Sports briefs
Nothum Honored as GWC Student-Athlete of the Month
UVU cross country runner Mary Nothum was named on Monday as the GWC Women’s Student-Athlete of the Month for September, after dominating on the cross country course last month.
“This is a great achievement for Mary and we are very proud of her,” UVU head cross country coach Scott Houle said. “She has been the pace-setter for our team all season long and her attitude has rubbed off on the team,” said Houle. “Mary has consistently been our number one all year.”
Nothum, a junior from Washington, Mo., won the Montana State Cross Country Invitational, placed second at the Wyoming Invitational (including running the second fastest time ever at the meet), and finished sixth at the prestigious Roy Griak Invitational in Minnesota during Sept. She was also UVU’s top finisher at all three cross country meets last month and led the Wolverines to a fourth place finish at the Roy Griak, where the only teams to finish ahead of UVU were two top ten teams and another top 25 team.
The UVU top-runner led the Wolverines to a second place finish at both the Wyoming and Montana State Invitationals and was twice named GWC Runner of the Week in September.
Nothum is the second consecutive Wolverine to be recognized as the conference student-athlete of the month, as UVU volleyball player Kayli Broadbent was honored for her play this past August.
Women’s Basketball Practice Underway
Practice is underway for the UVU women’s basketball team and 15th-year head coach Cathy Nixon.
“I was really anxious to get started. We’ve got a lot of work to do,” said Nixon. “We have new kids and a new staff. If the kids keep working and progressing like they are I’m excited for how the season’s going to be.”
The Wolverines are coming off their best season ever, finishing 17-10 and winning the year-end Division I Independent Tournament in 2008-09.
It will be a new-look for this year’s team after losing its top two point producers in the school’s NCAA history. Robyn Fairbanks (26.0 ppg) and Sandy Wall (13.9 ppg) are both gone after graduation but the Wolverines do return last season’s second-leading scorer in Julie Smith, formerly McMurray, and her 18.3 points per game.
In total, UVU welcomes six new freshmen to accompany its three seniors, one junior and two sophomores.
The sidelines also experienced slight change bringing in two new assistant coaches. Liz Darger and Dan Nielson were added to the coaching staff to assist the wolverines this season.
UVU opens the 2009-10 season at BYU on Nov. 13 and will host Mesa State the following day. The Wolverines also host Montana Tech on Nov. 4 in an exhibition game.