Men's basketball free falling

In Boise, Idaho for the season opener Utah Valley played to the bitter end before losing to Boise State in overtime 72-71. In the rematch Utah Valley lost control and after leading at halftime and fell 87-77.
It was Utah Valley's (3-7) fifth loss in a row and the team has as many losses as last year's team had all season.
Again Ryan Toolson led the way for the Wolverines with 22 points and Jordan Brady had a career high 20 to go with eight rebounds but the Wolverines were burned by turnovers and second-half 3-point shooting by the Broncos.
Reggie Larry led Boise State with 18 points and had a couple nice dunks in the second half. A half where Boise State shot 5-for-7 from behind the arc and 60 percent from the field.
Although Toolson had 22 points it came on just 5-for-16 shooting and 2-for-10 from 3-point range.
Teams know Toolson is a scorer and they buckle down on him defensively. Last David Heck and Matt Peterson could take some pressure off and score as well but this year Toolson is the major threat offensively for the Wolverines by far and although he is still getting his points it is coming on a lot more shots. He also played every minute of the game.
Toolson and Brady had little help offensively as Richard Troyer was 3-for-9 and 1-for-6 from 3-point range. Josh Olsen shot 1-for-8 and 0-for-3 from the 3-point line.
And as poor of an offensive game as several players had, the Wolverines were still in it if they would have held possesion and played a bit tighter defense. The Broncos shot 50 percent for the game to Utah Valley's 41 percent.

Other notes
Center Joe Walker was another Wolverine haveing a nice game shooting 4-for-5 from the field before exiting because of a hand injury. Walker came up holding his hand after a Wolverine foul. He stayed in the game for a few minutes but after he threw down a two-handed dunk midway through the second half he called for a sub and never came back in. Boise pulled away for good in what was a close ball game and led by six to 10 points until the end.

New floor, no good?
Utah Valley is 0-2 on the new floor it shares with the Flash. While there was many complaints about the old floor and all the dead spots at least the team was winning. Utah State was the team's only loss at home last year. This already two now.
The women's team will try its hand for the first time on the new floor on Saturday. Maybe they can do better after two straight losses.

Women's soccer recruit named MVP

Utah Valley's soccer team has a number of young players that could turn the program into something great very soon.
Coach Brent Anderson is going to add another strong class of young players to his team next year with this year's class 4A MVP, given by the Salt Lake Tribune, Brianne Larsen from Orem High School headed to Utah Valley next year.
Larsen, a defender, helped the Tigers win the 4A state title by shutting out Highland 4-0. Larsen and the rest of her team gave up 13 goals all season and recorded 11 shutouts. Orem allowed only two goals in the state tournament with Larsen leading the defense.
A number of other Utah Valley recruits made All-State teams. Allison Noot of South Summit made the 2A first team as a goalie, Kaitlyn Thomas made the 4A first team as a midfielder, Cristy Brian, a defender from Davis High, made the 5A second team, Noelle Sanders, a defender from Timpanogos High School made the 5A second team. Kelsey Kimball, a defender from Timpview, made the 4A second team, and Jamie Lyons, a forward from Orem made the 4A second team.
The link to the article about the soccer MVPs is http://www.sltrib.com//ci_7690179?IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.com.

Losing streak extended to four

Men's basketball

It hasn't been pleasant for the Wolverines (3-6) the last four games including the team's worse loss of the season against Big West favorite UC Santa Barbara 81-61
Again it was Ryan Toolson leading the way for Utah Valley with 25 points but others struggled offensively. Josh Olsen missed both his shots from the field and Richard Troyer was the only other Wolverine with double digits, he finished with 10 points.
The Gauchos killed Utah Valley from beind the 3-point line. UCSB shot lights out 60 percent from 3-point range.
The Wolverines struggled with the pressure and didn't get much going inside for Jordan Brady or Joe Walker.
With only eight assists the team struggled to get going as a unit.
UCSB (9-1)was led by guard Alex Harris who scored 25 points. The win was UCSB's seventh in a row and Utah Valley's fourth straight loss.
Next Thursday the team returns home for a rematch against Boise State.

