Sports briefs
Claitt Named GWC Player of the Week
Utah Valley University junior guard Corey Claitt was named the Great West Conference Player of the Week Monday by the league office after averaging 20 points and six rebounds in two games for the Wolverines last week.
Claitt, who scored 12 straight points down the stretch against Chicago State Saturday night, recorded what proved to the game-winner in the GWC opener when he converted a three-point play with 14.4 seconds left. He scored a game-high 20 points and tallied six rebounds, three steals and two assists.
In a 90-85 loss at Texas-Arlington on Jan. 5, Claitt scored a team high 20 points, grabbed six rebounds, dished out five assists and tallied three steals against the Mavericks.
Claitt, who hails from West Palm Beach, Fla., leads the team in scoring at 14.3 points a game and assists with 3.75. He is also grabbing 3.7 rebounds per game.
Claitt is the second UVU player to be named the GWC Player of the Week this year. Senior Jordan Swarbrick had been named the player of the week two times so far this season.
UVU Breaks Three School Records to Begin Season at BYU
Utah Valley freshman Allah Laryea-Akrong broke the school record twice on the day in the 60-meter dash and senior Andrew Graham broke another one in the 60-meter hurdles as the Wolverines began the season with a good start on Friday and Saturday at the BYU Indoor Invitational.
Laryea-Akrong, who began the day by setting a new school record in the prelims of the 60-meter dash with 6.88, then shattered his own time in the finals, winning the race with a time of 6.80. Laryea-Akrong continued his impressive day when he later won the men’s 300m dash with a time of 34.70. Graham broke his own school record the men’s 60-meter hurdles as he ran the blazing time of 8.25 in the prelims.
Junior Whitney Aste led the Wolverine women by tying the school record in the women’s high jump (5-07). With that impressive jump, she placed second in the event.
“We are excited about the way we opened up our season this weekend,” UVU associate head coach Kirke Adamson said. “It was all we could expect and then some. It puts our kids in a great spot and allows us, as coaches, to really begin to start fine tuning them as the season progresses. By breaking three school records, this was a perfect meet for us.”