Natasha R. Menezes
Swimming: Breaking Mom’s Record
Melanie Rile Menezes (BA ’95) held the BYU pool record in the women’s 500 freestyle for 27 years—until her daughter broke it at the 2009 conference opener. “We were there; we saw it happening,” says Melanie, describing how she and her husband, former Cougar swimmer Ronald C. Menezes (BS ’86), watched their daughter Natasha (’10) finish just over a second faster, with a time of 4:55.46. “The fact that it was my daughter was just really sweet.” Natasha actually broke two BYU pool records that night—the 200 and the 500 free.
Women’s Soccer: NCAA Bid
Though the Cougars didn’t take the MWC championship, they won a bid to the NCAA College Cup, making it to the second round before falling to no. 1 Stanford.
Taylor S. Woodward (’13) Cheers on the new all-girl squad.
Cheerleading: Three Squads Combine
In fall 2009 the Cougarettes joined the coed BYU Cheer Squad in the Athletic Department. In addition, a new all-girl cheerleading squad was formed. The all-girl squad focuses on sideline dances and tumbling rather than the stunts the coed squad is known for. Known collectively as the BYU Spirit Squad, the three groups perform both together and independently at home athletic events. The coed and all-girl squads will compete together at nationals.
Powerlifting: Powerlifting Champ
Patrick N. Rhoades (’11) took first in his class at the 2009 U.S. Powerlifting Federation (USPF) Nationals after squatting, bench pressing, and dead lifting a combined total of almost 1,200 pounds. He went on to compete at the World Powerlifting Championship, both independently and as part of the junior USA powerlifting team. Team USA won the bench-press and the dead-lift events, and Rhoades won the dead lift in his age and weight group. He was also named the 2009 USPF Junior Lifter of the Year.
LaVell Edwards, the guest predictor, donned a Cosmo head while ESPN’s Lee Corso wore the head of TCU’s horned frog. In the end, Corso called it.
Football: Gameday in Provo
Broadcasting live from the site of the biggest game in college football each week, ESPN’s College Football GameDay television and radio show descended on Provo for the first time to cover the BYU vs. TCU Homecoming game. A feature segment in the two-hour show followed BYU linebacker Coleby S. Clawson (’10) home, highlighting his roles as a husband and father.
Cross Country: Go for Miles
After losing to New Mexico’s Jacob Kirwa at the MWC championships, BYU’s Miles B. Batty (’12) beat the runner by 14 seconds at regionals, taking second in the 10K and helping the men’s team place first overall. Both the men’s and women’s teams advanced to NCAA championships, where the men came in 17th overall in the 10K and the women 19th in the 6K. Junior Cecily Lemmon Lew (’11) finished 10th in a field of 216 runners, securing All-America honors.
Dennis Pitta
Football: Record-Setting Rivalry Game
Junior running back Harvey J. Unga (’11) became the first Cougar to have three 1,000-yard rushing seasons, passing the 1,000-yard mark this year in BYU’s 26–23 win over the Utes—the Cougars’ 200th win in LaVell Edwards Stadium. In the same victory, kicker Mitchell G. Payne (’11) became the MWC career leader in extra points, with a total of 151; Max R. Hall (’10), with a 31–7 record, passed Ty Detmer (BS ’92) to claim the most wins for a starting BYU quarterback; and tight end Dennis G. Pitta (’10) became BYU’s all-time leader in receptions, amassing 216 in his BYU career. Pitta was later named to several All-America teams.