Tough night for Wolverine basketball--Women suffer 1st loss and men drop 3rd straight

Women suffer first loss
Montana State guard Rebecca Mercer scored 30 points as the Bobcats handed Utah Valley an unexpected first loss 79-69.
With an in-state match-up pending this weekend against BYU the Wolverines (8-1) couldn't stay undefeated.
BYU (3-5) also lost today, to New Mexico State 54-52.
For Utah Valley Julie McMurray led the team with 18 points against the Bobcats. Robyn Fairbanks scored 17 and had 10 rebounds and Sandy Marvin scored 14 points in the loss.
Those three took most of the offense on their shoulders like normal but they usually have some pretty good help from Rebekah Peterson but she missed both of her field goals and scored just two points.
AS dissapointing as the loss is the season is still off to a great start. The team just has to make sure they don't into a similar slump they fell into last season.
After staring 10-1 in 2006 the women won just one game in their next 10 games.
Interestingly that 1-9 span started with a loss to BYU and their only win in that period was against Montana State.
They play two teams they lost to last year during that span this month also, Portland and Portland State, both at home.
It's hard to see this team going through anoter 1-9 period because of the experience and leaders on the team but they do play some tough games this month besides BYU. Of, course the toughest game of the season will be at Duke.
But potential is still there for the team's best record at Utah Valley.

Men drop third straight
Utah Valley got within three points in the second half but it just couldn't get over the deficit, which at one point was 15 in the first half, against Cal State Northridge of the Big West Conference.
With only three combined points from from Jordan Brady and Richard Troyer the team fell 76-64.
It doesn't get easier either for the men. On Friday they play UC Santa Barbara, a team picked to win the Big West.
It seems like coach Dick Hunsaker is trying to make something happen with the line up as freshman center Brian Anderson and guard Jabir Jinna got their first starts as a Wolverine. In a post game interview Hunsaker said Anderson played well but made some mistakes, as expected from the young guys.
This year's schedule gives Utah Valley a chance to see where it is at compared to so-called mid-major schools and so far it asn't been good.
Utah Valley will return home for a rematch against Boise State, UV lost in overtime to the Broncos in the season opener, Dec. 13 before hitting the road again.

Looking for that killer instinct

It was homecoming, the men's first game televised locally and the first game on the new floor but Portland State made sure Utah Valley didn't get the win with all those things going on.
Utah Valley had several chacnes to put the Vikings away but they just didn't do it. Down the stretch there wasn't someone to take over at either end of the court and it cost Utah Valley a 60-53 overtime loss.
Ryan Toolson did what he could with a game high 22 points, including two free throws under a minute that gave the Wolverines a three-point lead. No one stepped up in overtime though. Jeremia Dominguez, all 5-foot-6 of him, got away with some easy buckets in the overtime, in the lane of all places.
Defense is definitly something to be worked on.
And Utah Valley couldn't take advantage of the Vikings 1-for-7 start from the field as the Wolverines missed their first eight shots. Many were ill-advised 3-pointers.
After the game Hunsaker said Portland State was, "more physical, bigger, stronger and faster," but it was a game the Wolverines had.
Maybe what PSU coach Ken Bone said was true, "Maybe they were deflated."
Maybe Utah Valley was but you have to get up in overtime better than Utah Valley did even if you just miss a lay up that would have gave you the win after they tied the game with a three.
Too many mistakes at both ends cost them and they fall to 3-4.

Notes about the games
The new floor
Even though the school revealed new logos on Friday Utah Valley's new court, one they share with the NBA D-League Utah that has interchangable baselines, half court and other parts, still had the old logos. The school ordered the pieces before any decision on them were made and now athletics will be ordering new parts with the new logos when some extra cash comes in.
My question is why didn't they wait to find out the new logos before ordering the parts of the floor and then play games either with the old floor or with the Flash logos until the parts with the new logo came in. Seems like they could have saved some dough in the whole ordeal.

