Marshall places 17th in NCAA meet:
After helping lead his team to the WAC Outdoor Track and Field Championship in the spring, Idaho junior Mike Marshall made the most of his opportunity to compete on the national stage. Marshall, a javelin thrower from Yakima, Wash., finished 17th at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. His throw of 224-9 (68.52m) was the sixth best in the first flight. Marshall was also named a U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association outdoor All-American honoree.
Track and Field/Cross Country signs two:
Idaho Track and Field coach Wayne Phipps continues to build upon the legacy that has become the Vandal track and field/cross-country program, signing two distance runners this summer. Santos Vargas and William Austin-Cray will join the Vandal men this fall and replace a group of graduating seniors in both track and field and cross-country.
Geiger, Mortellaro pick up Stan Bates Award:
For the second time in three years, Idaho athletes have swept the WAC’s Stan Bates Award, annually given to the conference’s most elite male and female scholar-athletes. Named after former WAC commissioner Stan Bates, the award takes into account a student-athlete’s athletic, academic and community accomplishments. Idaho athletes have won the award a total of eight times – more than any other WAC participant since the award came about in 1981.
Women’s tennis ranked No. 6 in Mountain Region:
As a result of one of their best seasons in program history, the Idaho women’s tennis team was ranked No. 6 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Mountain Region. Last season the Vandals were 19-8 and reached the WAC Tournament semifinals, before falling to Hawaii. The ranking is the highest in Idaho history. In addition to the team ranking, Victoria Lozano and Almudena Sanz were ranked as individuals in both singles and doubles.
Mortellaro is WAC honoree for national award:
After being named the top female student-athlete in the WAC last year, Idaho women’s golfer Kayla Mortellaro, who graduated last spring, was recognized as the WAC’s honoree for the 2012 NCAA Woman of the Year award. Mortellaro was one of 429 female student-athletes across three NCAA divisions to earn the nomination and will learn in September if she is one of the top 30 nominees.
Ayesu-Attah’s summer complete with Olympic Trials, World Juniors:
After helping the Idaho men’s track and field team to consecutive conference titles at the winter indoor and spring outdoor WAC Championships, freshman Benjamin Ayesu-Attah competed in his home nation of Canada’s Olympic Trials, in addition to the World Junior Track and Field Championships hosted in Barcelona, Spain.