Penigar Named Utah State Athlete of the Week

Utah State forward Desmond Penigar was named Utah State's Athlete of the Week, it was announced on Monday. The honor is selected by a local media panel.

Penigar, a senior from Upland, Calif., led 15th-seeded Utah State with 25 points and nine rebounds in its near upset of second-seeded Kansas in the first round of the NCAA tournament. He also led the Aggies with three steals and one block as the Jayhawks narrowly defeated the Aggies 64-61.

This year, Penigar became just the sixth Utah State basketball player to be named a two-time first-team all-Big West Conference selection as he was named all-league by the conference coaches. He was also one of 20 players from across the country named to the CollegeInsider.com mid-major All-America team.

Nominees from other sports...

Women's Tennis -- Jill Smith... Smith posted Utah State's lone victory on Friday, March 21 against South Carolina. She defeated Audrey George in a shortened match, 3-2. Smith currently has USU's best individual record at 5-3.

Softball -- Aimee Johnson... Johnson was named to the Capital Classic all-tournament team after leading the Aggies to a fifth-place finish at the tournament in Sacramento, Calif. Johnson hit 4-14 in USU's five games. The Aggies finished the tournament with three wins and two losses.

Women's Track -- Audrey Golightly... Golightly won the 5,000-meter run at Sacramento State with a personal record time of 17:51.48. The time was also good enough to place her in eighth on the USU all-time list.

Men's Track -- Ryan Bruhn... Bruhn led the Aggie throwers, who accounted for 17 top-five finishes at Sacramento Saturday. Bruhn set personal records winning both the hammer throw (197-09) and the discus (152-06). Bruhn's hammer throw was good enough to place him in fifth on the USU all-time list.

Gymnastics -- Meagan Nelson... Saturday at Ohio State, Nelson led Utah State in the all-around for the sixth time this season, winning her fifth all-around title of the year. She scored 39.225, increasing her school-record total of all-around scores better than 39.00 to 11 on the year. She took third in the vault (9.875), as the Aggies posted a road score of 195.10.