Home loss
Utah Valley had won 13 straight home games before falling to PSU. The team's last home loss came against Utah State in December 2006.

New Logos for Utah Valley University Athletics

Utah Valley recruit lights up No. 1 team

Ben Aird was on BYU and Utah's recruiting radar not too long ago but for some reason dropped off and landed smack dab in the middle of Utah Valley's.
Looks like coach Dick Hunsaker found himself a diamond with the way Aird played against top-ranked Brighton this week.
The 6-foot-10 center, who plays for Bountiful, dropped in 28 points and pulled down 10 rebounds as well as getting two blocks in the Braves 75-68 win Tuesday night.
Aird scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds in Bountiful's season opener against Syracuse.
He is being touted as, and wants to be, the best big-man in the state. The high school basketball season is young but Aird seems like a great get for the Wolverines.
Utah Valley loses two big men after this season, Joe Walker and Jordan Brady.

Women's basketball

Hot, Hot, Hot
Forward Robyn Fairbanks (right) didn't have to take control in Utah Valley's first few games of the season so Julie McMurray and Sandy Marvin took more of the bulk offensively but Fairbanks didn't wait long to take control.
Against UC Irvine Fairbanks netted 26 first-half points and 36 total. She kept the Wolverines in the game when McMurray and Marvin struggled with their shots early on.
And in an overtime game against Seton Hall Fairbanks followed up her 36-point performance with 39 points to help Utah Valley remain undefeated.
A vote in the AP top 25 followed.
A 6-0 start for the first time in school history has some people taking notice a win against the cross-town Cougars will bolster that recognition Dec. 8 and a good showing 10 days later against Duke will definitely have folks paying attention.
This week the Wolverines travel to play in the Air Force Classic and will face 2-2 Ohio and then either Air Force or Hampton. The Falcons have wins against Denver and Army while Hampton is 4-1 with a win over Georgetown to open the season.
This has to be one of the best teams in school history and the good thing for coach Cathy Nixon she will have her top three scorers back next year.

Wolverines take down Troy in home opener

UVU (2-2) 72 Troy (1-2) 51
It’s hard to believe Utah Valley trailed by 12 to start this game. Troy was hitting from deep for the first few minutes and didn’t connect on a a two-point field goal until the second half.
At first UV struggled to score, shooting mostly perimeter jumpers the first few minutes, but got a few easy buckets inside and took off from that point on. Troy is a zone team but once UV worked the offense inside and once guard Ryan Toolson started hitting from the three-point range Troy couldn’t keep up.
The Trojans didn’t have anything inside; even their big men were shooting threes all game.
Toolson led UV with 17 points and he didn’t attempt a shot inside the three-point line all game. Jordan Brady pitched in 10 points and 10 rebounds. Richard Troyer scored 14 also.
Troy made only three shots in the game that weren’t 3-pointers and shot 35 threes in the game.
Freshman Matt Komenda also played a nice game with 12 points off the bench for the Wolverines.
Up next for Utah Valley is Great Falls on Saturday at 2:05 p.m.

Ronnie Price was in attendance after he played the most minutes he’s played all season the night before against New Jersey as the back up point guard while Jason Hart was at a funeral. Price’s dunk was pretty nice too. He always likes to stick around for pictures and autographs.

