They won the WAC championship and finished fifth in the NCAA, but they’re not the BYU football team. They are the BYU women’s volleyball team, one of three women’s teams to claim WAC championships and national rankings this fall.
The women’s cross country team grabbed the highest honors of the group by placing third in the NCAA championships after winning the WAC. The No. 3 ranking is the highest ever achieved by the team. In addition, three runners were named All-Americans: sophomores Maggie Chan and Courtney Pugmire and freshman Elizabeth Jackson.
All-American sophomore Courtney Pugmire led BYU’s cross country team to a No.3 finish in the NCAA championship.
The volleyball team went into the WAC championship ranked 25th and beat out third-ranked Hawaii for the title. In the NCAA tournament, the team placed fifth. Senior outside hitter Gale Johnson was named to the second team All-America.
In just its second season as an NCAA team, the women’s soccer team won the WAC championship and finished the season with a 22-1 record and a national ranking of 17. They were snubbed, however, and were one of only two teams in the top 25 not invited to the 32-team NCAA tournament. Sophomore forward Shauna Rohbock was named a second-team All-American.
Men’s sports also did well this fall, with the soccer team winning the national club title and the cross country team taking second place in the WAC.
In football, senior tight end Itula Mili was named a member of the All-America team. In addition, Alan Boardman, the senior punter, was named to the GTE Academic All-America team, and senior tight end Chad Lewis was named to the College Football Association’s Scholar-Athlete Team. Lewis was also one of 13 football players nationwide to receive an NCAA postgraduate scholarship.
