Two USU players earn MW player of the week honors

Sophomore tennis player Jaime Barajas was named the Mountain West Men’s Tennis Player of the Week for the third time this season and the fourth time in Barajas’ career.

Similarly, Aggie track and field athlete Maci Bingham was named the Mountain West Women’s Outdoor Field Athlete of the Week. For Bingham, it’s the first time this year and the second time in her career she has been the MW Athlete of the Week.

Bingham’s performances helped Utah State claim the team title from the UC Irvine-hosted Spring Break Collegiate Invitational last weekend in Irvine, Calif.

She placed first in the shot put with a 14.43 meter throw. She was also first in the hammer throw with a 61.63 meter throw and second in the discus with 49.30 meters.

Bingham’s toss of 61.63 meters in the hammer currently ranks fourth nationally and is second all-time in school history. Her mark of 14.43 meters in shot put ranks seventh. She also ranks third all-time in the discus with a mark of 51.29 meters set last season.

The next track and field event is on Apr. 1 and 2. The Aggies split into two groups for the weekend; one will go to Stanford, California for the Stanford Invitational. The other group will compete at the Nike Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in Austin, Texas.

Barajas went 4-0 during the last week of matches and helped USU tennis get a 4-3 win over Boise State, the Aggies first-ever win over the Broncos in men’s tennis. Barajas also won both of his matches against Loyola Marymount but the team lost 4-3.

Barajas has won the award three times this season while no other player in the MW has more than one.

Men’s tennis plays its next match on Saturday in Provo. The match is a doubleheader first against BYU at 10 a.m. then USU plays Idaho at 3 p.m.

— kalen.s.taylor@gmail.com

Twitter: @kalen_taylor