Collegiate runners from around the state made headlines in 2006, topped off by BYU cross country star Josh Rohatinksy's undeafeated, national title-winning senior season.

Southern Utah's Jess Baumgartner placed third. BYU runner Kassi Andersen took sixth at the national women's championship race.

Another BYU runner, hurdler/sprinter Chris Carter, had a huge summer as well. After capturing a pair of conference titles and all-America honors in his freshman season at BYU, he took his act international and captured gold medals in the 400-meter hurdles and 4x400 relay at World Junior Track and Field Championships in China.

Others worth mentioning

• FOOTBALL HONORS: Utah defensive back Eric Weddle and BYU quarterback John Beck lived up to the preseason hype, turning in superb senior campaigns and earning Mountain West Conference defensive and offensive player-of-the-year awards, respectively. Weddle and Cougar tight end Jonny Harline also were named to several all-America first teams.

• U. GYMNASTS: An off-night on uneven bars to open their Super Six championships at Oregon State doomed the Utes. Or did it? Nobody could come back from that, yet they finished second to Georgia in the NCAA. Sophomore Ashley Postell came out of the team preliminaries for her second straight silver performance in the all-around, and freshman Kristina Baskett won the NCAA bars championship.

• U. FOOTBALL: Utah capped an 8-5 campaign with a sixth consecutive bowl victory. The Utes defeated Tulsa, 25-13, in the Armed Forces Bowl on Dec. 23 to extend a streak of bowl wins that dates back to 1999, including the past four years.

• MALONE CEREMONY: On March 23, the Jazz retired the well-worn No. 32 of Karl Malone, who left the NBA as the No. 2 all-time scorer in history. The same night, the franchise — prior to a game against Washington — also unveiled a statue of Malone that stands outside its downtown Salt Lake arena next to that of longtime teammate John Stockton.

• THE JAZZ ARENA: Since 1991, the Jazz played at the Delta Center. The location didn't change, but on Nov. 20 the name of the building did — to EnergySolutions Arena. The new corporate sponsor is a Salt Lake-based company that disposes of low-level radioactive waste. The former corporate sponsor is a bankrupt airline.