Fairbanks, big second half makes UV 4-0

With sophomore Julie McMurray, who is leading the team in scoring so far this season, struggling to get things going in the first half Robyn Fairbanks showed she can still dominate a game.
In the women's 103-83 win over UC Irvine Fairbanks wouldn't be stopped. She scored 26 first-half points and 36 total to go with 15 rebounds. She single handedly kept the Wolverines in the game in the first half.
But Utah Valley's two-point halftime lead turned into a blowout. McMurray got going a bit with seven early second-half points and Sandy Marvin helped out with 22 points and 10 assists.
The Anteaters wanted to push the ball but in the second half Utah Valley showed its depth by running a bit and UC Irvine wasn't able to keep up with the tempo.
In the first half Irvine turned Wolverine turnovers into points put couldn't do the same in the second half.
Marvin also had five steals and so did Asumi Nakayama.
Wolverines face a tough test Wednesday before Thanksgiving against Seton Hall. Good thing Utah Valley has the game at home where they play much better.
Starting good is one thing, they did it last year, keeping it going will be another thing.
Utah Valley has beat all four opponents this season by at least 20 points.

NCAA review and conference talk

With the NCAA in town for an evauluation a few weeks back the athletic department did what it could to make sure things are in order.
Although it is an athletic commitee, other areas of the school were looked at. The NCAA talked to administrators and professors to find out what the relationship is between athletics and education as well as looking at facilities and other things in the athletic department.
The NCAA gives out three grades, fail, pass with exceptions, and pass.
A.D. Mike Jacobsen was sure the school would pass but wondered what exceptions would need to happen before the end of the school's provisional status.
He got half of it right, the school passed and with no exceptions. People said that doesn't happen very often.
With the review and the pass out of the way UV is more interesting for conference pursuers. Here is a list of possible conferences UV thought they would have a shot at and the realistic possibilities, Jacobsen said:


Big West: Not very likely at all. The school presidents want to turn this conference into a California only conference.


Big Sky:They want a school with football and if they said UV was in if they start playing football in three years then UV would take it in an instant. And football would be on the way.


Mid-Conn/Summit: They want out of Utah and want Southern Utah out already. It's just not going to happen and wouldn't be good for UV anyway no sweat about that loss.



Sunbelt: UV men just beat their champ in hoops but they have Denver and don't want to go any farther west as it is. Again no big deal here the travel would be brutal anyway, not that going to play all these sorry teams back east right now isn't. But Sunbelt is a conference the school would be completely happy to be in.


WAC: Jacobsen said this is the conference that has spoken to him the most. They are looking to expand to a non-football school also so every other sport can have travel partners besides football which they want to stay at nine so they can have a bye week rotated through the season. Of course Boise State and Fresno State want out of the WAC and into the Mountain West and that may open up a bigger possibility for UV. Although it still seems a stretch right now that UV would get into that conference it is the best possibility right now besides the Big Sky. If UV did take a spot in the WAC it would be great for the sports they have football would most likely be out of the picture at UV for a very long time.
They would have to play D-I football and meet all the requirments for that plus build a 30-40,000 seat stadium, plus it would cost more than half te budget right now to play every season.


Passing the NCAA stuff was great and conference affiliation will be even better for the school especially if it is the WAC.

One down—two to go for championship

30-18, 30-21, 30-14
Utah Valley women's volleyball team shouldn't have any problem blowing by every team in the Independent tournament this weekend on its way to the championship.
And in the Wolverines first match against Providence the expected was exactly what happened. Jessica Endres, who played limited time, was way too much for Providence as well as the entire Wolverine front line. Endres finished with seven kills in the first game and 12 in the match. She's good but Utah Valley didn't really need her anyway.
Kristin Anderson took a big role and had 10 kills to gave Utah Valley a big lift also in the middle. Overall Utah Valley was way too much up front for anything Providence could offer and it will probably be that way both tournaments.
Kristi Lindley had 41 assists for the Wolverines.
Providence wasn't a big problem and the Wolverines should roll again in game two.
Utah Valley coach Sam Atoa was able to work in most of his players in the easy win.
Utah Valley's second game in the tournament is Texas-Pan American and with a win they will be in the championship Saturday.

