BYU Athletes Honored at Annual Athletic Awards Banquet

The winners of Brigham Young University's

Annual Athletic Awards were honored Wednesday night in the BYU Wilkinson Center.

Those honored included: COMPETITOR AWARD: Andy Miller (Men's Golf), Maren

Hendershot (Women's Soccer); LEONA B. HOLBROOK SPIRIT OF SPORT AWARD:

Caroline Bower (Women's Volleyball); CROWD-PLEASER AWARD: Terrell Lyday

(Men's Basketball), Rachelle Kunkel (Women's Diving); COUGAR CLUB MEMORIAL

AWARD: Jared Lee (Football); KIMBALL MEMORIAL AWARD: John Hedengren, (Men's

Track/Cross Country); OUTSTANDING SENIOR FEMALE ATHLETE AWARD: Elizabeth

Jackson (Track/Cross Country); DALE R. McCANN TEAM SPIRIT AWARD: Marc Chenn,

(Men's Track), Cady Williams (Women's Basketball) ED STEIN

AWARD: Rob Morris (Football).

The recipients were selected by the Cougar Club and the BYU Athletic

Administration as the most deserving of these prestigious awards," Val Hale

said.

The BYU Team of the Year Awards went to the Men‚s Gymnastics team and the

Women's Cross Country team. Established in 1993, the Athletic Team of the

Year Award honors the academic and athletic accomplishments of BYU

student-athletes and their coaches.

"We are delighted to honor these two BYU teams that strike the difficult

balance between athletic excellence and academic achievement," said Fred

Skousen, BYU Advancement Vice President.

In a year highlighted by another trip to the NCAA Championships, the 2000

Men‚s Gymnastics team is perhaps the hardest working group of athletes on

campus. Guided by coach Mako Sakamoto and assistant Kenzo Koshimura, each

BYU gymnast is a very disciplined, well-conditioned athlete who works

meticulously to master each routine. The team is composed of excellent

students, boasting one of the university‚s highest overall team GPAs (3.25).

In its final home meet ever, the BYU men's gymnastics team went out in

heroic style, breaking the single-meet team scoring record with a 228.525

and defeating both Temple University and the University of Washington by

nearly seven full points.

By winning its second national title in three years, the Women‚s Cross

Country team became the first team in BYU history to win more than one NCAA

title. Carefully preparing his athletes for the big races, head coach

Patrick Shane had the team running at peak efficiency by the season‚s end.

The team is equally impressive when they‚re not running by maintaining an

overall grade point average of 3.51 for the season.

"This is without question the best team that I've ever coached," Shane

said."Although it's hard to really know, I would say it may be the best

team to ever run at te NCAAs, and I think it could compare with any cross

country team ever fielded."

Awarded to the individual who has given the most to amateur athletics in

Utah, the recipient of the Dale Rex Memorial Award was Carl McGown, BYU

Men‚s Volleyball Head Coach.

Over the past four seasons, Carl McGown has been America‚s most successful

collegiate men‚s volleyball coach. The all-time winningest coach in BYU

Men's Volleyball history, he led the Cougars to their first-ever NCAA

Championship in 1999, when they posted a 30-1 overall record.

"We congratulate each of tonight's award recipients." said Michael

Middleton, Executive Director of the Cougar Club. "As individuals and

collectively they have contributed to athletic excellence at Brigham Young

University and in the state of Utah. With this year's banquet we have added

another page to the legacy of BYU Athletics."

AWARD RECIPIENTS:

Competitor Award (Men), Andy Miller

Competitor Award (Women), Maren Hendershot

Crowd Pleaser Award (Men), Terrell Lyday

Crowd Pleaser Award (Women), Rachelle Kunkel

Cougar Club Memorial Award, Jared Lee

Kimball Memorial Award, John Hedengren

Dale R. McCann Team Spirit Award (Men), Marc Chenn

Dale R. McCann Team Spirit Award (Women), Cady Williams

Ed Stein Award, Rob Morris

Outstanding Senior Female, Elizabeth Jackson

Floyd Johnson Service Award (Men), John Lowry

Floyd Johnson Service Award (Women), Mari Carpenter

Leona Holbrook, Spirit of Sport (Women), Caroline Bower

Dale Rex Award, Carl McGown

Men's Team of the Year, Men's Gymnastics

Women's Team of the Year, Women's Cross Country