Sports briefs

UVU’s Brad Darrington named WWC Wrestler of the Week

Utah Valley University sophomore 174-pounder Brad Darrington has been named the Western Wrestling Conference’s Wrestler of the Week, announced Wednesday by the league.

Darrington had a very successful showing this past Saturday when he went 3-0 at the Lone Star Duals in Arlington, Texas to lead UVU to a 2-1 record on the day. Darrington’s three victories came by fall over No. 22 Arizona State’s Eric Starks, technical fall over Harvard’s David Lalo (16-0) and major decision over Brown’s Ziad Kharbush (11-2). His big wins helped UVU cruise to victories over Harvard (40-10) and Brown (24-12) and kept his squad close against No. 22 ASU (27-15).

Darrington is now 15-6 on the year and a perfect 6-0 in duals, and his team is 5-1 on the season. Darrington’s conference Wrestler of the Week honor marks the third time on the season that a Wolverine has received the award. Junior Benjamin Kjar has won the award twice.

Utah Valley picked to win both indoor track & field titles

The Great West Conference track coaches have chosen Utah Valley University as the favorite to capture both the men’s and the women’s 2010 GWC indoor track & field titles, the conference office announced Tuesday.

“This shows a lot of respect for our program,” UVU head coach Scott Houle said. “The indoor season is a little bit of a challenge for us. South Dakota is a very good indoor team, so winning both in their arena will be a tough thing for us to accomplish. We are definitely going to continue to improve our team and go to South Dakota as prepared as possible in late February.”

Utah Valley received six first-place votes on the men’s side for a total of 61 points. South Dakota, which won both the men’s and women’s inaugural indoor titles last season, received the other two first-place votes, tallying 58 points.

Houston Baptist finished in third place at 43 points in the men’s voting, followed closely by Texas-Pan American with 42 points. North Dakota finished fifth with 31 points and Seattle posted 26 points in sixth place. Rounding out the preseason voting on the men’s side were Chicago State with 17 points and NJIT with 10 points.

On the women’s side, Utah Valley received five first-place votes and a total of 60 points. Defending champion South Dakota was a close second with 59 points and the remaining three first-place ballots.