Assistant hockey coach fatally shot

It's sad, terrible news today that Ken Dolezar was shoot to death this morning at a Sandy Village Inn.
Police are reporting Dolezar was shot two to three times after an argument with another man.
The first time I covered a hockey game UVSC lost 15-1 to Utah State and Dolezar was who I talked to after the game. After the tough loss Dolezar was very cordial and helpful.
He has helped the Hockey team through coaching and also financially during the team's first three years.
I know he will be missed by the players and other coaches.
The man suspected of shooting Dolezar fled in Dolezar's white Lincoln Navigator but the car was found this afternoon but no suspect yet.
It's sad for everyone especially the hockey community that has grown to be pretty sizable at Utah Valley.

Taking down the Sun Belt

It took three games but Utah Valley finally got its first win on the season. The Wolverines beat Arkansas State in the final game of their three-game road trip 67-63.

Arkansas State is the defending Sun Belt Conference champion and is likely to repeat this season.

On the post game on KSTAR 1400 AM coach Dick Hunsaker said, "Guards win baby. Little Kevin Woods came in and gave us a spark. He's got upside . . . But the game ball has to go to Josh Olsen."

Kevin Woods scored the team's first four points and gave Utah Valley a much needed spark.

Olsen scored 12 points all in the second half as the Wolverines came from behind 11 to start the game and two at half.
Richard Troyer played 40 minutes and scored 10 points in the third game in six days for Utah Valley.

"I feel bad we put our team in this position but I had no choice," Hunsaker said.
"This team is going to get better."

Olsen's big game helped Utah Valley on its way to a big second half. Joe Walker pulled in 14 rebounds to go with seven blocks and seven points as the pair had their best game this season. Jordan Brady, always dependable scored 14 and had 10 rebounds. Toolson, who continues to lead the team offensively, scored 20.

Brady and Toolson got much needed help but only six players scored for Utah Valley. The question of depth could prove costly this season. Another problem is turnovers, 20 in this game.

They say the first win is the toughest and Arkansas State wasn't easy but 1-2 on the road trip isn't bad, 2-1, very possible, but Boise State got the best of the Wolverines in overtime.

Up next another Sun Belt team; Troy at home Nov. 20 for the home opener.

0-2 not good, not bad

An 0-2 start for the men's basketball team isn't good of course but there are some positives.
First the schedule isn't kind with three straight road games. At Boise in the season opener the wolverines missed a chance to end the game in regulation and then couldn't climb back when the Broncos got up in OT. Ryan Toolson is still carrying the offense and it might have hurt them down three with 20 seconds because everyone knew who was going to try and take the final shot.
Against No. 12 Marquette Utah Valley led at halftime 34-32 but scored only 21 second-half points and Marquette won 66-55. Utah Valley should be good though. Last year Hunsaker talked about how hard the road is in college basketball but it's what Utah Valley has to go through.
Toolson and Jordan Brady are going to a pretty dynamic duo this season and Joe Walker brings length and excitement to the defense when players get beat.
The schedule eases after the road trip and Utah Valley should go on a nice win streak.

WAC looking to BYU

Expansion is on the mind of the WAC but it wants a school without football. If BYU takes up an offer the school could go Independent in football, a scenario which has people talking. Then BYU would join the WAC in the rest of its sports.
What does that mean for Utah Valley?
Well, the WAC wants a school who won't play football in the conference so BYU taking the invite would bump Utah Valley out of any chances at the WAC.
Whether BYU wants to do that may not be likely but still getting in the WAC is a possibility for Utah Valley if the conference can't find another taker.

NCAA in town for check-up

So, why was an exhibition game against Westminster so highly marketed by the athletic department? One reason, and it wasn't because they thought everyone would love to see John Stockton's son play the final minutes of the game.


The marketing effort brought 3,600 fans and a noteably bigger student section but can that continue without the marketing?
Well, all the effort was because the NCAA was in town to see how well the school was complying to NCAA requirments. By all indications today things were going well. Monday the group was touring facilities and Tuesday the group was doing interviews with a number of people. The athletic department won't find out specifics of how well the whole thing went for a little while.


