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Cougars, Utes make it a blue-ribbon day

Now that's what inter-collegiate athletics needs a little bit more of.

Go Utes and Cougs.

Good PR.

PURE CLASS, thank you for making us fans with our sickening and hateful bias's look like jerks. Chelsea you get my vote for Utah Athlete of the Year. You are indeed a winner.

Chelsea Shapard, you are a class act. There are bigger things in life than sports rivalries, and you demonstrated that even in the midst of preparing for the biggest races of your life thus far, service and respect for others was first in your mind and heart. This is the epitome of the BYU/UT rivalry: intense competition on the field, court, or track, but unity and neighborly kindness off the field or track. I wish you and your teamate also competing in the NCAA finals great success, along with my beloved Cougs. Classy ladies deserve support!

Please notice that it is BLUE for first and RED for second.

Class, pure class. Thanks Utes.

Classy move Utes, Thank you

What a cool gesture. It's nice to see that the petty immaturity that sometimes dominates the BYU/U of U rivalry can be set aside. Now if only the fans from our schools could follow their lead...

Thanks. Amidst one of the greatest rivalrys in College sports, Cougars and Utes, it is wonderful to see the sensitive and thoughtful side of our athletes. A class act by any measurement.

I agree with this being true sportsmanship. I'm SO SICK of the useless trash talking by both sides. Just look at the most recent article about the Ute WR and the pathetic trash going on there. Men have turned into uncontrollable animals.

Great for this girl to do the right thing. I'm proud of her.

THANKS! Good Luck to both the Utes and the Cougars in your competitions.

Thank you, Utah Utes. Were a tragedy to take one of your athletes, I would hope my team - the one in blue - would do the same.

Very classy, Utes.....

And us BYU fans are stuck with people like Anonymous 6:29.

Utes definitely own the high road today.

Great young woman. My observations over the years indicate the athletes from both schools are typically great competitors and good sportsmen. The fans could follow such a good example as this young woman. Best wishes to the athletes from both schools.

Love this Gesture!

If only fans and players on boths side of the rivaly could interanlize some of Chelsea's goodwill and class we'd all be better off!

I will remember this for a long time!

Thanks Chelsea for setting such a wonderful example for other athletes, but also for the readers. One of the reasons for taking the high road is because it is less crowded. You certainly are in rare air with your gesture. Hopefully, some of the posters to these sports sites will learn from your example that kindness and good sportsmanship trump trash talk and other derrogatory comemnts every time.

I've enjoyed reading the posts on this topic, rather than the childish drivel often found here.

If find reading these forums very interesting. For the most part the only "hatred" between teams comes from the fans. The athletes are usually pretty good friends, yeah you want to win, but in the end it is just a game. Nothing more and nothing less, there are more important things in life. With all the corruption that exists in sport, I find it a sad commentary of our society when fans misbehave.

Thank you Chelsea for your example.

Once in a while a tragedy makes us pause to remember that sport is just a game and that there are more important things in life, like charity.

Thank you Chelsea for taking the BYU/Utah rivalry to a higher level, civility.

This is a great article about a classy student-athlete, and something I wish we could see more of in the media. Chelesa sets a great example for all student-athletes and Utah citizens.

As far as those blasting Utes/BYU fans alike for "needless" and "childish" banter, you need to remember one thing. A rivalry's existence hinges on the passion of the players and fan bases involved. That passion is a direct product of heated competition. Sure, it would be nice to see BYU/Ute fans act more civilized toward one another, but that's just the point. If they were to act that way there wouldn't be a rivalry in the first place. And we know how intriguing and exciting the rivalry is for so many in the state.

What a nice, classy act by the Utes with the blue ribbon idea. For the most part the athletes seem to handle the rivalry stuff much better than the fans. Hopefully fans from both sides can learn from this kind act of compassion.