USU campus briefs

CROSS COUNTRY: The Aggies' men's and women's cross country teams received the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Academic Award, announced by the association this week. It is the third year in a row that both Aggie men and women have earned the team honors.

For a team to be considered for the USTFCCCA all-Academic Team award, they must have competed and compiled a team score at an NCAA Regional Meet. The team must also have a minimum 3.00 team cumulative grade point average.

The Aggie men held a combined 3.43 GPA and the women tabbed a cumulative team GPA of 3.30.

On the men's side, Fresno State and New Mexico State were fellow honorees from the Western Athletics Conference. Nevada and NMSU were fellow WAC members honored on the women's side.

A record 135 Division I men's programs received USTFCCCA all-Academic Team honors, up from 2008's total of 110. The women also had a record number with 176 Division I women's programs earning the honor, up from last year's total of 162.

MEN'S BASKETBALL: Jared Quayle continues to collect postseason honors as he was one of 10 players named to the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) All-District VIII team Tuesday.

Along with being named all-district by the USBWA, Quayle also earned first-team all-Western Athletic Conference honors as a senior and was named the league's Most Valuable Player by NetScouts Basketball.

Quayle, a 6-1, 180-pound senior guard from Perry, Utah (Box Elder HS/Western Wyoming CC) currently ranks first in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.59), is third in the league in free throw shooting (.889), fifth in 3-point shooting (.432) and assists (4.26), ninth in steals (1.19), 11th in rebounding (6.2) and 15th in scoring (11.9).

Quayle earned second-team all-WAC honors in his first year at Utah State along with being named to the league's all-newcomer team. He was also named to the WAC's all-tournament team, was named a second-team all-district player by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), and was named a high major honorable mention All-American by CollegeHoops.net.

Joining Quayle on the USBWA All-District VIII team was Luke Babbitt (Nevada), Jackson Emery (BYU), Jimmer Fredette (BYU), Cory Higgins (Colorado), Darington Hobson (New Mexico), Damian Lilliard (Weber State), Roman Martinez (New Mexico), Tre'Von Williams (UNLV) and Jahmar Young (New Mexico State).

District VIII is made up of teams from the states of Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. There are nine regions from coast to coast and a player and coach of the year were selected from each.