Twitchell, Women's Track
March 19 - Lexy Perry, Softball