The visit was a little earlier than scheduled and the NCAA will be back in 10 years to check again. Athletics is on its way to ending the provisional status it is currently in and when that happens it opens up postseason play possibilities among other things.

Volleyball sweeps In-state rival, ties school record for wins

The Wolverines displayed their dominance against in-state rival Utah State in the Shurian Activity center, sweeping the Aggies 30-18, 30-26, and 30-26.

The win was the 18th of the year for UVSC(18-9), tying the school record for wins in a season.

Junior Camie Manwill had a double-double with 17 digs and 11 kills while also providing an energy to the team. She said after the game that she had never seen the crowd so energetic and enthusiastic, and it was a thrill to play for the fans.



True enough, the crowd energy was high-paced the entire evening. Many of the men's basketball team were in attendance, showing school unity just minutes after their victory over Mesa State.

Senior Jessica Endres came up big for the Wolverines, hitting an impressive .520 to go along with 15 kills, six block assists and six digs. As a team, the Wolverines had six aces and 13 team blocks.

UVSC finishes up the regular season at home on Saturday, Nov. 10 against Nevada. The Wolverines will then host the year-end Division I Independent Championship on November 16-17.

Starters come through

As I expected Richard Troyer, Jordan Brady, Joe Walker, Josh Olsen and Ryan Toolson got the start against Mesa State in the first exhibition game of the season, a 91-59 UV win. And all five had some nice moments, some more than others.

Brady has some nice finishes by the basket including a fancy spin move into the lane in between two defenders. Brady looks ready to take over as one of the team's leaders this year.

Walker swatted six shots in the win and also finished a couple of nice lay ups close to the hoop. The team seemed to rely on Walker being there defensively to help them out when they got beat but all in all Walker looks and said he is ready and more confident than he was last season.

Toolson did, of course, what he does. He missed his first two threes but was pretty money after the first ten minutes and he led the team with 19 points. Mesa State looked like he was more of a focus this year compared to last year but he still found ways to put the ball in the hoop.

Making a position change Troyer shouldn't have problems on the offensive end but defensively he is being asked to guard quicker smaller guys. He struggled at times but overall looks to be ready and with Walker in the middle Troyer has more time to get acquainted with his new role.

Olsen backed up Chris Bailey last year and got the start this game but he struggled at times with a couple unforced turnovers but he has the ability to get it done.
If not, Kevin Woods, a freshmen who played 21 minutes, can do some nice things. Perhaps his welcome-to-college moment was when he took a pass from Walker inside all alone and blew an attempted dunk in the second half. He can shake defenders but has a lot to learn.

This result was expected even though Utah Valley narrowly escaped Mesa State last year when David Heck drilled a three at the end of the game.



Other notes: Former guard/forward Matt Peterson was on the radio broadcast with Steve Watts. Peterson was doing the color or analysis part. I'm sure he can give some good insights about Hunsaker and some other factors he went through last year.
Heck was also at the game, both players are still in school, and Peterson said Heck will give it a go on the radio also.


The NCAA will be in town for a analysis of the athletic department Monday and they are trying to push the game and get students aware and have them show up after a crowd of 457 was at the Mesa State game. It will be interesting to see what attendance is like for another exhibition game against another team UV should pound.

How about the WAC?

The athletic department is looking to get into a conference so what does a Western Athletic Conference task force mean to Utah Valley?


There's an article in the Star Bulletin from Hawaii, here, about the WAC task force looking at basketball in the nine-team conference.

The WAC may want to expand by adding another team to make travel partners for Thursday and Saturday games. Could UVSC be a possibilty? Hawaii athletic director and member of the task force Herman Frazier was in Salt Lake City for a conference earlier this month.
The WAC would be a great conference for Utah Valley but it still seems like a long shot at this point but anything is possible the way Utah Valley's athletics are continuing to improve un der Division I status.

