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BYU Sports Weekend Recap: Temples, Running and the NIT

By Adam Gibby

PROVO, UT - SEPTEMBER 16: General exterior view of LaVell Edwards Stadium prior to the game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Brigham Young Cougars on September 16, 2017 in Provo, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images)
PROVO, UT - SEPTEMBER 16: General exterior view of LaVell Edwards Stadium prior to the game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Brigham Young Cougars on September 16, 2017 in Provo, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by George Salpigtidis/Getty Images)
(Photo by George Salpigtidis/Getty Images) /

In the first BYU sports weekend that didn’t feature either basketball or football since August, other sports stepped up to make it a good weekend.

It feels odd not to have to report on a football or basketball game. It has been 28 straight weekends of there being a game over the weekend. This past weekend will be highlighted primarily by things that took place off the field, but we will be sure to highlight everything.

The best accomplishment was Heather Olmstead winning the Utah Female Coach of the Year by the Utah Sports Commision. It really should come as no surprise as Olmstead is the NCAA leader in winning percentage in women’s volleyball and she led the Cougars to a perfect start and No. 1 ranking for the majority of the season. The award is still really good however considering that the candidate could have been any women’s coach in the state and there are plenty of other great teams around.

Former BYU QB, and current Saints everything Taysom Hill was asked to be part of the temple groundbreaking for the new temple for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Hill’s hometown of Pocatello Idaho. Hill said “To be able to be a part of it was a special experience.” He was joined by other city and church leaders from the area.

BYU Basketball was not invited to play in the NCAA Tournament or the NIT and rejected any other invitation from other postseason basketball tournaments such as the CBI. In a statement by Tom Holmoe, he wrote “”The primary focus of the BYU basketball programs is to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, or as a secondary option the NIT. With that in mind, we have determined that our men’s basketball team will not participate in the other postseason events this year.”  So sounds like it is NCAA, NIT or bust for the Cougars going forward, let’s just hope there is no more “bust” in the future.

The Women’s Basketball team will find out which seed they will be in the Tournament.

Finally, as a recap to the weekend, the Cougars went a combined 6-5 in sporting events that actually had a clear winner. The highlight of all of that was BYU Men’s Volleyball taking down Pepperdine to move the Cougars into second place in the MPSF Conference, despite a rough start to the season.

Full Results:

  • Men’s Tennis WON 4-1 over St. Mary’s and WON 4-0 over Pacific.
  • Women’s Tennis LOST 3-4 to UTAH and WON 4-1 against Portland.
  • Gymnastics scored a 196.550 on Senior Night and WON against SUU.
  • Men’s Volleyball WON 4-1 against Pepperdine.
  • Baseball BEAT Gonzaga 7-4 and LOST to the Zags 2-4
  • Softball LOST 0-14 to No. 11 Texas, LOST against to the Longhorns 0-3 and LOST to No. 6 Tennessee 1-5.
  • Men’s and Women’s Track and Field started their outdoor season with the highlight being in the Women’s 800m, with Lauren Ellsworth, Kate Hunter, and Karina Haymore  going first through third.
  • Women’s Soccer went 2-0 in exhibition games in Las Vegas over the weekend against UNLV and CS Northridge.
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