BYU beats Utah for crown

Katie Larkin's second-half goal lifted the Brigham Young women's soccer team to a 1-0 win over Utah for the Mountain West Conference tournament championship Saturday in Las Vegas.
Three minutes into the second half, Larkin scored on a shot from the left side of the box to the right side of the goal, past Utah goalkeeper Emalee Rogers.
The Cougars (17-5-0) outshot the Utes 19-11 and won the MWC tourney title for the second straight year. They also won the regular-season title this year.
Freshman keeper McKinzie Olson had five saves to earn the shutout.
Rogers had eight saves for Utah (11-9-2).
The NCAA Tournament pairings and locations will be announced Monday.

NCAA wants to judge coaches by athletes' academic performances

Win-loss records shouldn't be the only measure of a coach, the NCAA's top policymaking board feels. It plans to compile individual academic progress rates illustrating how well their players fare in the classroom.

The Division I Board of Directors, made up of university presidents and chancellors, asked an academic committee Thursday to draw up a formula for the first-of-their-kind individual APRs, which would become part of a coach's career record. They'd be available for recruits, their parents and prospective employers to evaluate along with wins and other competitive and personal criteria.

"The rate is intended to function … as a lifetime batting average for coaches with respect to the academic performance of their student-athletes," NCAA President Myles Brand said. FULL STORY

Eight MWC Student-Athletes Named to Academic All-District Women's Soccer Team

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Eight Mountain West Conference student-athletes were named to ESPN the Magazine's 2008 Academic All-District Women's Soccer Teams, announced today by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) officials. TCU's Lizzy Karoly and Air Force's Roni Yadlin were each honored as first-team members.

TCU placed four student-athletes on the District 6 team, including Karoly, Kelsey Walters (second-team), Jackie Torda (third-team) and Cheryl Martin (third-team). New Mexico's Alexis Ball was named to the second-team, while teammate Samantha Bevis earned third-team honors.

Air Force's Yadlin was honored in District 7, while UNLV's Dani Morin received second-team accolades in District 8.

Mountain West Teams Ranked

The CU women's soccer team (13-3-3) continued to be ranked No. 15 in the NCAA Division I poll compiled by the National Soccer Coaches Association of the America.

* The Metro State women's soccer team (13-1-3) remained at No. 12 in the Division II poll.

* The Fort Lewis men's soccer team (13-1-3) remained at No. 3 in the Division II poll and Metro State (10-4-3) again was ranked No. 15. CSU-Pueblo (10-7-1) entered the poll at No. 25.

MWC administration

Mountain West Conference Commissioner Craig Thompson announced the hiring of Dawn Anderson as Director of Championships.

Anderson joins the Mountain West staff after serving the past year as Director of Championships and Special Events at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Her primary duties included championship implementation for men's and women's cross country, men's soccer, men's and women's indoor and outdoor track, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's golf, and softball. Anderson also assisted with the development of in-season and championship policies and administrative agreements and coordinated the MAAC Merchandise and Sales program.

In her role at the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based Mountain West Conference, Anderson will serve as the liaison for eight regular-season Mountain West Conference sponsored sports in addition to serving as the championship contact for men's and women's cross-country, women's soccer, men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field and men's golf.