BYU women’s golf finished in second at the Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational in Manhattan, Kansas, with Lila Galeai and Lily McCauley both notching top-10 finishes.

The Cougars carded rounds of 296-287-304-887, which included 43 birdies and one eagle over the three rounds, to finish 23-over-par.

Sam Houston took home the trophy after scoring rounds of 294-289-300-883 and ending at 19-over-par. Host and fellow Big 12 member Kansas State took third (294-296-300-890; +26), with Rutgers (298-295-308-901; +37) and Oral Roberts (293-304-307-904; +40) rounding out the top five teams.

Galeai grabbed her first top-five finish of the season as she carded four birdies in her opening round to finish one-under. In round two, the junior carded six birdies to combat some bogey holes, concluding day one in seventh place at one-over-par. She then finished at an even-par 72 in the final round today to finish in a tie for fourth.

McCauley notched her first top-10 finish as a BYU Cougar after carding a two-over-par 54-hole score. In the first round, the Washington State transfer carded three birdies to finish one-over. On Monday afternoon, she went bogey-free with four birdies for a collegiate career-low round of 68. The sophomore finished with a five-over 75 to conclude the tournament in sixth.

Adeline Anderson (74-75-77-226; +10) and MJ Barragan (78-70-78-226; +10) tied for 19th to grab their first top-25 finishes of the season. Freshman Lilly DeNunzio rounded out the squad for the Cougars with rounds of 79-80-78-237.

Sophomore Berlin Long (73-78-72-223; +7) participated as an individual and grabbed her first top-15 finish of the season with 12 birdies across the three rounds finishing in a tie for 11th.

The Cougars will tee it off next at the Dale McNamara Invitational at the Golf Club of Oklahoma on Oct. 9-10.

UVU’s Dickinson signs summer league baseball contract

Utah Valley sophomore infielder Daniel Dickinson has signed with the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod League for the 2024 season.

“It is a great opportunity for Danny to play in the premier summer league in the country. The experience in the Cape Cod Baseball League is unlike any other, and I am thrilled Danny gets to be there!” said UVU head coach Eddie Smith.

Dickinson hit .376 during his first season Orem while earning Collegiate Baseball Freshmen All-American and First-Team All-WAC honors. During the season, he had a 36-game reached base safely streak, which is second in program history. At season’s end, he led UVU in several offensive categories such as batting average, runs, hits, doubles, and OPS.

The Harwich Mariners play in Harwich Mass, and have produced successful major leaguers Brandon Belt, Tim Lincecum, Kevin Millar, and Carlos Pena. The prestigious Cape Cod League is considered the best summer collegiate league in the country and has had over 1,600 alumni reach the Major Leagues. The Wood bat league runs from about mid-June through mid-August.

It will be the second consecutive summer that a Wolverine has entered the Cape. RHP Mitch Mueller played in two games for the Wareham Gateman this past summer.

The Wolverines have a pair of games coming up with the College of Southern Idaho on Oct. 13 and Northwest Nazarene on Oct. 21. The Wolverine World Series will wrap up the fall season with a best-of-three Intrasquad series.

Wolverine freshman named WAC Offensive Player of the Week

Utah Valley freshman forward Nixan Jackson has been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week.

Jackson, from Mapleton, Utah, led Utah Valley to a 2-0 record last week with wins over Stephen F. Austin and UT Rio Grande Valley. The freshman forward recorded the 12th hat trick in UVU history with three goals in UVU’s 10-0 shutout win over SFA. She then scored a goal in UVU’s 4-1 win over UTRGV.

Over the two matches last week, Jackson scored four goals on four shots for a perfect 1.000 shot percentage.

Jackson will be back in action on Thursday night as Utah Valley travels to The Lone Star State to take on Tarleton State. The game will begin at 6 p.m. (MT) and will be streamed live on ESPN+.

WAC commissioner named to NIT committee

Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Commissioner Brian Thornton was one of two new members that have been added to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) committee as announced by the NCAA. Thornton and Morgan State University Vice President and Director of Athletics Dena Freeman-Patton both officially joined the eight-member tournament committee on Tuesday.

The 2024 championship will mark the 86th edition of the postseason men’s NIT. Selections, pairings and the bracket will be announced on Sunday, March 17, with games beginning Tuesday, March 19. The NIT semifinals and championship will be played April 2 and 4 at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Since Thornton was named commissioner of the WAC in November of 2021, the conference has risen to finish in the 11th slot out of the 33 Division I men’s basketball leagues at the close of the 2022-23 season. The WAC finished last season as the number two rated mid-major conference in the country according to the NCAA NET, which is the primary metric used by the selection committee to seed the annual NCAA Tournament. A total of four WAC member men’s basketball teams competed in 2023 postseason tournaments, highlighted by Utah Valley reaching the semifinal round of the NIT in Las Vegas and Grand Canyon representing the conference as its automatic qualifier in the NCAA Tournament.

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