If Utah Valley gets into a conference without a football team the will they ever have football?
Pressure from the conference might encourage it but it could go the other way if the conference just wants to add a school without football and basketball as its main sport. Football still costs a fortune Utah Valley doesn't have.

There's still plenty of changes to endure before the athletic department is where it wants to be at the D-I level.

Basketball teams getting geared for another season

The basketball season is right around the corner, actually exhibition play starts Thursday with the men's team taking on Mesa State.


Men's coach Dick Hunsaker said he had things ready to go as far as starters before practice today but after a pratice where everything went wrong he said he wasn't sure how the starters would shake out.
I'm sure he has it but wasn't willing to discuss it. I think it will shape up like this on Thursday

Point guard—Josh Olsen

Shooting guard—Ryan Toolson

Small forward—Richard Troyer, who Hunsaker said is making the transition to small from power forward.

Power forward—Jordan Brady

Center—Joe Walker

We will see how close it is.

On the women's side
Cathy Nixon had her team doing some kind of scrimmage with refs and all today. Both Nixon and the assistant stopped the scrimmage a number of times to give instruction. The women's first exhibition game is Friday.

Wrestling high hopes

The wrestle-off provided a glimpse of what the wrestling program could be in the next few years.

The team is young but they are stoked to be able to compete down the road. Coach Greg Williams and the players talked about becoming a top-20 program in a couple of years.
Again fans won't be able to catch the team at home until January.

Wrestle-off kicks off 2007 season tonight

Experience is always something that can help any team be good. Just having those extra reps and feeling comfortable in situations helps athletes compete at a higher level.
That's not to say inexperienced athletes can't make an impact. That is what the Utah Valley wrestling squad will need this year with 18 freshman on the roster.
Coach Greg Williams will count on a number of redshirt freshmen to help the team acheive success this season.
Things kick off unofficially tonight at the Shurian Activity center with the annual wrestle-off at 7 p.m.
The event is free and it gives fans the opportunity to see the team for the first time, the next home match won't be until Jan. 3.

Runners take a championship

Once again Utah Valley showed its Independent dominance, this time it was the cross country runners getting the job done.
Both the men's and the women's teams walked away from the Independent Championships as the champions.
Aiysha Mitchell, who finished first out of Utah Valley runners at most meets this year, continued her success crossing the finish line first for the women. On the men's team, Chase Englestead crossed the finish line second in the men's race and first out of UV runners.



Mitchell came on strong this year with all sorts of determination and grit. After the BYU Fall Invitational earlier this year she said she felt like she had improved tremendously since last season. She was the best runner this year finishing regularly in the top ten at meets. She had goals to meet and now she's the best Independent female runner, good for her. She's a senior so someone else will have to step up next year. Coach Houle was impressed with what she's done this season, pretty much coming out of nowhere to be the leader of Utah Valley.
Utah Valley still has Independent tournaments to play in both soccer and volleyball and since both the tournaments will be in Orem it's liekly the Wolverines could claim three championships in the fall.

Utah Valley Sports

This is going to be a place where Utah Valley sports will be covered in a way they haven't ever been covered. Thoughts and insights from games and practices will help fans get to know what the Utah Valley athletic department is up to as well as helping fans get to know what players to watch.
As the blog gets developed more features will be availible and more information from more of the sports. Some of the posts will be short and sweet and then some will be in-depth and give readers more than they can get anywhere, yes, anywhere.
We will talk to coaches, players and athletic administrators to get the most relevant, up-to-date information possible. Readers are encouraged to make comments, suggest questions they want answered and give their predictions on whatever they want to from who's going to win that night to how long a coach will stick around.
Suggestions from readers are also encouraged among fans, coaches, players, alumni or whoever. So be ready for more Wolverine opinions and insights than has ever been availible.
Enjoy.